Cabazon Dinosaurs

I went to see thses in 2012. I did not like the creationism BULL SHITbut love the dinos! From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Cabazon Dinosaurs Tourists can walk inside Dinny the Dinosaur General information Architectural style Novelty architecture Town or city Cabazon, California Country United States Coordinates 33°55′12.41″N 116°46′22.24″W Construction started 1964 (Dinny) / 1981 (Mr. Rex) Completed 1975 (Dinny) / 1986 (Mr. Rex) Cost $300,000 (Dinny) Design and construction Architect Claude K. Bell Structural engineer Gerald Hufstetler Cabazon Dinosaurs, also referred to as Claude Bell's Dinosaurs, are enormous, sculptured roadside attractions located in Cabazon, California and visible to the immediate north of Interstate 10. The site features Dinny the Dinosaur, a 150-ton building shaped like a larger-than-life-sized Apatosaurus, and Mr. Rex, a 100-ton Tyrannosaurus rex structure. Dinny (pronounced "Dine-ee") and Mr. Rex are at the Cabazon exit of Interstate 10 in California, a short distance west of Palm Springs behind the Wheel Inn diner on Seminole Drive in San Gorgonio Pass. The Wheel Inn Restaurant, once owned by Claude Bell The creation of the Cabazon dinosaurs began in the 1960s by Knott's Berry Farm sculptor and portrait artist Claude K. Bell (1897–1988) to attract customers to his Wheel Inn Cafe, which opened in 1958. Dinny, the first of the Cabazon dinosaurs, was started in 1964 and created over a span of eleven years.[1] Bell created Dinny out of spare material salvaged from the construction of nearby Interstate 10 at a cost of $300,000.[2] The biomorphic building that was to become Dinny was first erected as steel framework over which an expanded metal grid was formed in the shape of a dinosaur.[3] All of it was then covered with coats of shotcrete (spray concrete). Bell was quoted in 1970 as saying the 45-foot (14 m) high, 150-foot (46 m) long Dinny was "the first dinosaur in history, so far as I know, to be used as a building."[4] His original vision for Dinny was for the dinosaur's eyes to glow and mouth to spit fire at night, predicting, "It'll scare the dickens out of a lot of people driving up over the pass."[4] These two features, however, were not added. With the help of ironworker Gerald Hufstetler, Bell worked on the project independently; no construction companies or contractors were involved in the fabrication. The task of painting Dinny was completed by a friend of Bell's in exchange for one dollar and a case of Dr Pepper.[citation needed] A second dinosaur, Mr. Rex, was constructed near Dinny in 1981. Originally, a giant slide was installed in Rex's tail; it was later filled in with concrete making the slide unusable. A third woolly mammoth sculpture and a prehistoric garden were drafted, but never completed due to Bell's death in 1988.[5] [edit] Creationist museum Exhibits and displays inside Dinny detail arguments for Young Earth creationism and against evolutionism. This one concludes that the "Evolutionary Origin of Life Is Impossible". Following the sale of the property by Bell's surviving family in the mid-1990s, Cabazon Family Partnership and MKA Cabazon Partnership of Costa Mesa, California became the new owners of the roadside attraction. The partnership obtained approval for a major expansion of the Cabazon dinosaur site in 1996 with the land-use approvals including restaurants, a museum, and gift shop, and a 60-room motel at the Main Street exit in Cabazon. Orange County developer and MKA partner Gary Kanter states the original vision has been for MKA to transform the area into a children's science and museum exhibit.[6] Currently located inside Dinny is a gift store and museum promoting creationism with some of the toy dinosaurs in the shop sold under the label "Don't swallow it! The fossil record does not support evolution."[7] The current ownership has expressed a Young Earth creationist belief that most dinosaurs were created on Earth about 6,000 years ago – the same day as Adam and Eve.[7] In stark contrast to that belief are Bell's painted frescoes and sculptures inside Dinny, depicting a naturalist and evolutionary viewpoint. Bell's paintings include representations of Cro-Magnon man (labeled "Cro-Magnon Man 30,000 [years ago]") and Java Man (labeled "Java Man 400,000"). Bell's historic displays now exist alongside information detailing the creationist viewpoint of the earth and man's origins.[5] The Cabazon Dinosaurs attraction also features an open-air museum with fiberglass and robotic dinosaurs. Other activities at the site include a sand pit where visitors can experience a "dino dig"[8] as well as a gemstone and fossil-panning sluice. Pastor Robert Chiles, assisting Kanter in turning the exhibit into a non-denominational church, has been quoted as to his belief of why children are drawn to the dinosaur attraction, "There's something in their DNA that knows man walked with these creatures on Earth."[7] Chiles and Kanter plan to promote their views of creationism at the attraction based on their interpretation of the Book of Genesis.[7]"

Stone Tool, Bison Butchering Experiments

Stone Tool, Bison Butchering Experiments; By Ray Harwood






Zac Scida, Bill Eddy and John Piri-above photo.

Stone Tool, Bison Butchering Experiments

At the last Bakersfield Knap In, I was telling John Piri that I was planning on going out and collection some Coso obsidian the next week end, John said “no your not”. John went on to say that his wife Carol, he, and fellow knapper Patrick Aims had made arrangements to slaughter two 1,500 LBS bison at a ranch Northwest of Bakersfield. John said anything goes in regards to stone tool butchering experimentation.

