SPARKS –– Just below the roar of traffic on Interstate 80, east of Sparks, the whispers of a Native American past sit quietly, waiting to be noticed.

The Court of Antiquity appears to be nothing more than a group of rock tables on the south side of the interstate, about three miles from the highway’s intersection with Vista Boulevard. However, beneath the din of nearby traffic lie more than 200 panels of Native American petroglyphs, dating back generations.

According to research from The American Guides Project, present-day Indians are not familiar with the petroglyph’s meanings and even the oldest chiefs of the local tribes say they did not know of their existence until recently.

The Nevada Rock Art Foundation, along with local municipalities, is working to better understand the petroglyph’s origins.

A unanimous vote from the Sparks City Council on Monday put ink to a cooperative agreement among the city, Washoe County and the Nevada Department of Transportation to document and assess the nearly four-acre site.

The agreement puts the city’s weight behind an effort by the Nevada Rock Art Foundation to acquire the site from NDOT, secure grant funding and study the site. Washoe County already gave its approval to the agreement at a Sept. 22 meeting.

“The purpose of this agreement is twofold,” Sparks Parks and Recreation director Stan Sherer told the council Monday. “One is to recognize the cultural-historical benefit this site has for the community and, two, to enable the Nevada Rock Art Foundation to go out and solicit funds for the eventual development of the site.”

Sherer added that the agreement did not mean a pledge of funds to support the foundation. Rather, the agreement was simply a pledge of city support.

“It’s a legitimacy issue,” he said. “If potential grantors realize that (local municipalities) are committed to maintaining this area they (the foundation) will be much more successful in soliciting these funds.”

The Court of Antiquity Advisory Committee, a sub-committee of the Nevada Rock Art Foundation, is spearheading the research project.

According to Sherer’s report to the council, the committee’s goals include cultural documentation and environmental assessment, developing a site master plan, acquisition of the site from NDOT and securing grant funding.

“The site is really phenomenal … most people in the region don’t realize it is there, but hopefully through the cooperation of the (municipalities) and the efforts of the Nevada Rock Art Foundation, that will change,” Sherer said.

According to city reports, the site has significance as a central meeting and fishing site for Native American tribes.

The cluster of etched rock panels sits between the interstate and the Truckee River. Since the site sits just below the freeway, NDOT owns the right of way and the land.

The ancient site once had for its neighbor an old rest stop that is now blocked off with chains, fencing and warning signs. Since there is no longer an exit for the rest stop, the site is only accessible by pulling off to the side of the road.

City staff was not certain why the area is called the Court of Antiquity.