California High Desert Archeological Vandalism

Photo from www.blm.gov

My name is Joe Perry. I am a member of the California Archaeological Site Steward Program and “elder” of The Real Desert Dogs.

I was visiting the Inscription Canyon area just days after the March 2010 vandalism occurred. I was in the area again this month (October 2010) and took a closer look at the damage done.

In addition to petroglyph panels removed and/or seriously damaged in the attempt to do so; I noticed the damage caused by bullets to many of the remaining panels.  Some of the oldest petroglyphs in the canyon probably exceed 10,000 BP. I was stunned to see bullet damage to those old panels as well.

From the information I gathered it is in my opinion that this recent theft incident was pre-planned and probably occurred within a short period of time. Two trucks were involved; two middle to late age caucasian males, three younger males (20’s) and one or two females of the same age. Probably local tweekers (methamphetamine users) out to make a quick buck.

At another smaller petroglyph site just a few miles distant I noticed bullet damage as well. The Real Desert Dogs are made up of a group of men; some of whom are military veterans, who are extremely protective of our cultural resources. We have fun on our journeys but we will turn real serious if we ever catch someone in the act of vandalism or theft. Bad Boys,  watcha gonna do when you know the Real Desert Dogs are looking for you?

I noticed that the Desert Dispatch caught wind of our initial blog post about the vandalism in Inscription Canyon.  You can see their story here.

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