Lost or Damaged Pictograph & Bedrock Mortar Sites

The Painted Rock pictograph site, which is discussed below and in a previous page, was violated and damaged many years ago when vandals used the pictographs for target practive (see image on the right). Another site and an adjacent complex with hundreds pf bedrock mortars at the Lake Kaweah Reservoir was destroyed many years ago as well. Fortunately public awareness and appreciation of such national treasures has evolved since then, and such desecrations are considered crimes today. Please respect and protect the sites that survive by helping to preserve them so that they will be around for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.

 

 

Bell Bluff at Lake Kaweah (Tulare County)


When the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in 1962 completed the Terminus Dam and Lake Kaweah Reservoir in Tulare County, several ancient Monache (Mono) and/or Wukchumni Yokuts archaeological sites along the Kaweah River were inundated and destroyed. Among these was a slab with hundreds of bedrock mortars, and a pictograph panel at Bell Bluff, which became one of the footings for the dam. (see Archaeology of the Terminus Reservoir Region for more information.)

 

 

Painted Rock in the Carrizo Plain


 These are before (1929) and after (2014) photos of two pictograph panels at
Painted Rock in Carrizo Plain National Monument. A few visitors here in the early days scratched graffiti on the panels, and some chipped off pieces of painted rock for souvenirs. However, the greatest damage was done by a local rancher who shot bullet holes in the pictographs by using them as targets. Though damaged, the survivng pictographs are still impressive.

 

 

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