These May Be the Oldest Signs of Habitation In the California Desert

These May Be the Oldest Signs of Habitation In the California Desert
On this episode, we discover rock alignments made by the native people's of the Death Valley area.

[@artistic-off-road]

Thanks for checking out the video to this incredible spot. I recently watched a video about similar rock formations (cairns) made by the Kumeyaay peoples of what is now San Diego county. Those rock formations are said to align with various solstice patterns. I wonder if that is what is happening here.

[@GreenJeepAdventures]

Astronomical phenomenon is more defined, so that too depict it in a random way doesn't seem to fit. Given that the trails lead to specific areas of the lakes, and the rock alignments and cairns follow suit, it would be reasonable to infer that they are tied together. Determine the "why" of the trail, and then you might be closer to getting your answer. If the receding lakes were the last vesitages of dependable food, then perhaps they were supplications for good harvest. If the lakes were held as sacred, then it is possible young men were sent on pilgrimages, and the cairns might have been trail shrines or caches for magical objects, such as quartz.

[@FernVega]

Excellent storytelling. Really enjoyed this and the previous episode on geoglyphs you did a few weeks back. Everything you show is really intriguing and worthy of contemplation / additional research. Always look forward to seeing what new spots you visit!

[@EHMV2023]

Pine cones are dropped by birds all the time. Most likely the case here. Rock piles are quite common in times of planting crops to clear the larger stones out of a field (gotta put them somewhere) - as well as garden borders. If there was a time this was a green field of plenty - then perhaps. Thanks for exploring!

[@bamarillo]

Great job on another fascinating video. I find the pine cone especially intriguing!

[@artistic-off-road]

Thanks for watching!

[@lvfire68]

If you weren't in the park I would think your drone might be a great tool to use for searching for rock alignments. Interesting stuff at any rate!

[@GreenJeepAdventures]

In lieu of a drone, I have used painters poles and kites to get images in no fly zones.

[@chrisackerley1842]

Years ago I was hiking, around five miles South of Cholla Pass, which is on El Camino Diablo near the US-Mexico border in Southwest Arizona. Well up the bajada, nowhere near the valley floor, between two ravines I found two lines of rocks, around 6 feet long and three feet apart. The rocks were just country rock, they were not river stones. Each rock was 4-5 inches across and each was spaced 3 inches or so from the next. The ground was slightly sloped and the surface was completely undisturbed, apart from the two lines of rocks. There was no mound or depression, like you find at a grave site. Most interesting of all, each stone was half-buried. I lifted one of the stones up a little and it was very clear to me it had not been buried like that on purpose, it got that way after sitting in that spot for a very long time. That country gets so little rain I can not comprehend how long it must have taken those rocks to sink into the soil like that, other than to say it must have taken thousands of years. I have thought about those two lines of rocks many times over the years and I still can not guess why they were there. Any ideas you may have as their meaning or purpose will be appreciated.

[@artistic-off-road]

The geoglyph you found sounds a lot like those that are in this area, but unfortunately finding literature or accounts of what they mean is rare. My best guess is what I've proposed in these videos-waypoints somehow aligned to the geographic features. Your story is really compelling-nevertheless-and that day must have been pretty special. 😁