Luiseño girls puberty ceremonial site.  A group of girls who recently experienced their 1st menstruation went thru elaborate ceremonies lasting 3 or more months. Accounts vary, but the basic ritual was as follows:  Each month after their menstrual period, each girl was partially buried in a heated sand pit.  She was removed from the pit after three days and her face was painted with a specific design.  All the girls and their female adult sponsors would then race to a rock where each girl would paint the same designs on a rock outcrop.  They may also rub the paint off their face and apply it to the rock and their sponsors could also paint a design on the rock.  This ritual was repeated each month with a different design painted onto the girl's face each time.  The designs shown in these photos are of the San Luis Rey Style and represent several ceremonial elements.  The large smudged areas may represent areas where girls removed the paint from their faces and smudged in on the rock.  Dot designs and the more irregular diamond chains may have been placed by the young girls; the more elaborate and well executed diamond chains may have been the work of their adult female sponsors.  Source:  Laminated mural prepared by ASM Affiliates for Camp Pendleton.

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