Speakers of Coast Miwok dialects lived in Marin and parts of Sonoma Counties.
Ring Mountain #2Multiple PCNs and fantastic viewsElevation 488 ft.Thanks to Danielle for getting us back out to Ring Mountain.A PCN is created by pecking a circular or oval groove in a rock (typically schist in the Bay Area) leaving a raised “nucleated” center that may itself be subject to further manipulation.For an in-depth study of […]
Ring Mountain kitchen rockOne bedrock mortar, one anvil, and middenElevation 23 ft.This is another one of Joel’s discoveries. It’s a beautiful streamside site not far from the bay. The mortar is on mica schist. Look for small garnets and larger amphibolite crystals embedded in the rock. These are unusual high pressure, low temperature minerals.The kitchen […]
Ring Mountain Prayer CircleEnjoy the fabulous 360 degree view.Check out this video by Alexander Kerekes of the Prayer Circle on Ring Mountain.Attention Mac users. If this video does not play properly, copy and then paste this URL into your browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3HQjBlA7a0.
San MarinMultiple PCNsElevation 174 ft.A form of rock art known as the pecked curvilinear mucleated (PCN) petroglyph survives in a number of North Bay locations and can be found throughout the Coast Range mountains from the Oregon border to Santa Barbara.For an in-depth study of PCNs see Donna Gillette’s 2011 dissertation Cultural Markers on the […]
White Hillsttacked rock walls forming an obtuse angle.Elevation 1128 ft.The park ranger who checked up on us while we were exploring the wall claimed the original land grantee had Indian laborers construct it. “The Miwok didn’t build walls,” he assured us. The wall marks part of the boundary between the San Geronimo and Punta de […]
Deer IslandTwo bedrock mortars and two anvilsElevation 155 ft.This is another one of Joel’s North Bay discoveries. The mortars are on the other side of this somewhat unpromising-looking rock.Why are mortars conjoined like this? The difference in depth suggests that the shallower one is a “starter” mortar where nuts like acorns are broken up into […]
Miwok Meadows #1Shellmound midden at the mouth of Miwok Meadows in China Camp State ParkElevation 25 ft.There are three known shellmounds in this general vicinity. We’ve found two. The map accompanying N. C. Nelson’s Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region showed eleven shellmounds along this stretch of shoreline. Undoubtedly this was one of them.This […]
Miwok Meadows #2Shellmound midden at the head of Miwok Meadows in China Camp State ParkElevation 43 ft.Looking over the mound with San Pablo Bay and the Napa Hills in the background. There was a Miwok village at this site. The map accompanying N. C. Nelson’s Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region showed eleven shellmounds […]
Olompali20 bedrock mortars and a 15 cupule rockElevation 477 ft.Indians have lived in and around Olompali State Park for over 8,000 years. Coast Miwok people settled at Olompali about 3,500 years ago. Olompali became a major trading center about 1300 A.D. Archaeologists digging here unearthed a silver sixpence coin depicting Queen Elizazbeth, minted in 1567, […]
Ring MountainMultiple PCNsA PCN is created by pecking a circular or oval groove in a rock (typically schist in the Bay Area) leaving a raised “nucleated” center that may itself be subject to further manipulation.For an in-depth study of PCNs see Donna Gillette’s 2011 dissertation Cultural Markers on the Landscape: the PCN Pecked Curvilinear Nucleated […]