Pictographs Found

Success!  Team XplorMor has hiked the Piedra Blanca Trail in Los Padres National Forest, located near the Ojai Valley in Southern California, numerous times to study its unusual rock formations, and to seek out the well hidden petroglyphs.  On this last expedition we located them, and discovered three important points: first, there's more than one location, second, it's good they are hidden as one of the locations has serious vandalism, and third, they are not petroglyphs but pictographs.  I'll explain the difference...

XplorMor Piedra Blanca Expedition

There are four major types of rock art: petroglyphs, cupules, geoglyphs, also known as intaglios, and pictographs.  Petroglyphs are rock engravings produced by carving or striking the rock surface using various techniques (See photo: Darien Gap).  Cupules are small cup-shaped indentations made in rock that may appear in a pattern or at random.  They are a type of petroglyph in that stone is ground or carved out to create them.  Geoglyphs are giant drawings made on the ground presumably depicting geometric designs, human forms and animals.

Pictographs are a fragile cousin to petroglyphs.  They are designs drawn on rock surfaces with paints made from natural mineral pigments applied with fibrous brushes or with hands and fingers.  These pigments were mixed with binders such as oil, blood or urine.  Hematite (iron oxide), the most common color in Southern California, was used for creating red paints, and presumably those of Piedra Blanca.  Pictographs were typically drawn in caves, overhangs and alcoves where they would be better protected from harsh weather elements.

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XplorMor Piedra Blanca Expedition