Death Valley Deep Dive 2024

[Beardilocks]

Now that I have left Death Valley for the season, I'm going to share a new petroglyph site.  I'm sure it is not a completely unknown site, but it is nearly so.  I actually stumbled across it on my searches for a source of obsidian in the park that I have been trying to track down for many years now.  It is currently unspoiled and I'm going to do my best to keep it that way with no hints about it's location, other than to say it is in a VERY remote part of the park. 

The glyphs here are stunning.  They show diversity, complexity, and styles rarely seen anywhere else in the park.  It was extremely humbling to spend a few hours exploring this particular site.  And I barely scrapped the surface here. 

Amazing sun & storm cloud on the left.


Very cool, very complex glyph here.


There is a huge age span on the glyphs at this location.  Some were re-patinated to a point that they were nearly invisible, suggesting that they are very old indeed. 





Very old atlatl glyphs. 





Some of the panels are layered with glyphs spanning likely centuries. 


Very old sheep glyph. 


Still on the obsidian trail. 





Nearly invisible old panel. 


Newer glyphs covering older ones. 





This was one of my favorites here.  High above the others.  It is in the “wolfman” style, the most famous of which is probably in Butler Wash, about 450mi from here.  Except this one, instead of legs, tapers off to a point, almost like a genie coming out of a bottle.  The “wolfman” image is prolific at this site, as well as appearing at a few other Death Valley sites I've visited.  But none as bold or as interesting as this one.  I am very curious what these "wolfman" could represent in the lore of the people that carved these.  Coyote is a very widespread character in ancient lore across American tribes, but it's possible that Coyote in this hybrid form is a story that has been lost or changed over the millennia. 


Quite a lot of the glyphs here seem to be nature-based, with suns, rain clouds, streams, and possibly springs seeming to be everywhere. 


I am not sure if this is a plant or a hand.  I have seen this odd glyph several times recently with variations in complexity.  I'm at a total loss as to what it could represent.  The “6” or “9” shapes are repeated at this site as well. 


Atlatls galore.


This piece is stunning.  The two sides show are from different eras based on patination, but have some stylistic similarities, with the right side panel having been updated or added to a much later date.  Two very specific messages from very different times etched on the same rock. 


I'm curious if the glyph in the lower right is moving into the basket-weaver era.  It has similarities to some basket glyphs I will be posting soon from Kaibab Paiute area.  If in more simplistic form.














The sheer coverage at this site from high to low is impressive.


This is easily the longest “storm-cloud” glyph I have ever seen. 


There appears to be some more recent scratch-glyphs in a few places as well. 


A layered panel from many eras. 





Yet another layered panel with a varity of ages and styles.  Very cool. 


Stormclouds, bird tracks, bear track or basket?  Amazing diversity. 


I found this simple petroglyph to be very interesting.  One vessel pointing up & one down?  No clue what it could be representing.


Atlatl with ridiculously exaggerated weights.





The alien-slug here is one of my favorites.  Such an odd shape.  The ladder next to it is also interesting. 





These shield style glyphs are more common both in the volcanic tablelands to the west as well to the east in Nevada, but uncommon in Death Valley..


No surface left untouched.


This is really cool.  While it hard to discern species from an ancient glyph, the claws out would suggest a canine track of some kind, likely coyote or domestic dog.  Not something you see often. 


I LOVE this small panel.  Wolfman on the left, upside down man in the middle (possibly meaning he's deceased), and bent torso man on the right.  Is the figure on the right dancing?  Are those wings rather than arms?  Obviously a complex story is being told here.  That or it's a group portrait of some very weird friends. 


I'm VERY curious what the thing on the right is. 











I can't say for sure whether these are Native American scratch-style glyph, some creative obsidian sharpening/tooling, or later graffiti. 


Very complex curvilinear object on the right.  And a very interesting, very specific character in the middle with the two dots. 


Another wolfman on the right disappearing into the weird curvilinear jumble.


Extremely old glyphs.


Yet another wolfman on the right.  And a WILD curvilinear pattern.


Only a small portion of this site is represented here.  One of the interesting factors is that sheep petroglyphs, while present, are not dominant like they are in many places out here.  Atlatl's likely outnumber sheep.  But storm clouds outnumber both.  And I've never seen this many wolfman style anthropomorphs in one place either.  Based on the re-patination of many of the glyphs I would guess that this place was revisited over thousands of years and likely considered sacred by more than one indigenous group over that time.  Either way, it is one of the most prolific, diverse, and fascinating sites I've yet to find in Death Valley.  What else could still be out there?