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Prehistoric Rock Art As an Indicator of Cultural Interaction and Tribal Boundaries in South-Central California

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Prehistoric Rock Art As an Indicator of Cultural Interaction and Tribal Boundaries in South-Central California UC Merced Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Title Prehistoric Rock Art as an Indicator of Cultural Interaction and Tribal Boundaries in South-central California Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8gf644rd Journal Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 13(1) ISSN 0191-3557 Authors Lee, Georgia Hyder, William D. Publication Date 1991-07-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 15-28(1991). Prehistoric Rock Art as an Indicator of Cultural Interaction and Tribal Boundaries in South-central California GEORGIA LEE, P.O. Box 6774, Los Osos, CA 93402. WILLIAM D. HYDER, Social Sciences Div., Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064. XN this paper we explore the use of rock art as images seen under the influence of Datura are an indicator of cultural interaction between mandala forms (i.e., elaborate circular designs) neighboring tribal groups in south-central Cal­ and tiny dots that surround objects. These forms ifornia. The area is of particular interest are ubiquitous in Chumash rock paintings and because of numerous shared cultural traits, possibly were inspired by drug-induced including a spectacular geometric polychrome phenomena. painting tradition (Steward 1929; Fenenga 1949; While much more can be written about rock Grant 1965). Although there can be no doubt art, we do not attempt in this paper to answer that people of this region formed linguistically questions concerning the meaning of the art, its distinct ethnic groups, the interaction between myriad functions in society, or problems of them involved much more than shared elements dating. Our focus lies instead in exploring the of material culture; they also shared some ways and means to use rock painting styles to religious beliefs (Hudson and Blackburn 1978). identify cultural interaction and tribal bound­ Thus, rock art, as one indicator of ideological aries. systems, provides an important piece of evidence In reference to artistic styles, geometric for the investigation of cultural interaction in figures not only are found throughout the area, south-central California (cf. Garfinkel 1982). they are typical of all North American Indian art The 1 ittle ethnographic information that deals and of traditional art the world over; in specifically with rock art indicates that in this themselves they are not sufficiently distinctive to region rock art typically is attributed to constitute a major style (Grant 1981:24). Thus, shamanistic practices (Heizer and Clewlow ubiquitous elements such as zigzags, cross- 1973 :Map 14). Much of it likely was sacred and hatching, circles, concentric circles, sunbursts, religious, created by shamans in the course of diamonds, and lozenges cannot be diagnostic of working magic or performing other acts for the any one area. It is in the details of how these psychic benefit of their tribes. In south-central forms are arranged and the ways in which California it probably was connected with specific elements are delineated that we can Datura ingestion and resulting hallucinogenic determine stylistic congruity and thus cultural experiences (cf Kroeber 1925:622-624; Apple- interaction. That is, geometric motifs are not gate 1978:34-36). The ingestion of hallucino­ considered evidence by themselves. Rather, it genic substances produces both hallucinations is the ways in which they are presented and and a variety of phosphenic images (Blackburn embellished that constitutes "style." 1977) that are mirrored in the geometric designs Style is more than a particular way of doing of rock art, basketry, and other decorative something. It is an active form of communica­ elements (Latta 1977:589). Among the typical tion. In hunter-gatherer societies, style helped 16 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY establish ethnic identification and promote these contiguous tribes had considerable social territorial defense (cf Wiessner 1983). Wobst interaction, at least in ethnographic times. (1977) argued that style does not function in a According to Kroeber (1925:604), the Kawaiisu vacuum. Its message cannot be communicated and Tubatulabal had friendly relations, and both if the recipient is too distant from the sender, intermarried with the Yokuts. In fact, the and it is redundant if the recipient is too close. Southern Yokuts were joined with those tribes For rock art studies, this implies that there may to such an extent that it was "impossible to be more than one level of stylistic communica­ assign an exact habitat to any of them'' (Kroeber tion. Schaafsma (1980:8), for example, recog­ 1925:606). nized that styles may represent two or more Kroeber (1925:613) stated that the Kitane­ groups with shared cultural traits and ideology, muk fought with the Tataviam (Alliklik) and local ethnic groups, or