Chaw'se Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
N 38° 25.494 W 120° 38.589
10S E 705738 N 4255590
the largest collection of grinding holes in North America.
Waymark Code: WMZ7R
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/20/2006
Views: 197
This California State Historic Park is named after a great outcropping of marbleized limestone with some 1,185 mortar holes — the largest collection of bedrock mortars in North America.
Chaw’se is the Miwok word for grinding rock. Upon this rock, they ground the acorns and other seeds into meal, slowly forming the cup shaped depressions in the stone that can still be seen today. Along with the mortar holes, the main grinding rock within the park also features a number of decorative carvings (petroglyphs): circles, spoked wheels, animal and human tracks, wavy lines, etc. Some of these carvings are thought to as much as two or even three thousand years old and are now becoming difficult to see. This association of rock art and bedrock mortar pits is unique in California. Except for one other small site, Chaw'se has the only known occurrence of mortars intentionally decorated with petroglyphs.
In addition to the grinding rocks, the park is also home to a museum, featuring a variety of exhibits and a vast collection of Sierra Nevada Indian artifacts. A Miwok village complete with a ceremonial roundhouse has been reconstructed in the middle of the small valley (the roundhouse is registered as California Historical Landmark #1001). The Museum has been designed to reflect the architecture of the traditional roundhouse. Exhibited in this two-story museum are examples of the technology and crafts of the Miwok and other Sierra Nevada Native American groups. As a regional Indian museum, the collection at Chaw'se includes exhibits on the Northern, Central and Southern Miwok, Maidu, Konkow, Monache, Nisenan, Tubatulabal, Washoe, and Foothill Yokuts.
Visit Instructions: To log your visit to this Waymark, post a picture of your GPSr next to the artifact. Post a second, wider picture to show the "Ancient Evidence" in context.