Oldest basket found intact in Central California; Hetch Hetchy Valley. Paiute burden basket. All obsidian found in and around Yosemite has been scientifically identified as coming from Mono Lake or Bridgeport. Owens Valley pottery shards found in ancient grave sites at El Portal, also obsidian and red ochre, red ochre was used by Paiutes.
Paiute Archeaology and the Paiute presence
The Park let the Southern Sierra Miwuks claim all items found at the El Portal site, yet the Park stated that the site was "culturally unidentifiable". Yet items found at El Portal showed Paiute presence. Anything found in the Park that is Paiute is considered 'trade items', yet also found in the Park are Great Basin rock art called pictographs or petroglyphs. There is no way to trade that. The presence of rock art indicates Paiute presence.
Early paid noted Yosemite archaeologists documented rock art found in the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy, was of Great Basin origin. Michael Morratto, who worked for the Park and did excavations in the area wrote this below;
"Although found within the ethnographic territory of the Central Sierra Miwok, these petrogyphs systematically resemble those of the Western Great Basin (eastern Sierra Mono Paiutes). It is believed that the rock art at Cal-5 was left by pre-Miwok people of Great Basin cultural affiliation."
From Michael Morratto's book. He writes that rock art found in the Sierra Nevada was of Great Basin origin and before Miwok presence. We added the photo of the Paiute man next to the photo and explanation in the book. The same rock art is all over Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy Valley.
