In our ancient land survey of Native America by astronomy we now leave the stellar realm of Leo and examine the area today known as California and northward as "Oregon Country" viz. "Oregon Territory", thus entering the representational domain of the stars of Virgo "the virgin, viz. female" in that land survey by astronomy. Those who dislike the idea of a "land survey" in the ancient era can substitute terms like "system of territorial tribal landmarks by the stars". It is the same.
San Luis Obispo County contains "The Painted Rock of California", known as La Piedra Pintada viz. Carisa Rock or Carrol Rock on Carrizo Plain -- as written at the National Historic Landmark Nomination, Carrizo Plain Archaeological District, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, page 8:
As written about La Piedra Pintada viz. Carisa Rock on Carrizo Plain at "the Painted Rock of California", which is located about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles at Carrizo Plain National Monument, California 93453, USA.:
At https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/RockCove-CarrizoPlain.jpg the Wikipedia at Painted Rock .... has an "Aerial view of Painted Rock looking south, January 26, 2007, Carrizo Plain National Monument, San Luis Obispo County, California, USA.... [near ]Taft, California ... Coordinates: 35°8′46.02″N 119°51′42.27″W, Governing body: United States Bureau of Land Management". For aerial photos of the rock see a full overhead photo at Painted Rock (San Luis Obispo County, California), Carrizo Plain National Monument, California, and aerial view of Painted Rock looking south.
A USGS-Photo of Painted Rock in the plain with Soda Lake in the left background is found at the link http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/carrizo/html2/a083.htm.
We have deciphered the aerial photos referred to above -- showing them to be massively sculpted representations of stars, surely adapted to the existing outcrops of course, but also using large boulder remnants of "sculpting" to portray certain figures in the periphery. Those decipherments are shown in the image below, although they must be viewed as being extremely provisional, given the paucity of cupules and other corroborating evidence. We may be seeing some things that are not there when examined in greater detail. All of these stars may not be marked, but some surely are.
As we have deciphered them, the left side marks the Autumn Equinox and the right side the Vernal Equinox ca. 1750 B.C., representing the stars in between:
The Special Collection Department of the Robert E. Kennedy Library at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2014 ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award Winners, reproduces four India ink drawings of petroglyphs at the site, drawings made by Mary Brumley Noyes in the 1870s. See http://lib.calpoly.edu/support/findingaids/ms041-painted-rock/. The Abstract thereto writes:
"This collection contains four India ink drawings from tracings made of the original pictographs found on the formation known as the Painted Rock (La Piedra Pintada; also called the Carisa Rock), located on the Carrizo Plain in eastern San Luis Obispo County, California. Native Americans—primarily Chumash Indians—drew the original drawings on the sacred, ceremonial site. The pictographs were sketched in the 1870s by pioneer Carrizo Plain resident Mary Brumley Noyes, who spent part of her youth on the nearby El Saucito Rancho with her family. Painted Rock is a local landmark, rising dramatically from the surrounding flat plains. In the intervening years since her sketches were made, the rock art has been vandalized and has deteriorated due to human use and weather conditions. The collection was donated by her descendents in 1990. An additional donation to the collection is a short, unpublished radio script depicting the Brumley family’s life on the Carrizo Plain, circa 1950s. Nothing is known about its author, L. Munson of Los Angeles. An additional donation traces the family’s history and includes vintage prints of Painted Rock."
We have deciphered those petroglyphs as astronomy in our own drawing as follows below, showing that this particular group of petroglyphs arguably dates to ca. 800 B.C., marking stars at the left from the Summer Solstice at Cancer to the stars at the right of the Winter Solstice point at Triangulum and Aries, marked by the crossing of the Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic:
San Luis Obispo County contains "The Painted Rock of California", known as La Piedra Pintada viz. Carisa Rock or Carrol Rock on Carrizo Plain -- as written at the National Historic Landmark Nomination, Carrizo Plain Archaeological District, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, page 8:
"The most famous of the district sites is Painted Rock, CA-SLO-79, also known as Piedra Pintada or Corral Rock. Located on an isolated outcrop, this is the largest pictograph site in California and, potentially, in the far western United States (in terms of numbers and complexity of motifs), with paintings in red, black and white covering the inside and outside of this horseshoe-shaped sandstone prominence.... While these paintings alone are impressive enough, the site also contains petroglyphs (rock engravings), cupules, bedrock mortars, and a massive midden (i.e., habitation) deposit that covers the inside and skirts the outside of the amphitheater-shaped outcrop." [emphasis added]Virgo is quite an extended group of stars and is marked substantially all the way up the Pacific West Coast from California clear into what used to be called "Oregon [Virgo] Country". We will have more on that later.
