Description
The Coso are an indigenous people of the Americas and Native American tribe associated with the Coso Range in the Mojave Desert. They are of the Uto-Aztecan language and spoke one of several Numic languages related to that of the Northern Paiute. The Coso People are especially known for their ancient petroglyphs or rock art drawings; the Coso Rock Art District has been designated a National Historical Landmark District.
Language
They are of the Uto-Aztecan language and spoke one of several Numic languages related to that of the Northern Paiute.
Culture
Archaeological evidence substantiates trade between the Coso People and other Native American tribes. They traded with the Chumash people, located in present-day Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. After about 1500 years ago an important change in milling technology was a much increased use of bedrock grinding surfaces/cupules and mortars. They were located where suitable stone outcrops were present near rich resource areas. A final change was the development of large threshing floors and roasting pits to mass process seeds and pine nuts. This increased the size of the harvest and number of people who could be fed off the land. Generally the bedrock mortars were used more for nuts while seeds were processed on grinding stones, some of which were actually carried around.