PETROGLYPHS.US

Painted Rock Pictograph Site

Selby Rocks are a series of cross bedded marine sandstone formations that were formed when the Plain was submerged beneath a shallow sea 20 million years ago. Archaeological evidence from village sites indicate the Chumash people first moved onto the Carrizo Plain about 2000 BC, and thrived until mostly abandoning the area (due to persistent drought-like conditions?) around AD 600. The Chumash left behind stunning pictographs in the natural alcoves and small caves formed in the sandstone outcrops. The Selby pictographs are not concentrated in one area, they are spread out in ones, twos and threes over a series of eastern facing sandstone canvasses. Most are in alcoves, but some are exposed to the elements and are difficult to discern.

The pictographs were painted in red, black and white pigments with yucca & rodent tail hair brushes and sometimes just by simple finger painting. Yellow, green and blue pigments are occasionally seen. Pictographs are much more fragile than are petroglyphs, and quickly deteriorate from exposure to rain and wind abrasion. Unfortunately the natural exfoliation of the sandstone causes pieces of the images to spall and fall from the paintings. The Yokut people also lived in this area and some of the rock art on the Carrizo Plain was surely made by them. In general, Yokut pictographs tend to include large polychrome figures and motifs, while the Chumash pictographs include small elements, circular mandela motifs and complex red, black and white panels.