A survey and analysis of prehistoric rock art of the Warner Valley region, Lake County, Orego

This study examines 117 archaeological sites containing a particularly rich corpus of rock art. It investigates the place of rock art in the Warner Valley cultural system and the relationship of rock art, an aspect of the projective subsystem, to subsistence and settlement patterns.;Traditional models for prehistoric subsistence and settlement in the region posited that residents spent winters in lowland base camps and used lowland task sites to gather plant and small game resources, venturing to upland areas for brief hunting forays and procurement of wood and lithic materials. Examination of extensive upland rock art sites, and results of recent ethnographic studies, have led to a new model that posits intensive use of some upland sites by large groups of people who gathered roots in late spring and early summer for immediate use and for storage.;Some researchers have suggested that rock art functions as "hunting magic" and that art is placed along game trails or at places where game can be ambushed. Data from 117 Warner Valley rock art sites were examined to determine if correlations existed between location of rock art and particular resources, including plants, animals, marshes, lakes, rims and drainages which were known to have been used by prehistoric residents of the valley. Negative correlations were found between rock art and critical ranges of deer, antelope, and mountain sheep. Positive correlations were found between rock art locations and upland areas which supported plant communities which include the roots harvested by prehistoric and historic Great Basin populations. Positive correlations were also found between rock art locations and presence of native grass communities in the lowlands.;The Shannon-Weaver information statistic is used to measure diversity of design types and design styles in the Warner Valley. Evidence from the Warner Valley supports the revised model for subsistence and settlement. Further, it contradicts the theory that rock art is hunting-related, or associated with solitary vision quests. Instead, it appears that rock art is related to aggregation. The context in which the art appears gives us clues to relationships between subsystems of the prehistoric Warner Valley cultural system.