3D Virtual Tour of Chumash Painted Cave

Alaxuluxen, the Chumash name for the Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, is situated on the edge of the traditional Barbareño Chumash territory, which ranged from the Pacific coast to the foothills and southern slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains. With a population of over 15,000 before European contact, the Barbareño Chumash were one of the largest and most influential tribes in California. Today's modern city of Santa Barbara, at the base of the Santa Ynez Mountains, was the capital city of the Barbareño, then called Syukhtun. Although the precise dates of the interior paintings aren't known, ceremonial use of the cave was discontinued in the 1700s with Spanish Contact. However, the connection to the cave has not been lost to the Chumash today. Since the park was founded in 1976, the cave has remained part of this continuing legacy of the Chumash people.

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