Anza Borrego Kumayaay

“The past two weekends I have visited Anza Borrego exploring the Kumayaay Indian sites. I have taken many pictures, and have posted a few. Most of the pictographs are painted with an organic matter. Which is red, black, and in some cases Yellow or a faded orange. Also included in the pictures are the Morteros. I have found many of each, some in caves, some hidden near the bottom of rocks. Some scattered on boulders. And even one questionable one.
As far as their meanings...
Most interpetations are at best speculation. No one yet can say for certain what the messages mean. Or what the authors were communicating. Check it out and see if you can translate the ones I have posted.

http://community.webshots.com/user/wld257”

“The symbols kind of get you thinking about what the author is trying to say. Another question might be, how did the writing happen? What materials were in use and how do they withstand austere weather conditions over the years. Especially in the desert.

Nice photos, BTW.”

“Very interesting. Your new camera is taking some great pictures. How far did you have to hike to get to the pictographs?”

“The Kumeyaay produced pictographs in 3 contexts. First, shamans made rock art following their vision quests to record the spirits and events they saw in the supernatural. Second, young girls painted the spirit they acquired during the visions they received as part of their puberty initiations. Third, young boys also painted rock art to record the spirit helper they had obtained during their ordeals. One characteristic of the boys sites is the use of black paint. Black was the male color, it represents east, the direction of dawn and its great supernatural power. The female color is red and was associated with west, the direction fo the sunset and death. (like our culture associates blue with boys and pink with girls)

Each girl created a symbolic image of the spirit helper she received during her altered state experience (they used native tobacco, eaten or smoked). The rattlesnake spirit helper often appears in girls' art (zigzags and diamond-chain motifs). The rattlesnake is the spirit believed to guard the v@gin@ (can I say that?) and considered most appropriate as a girls supernatural helper. The Little Blair Valley pictographs most likely resulted from Kumeyaay girl's puberty initiations, which marked their transition to womanhood, puberty, and eligibility for marriage.”

“ms. nymph....
you have the rundown on this subject....where did you learn so much about this??”

“Interesting stuff. It looks like we have some anthropologists here.”

“Are those shots just from the site near Ghost Mountain (Marshall South's Homestead)? I have heard there are also pictographs near Indian Hill in the Southern part of the park (Bottom of the Carrizo Mountain Quadrangle topo).”

“Gonzo,
I'm interested in rock art, and try to visit the sites if I can. I found a single sheep petroglyph in Utah. I must've been convincing, because a ranger told me where to look. It took 2 days to find it, but it was worth it. I draw petroglyphs on everything. (slinglite chair, bear canister, the Warmlite has a few on one side, my snowboard, and I found an artist who printed petroglyphs on my snowboarding jacket.

”

“The final event of the ritual consisted of a race, to a certain rock, where a shaman or adult waited with a little pot of red ochre paint. Each initiate would paint a design on the rock. The diamond-shaped chain represents the rattlesnake. The race demonstrated health and vigor, and the winner was thought to live the longest of the initiates. The winner of the last recorded girls' puberty ceremony in southwestern California, which occurred near Pauma in the 1890s, was the longest lived of her female cohorts.”

“Did you see these I photographed at Petroglyphs National Monument, just outside ABQ? I had never been out there. Stark landscape, but cool glyphs.


Petroglyphs”

“Pretty Cool Pathman!”

“snow nymph....
that is a wayyyy cool jacket!!!”