Bouse Fisherman Intaglio (Fisherman Geoglyph)
Fisherman Intaglio · Bouse–Plomosa Geoglyph
Late Prehistoric (Patayan)·Yuman (Mojave/Quechan)·🇺🇸 Arizona, La Paz County, Plomosa Mountains piedmont, United States
About
About Bouse Fisherman Intaglio (Fisherman Geoglyph)
A diminutive but iconographically distinct intaglio on the Plomosa piedmont west of Bouse: a 9-m anthropomorph holding a spear above two fish, with a sun disc and serpent. Cut into dark bajada pavement 6 mi north of Bouse, the figure is smaller than Blythe but uniquely illustrative. Patayan/Yuman ceramics (900–1200 CE) and the fish subject — likely Colorado River species — link it to the same Mojave–Quechan creators as Blythe and Topock. The intaglio's small scale made it invisible until BLM's 1996 survey; it is now fenced and stabilized. The sun-and-serpent motif mirrors Yuman cosmology seen at Blythe.
Why it mattersIconographically richest small intaglio; only fishery-themed Colorado Desert geoglyph.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Fish species identification
Theories
- 01Fishing magic before Colorado River runs
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 – 1200 CE
- Period
- Late Prehistoric (Patayan)
- Culture
- Yuman (Mojave/Quechan)
- Builders
- Colorado River Yuman groups
- Purpose
- Ritual fishing fertility and cosmogram
- Rediscovered
- 1996 BLM Plomosa survey; 2001 Von Werlhof re-mapping
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
900 CE
Construction estimated via ceramics
1996
BLM discovers Fisherman during route inventory
On the ground
Structures & features
33.7907° N · 114.0945° W · 310 m · 2 mapped features
Fisherman Figure
geoglyph9-m spearman with fish and sun disc
33.7907° N · 114.0945° WSerpent & Sun Motif
geoglyphSerpent line with sun disc above spearman
33.7909° N · 114.0943° W