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The Archaeology of People: Dimensions of Neolithic Life, Whittle

The Archaeology of People: Dimensions of Neolithic Life, Whittle

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<< Text Pages >> Big Rock, Charlotte NC - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in United States in The South

Submitted by bat400 on Friday, 21 March 2008  Page Views: 20997

Natural PlacesSite Name: Big Rock, Charlotte NC Alternative Name: Indian Rock
Country: United States Region: The South Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Charlotte, NC
Latitude: 35.061500N  Longitude: 80.8277W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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External Links:

Natural Stone in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
A natural granite monadnock overlooking Four Mile Creek near Charlotte, North Carolina. Big Rock is associated with archaeological finds of stone and bone tools dating back 7000 years, and collected bones and shells. Contact Era natives and European colonists used the site as a lookout, landmark, and gathering place.

An unofficial gathering place for locals, the site and surrounding land is planned as a county nature preserve. Note: Look for the sign on Elmstone Drive indicating the trail to the "Big Rocks".

Note: North Carolina county plans to preserve ancient "Big Rock" gathering site in a nature preserve.
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Nearby Images from Flickr
20240307_144814
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20240307_151522

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 82.8km E 80° Town Creek Indian Mound* Misc. Earthwork
 137.4km WNW 290° Chimney Rock (North Carolina)* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
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 146.3km NW 322° Split Rock / Sphinx Rock* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
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 173.0km SSE 168° Santee Indian Mound* Artificial Mound
 173.1km W 266° South Carolina Rock Art Center* Rock Art
 201.6km NNW 330° Cornelius Ancient Village or Settlement
 203.4km WNW 298° Hot Springs (North Carolina)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring
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 237.4km W 281° Kituwah* Ancient Village or Settlement
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 271.0km W 263° Hickorynut Track Rock* Rock Art
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 277.9km W 267° Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area* Stone Row / Alignment
 278.5km W 267° Track Rock* Rock Art
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"Big Rock, Charlotte NC" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Re: Big Rock, Charlotte NC by Anonymous on Sunday, 27 May 2012
Some comments:
1. Very easy to find. There is a large sign on Elmstone Drive that shows where the path is that leads back to "Big Rocks." It's less than a five minute walk.
2. These rocks are NOT on the McMullen Creek or Four Mile Greenways or the connection between them.
3. Do NOT park in the neighborhood center parking lot across the street from the path entrance. Your car will be towed. Elmstone Drive is a public road. There is plenty of on-street parking. I've never seen more than two cars parked there at once. Parking is NOT a problem.
4. If you click on any of the FLICKR photos (of the "Big Rocks," not the cat) photos above, I took them, they are geo-tagged, and they will show you were the "Big Rocks" are.
5. This is an un-improved Mecklenburg County Park, it is located on a public road, and the road and the park are open to the public.
6. Please don't spray paint your name or something you think is "witty" on the "Big Rocks."
7. Please don't leave your trash behind at "Big Rocks."
8. Please pick up at least one piece of trash when you visit and take it to the trash can located at the entrance on the street.
9. Thank you, John N. Cox

PS: The Oxford Comma lives!
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Great big rock, big old history by Anonymous on Friday, 27 January 2012
The new coordinates are spot on!

A housing development now borders the location and you can see the big rock from the road (at least in the winter). The area is marked off as a park and it is only a short walk in to the rock.

[ Reply to This ]

Re: Great big rock, big old history by Anonymous on Thursday, 01 December 2011
I went trying to find this rock today ...
I hiked the McAlpine Greenway segment between Johnston Rd. and Elm Lane, but did not see it ....
If anyone could provide more precise coordinates or directions please post them?

