Georgia Natural Wonder #215 - Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area. 633

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #215 - Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area

Down here at Georgia Natural Wonder #215 and we come back to a more historical than natural wonder again. Legends and folklore, mysteries and myths, science and speculation can't completely explain the ancient encrypted carvings on large boulders located at the Track Rock Archaeological Area.



Now we have featured mainly Indian sites before in our Natural Wonders of Georgia.....

#24 - Sapelo Island Shell Rings

#34 Fort Mountain

#66 Ocmulgee Indian Mounds


Ocmulgee Indian Mounds

#158 Etowah Indian Mounds

#172 Kolomoki Mounds


Kolomoki Mounds

#202 - New Echota

#203 - Chief Vann House - Spring Place Mission

#208 - Rock Eagle - Rock Hawk


Rock Eagle

There is the Indian Mound in Helen, some at Schull Shoals, the Indian Town of Hightower in Rome. We have covered the Trail of Tears and the Indian Removal Forts. We traveled the Old Federal Road through Indian Territory and the Oakfuskee Path on Pine Mountain Merriwether County. I made sure to tangent on the Indian History in almost all my County post. All this brings us to today's Natural Wonder.

The Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area is in the North Georgia's Chattahoochee National Forest just below Brasstown Bald along Union County's eastern border. This archaeological site lies in a low gap between two mountain ranges and is easily accessed along Trackrock Road just off US/76 East. The roadway travels right next to the archaeological site and Trackrock Trail.



Trackrock Road, which passes over the gap next to the site, is part of an ancient Native American trade route that traveled from north to south through the mountains. This site and trade route is estimated to have been in use since 1,000 AD; some speculate that the site and trade route are several thousands years old.

Trackrock Archaeological Site

There are six major boulders at the site covered in encrypted carvings along with several other smaller stones scattered about the site that appear to have some type of carvings. These primitive carvings depict ancient symbols of human and animal forms, plus what might be described as spirit beings. These carving were created at different times and not all at once. Each set of carvings appears to tell a story, or possibly a type of ritual.



Whatever the mysteries at Track Rock Archaeological Area are, is all up to speculation since the stones speak a language that archaeologists as well as the native Cherokee haven't been able to decipher, as of yet. Symbols may coincide with native legends yet their meanings are too uncertain. The Blue Ridge Highlander believes each visitor to the site can decide for themselves as to their nature and purpose.



Newly added to the site is an interpretive area alongside the main boulders. What's been removed from the site are the old protective grated cages that covered some of the larger boulders, often visually obstructing the carvings though providing adequate protection from earlier vandalism and theft.



Bastards:-E



Located in the Blue Ridge Ranger District, this 52-acre area contains preserved petroglyphs of ancient Indian origin from which this mountain gap (or pass) gets its name. These carvings resemble animal and bird tracks, crosses, circles and human footprints.



Visit this special site where the people of long ago carved their stories into the boulders of Track Rock.

Mayan Myth Busting at Track Rock Gap

The Track Rock Gap rock art and stone landscape sites on the Chattahoochee National Forest were created by Creek and Cherokee people beginning more than 1,000 years ago. There is no archeological evidence of any Mayan connection to the sites.



View a video of members of the Muscogee Creek Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians specializing in historic preservation debunking the Mayan myth, and explaining what the site means to their peoples and why it's so important to protect it.

Introduction to the Petroglyphs at Track Rock Gap

Tucked away in the gap between Thunderstruck Mountain and Buzzard Roost Ridge, history is written in stone. Track Rock Gap is the location of a series of rock carvings, or petroglyphs, made by Native Americans in Union County, Georgia on soapstone boulders. There are over a hundred carvings of a wide range of figures.



It’s one of the most significant rock art sites in the Southeastern United States and the only such site located on public land in Georgia. Although it’s one of the best known rock art sites in the region, it was never completely recorded or studied before the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests sponsored research there in 2009. Please explore this site further to learn more about Track Rock and the findings of this research.

