The California Rock Art Foundation's
Board of Directors
DONNA GILLETTE, PH.D., R.P.A. 15504
Donna Gillette is a native Californian with a lifetime love of California history. This interest was nurtured while volunteering as a Moveable Museum Docent for the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, giving talks on California History in 4th grade classrooms. This interest continued to develop and she received an M.A. in Anthropology from California State University Hayward (now Eastbay), and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
While her research has focused on rock art, her dissertation was a contextual study looking at prehistoric movement across the landscape of the Hopland Research and Extension Center, which has 5 sites of the rock tradition that she has focused on for the last 20+ years – the PCN (Pecked Curvilinear Nucleated) tradition that is found throughout the Coastal Ranges of California.
Donna is currently the President (Pro Tempore) and Vice President of the California Rock Art Foundation, she has been on the Board of the American Rock Art Research Association for more than 17 years, and was a member of the Bay Area Rock Art Research Association while living in the Bay Area.
She has presented numerous papers on rock art at local, national and international conferences and has published several articles in journals. She has served as lead editor on a 2013 Springer publication – Rock Art and the Sacred Landscape. Donna currently donates her archaeological services to the DANA Adobe in Nipomo. Her latest publication is currently avaliable in PDF via Springer Publications and will be avaliable in print on November 1, 2024.
While her research has focused on rock art, her dissertation was a contextual study looking at prehistoric movement across the landscape of the Hopland Research and Extension Center, which has 5 sites of the rock tradition that she has focused on for the last 20+ years – the PCN (Pecked Curvilinear Nucleated) tradition that is found throughout the Coastal Ranges of California.
Donna is currently the President (Pro Tempore) and Vice President of the California Rock Art Foundation, she has been on the Board of the American Rock Art Research Association for more than 17 years, and was a member of the Bay Area Rock Art Research Association while living in the Bay Area.
She has presented numerous papers on rock art at local, national and international conferences and has published several articles in journals. She has served as lead editor on a 2013 Springer publication – Rock Art and the Sacred Landscape. Donna currently donates her archaeological services to the DANA Adobe in Nipomo. Her latest publication is currently avaliable in PDF via Springer Publications and will be avaliable in print on November 1, 2024.
LINDA HYLKEMA, M.A.
Is an archaeologist specializing in the Late Holocene and Spanish Colonial eras in Central California, Linda Hylkema has been worked for the past 30 years as an archaeologist for various agencies including the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Cal-Fire (CDF), California State Parks and numerous Cultural Resources Management (CRM) firms.
She has written dozens of archaeological survey and data recovery reports, has published articles in the Society of California Archaeology Annual Proceedings, American Indian Rock Art, Santa Clara County Connections, Historical Archaeology, California Department of Forestry Archaeological Reports, co-authored Uncovering and Interpreting History and Archaeology at Mission Santa Clara, published by Lulu Press, and in Beneath the Ivory Tower: the Archaeology of Academia, published by the University of Florida Press.
Formerly the Assistant Campus Archaeologist and Manager of the Archaeology Research Lab (ARL) at Santa Clara University, she is now the SCU’s University Archaeologist and Cultural Resources Program Director. During her twenty-five tenure, Linda’s main priority has been overseeing the mitigation of archaeological resources on the university campus as a result of various construction projects. She also supervises the Archaeology Collections Manager of the vast artifact collections, overseeing their conservation and curation with the assistance of student lab technicians.
She received a double BA in Psychology and Anthropology from San Jose State University, and her MA from California State University, Hayward in 2005. In her spare time, she enjoys outdoor activities like kayaking, gardening, hiking, rock hounding, and camping with her son and family, as well as catering to her two golden retrievers. She also works closely with several private land owners in the Diablo Range recording prehistoric sites on their ranches and is on the Advisory Board for the Friends of Historic San Antonio Mission.
She has written dozens of archaeological survey and data recovery reports, has published articles in the Society of California Archaeology Annual Proceedings, American Indian Rock Art, Santa Clara County Connections, Historical Archaeology, California Department of Forestry Archaeological Reports, co-authored Uncovering and Interpreting History and Archaeology at Mission Santa Clara, published by Lulu Press, and in Beneath the Ivory Tower: the Archaeology of Academia, published by the University of Florida Press.
