Post Office Rock
Post Office Rock12 bedrock mortars.Elevation 980 ft.Access to this site is strictly controlled. Call LARPD at (925) 373-5707 for details.Jim leads a group to Post Office Rock.A closer view.
Territory: Ssaoam
The Ssaoam were an Ohlone tribelet inhabiting the hills around Brushy Peak and the Altamont Pass. Their territory lay astride the main trade routes linking the Bay Area with the San Joaquin Valley. The Ssaoam acted as brokers in a regional trade network with the Volvon (Bay Miwoks) and the Tamcan (Northern Valley Yokuts).They hosted trade feasts on the northeast side of Brushy Peak. Acess to this area is controlled by the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD). Call (925) 373-5707 for details about visiting this area on a ranger led tour.
Wind and water have worked their magic on the rock formations scattered below Brushy Peak’s northeast flank. This is a surreal, if not supernatural, place.
The main Ssaoam settlement was on the southwest side of Brushy Peak. It spread over the slopes of Brushy Peak on terraces and ridges. We’ve found 141 bedrock mortars here at 10 distinct sites. All of these sites are on non-restricted parkland in the Brushy Peak Regional Preserve.
There are two cupule rocks in this settlement: one has 23 cupules, the other 18.
View of Brushy Peak from near the Laughlin Ranch Staging Area. Nearly all the bedrock mortar sites we’ve found on this side of Brushy Peak are visible from here.
Reservoir
Reservoir7 bedrock mortarsElevation 743 ft.These mortars sit where relatively level ground gives way to rocks and rising contours. They are subject to burial by soils washed down from above.One of a pair of bullet-shaped mortars on a slab near the five-mortar rock pictured above. Note the machined interior and flat rim.Photograph by Bob Bardell.
Second Terrace
Second Terrace20 bedrock mortars; housepits.Elevation 880 ft.That’s another multiple mortar rock at the center of the photo.A closer view. Note the bell-shaped vegetation plug.A view over some of the mortar rocks here.Previous two photographs by Bob Bardell.
Sulphur Spring
Sulphur Spring18 cupule rock; 5 bedrock mortars; slick 70′ away.Elevation 722 ft.The cupule rock. The use of cupule rocks here and elsewhere is, for the most part, shrouded in mystery. 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. […]
Third Terrace
Third TerraceSix bedrock mortars spread over a fairly wide area.Elevation 1035 ft.A view of the third terrace.One of the two two-mortar rocks here. Note the battered interior of the funnel mortar.Looking at a mortar rock holding a big bowl mortar.The bowl mortar.Above photographs by Bob Bardell.The other two-mortar rock here.Bob stands near the other mortar […]
Top ‘o Brushy Peak
Top ‘o Brushy Peak1 bedrock mortarElevation 1629 ft.Good eyes, Richard.
Upper Fetus
Upper Fetus5 bedrock mortarsElevation 985 ft.Access to this site is strictly controlled. Call LARPD at (925) 373-5707 for details.The rock that gave birth to Wek-wek (Prairie Falcon man).A closer look at the fetus.A Golden Eagle keeps an eye on us.
Vernal Pool
Vernal Pool23 bedrock mortarsElevation 1025 ft.Access to this site is strictly controlled. Call LARPD at (925) 373-5707 for details.One of the vernal pools that give this site its name.Another view of the same pool, this time with water in it.The Brain lives in a nearby cave.Jim and Ranger Pat Sotelo head for a rock shelter […]
Windmill Overlook, Central
Windmill Overlook, Central22 bedrock mortars; housepitsElevation 1380 ft.From this ridge one can see and hear the windmills from the Altamont Pass wind farms.Alien creatures stalk across Ssaoam land..Looking toward the site..Two of the mortar rocks here.There are several housepits at this site..The rocks here provide some shelter from the prevailing winds. Note the volvano-shaped mortar […]
Windmill Overlook, Lower
Windmill Overlook, Lower20 bedrock mortars and several housepits spread along the base of a rock ledge.Elevation 1355 ft.Looking out on the Livermore Valley.Afternoon shadows creep across the land as Bob walks below the rock ledge.A two-mortar rock. Note the elliptical upper section of the funnel mortar.Photograph by Bob Bardell.