Beyond Boundaries: A Discussion of "out-of'place" Yokuts and Chumash Motifs

Summary

Rock art research by Grant (1965) and Heizer and Clewlow (1973) revealed the prolific number of painted images that Chumash and Yokuts cultures produced in South Central California. Previous research (ibid; Lee 1991; Grant 1979) often focused on defining distinctive stylistic components and elements that characterize and differentiate these respective traditions, and define their cultural boundaries. Borderland rock art sites such as Carneros Rocks and Painted Rock have become continued points of discussion in terms of cultural affiliation and patrimony. Yet, many pictograph sites within these defined boundaries show diagnostic traits of the neighboring tribe. These site have often been overlooked and have remained anomalies. We suggest these anomalous diagnostic elements indicate that cultural boundaries were permeable. This paper discusses a number of sites that possess distinct stylistic components and elements, which suggest extensive cultural interactions between these two groups. These exceptions are discussed in the context of cultural patrimony, and the cultural identity of rock art sites are placed into a larger context, one that looks at the broader social, historical, and environmental pressures, which influenced the development of this magnificent rock art record.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Rock Art Research: A Regional Analysis   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage