“The truth is, however, nobody knows for sure what these stones mean.”
Exactly! So all the so called experts “know” is speculation. They may be correct but they may not be.
I read a book years ago, about the remains of an ancient civilization that were unearthed - it went on at length, about the significance of the religios shrine at the heart of the ruins..
As the story progressed, it eventually became clear that the shrine, complete with glass alters, etc, was the men’s room at Union Station...
Expert(someone form another town)
They should just shut up.
The last thing we need is a bunch of dad bern speculators.
I wouldn think that, because they are an irrigated ag economy, the water from the stone headless women could be some sort of analogy. Perhaps two rivers into one, or two irrigated cultures into one. I would think that a lot of their spiritual expressions would be water and ag based.
I believe the Hopi developed as a matriachy because of their devlopment of established agriculture, rather than hunter-gathering. It is also true of the matriarchy of the various non-migratory Klamath River tribes, where property is established as family fishing spots, plots for basket making materials and acrorn gathering.