Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel
Great Basin archaic to Numic (12000 BCE–1850 CE rock; peak 4000–1000 BCE Coso Representational)·Great Basin Coso (Northern Uto-Aztecan?) predecessors·🇺🇸 California, Eastern Sierra, Coso Range, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, United States
About
About Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel
China Lake Coso excavated by Grant & Farley 1960s, UCLA bighorn sheep style 4000 BCE, navy protected.
Why it mattersKey Great Basin Coso (Northern Uto-Aztecan?) predecessors rock-art with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Construction labor organization
- 02Astronomical alignment
Theories
- 01Observatory
- 02Territorial marker
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 6000 BCE earliest grooves; 4000–1000 BCE bighorn/sheep panel peak
- Period
- Great Basin archaic to Numic (12000 BCE–1850 CE rock; peak 4000–1000 BCE Coso Representational)
- Culture
- Great Basin Coso (Northern Uto-Aztecan?) predecessors
- Purpose
- Deep air 'bighorn sheep' hunter rock art — 20,000 petroglyphs in 35 sq km desert basalt canyon, shamanic sheep cult
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1934
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 800 CE major extension
Major expansion / refurbishment at Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel
c. 6000 BCE earliest grooves; 4000–1000 BCE bighorn/sheep panel peak
Initial construction / first occupation at Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel
On the ground
Structures & features
36.0190° N · 117.6420° W · 1210 m · 3 mapped features
Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel — Principal Structure
structurestructure at Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel — outlier feature
36.0202° N · 117.6436° WCoso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel — Northern Complex
complexcomplex at Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel — primary structure
36.0207° N · 117.6409° WCoso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel — Rock_Art Annex 3
rock artrock art at Coso Rock Art — Little Petroglyph Canyon Sheephole Panel — subsidiary complex
36.0191° N · 117.6425° W