<< Other Photo Pages >> Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area - Stone Row / Alignment in United States in The South
Submitted by bat400 on Thursday, 19 July 2012 Page Views: 9691
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area Alternative Name: 9Un367, Track Rock terrace complexCountry: United States Region: The South Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Nearest Village: Blairsville, GA
Latitude: 34.880000N Longitude: 83.87W
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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A complex of piled stone walls and cairns in Union County, Georgia.
This grouping of stones dry piled into low walls and shaped piles was first mentioned in 1834 by a Doctor Stephenson. The complex covers an irregular area approximately 600 m long by 300 - 400 m wide. The walls vary in size with the majority of them being 20m long or less, although several are as much as 100 m long. Other structures included two short stone columns (now recumbent,) and stone piles.
The majority of the walls follow contour lines of the steep hillsides, in the manner of terraces, but several walls meander without regard to elevation contours and are similar to known prehistoric rock pile sites in other parts of Georgia, such as Fort Mountain.
Many of the Indian people of eastern North America had described stone sites in general as sacred places, with many connections to the stones as burial or commemorative locations. And it has been a local assumption that this stone complex was associated with a pre-contact battle, although any formal documentation of this oral history appears tenuous. The entire site is now part of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.
In 1999 - 2000 local residents consulted with Johannes Loubser and Douglas Frink to have the site mapped. Minimal excavations on several features dated soil beneath them by Oxidizable Carbon Ration dating. Dates ranged from 141 to nearly 2000 years before present, but with several sampled dates indicating construction of specific features to ~1100 AD.
The one stone pile that was partially excavated yielded charcoal, lithics and ceramic fragments, and a portion of the bowl of a pipe, and (later) prehistoric dates. As these indicated a possible burial, no additional excavation of the feature was carried out, and the artifacts were returned after field examination. A separate wall feature revealed a fragment of pre-historic lithics. No historic artifacts were found in the areas below the stone structures examined. All indications supported the pre-historic nature of at least a portion of the site, although some carbon dates from the site are from the historic period. Loubser (see below) has indicated that it is possible that the stone structures date from a variety of time periods: prehistoric, Cherokee coalescence/immigration, up to European vernacular dry stone.
The complex lies between a stream bed that parallels the Track Rock Gap Road and the western slopes and onto the Buzzard Roost Ridge of the Brasstown Bald. The trail head for the modern Arkaquah hiking trail is also near the Track Rock rock art figures; (this trail is associated with a pre-contact trail.) The stone complex lies south of the Arkaquah Trail, with much of it along or south of "Vent Trail", which leads to a fumarole or vent, lying north east of the stone pile complex. The close association of the nearby Track Rock petroglyphs, the Vent, and the ancient trails with the stone wall and stone pile complex has been suggested by several researchers to be part of one ethnohistoric landscape.
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 general location of the complex along and west of Buzzard Roost Ridge and does not reflect any particular feature.
[Note: Although not strictly speaking "prohibited," the Forest Service does not recommend use of the unauthorized, user-created trail which leads to this site, or visiting the Track Rock Stone Complex site itself. (Although the Forest Service itself led a group of journalists and representatives of Native American groups to the site on 19 Dec 2012.) This is described as a strenuous hike and most of the site lies off any developed hiking trail. In mid 2012 portions of this trail were blocked to discourage visits to the site, as stated by the Forest Service, "One way the Forest Service and Tribal partners protect the very fragile, sensitive and sacred stone landscape is by not encouraging visitation..." ]
Sources include:
Johannes Loubser and Douglas Frink, "An Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Appraisal of a Piled Stone Feature Complex in the Mountains of North Georgia," Early Georgia, Number 38, 2010.
Donald B. Ball and John C. Waggoner, Jr., "Megaliths in the Upland South: Imposing Stones of Uncertain Function," Journal of Alabama Archaeology, Vol 56, No. I, 2010.
"American Indian Partners Work to Protect Track Rock Gap," Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest website,
Note: Internet Argument over Architect's Theory that North Georgia rock pile site is Mayan colony. See comments.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
847m NW 311° Track Rock* Rock Art
21.0km SSE 154° Hickorynut Track Rock* Rock Art
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