The famously graceful hand designs in the Tassajara rock shelters? “Inelegant” compared to exciting and possibly vastly more ancient discoveries nearby!
Former MIRA caretaker and Xasáuan Today critic, Ivan Eberle, recently revealed to the world what could well be the most significant finds ever made in the field of North American pre-history. How about an “eroded sphinx-like edifice” on the Carmel Beach? Or how does a Ventana Wilderness cave with what appear to be prehistoric drawings of mammoth and bison grab you? That would only be the first, or possibly second, depiction of pleistocene megafauna ever found in the western hemisphere! A discovery that, as Mr. Eberle puts it, “boldly challenges the status-quo assumption that rock art on California’s Central Coast was inelegant and simply drawn, never carved.”
Exciting stuff! And Mr. Eberle is generously offering you a way to take part in it all. He’s created a Kickstarter project, with a minimum goal of a modest (considering the potentially paradigm-shifting nature of his discoveries) $16,500. A sufficiently large donation will gain you high quality photographic prints, and donations of $1,500 or more can even gain you a personal tour of the site (non-disclosure agreement covering site coordinates required).
Sadly, we must report that Mr. Eberle’s effort to publicize his groundbreaking project on the Large Format Photography Forum has met only a wall of rigidly “status-quo” thinking, replete with bon mots like “incredible claims require incredible evidence.” Although launched on October 18, the Kickstarter project has, to date, raised only a measly $10.
Come on people! The closing date for donations is November 15. Surely Mr. Eberle isn’t the only free thinker out there with eyes unblinkered enough to see the wonders “hiding in plain sight.”
Update! Monterey County Weekly weighs in.
Xasáuan Today 
Do I sense a note of cynicism here? As for me, next time the mail wagon passes, I’ll be sending Mr. Eberle a quill of silver dust as my own contribution.
Ah, yes. The passions and dollar signs of “new” discoveries. With the economy being what it is, I think I’ll invest in more tangible items … Like solar, fruit trees, and maybe a rose or two for balance.