petraphile

Ghost Hearders
Originally uploaded by TheOdyssey.tv

Having visited hundreds of sites all over the world, including Lascaux and Chauvet in France and the Côa Valley in Portugal, [archaeologist David S. Whitley] believes the Coso Petroglyphs to be one of the most important rock art sites on earth.

Mr. Whitley estimated that there may be as many as 100,000 images carved into the dark volcanic canyons above the China Lake basin, some as old as 12,000 to 16,000 years, others as recent as the mid-20th century.

In Rock Art Redefines Ancient in today's New York Times.

The Coso Rock Art District, just off the road between L.A. and Vegas, has defied disturbance because it also operates as a firing range for U.S. Naval air weapons.

Go figure.

It's open for visitors (during which time I'm pretty sure they turn the bombs off). You can arrange a tour through the Maturango Museum »

You can also take a Flickr tour:

underscore

Heading home this afternoon from Evanston, after a wonderful conversation with a friend, my mind strayed randomly to something I read once about Chagall's Self-portrait with Seven Fingers. It was this:

The mysterious extra fingers on his left hand can be explained by a Yiddish saying, whereby to do things with seven fingers means doing something really well and with all one's heart. [1]

Not so random, I guess, because the conversation of the morning was about exactly that: deciding to do a thing and then pouring your whole heart into it. Owning it. Giving it your full talent.

Because to do less it to set yourself up for later regret.

And then tonight, a Flickrite commented randomly on a photo that I posted a couple years back (July of 2005 -- it's rare that photos that deep in the stream receive attention) with a question about provenance. I pulled up the image to answer his question, and realized that here, in the impression of hands left by a Mayan artist around about 1000 B.C.E. -- were seven fingers.



Who knows if the artist intended the seven fingered impression, or if his hand just slipped. But for me, this night -- with Jung as my witness -- I took it to heart as a telling punctuation mark.



[1] From Phaidon's biography: Chagall

Above: Self-portrait with Seven Fingers by Chagall; Mayan artist unknown.

getcher rock on

I've been away -- playing mostly, thinking some. Scrambling on rock faces and seeing what's over the next ridge.

Here's a quickie slideshow of ~ 5,000 year old rock art from a spot called Grapevine Canyon on a little spurt of Nevada Highway 163. The turn-off is a dirt road called Christmas Tree Pass (why it's called Christmas Tree Pass I have no idea -- this isn't evergreen country). Keep your eyes peeled because it's easy to miss.

As are so many things that are worthwhile.