Unraveling the Mystery: Who Sculpted California's Intriguing Hemet Maze Stone?

Located in Reinhardt Canyon, southern California, near the quaint town of Hemet, sits an enigmatic petroglyph known as the Hemet Maze Stone. This curious figure comprises interconnected rectangular patterns forming a cyclical labyrinth set within a square or rectangle. The overarching form intriguingly echoes the shape of a swastika, a motif prominent in Native American and Asian art for thousands of years prior to its ill-famed association with the Third Reich.

Despite fervent studies, archaeologists remain in the dark about the exact origin or age of this drawing. Various theories suggest the creator of the petroglyph could have been an unidentified indigenous Californian tribe or even Chinese Buddhist monks. This piece seeks to evaluate these compelling theories, anchored in the certainty archaeologists, historians, and scholars have about the real artist behind the maze.

The Hemet Maze Stone. (Wayne Hsieh/ CC BY NC 2.0 )