Shaping the Mold: Cupules And The Reasons Behind Them
A lot of my recent articles have been on the topic of cupules because the subject is compelling.
The reasoning behind the perseverance of the people who made them is mind-boggling to many but simple if we think in terms them being a utilitarian necessity.My quest to gain an understanding of how something that seems so strange could be practiced around the world literally keeps me awake at night. Cupules are rarely found vertically on a the side of a mountain face. At a site in the foothills of Sierra de Juarez, N. Baja California by the culture known as the Paipai, a name that has been associated with the Hokan phylum, but are likely more intertwined with the Yuman. The Paipai are the most recent group that may have used the site, possibly for several purposes. These cupules like many others found around the world were likely refurbished by different cultures and could be anywhere from 14,000-500 years old. These man-made holes are just a little bit different because they are on the side of the mountain, unlike most cupules, which are typically seen on the ground.
A little background on Cupules
Often found around petroglyphs, their purpose hasn’t really perplexed archaeologists since their discovery. The effort to make cupules is astonishing.Copper self sharpens with sand and bamboo with sand can be effective as well. If you want to know more about the process behind making a cupule,checkout other articles within Ancient American Explorer Magazine. In United States they are often called “hominy holes” and were used to grind corn and acorns.Evidence found at similar sites suggests that these holes were made for a ceremonial purpose, while also being used by various cultures for grinding nuts and seeds. They were also used as astronomical markers and in South America they are known as “little tea cup stones” or “Piedras Tacitas”, as they were used to grind plants into a hallucinogenic tea. Below are some examples of cupules found in South America.
Now let’s take a look back at the cupules found in Baja California and compare them with those in Chile.
Very similar in technique and perhaps made in the same manner. The holes appear to be smooth inside ,which is a constant feature in most of these sites. As I mentioned earlier, the holes were likely used for different purposes. What is a little different than what normally see with cupules is that the ones found in Baja California were supposedly used for poles, likely to support a structure.The holes found on the vertical face could have been used to support some short of scaffolding, in an effort to apply effective pressure while creating them. They could have used harder cylindrical shaped river stones to grind the holes, or they could have used bamboo drills to slowly etch out the cylinders.
Let’s take a look at the vertical holes below.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSH HANSON IN BAJA CALIFORNIA
There appears to be an incline, an incline to where a person could position themselves to grind and shape the cupules. Notice the open area which would have been similar to an amphitheater, where indigenous groups would have met and had reverent spiritual ceremonies, a time when there was no smog, only clear skies. To the ancients it was a portal to the cosmos. The night sky would have been the equivalent to modern day families gathering around the television as a form of entertainment, a serious form of entertainment, that had consequences ,such as war with neighboring tribes, famine, or drought. Understanding exactly how each culture used these cupules and for what purpose is key to defining their true meaning .
The initial culture who created these vertical cupules probably didn’t use them for mixing hallucinogenic plants or grinding nuts, due to the angle of their location. It would be interesting to compare the coordinates of the holes to that of astronomical fixtures. Some of the holes in the photo above could have been existing natural vugs and could have inspired others to do the same,but for what reason? The techniques used to make these hole is extremely difficult to replicate. To the ancients it was probably easy, as making cupules was part of a daily or weekly routine. The technology becomes lost and seems to disappear in South America around the arrival of the Inca and the Spanish around the sixteenth century. In North America it may have been even practiced up until the 19th century.
The big question here is why? Why did these ancient groups spend so much time grinding and drilling holes into nearly impossible to penetrate stones? Furthermore, why in the hell are these cupules found in Northern Baja California on the side of a mountain? A logical explanation could be that there were simply so many indigenous people. These utilitarian holes could have worked and reused for centuries. It wasn’t like they had a goal to get to the bottom. Rocks may have been used in one culture where copper or bamboo could have been used in another. It is remarkable to think of how far spread this technology actually stretched. When they wore the holes so deep they became useless for culinary purposes. Most indigenous cultures have an innate ability to utilize every natural object to its fullest extent, unlike the modern careless humans that inhabit the earth today.
If anyone has seen or heard of more vertical cupules or any cupules ,let us know! The only other location I have seen where the holes are vertical is a small site near the Atacama desert in Chile called Choapa. There’s a few stones here like the one in the photo below with vertical cupules.
CHOAPA, CHILE
The similar patterns like the one above resemble Orion’s belt and are found in other places throughout Chile.
Did this drilling technology spread from North to South America or was it the opposite? Recent 14,500 year old footprints found in Southern Chile and sites such as Monte Verde, Fells, Cave (with obsolete fishtail points) and cupule technology abundantly scattered throughout the country make a good argument.The truth is that Andeanology is fairly a new area of study that is gaining popularity by its anomalies and discoveries being unearthed that pertain to early migrations into the Americas. A timeline on cupule technologies in the Americas would certainly help with confirming or denying the simultaneous seafaring migration theories that tend to throw a monkey wrench into the dig, where many archaeologists will normally stake their reputation on the opposite.
Whether cupules are on mountain faces , or on the ground, they continue to amaze me. The dedication and transfer of technologies is intriguing and deserves more funding for research. Archaeological Databases must merge throughout the Americas and throughout the world to compare and contrast data, to discover their true purpose. The idea that indigenous people were using this same technology on separate continents, simultaneously is amazing. Did this practice begin in North America or near the Southern Cone in Patagonia?
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