One of the first things I noticed when I moved into this area a couple of months ago was an historical marker pointing up a side road declaring that the Hemet Maze Stone was this way. I had no idea what a maze stone was and my sense of curiosity was burning, so I donned a hat and hiking boots and went exploring.
I found out the Hemet Maze Stone is quite literally exactly as it says: a maze etched into a boulder face i.e a petroglyph. Rock Art. There was a bronze plaque placed in front with a scanty bit of information about it, which I later found out to be at least partially incorrect. Even more interesting to me was that my archaeologist acquaintance who is well known expert in Rock Art, really couldn't tell me much about the stone, either.
In a nutshell, thousands of years ago, a purposeful and gifted stone mason from who knows where, spent a long time carving an intricate maze into a large rock for a purpose which has escaped our 'modern day' comprehension.
I love a good mystery!
I would love to meet the artist. I admire the single minded devotion to finishing the intricate design that is still waiting to be interpreted 3 - 4 thousand years later. But perhaps that's what the World is reminding to me through my Lens: that there really is no mystery - hard work, focus, and attention to detail will still produce quality work just as it did several thousand years ago.
Macro Monday 3-28-2011
12 comments:
Wow! What a great artist! Such creativity. Love the intricate design.
Great lesson learned, right? What works for one art medium can definitely work for another. =)
Just swinging by to say hello. I didn't know you had moved. I hope you are settiling in nicely and are happy in your new environment. The maze looks xcool xJ
Ohhhhh...what a find! Very interesting story! I wonder if someone at the UC Riverside geology department would know more about it?
Thanks, Cheryl. The archaeologist I spoke to WAS the head archaeologist in SoCal and he was also the Tribal Relations Program Manager in the San Bernadino area. If anyone would know it would be him, however he is also teacher and so he could with hold info to encourage me to do my own searching, too, lol. Even google doesn't have much to say about the maze stone.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful rock maze. I agree with what you said about the hard work, focus and detail. All the issues in front of me. Kae
Hi,Barb
Sorry to be anon but I can't leave a comment otherwise.
Truly amazing rock creating. Thanks for sharing and also for leaving a comment on my blog.
Gina
a.k.a. Pagan Sphinx
How interesting this is.. how long that must have taken..Love a mystery too...Michelle
Did you get inside the fences to take the closeup pic?
Hi Paul,
Thanks for visiting. No, I couldn't get close to the Maze, I had to zoom through the wire.
Barb
I walked up to the Maze Stone today--(3-17-14)-- first time I had seen it. It had great impact on me-- such a mystery!! The workmanship must have taken so many years as the boulder is granite-like and hard as a rock!! (ooops!)
the groves appeared to be between one and two inches in depth-- at a width of about two inches---the lines were straight in a very confined area and gouged into an extremely hard surface...thus requiring immense effort and truly...I think it is more than a man is capable of-- As there are numerous others of these maze stones, I am gonna opt for that bizarre phenomenon known as UFO's as the source---it's just so much their style compared to our native american artistic patterns... rather similar to part of a crop circle---
the maze stone is awesomce to view!
Ken .
Hemet
Isn't it great? Thanks for visiting, Ken. I plan on revisiting it next month (hopefully) with a local archeologist.
hello Barb-- I was hoping to see you post about your visit with the archeologist... guess it never happened for you-- at least not yet-- very curious to learn his thoughts... we are Blessed to have this most interesting artifact so nearby and easily available for us to enjoy--
Ken
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