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A Quantitative Analysis of Superimpositions in the Rock Art of the Coso Range, California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Klaus F. Wellmann M.D.
Klaus F. Wellmann M.D.*
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Beekman Downtown Hospital, 170 William Street, New York, NY 10038
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Abstract

All superimpositions encountered in a sample of 106 panels of proto-Shoshonean petroglyphs in the Coso Range (T22S-R40E). California, were quantitatively analyzed. The relative numbers of superimpositions in three of the nine subject categories (patterned-body anthropomorphs, other humans, and boat-shaped sheep) were higher than expected. Some designs (other humans, boat-shaped sheep, medicine bags) formed the overlying elements significantly more often, and others (patterned-body anthropomorphs, other elements) were seen more frequently as underlying subjects. Boat-shaped sheep and patterned-body humans constituted the most commonly encountered pairs of motifs linked in superimpositions; the high incidence of this particular linkage provides visual support for the postulated occurrence of a late intensification of ritual activities designed to help increase the supply of game animals. The data also contribute some new information about the possible iconographic roles of two controversial design motifs, the “shields” and the “medicine bags.”

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , July 1979 , pp. 546 - 556
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1979

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References

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