PETROGLYPHS.US

Arrastre Spring Rock Art Site

Arrastre Spring is located on the Eastern slope of the Panamint Mountains and overlooks the inhospitable salt flats of Death Valley. The spring is situated along a steep east-west wash high in the mountains just above 6000 feet elevation.  Storms blowing in from the Pacific drop most of their rain on the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the little moisture that reaches the Panamints usually falls on the western side. Valley floor air temperatures are usually over 100° F between May and October and often reach 110° - 120° F in the summer. Ground temperatures average 40° higher. The temperatures at Arrastre Spring are cooler and the presence of water makes this location a desirable place to camp for the short term. A prehistoric trail that crosses the Panamint Range and connects Death Valley with the Panamint Valley passes near the spring.

This is a medium size site consisting of a couple hundred petroglyphs situated on a south facing boulder outcrop that extends for an eighth of a mile above, and an eighth of a mile below the spring. The boulders are chunky desert varnished granite blocks ranging in size from several hundred pounds to several thousand pounds. Most of the petroglyphs face south or east, although some face west or up. In general the petroglyphs are not clustered although some boulders have several and other suitable looking boulders have none. Some of the boulders in the unstable outcrop have moved and others have tumbled, placing some images is the most unlikely of orientations. It is necessary to inspect all exposed surfaces of the boulders to decrease the possibility of missing any of the petroglyphs. 

These petroglyphs were made by pecking. Little repatinization has occurred, there is no superimposition of the images, nor is there patterned scratching on top of the images. Most of the petroglyphs are non representational, consisting of simple geometric circles with connecting lines, circles with pendant lines (balloons on a string), bisected circles, x'd circles, chevrons and rows of lines bisected with a perpendicular line, groups of of zigzag lines; amorphic rectilinear and curvilinear designs in simple to complex designs. The few representational petroglyphs include stick figure anthropomorphs, one with three digit hands and feet, species unidentifiable quadrupeds and bighorn sheep with parallel back sweeping horns. Absent from the petroglyph inventory are sunbursts, atlatls, and headdressed  figures.