San Diego Rock Art Association

This presentation looks at (1) who made the petroglyph images in the northern Sierra Nevada, (2) examples of their images and sites, and (3) site management and protection.

The petroglyphs that we focus on occur on and around the El Dorado, Plumas, and Tahoe National Forests. Most of them were made between 2000 B.C. and A.D. 500 by the Martis Complex, the ancestors of the Washoe tribe. Several different sites found in El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, and Sierra Counties are featured. Included in the presentation will be descriptions of a number of FSRA’s site protection endeavors including a student project related to creating site signage that encourages positive behavior, and a graffiti removal project at a public site.

Nolan Smith worked as an archaeologist for the Tahoe National Forest for forty years He served as a district archaeologist and worked closely with Friends of Sierra Rock Art during much of that time. He is a member of the board of FSRA and oversees the non-profit’s monitoring of ancient petroglyph sites on the National Forest.

Bill Drake, has taught courses in Native American history, culture, and politics to high school students and has spent over thirty-five years studying rock image sites in the southwest and western United States. He co-founded FSRA in 1990.

Friends of Sierra Rock Art works with the Tahoe National Forest, other agencies, and Native Americans to protect cultural resources. It is the first non-professional organization to have received the Society for California Archaeology’s prestigious Helen C. Smith award for contributions to California archaeology. It is also the recipient of the American Rock Art Research Association’s 2025 national conservation award,

Visit FSRA on the web at www.friendsofsierrarockart.org and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@friendsofsierrarockart

Click here for our Gallery of Northern Sierra Nevada Petroglyphs

This meeting will be held via Zoom

December 13, 2026, Starting at 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)

Click Here to Register and receive meeting link in email
and confirm your address on our email list for future meeting notices

After 3:45 p.m. (Pacific Time) December 13 use this direct link to join the meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89922704861?pwd=p8EucwWko9DNirUAhl9f55ZWBws9QE.1

One tap Mobile: +16694449171,,89922704861#,,,,*196827# US