Volvon Village on Mallory Creek 715 bedrock mortars and countless housepits spread over a half mile. Cupule rock. This village, located in the highlands of the Black Hills, must have been one of the largest settlements in the prehistoric Bay Area, yet it was, apparently, unknown to early archaeologists and historians. It does not appear […]
Lake Del Valle, Campsite 7414 cupule rock and 1 small bedrock mortar on rock in the nearby creekElevation 714 ft.Thanks to Joel and Alex for discovering these rocks.The cupule rock was likely moved here. The patterns of cupules appear non-random, which suggests they may have had representational functions.This shallow mortar is difficult to make out […]
Stromer Spring25 bedrock mortars, cupules, and PCN-style petroglyphsElevation 2023 ft.We used to drink from Stromer Spring in the not-so-distant past. The Park District warns against doing it now.A nice, single-track trail passes near here. We followed it many times without ever stopping to examine these rocks. If we considered them at all, we dismissed them […]
Los Vaqueros Log Cabin Village.60 bedrock mortars, 4 cupules, 4 slicks, and probably historic rock walls.Elevation 515 ft.Like the Pond Village, the Log Cabin Village found its year-round water in nearby Adobe Creek, but in the winter, water is typically abundant in seasonal tributaries like this one.Looking back toward the Log Cabin, which, alas, is […]
Tolenas Springs Village41 bedrock mortars, 10+ cupules, probable mortarsElevation 268 ft.An artesian spring once geysered water ten feet into the air near the source of Soda Springs Creek, but quarrying for travertine and onyx (begun in the 1850s) eventually destroyed that flow. Patwins referred to this area as the land of healing waters. A resort […]
ALA-6044 bedrock mortars and 182 cupules near the intersection of Crow Canyon Road and Castro Valley Boulevard.The official trinomial for this site is CA-ALA-60. E. Breck Parkman, Senior State Archaeologist for California State Parks, suggests this may be one of the oldest acorn processing sites in the Bay Area. Cultural material excavated here has been […]
Lower Volvon Village200 bedrock mortars and a 32 cupule rock. A second cupule rock also at the site. Numerous housepits.Elevation 1445 ft.This is one of the largest collections of bedrock mortars in California, and it is only about a mile and a half away from the main Volvon Village.The Lower Village sits on the side […]
Upper Pond Village Creek10 bedrock mortars and 10 cupules.Elevation 1888 ft.This site sits beside the creek that flows down to the Pond Village. One of the mortars here is on a nice, flat slab in the creekbed.All ten cupules are on this rock, although it’s hard to make them out in this picture. Two are […]
Alvarado Park2 bedrock mortars, 275+ cupules, 2 PCNs, and midden behind gazebo.This chlorite blueschist outcropping on Wildcat Creek has more cupules on it than any other we know of in the Bay Area. Was it just the blueschist found here and on Baxter Creek that attracted cuple-makers, or was something else at work?Jim and Heather […]
Lynch Canyon Village51 bedrock mortars and 5 cupules/anvilsElevation 451 ft.This village is adjacent to the South Fork of Lynch Creek.Exploring the site.Examining one of the mortar rocks.The flat slab holds 31 bedrock mortars, although about half that number are covered by vegetation in this photograph.Photograph by Bob Bardell.Lynch Canyon Open Space is now open to […]
