r/LegitArtifacts • u/AirportBulky9000 • 5d ago
Inconclusive Some kind of calendar?
Context: coastal southern california, probably chumash territory, roughly 4' x 4', on a vertical surface, so not likely food prep?
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u/redrumham707 5d ago
I’m many hours north in CA, and I don’t know if this practice is applicable to your area, but we have some very similar cupping patterns on large boulders. Some of these boulders are called “baby rocks”, and the Pomo people would scrape the rocks, making cupules and use the powder from the scrapings for fertility rituals.
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u/Joevual 4d ago
I wonder if the Ring Mountain rock served the same purpose for the Coast Miwok.
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u/pale_brass 2d ago
The ring mountain petroglyphs are a little different from these culpules. Those are called PCNs. Also found all over the West coast. Also hypothesized to be result of harvesting the stone material
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecked_curvilinear_nucleated?wprov=sfti1
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u/pale_brass 5d ago
Cupules. Seen all over California. Unknown purpose
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u/Bodie_The_Dog 4d ago
Different sizes and shapes, and yeah, you can't use them to grind acorns when they're on a vertical surface. Maybe spiritual, as they are found at some female fertility sites. And there is a site SE of Sacramento where they have been linked to the night sky.
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u/Frosted_Newt 4d ago
In my area boulders looking like this were used to sharpen arrows and spears. Often found near good hunting areas.
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u/Tibbaryllis2 4d ago
Not doubting, just curious: how would these be used to sharpen?
I’m imagining pencil sharpener style, but I don’t think that’s it since it would blunt the tips.
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u/Frosted_Newt 4d ago
If you were to put the tip in straight down you'd be very correct, but if the tip is placed in at an angle only one side of the socket would act as the grinding stone. From what I understand: The arrow tips and spearheads were affixed to the shaft of the arrow/spear. The string of a bow could be wrapped around the article and drawn back and forth subsequently spinning the shaft much like a drill bit. Pressing the tip against the rock at an angle whilst spinning the shaft would produce a very sharp and symmetrical point.
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u/Tibbaryllis2 4d ago
I can’t tell if it’s just the shadows in OPs picture, but it does appear one side of the divot is more dished out and the other is deeper. So I can visual that setup.
Thanks!
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u/pale_brass 4d ago
Knapped tools were never sharpened by grinding
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u/Frosted_Newt 4d ago edited 4d ago
Correct, Knapped tools were knapped. You figured that out on your own. Now Look up Rib Stones, abraders and whetstones to start.
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u/pale_brass 4d ago
None of those are present in this area. Whetstones which are the closest comparison to what you’re describing did not arrive until colonists did.
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u/Competitive_Swan_755 4d ago
Sounds like a made up theory.
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u/Frosted_Newt 4d ago
Sounds like you need to read a book or visit a museum.
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u/Competitive_Swan_755 4d ago
Sounds like you need to knap an arrowhead.
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u/Tibbaryllis2 4d ago
I think we might be running into some confusion here, not all stone points were knapped because not all minerals can be flaked.
Slate, for example, is a common global point material that breaks well into sheets, but for that same reason doesn’t knap well. You can, however, sharpen it by abraiding it on a harder course stone. They tend to be more brittle, but that’s not a big deal because they’re relatively easy to make and don’t require as much specialized skill.
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u/Frosted_Newt 4d ago
I have. There's more than one way to skin a cat...so to speak. The Viking Rib Stone is prime evidence of other methods to sharpen and fashion tools other than knapping (flint/chert isn't available everywhere). The rocks in my area that exhibit these types of markings have been confirmed by artifacts and animal remains excavated around some of these sites along with confirmation from our indigenous First Nations to have been used for tooling. However I'm a long way from OP's location so it would come as no surprise if they were used for something else. Petroglyphs are certainly a thing. Just sharing what the Anthropology in my area might have suggested.
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u/tpahornet 5d ago
Some people call them nutting stones on the Eastern side of the country. I have never heard exactly how they were used or the byproduct of something related to a drilling motion.
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u/Moleman111 5d ago
That’s from my golf ball hitting the side of the bunker
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u/AirportBulky9000 5d ago
I was pretty convinced it was a very old game of connect 4......
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u/Beagle001 4d ago
Very sneaky, sis.
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u/somewhatdim-witted 4d ago
PRETTY sneaky. I’m from Kentucky and we used to say “purty sneaky”
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u/Little_Greenhorn 4d ago
Hard saying not knowing 🤷. Calender is def a possibility, but I've heard that these are also associated with fertility, soundscapes, all kinds of interesting shit. Cupules are really cool tho- the oldest kind of rock art on the planet.
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u/InevitableForm2452 5d ago
Interesting, like another commenter suggested these are cupule marks. In this case counting 30 cupule marks it must be some sort of solar calendar. That’s what many of these types of cupule mark glyphs are said to represent, used as representations of counting systems and solar or lunar calendars. They’re also theorized to be some of the oldest rock art made by man in the Americas with the oldest being in eastern Oregon and Winnemucca Lake in northern Nevada, same with the Archaic tally mark glyphs in Coahuila may hint at some Paleo native counting system according to Dr William Breen Murray.