Downstream from the Whelk Pond
Downstream from the Whelk Pond.Single oblong mortar 300 yards downstream from the Whelk Pond on “The Lip.”Note the pestle near Bob’s left hand.
Territory: Bay Miwok
Speakers of Bay Miwok dialects occupied most of the area of Contra Costa County not bordering San Francisco or San Pablo bays. The territory of one Bay Miwok tribe, the Jalquin, may have extended into Alameda county and touched San Francisco bay at the mouth of San Leandro Creek.
Jamie’s Knob
Jamie’s Knob13 bedrock mortars.Elevation 445 ft.Thanks to Jaime for turning us on to this great site. It’s just a short 20 minute walk from the end of Snyder Lane. When you go through the gate onto park land take the left-hand, single-track trail. This path conveys you to a private drive bordered by a public […]
Lower North Blue Oak
Lower North Blue Oak3-4 possible bedrock mortarsElevation 2041 feetIt’s hard to tell sometimes if a hole in a rock has been worked or is just a natural feature.
Mid Silva Creek Terrace
Mid Silva Creek Terrace11 bedrock mortarsElevation 1101 ft.Thanks to Joel for discovering this beautiful, protected site.Looking down on the site with Los Vaqueros Reservoir in the background. Beyond the hills of the Vasco lies the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada.Looking into the site.The mortars are strung out on a terrace along the creek.A […]
Rock City
Rock City13 bedrock mortars, grinding slick, cupules, and incisions.There are deep, well-worn mortars here.Another view.
Tao House Grooved Rock
Tao House Grooved RockThis site is named for Eugene O’Neill’s nearby Tao House–a National Historic site.This rock sits all by itself in the middle of a big field on the side of Las Trampas Ridge. Across the San Ramon Valley to the east looms Mt. Diablo. The grooves in the rock are straight and of […]
Blaisdell Trail Alignment
Blaisdell Trail Alignment200 yard long rock alignmentThis alignment runs right up the ridgeline from near the intersection of Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory Roads.
Elephant Rock
Elephant RockOne bedrock mortar, cupules, and carved graffiti.Elephant Rock may have been a “prayer” site. See Cupule Petroglyphs in the Diablo Range by E. Breck Parkman in the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 254-55 (1986).Home of the Elephant Rock.
Jan Enderle Village
Jan Enderle Village.35 bedrock mortars near a spring.This site is named for the poet whose work graces the original edition of Native American Indian Sites in the East Bay Hills.The Village site is a charming place, quiet and serene.A wide and deep bullet-shaped mortar.
Lower Village Overlook
Lower Village OverlookOne bowl-shaped mortar about 7″ in diameter.One larger bowl mortar with a V-shaped cone mortar inside it.Both mortars on one rock.We call this area overlooking the Lower Volvon Village “Louise’s Shelf” in honor of Louise Lacey, whose interest in power spots in the East Bay led us to this site and others nearby.This […]