We investigated rock varnish, a thin, manganese- and iron-rich, dark surface crust, on basaltic lava flows and petroglyphs in the Owens and Rose Valleys (California) by portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and femtosecond laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometry (fs-LA-ICPMS). The major element composition of the varnish was consistent with a mixture of Mn-Fe oxyhydroxides and clay minerals. As expected, it contained elevated concentrations of elements that are typically enriched in rock varnish, e.g., Mn, Pb, Ba, Ce, and Co, but also showed unusually high enrichments in U, Cu, and Th. The rare earth and yttrium (REY) enrichment pattern revealed a very strong positive cerium (Ce) anomaly and distinct negative europium (Eu) and Y anomalies. The light rare earth elements (REE) were much more strongly enriched than the heavy REY. These enrichment patterns are consistent with a formation mechanism by leaching of Mn and trace elements from aeolian dust, reprecipitation of Mn and Fe as oxyhydroxides, and scavenging of trace elements by these oxyhydroxides. We inferred accumulation rates of Mn and Fe in the varnish from their areal densities measured by pXRF and the known ages of some of the lava flow surfaces. The areal densities of Mn and Fe, as well as their accumulation rates, were comparable to our previous results from the desert of Saudi Arabia. There was a moderate dependence of the Mn areal density on the inclination of the rock surfaces, but no relationship to its cardinal orientation. We attempted to use the degree of varnish regrowth on the rock art surfaces as an estimate of their age. While an absolute dating of the petroglyphs was not possible because of the lack of suitable calibration surfaces and a considerable amount of variability, the measured degree of varnish regrowth on the various petroglyphs was consistent with chronologies based on archeological and other archaeometric techniques. In particular, our results suggest that rock art creation in the study area continued over an extended period of time, possibly starting around the Pleistocene/Holocene transition and extending into the last few centuries.

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One of the more spectacular expressions of prehistoric rock art in all of North America is the petroglyph concentration in the Coso Range of eastern California. These glyphs have played a prominent role in attempts to understand forager religious iconography. Four decades ago, Heizer and Baumhoff (1962) concluded that Great Basin petroglyphs were associated with hunting large game and were intended to supernaturally increase success in the hunt. Similarly, in their seminal work Grant et al. (1968) concluded that the mountain sheep drawings of the Coso region bolstered the "hunting magic" hypothesis. However, this hypothesis has become increasingly marginalized by a prevailing view that considers most rock art as an expression of individual shamanistic endeavor (cf. Lewis-Williams and Dowson, 1988; Whitley, 1994; Whitley and Loendorf, 1994). This article explores comparative ethnologic and archaeological evidence supporting the hunting magic hypothesis. I place this explanatory framework in a larger context based on a contemporary understanding of comparative religion and the complexity of forager symbolism. The article argues that the preponderance of Coso images are conventionalized iconography associated with a sheep cult ceremonial complex. This is inconsistent with models interpreting the Coso drawings as metaphoric images correlated with individual shamanic vision quests.

Coso Range rock drawings are a central subject and focus for debates positing alternative meanings and agents responsible for animal depictions in Great Basin prehistoric rock art. We present new evidence offering a middle ground between the divergent views of the 'hunting religion, increase rites and overkill' and the 'shaman, visions and rain-making' models. We argue that rock-art images, in general, possess multivocality and manifest imbricated conceptual metaphors operating on a variety of scales simultaneously. We recognize that Coso pictures, in one sense, metaphorically represent increase and renewal, human and animal fertility, and game animal magnification. Evidence for that perspective is presented including Coso bighorn with up-raised tails, 'spirit arrows', animals giving birth, those that appear pregnant, and an abundance of animals evidencing vitality and movement. Ritually adept shamans also appear to have often been the religious specialists or agents responsible for Coso rock art and the sources for fashioning these images were frequently visionary experiences.

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