Trip report/review of Garfinkel's talk:

The presentation was a summary of Garfinkel's new book, "Archaeology and Rock Art of the Eastern Sierra and Great Basin Frontier":
www.petroglyphs.us/article-...k_art.htm

He spoke for only an hour, with another half hour of Q&A. He packed a lot into his talk, yet his easy-going style made it as much fun as it was educational. One of the things I learned was the role of linguistic ethnography in determining trends among the various boundaries of cultural influence of each of the native tribes of the region. And he covered a lot more than that. All in all a really good time, and after it was over one of the curators of the Maturango Museum, a gentleman named Carroll, was kind enough to give me a tour of the museum and its grounds. Definitely worth a visit next time you're passing near Ridgecrest.

Since it was a bit of a drive and I had no passengers to account for, I used the trip as an excuse to camp at Red Rock Canyon State Park on the way home. Enjoyed a good meal by the campfire, and in the morning had a great hike through the valley behind the campground. If you like the desert and haven't been to Red Rock Canyon, you're missing a treat; it's hoodoo cliffs are quite a sight, and there's plenty of good hiking to be had. My only recommendation is to visit on weekdays rather than the weekend, as the campground can get popular this time of year.

Here's something for you folks in SoCal to consider:

I asked Dr. Garfinkel what it would take for him to consider giving a talk in Los Angeles. He said he'd try to work it into his schedule if we could get at least 20 people together.

So if you're in SoCal and would like to see Dr. Garfinkel give a presentation here, let me know and we'll work out a venue and make it happen.

For an introduction to Garfinkel's work, one of his more recent papers is published at petroglyphs.us:
petroglyphs.us/article_co...ep_cult.htm

It's also worth noting that the Maturango Museum hosts periodic petroglyph tours in the Coso range. These sites are within the China Lake Naval Weapons Station and normally off limits to the public, but under special arrangement with the base the Museum is able to provide the tours several times a year. The hikes focus on Little Petroglyph Canyon, which is said to have some of the largest collections of rock art in North America. See this page for more info:
www.maturango.org/pettoursF07.html