Seeking Power at Willow Creek Cave, Northern California

Bibliographic Data

ID3004374
AuthorsCarol Patterson (Virginia Mason Bainbridge Island Medical Center, corresponding author)
Year1998
Volume9
Issue1
Pages38-49
Publication date1998-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropology of Consciousness (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1053-4202 • E-ISSN: 1556-3537
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1525/ac.1998.9.1.38
OpenAlexW2067612540
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited10

Willow Creek petroglyph site, located in northeastern California represents a long tradition of rock engravings associated with shamanic practices for the Numic groups of hunter/gatherer people, both in prehistoric and historic times. Archaeological evidence shows a continuous occupation for 2,000 years with the protohistoric Northern Paiute culture. Ethnographic data support the use of these caves for vision quests and seeking power. Several interviews with practicing shamans who have experienced entoptic phenomena supply interpretations of these designs. Lewis-Williams and Dowson have proposed that entoptic-like designs found in the entrance chambers of grave tombs in Europe may play a role in the process of achieving altered states of consciousness in prehistoric shamanic practices. Similarities between the engravings found at Willow Creek and those found in Europe support Lewis-Williams and Dowsons theory as relevant to Northern California

Archaeology · Biology · Cave · Ethnology · Geography · Prehistory · Rock art · Shamanism · Willow · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology

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