Thanks!
Jim
[ Reply to This ]
    Location of Big Rock by bat400 on Sunday, 04 December 2011
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    The page for this site has been updated with a more accurate location. The rock can be found in a wooded area south of 485 and north of Elmstone.
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Great big rock, big old history by Anonymous on Monday, 15 December 2008
AS a child, my cousins and I used to hike to the Big Rock . It was on what we beleive to be my Aunt and Uncle's poperty. Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Baker whose home we hiked from was at 840 Weddington Rd. Matthews. As a girl of probably the age of 10 or so we hiked to the rock and the older cousins would climb trees and hoist the smaller ones to the top. I've not forgotten the fun we used to have and now 50 years later we went to find that rock again. We located it back in October. My Aunt, Who is to turn 88 year this week put her initials on top when she was a little girl and would love to know if they are still there. She can relate some historical information of the time she and some of our family lived on the surrounding property.I can be contacted at this e-mail address. ayahyall.leonard@cox.net
[ Reply to This ]

Great big rock, big old history by bat400 on Friday, 21 March 2008
(User Info | Send a Message)
Standing on the wooded hillside you can see suburban houses through the leafless trees and hear the roar of cars on a highway. But next to the Big Rock, these reminders of the everyday fade as you feel the pull of time.
An outcropping of granite some 40 feet high, tall as a two-story building, the Big Rock for thousands of years was significant for Native Americans. From its height they scanned the horizon for game. Within its cracks they found shelter.
Now, after years of being isolated and then defaced, the Big Rock is getting needed attention.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission recently voted to nominate it and the surrounding 23 acres for historic designation.
If approved by the Charlotte City Council, the Big Rock will be the first of more than 300 historic landmarks in Mecklenburg County associated with Native Americans. It also will be the first created by natural forces rather than by human hands.
Also, plans are under way by the Park and Recreation Department to make the county-owned rock and its site on Elmstone Drive a nature preserve.
In a business-intense community focused on the immediate, the Big Rock can function as a kind of time machine, connecting to a barely acknowledged past and a different way of life.
"There are not too many places I go that I get goose bumps," said Dan Morrill, consulting director of the landmarks commission as he stood next to the Big Rock, "but I get goose bumps here."
Gathering place
Until recently, the Big Rock was isolated, known mostly to people in the Providence community around Rea Road.But it's been overtaken by growth.
The Thornhill development, built in 1989 off Elm Lane, borders it. Stonecrest shopping center and Interstate 485 are nearby.
Yet the site itself is largely unchanged. Visitors can still see why the this place was important to Native Americans.
There's water, a spring and a branch of Four Mile Creek. The Big Rock stands on the top of a hill. Anyone who climbed it could see for long distances, particularly when the area was treeless. And the Big Rock has cracked, its fissures creating two large spaces where people could get out of the wind and build a fire.
In his survey report, Morrill concludes the Big Rock was used by ancient Native Americans. Archaeological remains puts people there continuously from about 7,000 years ago.
The Big Rock was not a permanent settlement. The Native Americans who came there were nomadic and would stop to hunt, gather food and move on.

History is layered at the Big Rock.
A 1987 archaeological survey found bits of pottery, sharp-edged waste material, stone and bone tools, animal bones, shells, plant remains and a musket ball.
The Big Rock also has more recent artifacts -- fast food wrappers, beer cans, broken glass. Since the area has been developed, the rounded gray rocks have been defaced with spray-painted graffiti.
There's "Jenny & Mike," "Bat Cave" and renderings of skyscrapers, an airplane and a robot. County workers use white paint to cover the graffiti, giving the Big Rock a spotted look.
Michael Stitt, past president of the Thornhill Homeowners Association, said teenagers outside the neighborhood come to the Big Rock. Apparently kids hanging out at Stonecrest walk over.
With attention, the condition of the place should change.
"There's no question that now it's going to be administered more carefully than it has been," said Morrill.
Michael Kirschman of park and recreation said if the site is approved as a nature preserve, and money becomes available, eroded trails will be repaired, benches and trash cans added and signage installed so people know what they're looking at.
He also mentioned adding parking spaces.
Stitt, speaking for himself, said he didn't think the neighborhood wanted parking or a shelter. He said neighbors recognize the value of the Big Rock and want to see it protected, the reason the association pushed hi

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