Betwixt and Between: Petroglyph Boulders on Liminal Locations in the Southeastern Mountains

Summary

As far as can be ascertained, all documented petroglyph boulders in northern Georgia and western North Carolina occur next-to old Indian overland trails or certain river corridors, specifically at transition points on the landscape. Moreover, these transition points occur between sites with mounds and town houses at one end and certain mountain tops at the other. Whereas a few Cherokee accounts explicitly mention petroglyph boulders at such locales, the placement of some others can be inferred indirectly by comparing locations with traditional accounts. Based on interpretations of documented Cherokee accounts and re-occurring pecked depictions on the boulders, it is proposed that petroglyphs at transition points refer to certain transitional junctures in Indian’s lives.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Rock Art and Sacred Spaces: Recent Approaches to the Study of Ritual Landscapes

Keywords

Spatial Coverage