All week, as soon as I got home from work until night fall, I was out in the yard flintknapping my heart out, making flakes and bifaced obsidian tools for experiments. I posted on the "Lithics List", to see if I could get some ideas from some of the worlds leading lithic specialists and I was not disappointed. All the suggested experiments were systematically undertaken to the best of my abilities.

All humane and spiritual aspects were considered.

Gary Picket burning white sage.



The experiments were conducted Saturday, March 2, 2009 at a Ranch NW of Bakersfield, CA.

Those participating were; ranch personnel, flintknappers: Gary Picket, Patrick Aims, John and Carol Piri and Patrick’s ever growing extended family, and myself.

Bison in corral


Cowboy drove bison into corral


Bison was humanely shot and bled out.



Bison was skinned and butchered with stone knives.

Ray Harwood with his buffalo knife.







Unmodified Flakes and the Bison Experiment




Gary Picket and I were able to do some fairly extensive experimention on the bison butchering experiment. Unmodified flakes worked well for slicing through hide backed by bone (legs, skull). Unmodified flakes did not work well for skinning, lack of serration, to sharp to separate hide from carcass, leaves to much meat on the hide. Unmodified flakes are very hard to hold and control the get slippery with fat and blood on them. They are awkward to hold during the cutting process without a bone support behind them. Unmodified flakes do leave striation cut marks on the bones, very thin and highly distinguishable from biface butcher marks. The first cut in the skinning process is to free the hide from the legs of the carcass; this is where the unmodified flakes were most effective. Furthermore the Unmodified flakes we very important in the separation of the liver from the gallbladder and other delicate operations requiring very precise surgical slicing.






Western Crescent Points, Experiments in Bison Butchering

John Piri and I were discussing the possible function of a strange artifact anomaly know as the Western Crescent point.In the western United States, as in most geographic regions, there are a few classes artifacts which pose inerpretive problems regarding their possible uses, In California and a few adjoining states one of these artifact classes is the "crescent point". I had published a paper in 1983 on experimental results using the crescents as pond skipping projectile points. Attached to an arrow the point is like a French guillotine on a stick, skipping across pond water lopping the heads off unsuspecting water fowl - don't laugh- it actually worked very well. John's vision was that the crescent was a stone "ulu" type knife blade for skinning and butchering. The crescent is similar to the Eskimo Ulu, which appears to be a multipurpose knife like tool.

Crescents, dated by modern methods, have been documented at the following archaeological sites; San Dieguito, Pauma, Lake Mojave, Borax Lake Fallon,Danger Cave and Scotts Valley. Acluster of radiocarbon dates from San Diego County, California range in age from 5,000 B.C. to 100 A.D.


This week I was able knap several obsidian crescent point replicas, this morning John and I were able to put his theory to the test during our bison butchering experiment. John states that the crescent was the best skinning tool he has used, and he is an expert in large game butchering. While the finest steel knives and pattern flaked flint blades separated the skin from the carcass very well, the crescent did the same job but left the hide cleaner and nearly blemish free. The crescent also cut much faster. The slightly wavy -alternate flaked blade edge- gave just enough serration to keep a speedy cut.






Historic Clovis Points Made By J.B. Sollberger and Errett Callahan in about 1985
Were Part of "Bison Butchering Experiment". The wide Clovis was made for me by Errett when he was in Denmark (circa 1985) and the slender Clovis was made for me by Solly about the same time,at his home in Dallas, Texas.

Sollberger was a famous flintknapper in the 1970s- 1990s. He was noted for starting the Texas "school" of flintknapping and mastered the lever fluted methods common today. He was very well published and is concidered to have been true master flintknapper.

Errett Callahan, of Virginia, is concidered a master at flintknapping many styles, including Danish Daggers and fantasy obsidian knives. He has published much on the stages and sytematic methodologies of knapping. He aslo came up with the "lithic Grade Scale".



I found that the more even the edge of the Clovis the better it was for perferation but not for cutting. Callahan's point was very sharp and worked well to slice. The bit of alternate flaking on the sollberger point made it better at cutting. The point first perferation on both points was outstanding. Callahan's was better for slicing but Sollberger's point cut better. Both points held there edge well during the butchering experiment. The blade edges will be magnified in future studies.





Here are the two historic Clovis points:


Above J.B. Sollber knapping the Clovis at his home in Dallas, 1985.


Above Errett Callahan works on a Clovis point.


Obsidian verses chert: As expected, the obsidian was sharper and seemed work but more effectively overall, but the bifaced knife that held its’ edge longest and did the brunt of the work
Was a hafted, Greenstone chert, knife. The theme of the day was, if a kinife has a slight, unintentional serration, caused by alternate flaking, the cuts much more effectively than an evenly knapped or unmodified blade edge, be it obsidian or chert. If I would have known this going into the experiment, I would have made my implements accordingly.



Above 3 photos John uses my green chert knife to skin bison. Below, obsidian.




Separating the joints with flint hand axe, We were so fatigued
By the time got to this experiment that we switched to a steel saw and will have to do it next time. Gary Picket had knapped a nice flint hand axe and used it effectively in the skinning process.

The day after the butchering, I noted that all my muscles were sore from the taxing physical requirements of task. To my surprise, insects and small animals had cleaned the knives fairly well. I had to re-glue almost all my handles and apply oil to the wood. I also had to re-glue beads on my large buffalo knives and re-tar the knives hafting. After some close analysis, pressure retouch will be needed for a fresh sharp edge, and I will be ready for the next butchering experiments. Another bison butchering experiment in 9 months, anything you want tested let me know, or maybe you can come along. The next one will be all Clovis tool kit replicas. (figflint@yahoo.com)