Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Lines of rock cairns have been recorded in several areas in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The stone-cairn line features are sometimes associated with stone walls, either natural or built, which may represent hunting blinds. The stone features are within or adjacent to areas known to be regularly used by groups of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Here, we argue that the lines of rock cairns and associated structures form complexes that were both built and used by indigenous people for procuring bighorn sheep. Several lines of evidence support this hypothesis, including behavioral characteristics of bighorn sheep, locations where stone-feature complexes have been recorded, ethnographic accounts, biological observations, and data from radio-collared bighorn sheep in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.