Prehistoric Sculpture Joins State’s Gallery of Symbols

A 7,500-year-old, quartz-hard American Indian sculpture of a bear has joined the ranks of reptiles, insects, minerals and fossils as an official symbol of the state of California.

Taking time out from budget woes, Gov. Pete Wilson this week signed into law a bill that makes the Chipped Stone Bear the official prehistoric artifact of California--the first state in the nation to make such a designation.

The law means you may find replicas of the 2 1/2-inch bear--discovered by a Cypress College archeology class in Carlsbad in 1985--in state gift shops, museums and elsewhere. But its backers say the move’s chief importance is symbolic.

The consideration of the bill prompted some quips about the need for a state artifact. And one politician who voted against it questioned why the state was wasting its time on such matters while pressing issues such as the drought remain.

But Franz Wisner, a spokesman for Wilson, said the designation “honors the people in California who were here long before we were.” While “white traditions” such as folk and square dances are honored with official state designations, he said, “this is the only state symbol to honor our native inhabitants.”

“I think it does a great honor to the Native American community,” said Henry Koerper, the Cypress College professor who organized the find. “It’s a symbolic way to recognize the contributions of Native Americans past and present to our heritage.”

Koerper and some students were digging near Agua Hedionda Lagoon in northern San Diego County when Richard Cerrito, now a graduate student in archeology at UC Riverside, came across the bear about two feet below ground, the professor said.

Archeologists used carbon-dating tests on surrounding shells-- because it is inorganic, the volcanic rock itself could not be tested-- to estimate the bear’s age at 7,500 to 8,000 years, Koerper said.