As written about La Piedra Pintada viz. Carisa Rock on Carrizo Plain at "the Painted Rock of California", which is located about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles at Carrizo Plain National Monument, California 93453, USA.:
This large "natural" so-called "Rock Cove" rock formation, which is covered with many petroglyphs viz. pictographs inside and out, was either used intentionally for its suggestive shape or was "helpfully" -- as we allege -- sculpted here and there by the ancients to shape the "Virgo-shape" that it still has, which is described as a "horseshoe-shape" in the literature and at Wikipedia."The rock formation itself resembles the shape of a vulva and it is believed that Chumash female coming of age rites may have taken place here." [emphasis added]
At https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/RockCove-CarrizoPlain.jpg the Wikipedia at Painted Rock .... has an "Aerial view of Painted Rock looking south, January 26, 2007, Carrizo Plain National Monument, San Luis Obispo County, California, USA.... [near ]Taft, California ... Coordinates: 35°8′46.02″N 119°51′42.27″W, Governing body: United States Bureau of Land Management". For aerial photos of the rock see a full overhead photo at Painted Rock (San Luis Obispo County, California), Carrizo Plain National Monument, California, and aerial view of Painted Rock looking south.
A USGS-Photo of Painted Rock in the plain with Soda Lake in the left background is found at the link http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/carrizo/html2/a083.htm.
We have deciphered the aerial photos referred to above -- showing them to be massively sculpted representations of stars, surely adapted to the existing outcrops of course, but also using large boulder remnants of "sculpting" to portray certain figures in the periphery. Those decipherments are shown in the image below, although they must be viewed as being extremely provisional, given the paucity of cupules and other corroborating evidence. We may be seeing some things that are not there when examined in greater detail. All of these stars may not be marked, but some surely are.
As we have deciphered them, the left side marks the Autumn Equinox and the right side the Vernal Equinox ca. 1750 B.C., representing the stars in between:
- in the aerial image surrounding Virgo as the "cove area", we see Hercules, Draco, Serpens Cauda, Ophiuchus, Serpens Caput, Centaurus, Corona Borealis, Boötes, Virgo, Corvus, Crater, Hydra, and Leo, and
- in the right side view, i.e. more or less to the right of Virgo, we see from the bottom left Lupus, Centaurus, Crux, Corvus, Crater, Hydra, Leo, Ursa Major, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Canis Minor, Monoceros, Canis Major, Auriga, Orion, Lepus and Columba.
Aerial View (looking south = upper image)) of Painted Rock, San Luis Obispo County, California, known as La Piedra Pintada viz. Carisa Rock on Carrizo Plain - plus the Right Side View (lower image)
Deciphered as Astronomy ca. 1750 B.C.
The Special Collection Department of the Robert E. Kennedy Library at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2014 ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award Winners, reproduces four India ink drawings of petroglyphs at the site, drawings made by Mary Brumley Noyes in the 1870s. See http://lib.calpoly.edu/support/findingaids/ms041-painted-rock/. The Abstract thereto writes:
"This collection contains four India ink drawings from tracings made of the original pictographs found on the formation known as the Painted Rock (La Piedra Pintada; also called the Carisa Rock), located on the Carrizo Plain in eastern San Luis Obispo County, California. Native Americans—primarily Chumash Indians—drew the original drawings on the sacred, ceremonial site. The pictographs were sketched in the 1870s by pioneer Carrizo Plain resident Mary Brumley Noyes, who spent part of her youth on the nearby El Saucito Rancho with her family. Painted Rock is a local landmark, rising dramatically from the surrounding flat plains. In the intervening years since her sketches were made, the rock art has been vandalized and has deteriorated due to human use and weather conditions. The collection was donated by her descendents in 1990. An additional donation to the collection is a short, unpublished radio script depicting the Brumley family’s life on the Carrizo Plain, circa 1950s. Nothing is known about its author, L. Munson of Los Angeles. An additional donation traces the family’s history and includes vintage prints of Painted Rock."
We have deciphered those petroglyphs as astronomy in our own drawing as follows below, showing that this particular group of petroglyphs arguably dates to ca. 800 B.C., marking stars at the left from the Summer Solstice at Cancer to the stars at the right of the Winter Solstice point at Triangulum and Aries, marked by the crossing of the Celestial Equator and the Ecliptic:
Petroglyph Group on the Painted Rock, La Piedra Pintada
Deciphered as Astronomy ca. 800 B.C.
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 115 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
Painted Rock, La Piedra Pintada, Carisa Rock viz. Carrol Rock on Carrizo Plain, San Luis Obispo County, Largest Pictograph Site in California, Marks the Stars of Virgo in the Ancient Land Survey of Native America