In 1677, the area of California that the Chumash historically live in experienced a total eclipse. This eclipse also happened to have Mars and Antares (a red supergiant) align in a visually distinctive way near it, and these pictographs are believed to be their record of the event. The painted crosses are believed to depict stars, with a black circle representing the eclipse itself. The star at the bottom right is interpreted as Mars, having been depicted with legs: a ‘wandering’ star due to its irregular path across the night sky through the year.
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