<< Our Photo Pages >> Track Rock - Rock Art in United States in The South
Submitted by bat400 on Wednesday, 18 July 2012 Page Views: 4704
Rock ArtSite Name: Track Rock Alternative Name: 9Un3Country: United States
NOTE: This site is 7.335 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: The South Type: Rock Art
Nearest Village: Blairsville, GA
Latitude: 34.885000N Longitude: 83.877W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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External Links:
Rock Art in Union County, Georgia. The site consists of six soapstone boulders covered with petroglyphs, many of which are in the form of animal and human tracks, although some "deer tracks" have been interpreted as vulvas. Other figures are more abstract and include crosses, circles and cup marks. Track Rock is one of the largest collections of petroglyphs in north Georgia.
Indian association with the stones is implied for dates as early as 1600 BC. This is the approximate date associated artifact finds of small soapstone bowls made from material removed from soapstone in the immediate area of Track Rock. Dates for the rock art itself is less understood, but it is thought that many of the figures are pre-European contact, possibly from 1000AD. The petroglyphs are associated with the pre-contact cultures now associated with the modern Cherokee and Muskogee Creek Nations.
The stones lie within a gap between Thunderstruck Mountain and the Buzzard Roost Ridge of the Brasstown Bald. Along the gap a pre-contact trail has been documented - the modern Track Rock Gap Road follows the path of the ancient trail. The trail head for the modern Arkaquah hiking trail is also near the rock art figures. This trail is also associated with a pre-contact trail.
The petroglyphs were first documented in the 1830's. At that time, Cherokee of the region variously described the petroglyphs as the doodles of hunters resting along the trail, or provided a supernatural explanation that the tracks were the prints of animals and people who walked the trail when the stone surface of the boulders was still soft.
Although now part of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, the figures had been vandalized as early as 1889. In the 1990's interpretive signage was put up and the boulders were covered with metal shutters to try to prevent further vandalism and wear from handling or walking on the boulders. In 2009 the petroglyphs were formally documented in a digital scanning project sponsored by the National Forest Service. After the recording was completed, the public access to the site was changed by removing the metal shutters and using low fences to imply the "display" and protection of the boulder faces.
The figures are difficult to see. Strong side lighting (early or late in the day, or by using a strong flashlight beam from the side) dramatically improves the visibility of the carvings.
The site is included in the larger Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area listing (pending) for the National Register of Historic Places. The location given for this listing is the approximate location of the boulders on the west side of Track Rock Gap Road. There is a parking area about 100 feet farther south along the road at a hiking trailhead.
Sources: Linked within the description, above.
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