Chalfant Petroglyph Site Gallery

I visited the Chalfant Petroglyph Site (Mno-7) early on the morning of Monday, May 24, 2021.  This site is well known, and very easy to get to. From the intersection of Highway 6 and Five Bridges Road north of Bishop, California, travel north on Highway 6 for approximately 15.35 miles.  Turn left on a side road (Google Maps identifies it as “Petroglyph Road”, but I saw no sign) and go .84 miles to the parking area for the petroglyph site (at .29 miles turn right at T intersection; at .42 miles turn left on dirt road that takes you to the parking area).  From the parking area walk to the cliffside and head to the right (north).  You will see a few isolated elements/small panels until your reach the bend where you will see the larger panels. Below are some of the photos I took that morning.  Unless otherwise noted, the photos were taken with my Nikon D7200 camera.  I have also included the site description and some of the diagrams of the site from Werlhof’s 1965 survey, which I thought you might find interesting.  To see my blog about the trip that includes my visit to the Chalfant Site, look here. 

This is the part of the cliffside where I began to see isolated elements/small panels of rock art at Chalfant.
This is the first petroglyph I spotted at Chalfant.
This small panel was badly weathered.
Another isolate, high up on the edge of the cliff.
An old, but impressive, fertility panel at Chalfant.
Another shot of the Chalfant fertility panel that I took after the sun came up. This view is much clearer.
Another badly weathered panel. Note the incorporation of a natural hole in the stone.
This shot of the panel above was taken after the sun came up...as a result, you can see more details in the panel.
The first of the large circular elements I saw at Chalfant. Notice the fertility symbols to the left.
The above panel, which I shot later in the sun.
Closer shot of one the first large circular elements at Chalfant.
As I moved along the cliff to the north, I began to see more and more art.
A closer shot shows more detail. See the old spiral/circle in upper right of photo?
This one was unique, and quite large, along the cliff top.
Nice contrast on this one.
In my imagination, I can almost see a zoomorph in this one.
It is starting to get more and more complex, and interesting.
In this shot, you can see the beginning of the main panel the right hand side.
The main panel at Chalfant, just before the sun came up and illuminated the cliffside. May 24, 2021.
Notice the use of a natural hole in the center of this little element.

I HAD GOTTEN TO THE CHALFANT SITE AT FIRST LIGHT.  ABOUT 40 MINUTES LATER, THE SUN BEGAN TO PEEK OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO THE EAST AND THE SITE WAS BATHED IN LIGHT…

The left hand portion of the main panel at Chalfant.
Most of the main panel at Chalfant.
Another view of the main panel at Chalfant.
An interesting little panel. Hands?
This panel is in an area just to the right of the main panel.
These would be very hard to see without the proper light.
Another large circular element.
Another shot of the signature panel at Chalfant.
Detail of the center portion of the main panel at Chalfant. Some very interesting and unique elements!
Another view of this panel...lots of circular elements!
Detail of the lower right portion of the main panel at Chalfant.
Another shot showing details in the main panel. Notice the extreme weathering.
The area to the right of the main panel.
This area looks pretty Spartan compared to the main panel area.
This little panel has really suffered the effects of weathering.
Notice that there are more fertility symbols in this panel (lower right).
This angle gives a better view of the elements on the face of the rock that sits at a right angle to the large circular element.
Unfinished business? This is the last element I saw to the north of the main panel.
In this shot you can see the barrier in front of the main panel.
I took this shot from quite a distance from the cliff.
Wide shot of the main panel, taken from a distance.

AND FINALLY, FIVE PHOTOS I TOOK WITH MY SAMSUNG S9 CELLPHONE…

The main panel at Chalfant. Looks a little surreal in this light.
A large circular element that is in an area to the left of the main panel.
The main panel, in the early morning sun.
Yours truly, in front of the main panel at the Chalfant Site.

During my preparation for this trip, I spent quite a bit of time reading the 1965 Report by Jay C. von Werlof of U.C. Berkeley.  I found it very interesting and informative, so I thought I would include his description of the Chalfant Site (Mno-7) and some of this diagrams of the art at the site.  Also, a little sidenote:  The Chalfant Site was named after the nearby community which is named W.A.Chalfant who moved to the area in 1885 with his family, where they started The Inyo Register newspaper. Chalfant was the editor for 55 years.

Mno-7

Mno-7 is located three miles south of Shealey in Chalfant Valley, along a sandstone bluff one-half mile west of Highway 6. A dry wash connects this site with Mno-5, two and one-half miles to the southwest.  Mno-7 is not only an extensive site (Figs. 34i-n; 35; 36a-j), but it also has what is probably the largest single petroglyph ever fashioned in the Great Basin Curvilinear style. One of the circles is slightly less than six feet in diameter. It is noteworthy that most of the large circles displayed at this site are almost perfect in form. The designs in the sandstone bluff are badly weathered, making it difficult to determine the actual technique utilized in preparing the glyphs. It would seem, however, that pecking and scratching methods were both employed. The grooves in some curvilinear elements have eroded unevenly, probably due to irregular depths of pecks. The grooves in the rectilinear designs generally have more uniformly weathered surfaces, indicating that the lines were fashioned by scratching deeply into the stone wall with a sharp tool. Though this method approximates carving and probably antedates the superficial scratching observed on lava surfaces at other sites, it is classed here as a scratching technique.  The only other Owens Valley site noticeably employing this type of “V’1 shaped groove is Iny-278 (Fig. 20b). The difference between these grooves and the scratched lines observed elsewhere is primarily in the depth of line.  The relative softness of the stone at Mno-7 and Iny-278 lends itself more readily to cutting deeper lines than could be obtained by the same incisive movements on dense lava.

 

The first glyphs made at Mno-7 were undoubtedly Curvilinear in style. Figure 35b and d show Rectilinear elements superimposed over Curvilinear designs. It is observed, however, that most rectilinear petroglyphs were placed on a separate portion of the wall, at the southernmost end of the site. These are shown in Figure 36f-j. The large circular designs shown in Figures 34k and 35a seem identified with the elongated “beaked” forms pecked alongside. Both kinds of designs have weathered uniformly, and appear to have been made by the pecking technique. Above shallow talus deposits, the bluff is fractured along vertical and horizontal lines which form a surface of staggered, roughly shaped blocks and columns. Notches are cut along one edge of a tall sandstone block. This unusual 6 foot glyph appears to have been made by hammering against a sharp stone blade placed on the edge of the block (Fig. 36i). The notches are well spaced, and the indentations about equal in depth. Above the notched edge, and on the tableland, are several bird tracks (Fig. 36j) which were pecked into the well-varnished layer of lava.  The dry wash in front of this site originates twenty miles to the north and ends at Owens River east of Chalk Bluff. Mno-7 is at the southern end of the wintering grounds for herds from the Mammoth Pass-June Lake areas. From here the feeding grounds extend northward to Benton and then northeastward through Truman Meadows into southern Mineral County, Nevada.  There is evidence of an Indian occupation site on the east side of the dry wash, slightly south of the petroglyph area. Obsidian and stone artifacts have been gathered on this sandy plain by local collectors.