Bear Paw Petroglyphs and the Prehistoric Martis Complex

Abstract

People of the Martis Complex occupied lands adjoining the north-central Sierra Nevada from approximately 2000 B.C. to 500 A.D. They left their rock art on 100 or more rock outcroppings. The appearance of glyphs clearly resembling a bear paw or bear track at several dozen petroglyph sites suggested that this symbol in the north-central Sierra Nevada might be unique to the Martis people. A review of the occurrence of bear paw glyphs at ninety nine recorded sites in Nevada and 265 petroglyph sites in California showed that none of these glyphs appeared at the 293 sites more than 90 km from Martis territory. By contrast, 133 bear paw glyphs were recorded at twenty-nine sites in or near Martis territory. The frequent use of the bear paw symbol in the Martis rock art suggests that it may be a ritualistic symbol related to a bear cult, bear clan, or a family or clan totem in the culture of these prehistoric people.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Clewlow

C. W.

Jr.

1984 Stage II Final Report for CA-NEV-407: Archaeological Data Recovery Program, report from Ancient Enterprises, Inc. to Caltrans, Marysville, California.

Elsasser

A. B.

1960 The Archaeology of the Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada, University of California Archaeological Survey Report 51.

Elsasser

A. B.

and Gortner

W. A.

1991 The Martis Complex Revisited, North American Archaeologist, 12, pp. 361–376.

Elston

R. G.

1971 A Contribution to Washo Archaeology, Nevada Archaeological Survey Research Paper 2.

Elston

R. G.

Davis

J. O.

Leventhal

and Covington

1977 The Archaeology of the Tahoe Reach of the Trukee River, Nevada Archaeological Survey, Northern Divison, Reno.

Farber

1982 Archaeological Excavations at the Chalk Bluff Ridge, Nevada County, California, with a New Interpretation of the Martis and Mesilla Complexes, Anthropological Papers of University Foundation No. 3, California State University, Chico.

Farmer

M. F.

1982 Bear Ceremonialism among the Navajos and Other Apachaeans, in Navajo Religion and Culture: Selected Views. Papers in Honor of Leland C. Wyman, Museum of New Mexico Papers in Anthropology 17, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Foster

1983 An Ancient Bear Cult in the Sierra Nevada: The Evidence from Petroglyphs, paper presented at the Rock Art Symposium, San Diego Museum of Man, Nov. 5, 1983.

Gortner

W. A.

1984 Ancient Rock Carvings of the Central Sierra: The North Fork Indian Petroglyphs, Portola Press, Woodside, California.

10.

Gortner

W. A.

1986 The Martis Indians: Ancient Tribe of the Sierra Nevada, Portola Press, Woodside, California.

11.

Grant

1967 Rock Art of the American Indian, T. Y. Crowell Co., New York.

12.

Heizer

R. F.

and Baumhoff

M. A.

1962 Prehistoric Rock Art of Nevada and Eastern California, University of California Press, Berkeley.

13.

Heizer

R. F.

and Clewlow

C. W.

Jr. 1973 Prehistoric Rock Art of California, Ballena Press, Socorro, New Mexico.

14.

Kowta

1988 The Archaeology and Prehistory of Plumas and Butte Counties, California: An Introduction and Interpretive Model, California Archaeological Site Inventory, Northeast Information Center, California State University, Chico.

15.

Kroerper

H. C.

and Farmer

M. F.

1987 A Bear-shaped Crescentic from Northern San Diego County, California, Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 9, pp. 282–288.

16.

Mallery

1989 Picture Writing of the American Indians, 1972 Reprint by Dover Publications, New York.

17.

Markley

1981 An Analysis of the Distribution of Projectile Points from the Tahoe National Forest: Implications for Central California Prehistory, paper presented at Society for California Archaeology Annual Meeting.

18.

McKern

W. C.

1983 Western Colorado Petroglyphs, Bureau of Land Management Cultural Resources Series No. 8, Denver.

19.

Moratto

M. J.

1984 California Archaeology, Academic Press, New York.