Formerly the Assistant Campus Archaeologist and Manager of the Archaeology Research Lab (ARL) at Santa Clara University, she is now the SCU’s University Archaeologist and Cultural Resources Program Director. During her twenty-five tenure, Linda’s main priority has been overseeing the mitigation of archaeological resources on the university campus as a result of various construction projects. She also supervises the Archaeology Collections Manager of the vast artifact collections, overseeing their conservation and curation with the assistance of student lab technicians.
She received a double BA in Psychology and Anthropology from San Jose State University, and her MA from California State University, Hayward in 2005. In her spare time, she enjoys outdoor activities like kayaking, gardening, hiking, rock hounding, and camping with her son and family, as well as catering to her two golden retrievers. She also works closely with several private land owners in the Diablo Range recording prehistoric sites on their ranches and is on the Advisory Board for the Friends of Historic San Antonio Mission.
Is an internationally experienced Anthropologist/Archeologist and Historian based in California. (further bio coming soon)
California Rock Art Foundation Founders
Alan Garfinkel Gold, Ph.D., R.P.A.,
ALAN GARFINKEL GOLD, PH.D., R.P.A. 989105
Dr. Alan Garfinkel Gold is a Founder, and former President of the California Rock Art Foundation. He is a California and Great Basin anthropologist and archaeologist. He is currently teaching at California State University, Bakersfield. Dr. Gold has co-authored five books including Prehistory of Kern County, Archaeology and Rock Art, and the Handbook of the Kawaiisu and has formally published scientific articles in various academic journals.
Alan has focused his research interests attempting to better understand the rich and complex archaeological record of the far Southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, western Mojave Desert, and southwestern Great Basin. He has concentrated his focus on the research areas of linguistic history, past population movements, forager religion, animal ceremonialism, and Numic Ghost Dance paintings. Most recently he has framed his studies in close collaboration with Native peoples of the area and has applied their cultural constructs and unique perceptions into interpretive schemata for local rock art.
Alan has focused his research interests attempting to better understand the rich and complex archaeological record of the far Southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, western Mojave Desert, and southwestern Great Basin. He has concentrated his focus on the research areas of linguistic history, past population movements, forager religion, animal ceremonialism, and Numic Ghost Dance paintings. Most recently he has framed his studies in close collaboration with Native peoples of the area and has applied their cultural constructs and unique perceptions into interpretive schemata for local rock art.
The Foundation seeks to increase public appreciation and support for rock art in California by:
Serving as a resource for the academic community, private developers, government land managers, Native American
and historic preservation groups, and environmental professionals.
Helping government agencies and their staffs, developers, and landowners to understand their obligations and
opportunities to competently manage rock art sites.
Encouraging the conservation of rock art resources for future research, public interpretation and enjoyment.
Providing training for individuals and groups through hands-on rock art recording and rock art cultural resource management.
Encouraging respect, appreciation and a better understanding of California’s cultural heritage with a specific
focus on its remarkable rock art resources (including pictographs, petroglyphs, portable rock art, geoglyphs,
and rock alignments).
Representing the concerns of California rock art professionals before government commissions and agencies,
and with legislation.
Recognizing the significance that many rock art sites possess special importance to particular ethnic
groups and local communities (including and importantly Native Americans).
Discouraging vandalism, theft, and exploitation of rock art resources.
Serving as a resource for the academic community, private developers, government land managers, Native American
and historic preservation groups, and environmental professionals.
Helping government agencies and their staffs, developers, and landowners to understand their obligations and
opportunities to competently manage rock art sites.
Encouraging the conservation of rock art resources for future research, public interpretation and enjoyment.
Providing training for individuals and groups through hands-on rock art recording and rock art cultural resource management.
Encouraging respect, appreciation and a better understanding of California’s cultural heritage with a specific
focus on its remarkable rock art resources (including pictographs, petroglyphs, portable rock art, geoglyphs,
and rock alignments).
Representing the concerns of California rock art professionals before government commissions and agencies,
and with legislation.
Recognizing the significance that many rock art sites possess special importance to particular ethnic
groups and local communities (including and importantly Native Americans).
Discouraging vandalism, theft, and exploitation of rock art resources.
