Cueva Pintada (California)

	Cueva Pintada
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Pictographs from Cueva Pintada (1912)
	Cueva Pintada Location in Monterey County
Location	King City, California
Coordinates	35°59′24″N 121°29′44″W / 35.99000°N 121.49556°WCoordinates: 35°59′24″N 121°29′44″W / 35.99000°N 121.49556°W ⧼validator-fatal-error⧽; ;
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NRHP reference #	75000445
Added to NRHP	February 13, 1975

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Cueva Pintada, locally known as La Cueva Pintada, (in Spanish means "the painted cave"), is a well preserved prehistoric rock shelter covered with white, red, black, and ochre pictographs created by the Salinan people. The site is protected within Fort Hunter Liggett, located 25 miles (40 km) southwest of King City, California, United States. Cueva Pintada was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1975.

History[edit]

Cueva Pintada is archaeological site CA-MNT-256 southwest of King City, California, in southern Monterey County on the Fort Hunter Liggett reservation.^[1] The cave is east of the San Antonio River about five miles north of Mission San Antonio.^[2]

Its cave walls have pictographs that originate from a Stone Age civilization that inhabited this region around 10,000 in the past. Some of the pictographs stem from later Indigenous peoples who utilized the cave for religious ceremonies. The cave was preserved by the early Spanish priests at the Mission San Antonio de Padua.^[1]^[3]

The Cueva Pintada site is Salinan in origin. It corresponds to the "Cave of the Idols," which was presented to the padres at Mission San Antonio de Padua shortly after its establishment and is referenced in Junípero Serra's letter dated May 21, 1773.^[4] The Salinan Native American tribe lived along the Salinas River, encompassing present-day Monterey County and San Luis Obispo counties.^[5]

According to the California State Military Museum, visits to the site are limited by the United States Army base at Fort Hunter Liggett. The entrance to the cave is at an elevation 3,000 ft (910 m). The Cueva Pintada site is protected by a chain-link fence and razor wire. The walls are covered with prehistoric white, red, black, and ochre pictographs. The rock overhangs and caves served as a rock shelter, standing approximately 16.5 ft (5.0 m) high and 21 ft (6.4 m) wide. The cave is at a width of 45 ft (14 m), with a depth between 15 ft (4.6 m) and 20 ft (6.1 m). The pictographs illustrate animals as well as geometric and linear patterns.^[6]

These pictographs appear under and over the soot that darkens the ceiling of the cave. Before the indigenous people converted to Christianity, rituals and ceremonies marked specific events, including the celebration of the winter solstice, and the transition from boyhood to manhood was followed by ritualistic practices. According to legend, after converting to Christianity, the indigenous people informed the Franciscan priests about the cave's location, hoping that they would visit and remove the idols within. The pictographs, along with bedrock mortars created by grinding vegetable material or pigments using stones or pestles, reflect ancient practices. The white pigment may have been originated from limestone deposits or white clay, the black pigment came from soot or charcoal, and the red pigment from cinnabar. The pictographs depict human figures, a turtle, the sun, and other ideographic symbols.^[6]^[2]

In 1980, Archaeological Consulting, led by Gary S. Breschini and Trudy Haversat, began on a project focused on documenting the pictographs found at the archaeological site CA-MNT-256 at Cueva Pintada, with the support from the State Historic Preservation Office. The archaeological exploration of the site resulted in the creation of over 360 drawings, tracings, and photographs capturing the pictographs. These records are currently housed at the Rock Art Archives at University of California, Los Angeles.^[3]

Cueva Pintada was registered on the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1975, for King City, Monterey County, California.^[7]

References[edit]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Cary, Norman Miller (1975). Guide to U.S. Army Museums and Historic Sites. Center of Military History, Department of the Army. pp. 72–73. Retrieved 2024-03-12. Search this book on
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 J. Alden Mason (December 14, 1912). "Ethnology Of The Salinan Indians" (PDF). University of California Publications. Berkeley, California. 10 (4): 154–156. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Trudy Haversat, Gary S. Breschini (1980). La Cueva Pintada, the Painted Cave: CA-MNT-256 (National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form). Proceedings of the Society for California Archaeology. Retrieved 2024-03-08. Search this book on
↑ "Ethnographic Overview of the Los Padres National Forest" (PDF). Northwest Economic Associates. February 6, 2004. pp. 65, 68–69, 97, 174. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
↑ Campbell, Lyle (September 21, 2000). American Indian Languages The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press. p. 125. ISBN 9780195349832. Retrieved 2024-03-10. Search this book on
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 "Historic California Posts: Fort Hunter Liggett". California State Military Museum. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
↑ "Cueva Pintada". Office of Historic Preservation. February 13, 1975. Retrieved 2024-03-08.

External links[edit]

Cultural Resources Inventory of Caltrans District 5 Rural Highways Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties

Media related to Cueva Pintada, Monterey County, California at Wikimedia Commons Template:Salinas River

This article "Cueva Pintada (California)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Cueva Pintada (California). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

[Cary-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Cary, Norman Miller (1975). Guide to U.S. Army Museums and Historic Sites. Center of Military History, Department of the Army. pp. 72–73. Retrieved 2024-03-12. Search this book on

[Mason-2] 2.0 ^2.1 J. Alden Mason (December 14, 1912). "Ethnology Of The Salinan Indians" (PDF). University of California Publications. Berkeley, California. 10 (4): 154–156. Retrieved 2024-03-12.

[Breschini-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Trudy Haversat, Gary S. Breschini (1980). La Cueva Pintada, the Painted Cave: CA-MNT-256 (National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form). Proceedings of the Society for California Archaeology. Retrieved 2024-03-08. Search this book on

[Associates-4] "Ethnographic Overview of the Los Padres National Forest" (PDF). Northwest Economic Associates. February 6, 2004. pp. 65, 68–69, 97, 174. Retrieved 2024-03-12.

[5] Campbell, Lyle (September 21, 2000). American Indian Languages The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press. p. 125. ISBN 9780195349832. Retrieved 2024-03-10. Search this book on

[Military-6] 6.0 ^6.1 "Historic California Posts: Fort Hunter Liggett". California State Military Museum. Retrieved 2013-11-07.

[Parks-7] "Cueva Pintada". Office of Historic Preservation. February 13, 1975. Retrieved 2024-03-08.

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Cueva Pintada (California)

Contents

History[edit]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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