Ancient Mysteries Kumeyaay Rock Art

Cupules

These indentations in the granite on the San Pasqual Battlefield are not bullet holes. They are a tribal art called "cupules".

Kumeyaay may have used these indentations to create symbols for rites of initiation, as a way to call the rain, to increase fertility, or for some other unknown purpose. The surviving Kumeyaay have no record or tradition of their use (at least so far as they shared with the Europeans)

I photographed these cupules while visiting the San Pasqual Battlefield Museum. The patterns remind me of constellations in the night sky ... perhaps they are calendar markings for important dates in the Kumeyaay history.

While we were out exploring, my son William decided he was going to go for a hike.

As always, I Steem for my kids...