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 […]
Evergreen Valley Cupule Rock on Silver Creek32+ cupulesElevation 570 ft.Thanks to Joel for directing us here.The rock.Some of the cupules on this rock could probably be classed as bedrock mortars.We believe the trinomial for this site is CA-SCL-63. There are PCNs on this rock too, but we didn’t notice any. See A Stylistic Analysis of […]
Round Valley Village317+ bedrock mortars, two cupule rocks, and a stacked rock enclosure.CA-CCO-320This settlement is the largest of three that sit along the eastern base of the Black Hills.Joseph Chartkoff in “A Rock Feature Complex from Northwestern California,” American Antiquity, Vol. 48, No. 4, (Oct., 1983), pp. 745-760, notes the similarity between this stacked-rock enclosure […]
First Terrace31 bedrock mortars, a 23 cupule rock, and 3-4 housepits.Elevation 775 ft.This site and the Kitchen site are actually on the same terrace, separated by a creekbed, but because we discovered and named the Kitchen site first, we called this site the “First Terrace.”A view of the First Terrace. The cupule rock is near […]
Silva/Kellogg Lower1 bowl mortar, 1 broken mortar, 3 starters/cupules.Elevation 531 ft.This site may be inundated when the enlarged Los Vaqueros reservoir reaches its highest water level.Bob measures the bowl mortar.We believe the trinomial for this site is CA-CCO-452.
Gossip Rock5 bedrock mortars, possible cupules and incisions.This is one of the rare archaeological sites identified by East Bay Regional Parks. It’s listed right there on the map for Garin/Dry Creek Pioneer Park. Be sure to sit here for a while. Enjoy the south-facing rock and the view of Mission Peak.Jim studies a mortar on […]
Stone Corral33 bedrock mortars, prayer circle, 2 sets of double cupules, rock wall alignments, and hunting blinds.Elevation 1800 ft.What kind of animals would be constrained by this corral? We believe the stone corral was the site of Indian games and/or ceremonies. HIke up the ridge to the west and find the spot where you have […]
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 […]
