Rock Art of The Chumash People - Locations

Locations

Chumash rock art is almost invariably found in caves or on cliffs in the mountains, although some small, portable painted rocks have been recorded by Campbell Grant. The rock art sites are always found near streams, springs, or some other source of permanent water. In his research of southern California rock art, Grant recorded numerous sites from different areas that were all close to a water source. He found twelve painted sites in the highest parts of the mountainous Chumash territory, the Ventureño area. The Ventura and Santa Clara Rivers and several coastal streams flow through this area. He also recorded forty-one painted rock art sites in the Cuyama Valley region (north of the Ventureño area), where the Sisquoc River flows between the San Rafael Mountains and the Sierra Madre Mountains. The most easily accessible example is at Painted Cave State Historic Park, which is located in canyons above Santa Barbara.

Painted Rock is a free-standing rock on the Carrizo Plain near the Sierra Madre Mountains at the southern tip of the Great Central Valley. The interior alcove of the horseshoe-shaped rock features pictographs by Chumash, neighboring tribes, and non-Native Americans.

The Burro Flats Painted Cave petroglyphs are located in the Simi Hills in Ventura County. They are on the private land of Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory-SSFL, which has protected them from public harm since 1947. The SSFL is closed and in the initial stage of a significant toxins and radionuclides site investigation and cleanup. Boeing, U.S. DOE, and NASA (current property owners and responsible parties) and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control-DTSC are responsible to protect Chumash and other historical elements during the extensive SSFL work.