different functions within were unfriendly toward the Yokuts. The a group. Distinguishing between these different Tataviam were integrated with the Chumash levels of stylistic function depends on our level along their borders (Hudson 1982), and the of analysis. For the problem at hand, we Chumash also were closely allied to, and assume that similarities and differences in styles intermarried with and traded with, the Yokuts. of rock art found at prominent points on the The Tiihatulabal traded with the Koso and landscape are indicative of cultural interaction. Kawaiisu to the east and south, and with the Steward (1970:119-120) stated that mobile Chumash and Yokuts; they had contact with hunter-gatherers have little need to defend Mono and Owens Valley Paiute, Vanyume, territory until they become tied to fixed places Kitanemuk, Tataviam, and at least once with the on the landscape. In practice, boundary Hopi (Voegelin 1938:49; Andrews 1977:33). maintenance in hunter-gatherer communities King (1981:48) suggested that the Tataviam, varies from an emphasis on stylistic differences who occupied the site of Vasquez Rocks, could to deter trespass by others to the reinforcement have had affiliations with the Chumash as well of intergroup ties and reciprocal access to as with the Takic groups to the southeast. adjacent territories through stylistic similarities. The level of corporate development and THE ROCK ART sedentism determines, in part, the intensity of In the selection of rock art sites to illustrate the interaction and defensive behavior (Peterson our thesis (Fig. 1), we chose prominent ones 1978:24-25). Among Australian Aborigines, for from which we have the most information; thus example, a clan's "sacred sites" may be located our examples are not to be taken as necessarily at prominent places within the territory of the most representative ofthe total of all rock art adjacent bands (Layton 1986). This overlap in sites in each area. Regrettably, we lack first­ sacred and economic territories ensures hand data on rock art from the Kitanemuk area, reciprocal access to resources when they are so that tribe is covered only briefly in this needed. discussion, relying on Sutton's (1982a) overview In the region of interest here, the diversity of Western Mojave Desert rock art. It should be of linguistic groups alone indicates that we are noted that all the areas under consideration here concerned with a complex set of interactions. also have cupule petroglyphs, but our focus here The tribes with common borders include the is only on paintings. Penutian Yokuts; the Uto-Aztecan Tubatulabal, A survey of rock art sites in these areas Kawaiisu, Kitanemuk, and Tataviam; and the reveals a significant amount of concordance. All Hokan Chumash. It is well documented that have similar kinds of geometric elements but PREHISTORIC ROCK ART IN SOUTH-CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 17 Tul 19 • . L TUBATULABAL PACIFIC OCEAN Fig. 1. Map showing locations of sites mentioned in text (after Kroeber 1925). these are typical of traditional art everywhere tory has a unique shade of earth-green pigment and thus are not specific to any one tribe. The not found in any of the other sites; a Chumash art of all the groups under consideration includes site near Mount Pifios has a different light-green circles, sunbursts, and zigzags. However, in the color plus blue-green. It is possible that the elaboration and arrangement of these simple latter derives from the Missions (Lee 1979), but elements we see individuality. The intricate it has not been scientifically analyzed. We have mandala forms that often are outlined with tiny culled from the literature and from our own re­ white dots in the Chumash area have already search efforts the salient features of these tribal been noted; "hash marks" seen in many of the groups (Table 1). other tribal areas were elaborated upon in Tataviam Yokuts rock art to cover entire panels with what appear to be psychedelic dashes of color. Two distinct styles of rock art are present at All these groups used red, white, and black Vasquez Rocks (CA-LAn-363 and CA-LAn- pigments. Some added a bit of yellow to their 375): one is incised into a red-ochred surface; palette, but this color was extensively used only the other is painted (Fig. 2). Although the among the Yokuts. One site in Kawaiisu terri­ incised petroglyphs at Vasquez Rocks might 18 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY Table 1 ARTISTIC CONVENTIONS AND PIGMENTS USED AMONG THE TRIBAL GROUPS DISCUSSED HERE Tribal Group Tataviam Kawaiisu Tiihatulabal Yokuts Chumash Colors Red X X X X X Black X X — X X White X X X X X Yellow ... X ... X X Green ... X ... ... — Blue-green — — ... — X Methods Use of cavities. Use of cavities. Color outlining. Dot or dash tech­ Use of cavities. Dot technique. Dot or dash tech­ Bilateral symmetry. nique. Dot technique. Color outlining. nique for color out­ Large scale. Color outlining. Color outlining. Bilateral symmetry. lining. Bilateral symmetry. Bilateral symmetry. Small scale. Bilateral symmetry.
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