Death Valley 2022/23

[Beardilocks]

Anyone have any explanation of this?  Black Mountains. There was about twice as many holes as seen here as you continued down.  

[netllama]

wow, those are some gorgeous photos and nice petroglyphs too. no clue about the weird ones though, although i've seen some strange ones in other corners of the world.

[Daymoth]

Am I the only one that has never seen fossils or petroglyphs in DV??
They are beautiful!

No idea about those holes, weird. Are they deep like for rebar?

[John Morrow]

Am I the only one that has never seen fossils or petroglyphs in DV??
They are beautiful!

No idea about those holes, weird. Are they deep like for rebar?

Some sort of geologic study collecting of mineral composition?

[TacoLand]

That Black Hills area was rife with mining claims and speculation. Picked up a copy of Lingenfelter’s Death Valley and The Amargosa this year and sheesh is it a deep dive into Death Valley’s history.

[Beardilocks]

Am I the only one that has never seen fossils or petroglyphs in DV??
They are beautiful!

No idea about those holes, weird. Are they deep like for rebar?

The holes were deep-ish (further than could get a finger in) and over an inch in diameter.  Definitely bigger than rebar and not in any pattern or formation that was immediately identifiable (like not even straight lines).

[Beardilocks]

That Black Hills area was rife with mining claims and speculation. Picked up a copy of Lingenfelter’s Death Valley and The Amargosa this year and sheesh is it a deep dive into Death Valley’s history.

I’ll add that to my reading list!   Currently slowly getting through Hunt’s “Death Valley, Geology Ecology Archeology” and “Death Valley Scotty by Mabel”.  The later being a recent find in a library’s $1 bin.

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Am I the only one that has never seen fossils or petroglyphs in DV??
They are beautiful!

No idea about those holes, weird. Are they deep like for rebar?

Man, you’re going to hate my next couple of posts. 😂

[Daymoth]

That Black Hills area was rife with mining claims and speculation. Picked up a copy of Lingenfelter’s Death Valley and The Amargosa this year and sheesh is it a deep dive into Death Valley’s history.

I’ll add that to my reading list!   Currently slowly getting through Hunt’s “Death Valley, Geology Ecology Archeology” and “Death Valley Scotty by Mabel”.  The later being a recent find in a library’s $1 bin.

---

Am I the only one that has never seen fossils or petroglyphs in DV??
They are beautiful!

No idea about those holes, weird. Are they deep like for rebar?

Man, you’re going to hate my next couple of posts. 😂

Nah I will love them and hope I can eventually rent a 4x4 to try find some!

[Beardilocks]

Off to another undisclosed location on the edge of the park and more untranslatable messages from the distant past.

This canyon has been a veritable highway for many thousands of years.  Up until 1994 in fact.  And the petroglyphs here (of which I’ve only represented a few here) are scattered high & low throughout the mouth of the canyon, and appears to have been scribed over many hundreds if not thousands of years, some having almost faded completely.  









Interestingly, many glyphs here are wrapped around corners and facing upward.  I haven’t seen too many sites where the glyphs are featured facing skyward.  






Interestingly, this particular glyph was repeated at this site.  Sometimes alone, sometimes as part of a set or grouping of glyphs. This one of the newest & largest ones, some being much more faded.   Unusual.  



The main grouping of glyphs only continued a little ways into the canyon past the mouth.  Typical fir this type of site.  However there was this one glyph way at the other end of the canyon.  I pondered it’s meaning as I continued my hike across the desert.  

[Beardilocks]

And immediately onto yet ANOTHER undisclosed location on the fringes of the park in an attempt to find what might be the only pictographs in DV.  Please correct me if I’m wrong!!

After a long hike through the deep back country and passing some more modern glyphs that were way too explicit for viewing here, I finally found the type of rock I was hunting for.  


Gorgeous approach but I’m running out of daylight! 


A really stunning area that I wish I’d had more daylight and energy to explore.  


With some cool (if short) slots. 


There we are.  The ground is virtually carpeted with chips and shards from point making (I’ve bloody forgotten what this scattering of flakes is called…) in reds and whites and even some black volcanic glass.  None of which would be found close by.  










This small glyph was my favorite.  Carved out and then carefully painted around. Possibly a fertility symbol?  


Looking out of the alcove. 



Some petroglyphs on the outside of alcove.



Alcove next door had some more rudimentary and more weathered pictographs.  



After exploring the area a bit more I could see this cave from across a slot canyon, lurking in the late day shadows. Also featuring some of the natural potholes holding water that made this site so attractive in the first place.  


Absolutely stunning pictographs in this more well protected cave.  


At one time glyphs covered much of the ceiling as well as the walls. 
The following detail photos track left to right in the alcove/cave.







Panoramic:






This one was very intriguing.  A cup in the ceiling that appeared to be carved and then circled in several colors of pigment.  I wish the rest of the scene was a bit more discernible. Its hard ti say if this element stood alone or was part of a larger work. 


I love when you can get a feel for the artists actual living fingers in the paint.  


Panoramic of the right side of the cave.  I stated at this for a very long time.  At first it look a bit phallic.  And then like a large ship??  After a bit more study, I think it’s in the same style as petroglyph panels like “The Great Procession” in UT and many others.  These start with a circle or a spiral on the left and then a line travels out to the right featuring many scenes and people and animals etc etc.  Its thought that the circle or spiral represents a beginning (start of a journey/migration/genesis/coming into this world) and then a history of sorts follows on the line or lines.  There’s a fascinating version of this in Buckhorn Wash UT that has two separate lines that depict different species of trees and different styles of people represented between the two lines.  Which might be what’s happening here as well.  Although the lower section is very hard to make out.  



Left detail:




Right detail:


After lingering a bit too long for the time of day but not nearly long enough to satisfy my curiosity, I headed out on the long hike back to my truck that I would finish in the dark.  Such a beautiful area, I must go back sometime.