| Steam Well is located near Red Mountain, California and is in territory occupied prehistorically by the Kawaiisu. The petroglyphs at Steam Well are typical of Kawaiisu shamanistic rock art that is located near a permanent water source, in this case a spring. Most of the petroglyphs are entopic elements with occasional anthropomorphs and bighorn sheep. Walter Baakkonen lived at Steam Well with his dogs and it was he who first showed me this site. Walter is gone now and so are his dogs and so is his cabin. This page is dedicated to Walter. Next 10 photos | |
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| The Steam Wells petroglyphs are located on the rock outcrops on the left and right sides of the "V" between the two low hills just ahead. Most are on the left, south side. | Two or three concentric circles on a vertical line with or without horizontal cross lines occur on multiple panels at this site. See photograph next row down on left. |
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| The petroglyphs on the left and right are pecked into the stone while the one circle center right is scratched and may be a modern attempt. | This panel is visibly repatinated and is one of the oldest at the site. The solid circles may be atlatl weights. |
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click
here to see replicas of rock art, great for gifts or for your own home or
office |
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| Most of the petroglyphs at Steam Well are Great Basin Curvilinear and Great Basin Rectilinear abstracts. They were probably made within the last 1000 years. | This bighorn sheep is depicted in the 'active' orientation which is typical of the Coso Representational Style, but the workmanship of this image is poor compared to sites further north of Steam Well. |
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| Well made, but with what meaning? | |
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Bear print with four toes. |
This petroglyph analyzed by David Whitley to represent a congregate of a rattlesnake and a bighorn sheep. Note the zigzag of the snake and curved horns of the bighorn. |
©2003 All rights reserved. Reproduction, distribution or other use of images without permission from the artist is prohibited.
