![]() They were probably not doodles given the difficulty of making the glyphs and the time required. The second question people ask, after age, is about the meaning of the petroglyphs. Any outdoor person at such a spot will be thrilled by such a sight the prehistoric Indians who left these petroglyphs must have had some of the same feeling of awe, or it was incorporated in their religion.” “With no exception, each of the sites that were discovered was within 20-30 feet of a magnificent view of an important mountain, and frequently a panorama of the peaks-Mount Lincoln, Crow’s Nest, Anderson Peak, Tinkers Knob, Granite Chief, Needles Peak, Lyon Peak, Snow Mountain, and Devils Peak. They were also probably located on seasonal game migration routes. Other than that all the dozens of rock carving spots in the Summit and environs conform to his analysis. That said, Gortner did not know about some possibly even more ancient petroglyphs on a boulder in one spot in Summit Valley. They are never on vertical faces or on boulders. Different from other petroglyphs in other areas, Donner Summit petroglyphs are always on open bedrock outcroppings with views of major peaks. Gortner’s discussion of the petroglyph locations is interesting. Their styles changed over the ages so if carvings can be linked to a particular style, then age can be determined.Īll of the methods are indeterminate but taken together, especially following the analysis of spear points, Gortner feels the petroglyphs on Donner Summit could be 3,500 years old. ![]() Finally, one can analyze spear and arrow points found nearby. One can also do carbon-14 dating on artifacts or fire remains nearby. Obviously, the petroglyphs at this site are many hundreds of years older than the “modern” carvings…” “By contrast, the immediately adjacent but much more ancient Indian rock carvings appear consistently weathered with a dull stain re-appearing in the incised lines, though not nearly approaching the depth of color of the pink crust of the granite bedrock itself. For example Gortner discusses the names carved into rocks around the Cedars done by tourists at the Summit Soda Springs Hotel a hundred years ago compared to the Native American petroglyphs in the same areas. You can study the patina of the rock carvings compared to the surrounding rock. If you can pin down who did them, you can get an approximation of age. In his exploration for clues Gortner covered a number of different subjects: how the petroglyphs were made, who made them, their age, meaning, location, and reasons behind He ends with his conclusions.Īn example of the depth of his study is Gortner’s discussion of the petroglyphs’ age and how that can be determined. To answer those questions Gortner saw himself as a detective using clues that would develop a complete picture. His objective in writing the book was to answer the who, what, where, when, and how of the rock carvings he found on his many explorations. Willis Gortner was an amateur archeologist with a home in the Cedars on the North Fork of the American River. There you will find a 20 Mile Museum sign and a monument. ![]() ![]() The most accessible rock carvings of the type talked about in the book are just off Old Highway 40 at the first curve below the Rainbow or Donner Summit Bridge. Although the book focuses on the petroglyphs of the North Fork of the American River, the Cedars in particular, it applies also to other nearby rock carvings on the Sierra Crest as far as Meadow Lake or just over the ridge from the North Fork on the Yuba River. Portola Press 1984 183 pages (half of the pages are drawings)Īncient Rock Carvings is an exploration of the rock carvings on Donner Summit. Ancient Rock Carvings of the Central Sierra: The North Fork Indian Petroglyphs
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