#MyCalifornia: The Blythe Intaglios

Exit Hwy 95 just north of the I-10, and be transported back in time 450-2000 years ago.

The drab scenery flashes by at 65 mph for most travelers passing through Blythe, CA on the I-10. But if you slip off the freeway and pass through some hay and cotton fields, fed by the mighty Colorado River, there is a garden of giant figures that awaits you.

The Blythe Intaglios, inscribed into the desert pavement by unknown hands, reminds us that we are not the first ones to appreciate the bounty of the Lower Colorado River Valley. Not even the Mohave nor the Quechan tribes remember who had the scope of vision to carve such grand depictions.

If you ask members of tribal societies which still exist in the area to this day, they will tell you that the human figures are representations of a divine creator. The animal figures exist to convey a creation story. “Their age is inbetween 450-2000 years old. According to the Mohave and Quechans, natives to the lower Colorado River area, the human figures represent Mastamho, the Creator of all life. The animal figures represent Hatakulya, one of two mountain lions/persons who helped in the Creation. In ancient times, sacred ceremonial dances were held in the area to honor the creation” https://www.historicmysteries.com/blythe-intaglios-geoglyphs/

Petroglyphs are designs pecked into stone, revealing the lighter color beneath. These Intaglios were created using a similar technique, only performed on a grqnd scale over the gravel surface of the mesas. The dark, varnished material was scraped away, exposing lighter unvarnished gravel beneath.

Although Native Americans continued to hold rituals at these spiritually significant sites, the white man only discovered their existence in 1932. A pilot flew over and spotted the animal and human figures quite clearly from his airborne vantage point. Little attention was paid to the site until an article in National Geographic drew some tourists. The area was even scarred by practice tank battles conducted by General Patton himself. Only in 1982 were fences erected to protect this delicate cultural resource.

It felt eerie to behold these over-100 -foot-tall entities. To me, it felt similar to entering a gothic cathedral, where the sculptures were foreshortened to be viewed looking up from a position of mortal humility. I imagine how it must have been, witnessing the medicine ceremonies with fire and starlight at the feet of their creator!

...When viewed from the head down, the perspective does suggest aliens to the pop culture eye (but which is an insinuation that Native Americans rightfully find ignorant.)

The animal figure generates some controversy. Is it one of the sacred Mountain Lion/Human Beings, or is it a post-contact Spanish horse? Dating Intaglios is not yet available to archaeological science.

There are supposed to be many more Intaglios scattered in this region. We took the rugged 4WD trail meandering back up into the edge of Big Maria Mountains Wilderness, but didn't see any. It was a very cold day with high winds, so we just took in the rocky glory of the mountains and the view of the Lower Colorado River Valley below.

The track leading west towards Big Maria Mountains.

View of the Colorado River Valley to the east.

The track loops back towards the highway via the creekbed.

A trio of Barrel Cacti supervises.

Here's an interesting section of the Wikipedia article on this location:

Patterns and circles at the site suggest that local groups may have danced there.[1] Trails lead to the intaglios and rock alignments and rock cairns are often nearby the intaglios.[1] Ethnographer Boma Johnson has tried to place the figures in context of Yuman oral history and cosmology.[7] From this understanding, the figures portray mythic characters, and are often found where mythic events are thought to have occurred.[7] One of the notable mythic figures is a 20-to-25-meter long humanoid figure located next to a second glyph, this of a quadruped resembling a mountain lion.[7] Additionally, 18-foot (5.5 m)-tall figures bearing a likeness to Mastamho and Kataar, the "hero twins of the creation myth," can be seen near Fort Mojave in Arizona.

Some researchers hypothesize that the intaglios are stopping points on a keruk pilgrimage or simply the practice of the keruk ceremony at various places.[13]The keruk was a mourning ceremony that was practiced by various Native Americans in southern California. The keruk included the reenactment of the creator's death and the recognition of the people who had died since the last keruk. Warfare has been offered a possible explanation as to the spread along the Colorado River of ceremonies such as the keruk and the similar style of desert intaglios.[13]

Of the nearly 60 sites containing humanoid figures, almost all of them have a deeply entrenched torso, while the limbs are much more shallowly etched into the surface. Often, the head and/or one or more arms of the figure will not have been represented at all.[7]The largest human figure is 171 feet (52 m) long, while the smallest is 95 feet (29 m) long.[10]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blythe_Intaglios

While you're visiting the Blythe Intaglios, you might want to do what we did and check out the nearby Palo Verde Dam...why not? It facilitates all the agriculture along the Colorado River to the border of Mexico.

Thank you for joining me on this tour of another mesmerizing location in #MyCalifornia. Check out the other posts on that hashtag, and send some love to @socalsteemit for hosting this weekly contest!

Here are previous posts from my overlanding tour of the Lower Colorado River Valley @mattlovell and I did this New Year's:

https://steemit.com/mycalifornia/@creationofcare/mycalifornia-lower-colorado-river-valley-pt-1

https://steemit.com/mycalifornia/@creationofcare/mycalifornia-lower-colorado-river-valley-pt-2

Love,cat
@creationofcare

#SoCalSteemit is building and supporting the Steemit community of Southern California. If you are from SoCal and are into creating quality content here on Steemit, we'd love for you to follow us @SoCalSteemit and join our group on Discord!