The archeology of the 1960s raised awareness and interest
in the resources of the Coso Complex, leading to several more projects
during the following decades. By the 1990s, new evidence raised questions
about the 1960s' "bighorn cult" theory.
For instance, one key piece of evidence archeologists expected to find
most prevalently was the remains of butchered bighorn sheep at occupational
sites and villages. They found the remains of other ungulates—hooved
mammals—as well as those of smaller mammals and birds. Such few
sheep remains called into question their importance as a major food resource.
Clearly, something else was behind their symbolic significance.
Other questions were raised by the unexplained prevalence
of the bizarrely arrayed anthropomorphic
figures. Who were these creatures, and in what way were they significant
enough to appear in numbers second only to bighorns? more
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During these decades, archeological theory also underwent
significant refinement. One important discovery was that petroglyphs worldwide
shared similar motifs, and were apparently visual records of shamanic
trances. Similar designs appeared at Coso, leading researchers to theorize
a similar purpose.
Researchers also recognized that Coso's petroglyphic symbols were the
same as those found throughout the Great Basin wherever Numic culture
thrived. By comparing the archeological, historical, and ethnographic
record at Coso with knowledge about other Numic peoples, a sharper image
of how Coso Indians lived—and what they believed—came into
focus.
Coso's people, and the larger Numic culture, share a
belief in a world in which people, animals, and objects are alive and
coexist with spirit beings. In Numic thought, the lives of people in this
world are inextricably intertwined with the lives of "supernatural" spirits,
and people rely on the help of spirit powers to survive. In Numic belief,
a person cannot be fully human without having obtained spirit "helpers"
that guide, protect, and lend skills to a person throughout their lives.
Some people show a special ability to approach and acquire power from
spirits, accumulating numerous beings as helpers. Those with this power
usually became shamans,
or people who go into the spirit world to find ritual solutions to the
problems of the day. Some shamans specialized in curing disease, some
acquired special hunting guidance, and others sought to affect natural
forces.
The spirit world is usually thought of as being underground,
or separated from our world by the barrier of the Earth's crust. Coso,
in this system, is an especially powerful place: the rawness of the volcanic
landscape seemed closer to creation; the "thinness" of the crustal barrier
meant that spirits passed between worlds with ease. People lived near
Coso with an attitude of awe, gratitude, and perhaps a little fear: they
lived and walked on very sacred ground.