Blythe Intaglios
Blythe Geoglyphs · Colorado Desert Intaglios
Late Prehistoric 1000–1500 CE (OSL), possibility Protohistoric·Mojave/Quechan; Patayan culture·🇺🇸 California (Colorado Desert), United States
About
About Blythe Intaglios
Six gigantic Mojave Desert anthropomorphic and zoomorphic geoglyphs scraped on desert pavement terraces above Colorado River: largest human 52 m long, quadruped 31 m, dancer, serpent; made by Quechan/Mojave 1000–2000 BP. Created by heaping stones or clearing pavement like Nazca; Patton overlooked them flying 1930s.
Why it mattersOnly North American anthropomorphic geoglyphs of Nazca-like scale; Mojave ethnography continuity
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Exact dating controversy – 150 BCE vs 1000 CE OSL variance
- 02Cultural affiliation Quechan vs earlier Patayan
Theories
- 01Mastamho creation myth depiction theory
- 02Alignment to summer solstice sunset vs river
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.900–1500 CE estimate, some to 900 CE?
- Period
- Late Prehistoric 1000–1500 CE (OSL), possibility Protohistoric
- Culture
- Mojave/Quechan; Patayan culture
- Purpose
- Geoglyphic ritual and ancestor marks; ceremonial dance grounds
- Abandoned
- Mojave maintained to 19th c.
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
900 CE
Earliest OSL estimate intaglios
1931
George Palmer spotted from airplane
1952
Boma Johnson mapping
On the ground
Structures & features
33.8028° N · 114.5328° W · 120 m · 3 mapped features
Fisherman Intaglio (Fig 1)
geoglyph31 m quadruped? Largest anthropomorphic 52 m figure group north
33.8035° N · 114.5340° WBlythe Giant (Human)
geoglyph50.9 m human figure with outstretched arms
33.8028° N · 114.5327° WAnimal Quadrangle
geoglyphSpiral and animal near I-10
33.8018° N · 114.5310° W
Gallery