Who Made the Track Rock Carvings?

It is very likely that the Cherokee, and possibly the Catabwa and Creek as well, made the carvings at Track Rock. The Blue Ridge Mountain region of North Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee has experienced an overlap of different linguistic groups over time, even though the mountainous region was most recently dominated by Iroquoian-speaking Cherokee. The neighboring Creek and Catabwa languages are respectively Muskogee and Siouan branches of the same root linguistic background of the Cherokee. These three groups had broadly similar social structures, economic and political systems, and religious practices.



The Cherokee have a number of accounts relating to Track Rock and the area appears to have been important to them. No references to Track Rock appear in the ethnographies of the Creek and Catabwa. However, either group, or both, may have contributed to the creation of Track Rock.

How Were the Carvings Made and How Old Are They?

The earliest evidence for carvings at Track Rock dates back at least 3,600 years. These carvings were the result of Native Americans removing pieces of soapstone to make bowls. The soapstone at Track Rock Gap has a soft, yet durable make-up. This makes it easy to carve and efficient to use, and it is particularly well suited for cooking, as it holds and radiates heat without breaking.



Most of the carvings visible at Track Rock are more recent. Based on a comparison with other such sites, Jannie Loubser concluded that most of the figures were carved in the last 1,000 years. Early American explorers describe the Track Rock site, so we know the carvings were made before 1800. Our best understanding of the site is that the carvings were made by Native Americans during repeated visits over several hundred years beginning around A.D. 1,000.



The carvings at Track Rock were made in one of two ways. Many of the figures were created by pecking. Hard rocks, or hammer stones, were used to create the shapes by repeated blows in the same spot until the desired shape was created. Alternatively, some of the figures were created by incising or carving into the rock. A hard stone would be rubbed back and forth to create the design. Although soapstone is considered a soft rock, it is still rock and rather hard to carve. It took a lot of time and effort to create these figures that have lasted a thousand years.

How the Track Rock Research Study Was Conducted

The Forest Service is charged with protecting and managing significant archaeological and historic sites. In order to better protect Track Rock, the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests conducted an assessment of the site that documented its condition and made management recommendations. This research at Track Rock Gap was carried out by Johannes (Jannie) Loubser, an archaeologist who specializes in rock art research. Loubser made tracings of the figures using plastic that covered the boulders.



Careful tracing of motifs that occur on stable rock surfaces is advantageous over photographs for a variety of reasons. Pens were used to trace the outlines of any natural edges, and the pecked, scraped, and incised figures. The field tracings were then scanned and converted to digital format. Nighttime photography was also conducted to provide additional contrast. Halogen lamps were used to side-light the boulders at Track Rock.



These photographs illustrate the dramatic day-time and night-time differences in petroglyph visibility on Boulder 5 at Track Rock.



Detailed Descriptions of the Boulders at Track Rock

Track Rock Boulder 1



A diagram of Track Rock Boulder 1 A total of 31 cupules have been traced on Boulder 1. Four vulva-like shapes have been traced. Two of the vulva-shapes are slightly elongated in shape (resembling deer tracks), whereas the other two are U-shaped. One of the U-shaped vulva-forms resembles a deer track, whereas the other contains two tiny cupule-like holes that are presumably part of the design. A pecked line near the lowermost southern extremity of the boulder resembles a soapstone bowl extraction scar. The center of the boulder contains a square-shaped depression with a flat-topped pedestal in the middle that is the result of vandalism.

Track Rock Boulder 2



A diagram of Track Rock Boulder 2 A total of 13 cupules have been traced on Boulder 2. Four vulva-like oval shapes have been traced, all of them closely juxtaposed. One of the vulva-shapes resembles a horse track, whereas the other three are football-shaped. The biggest vulva-form has a horizontal line (now very weathered and faint) intersecting the vertical line, giving the overall design an appearance of a cross-in-ring motif. An arc-shaped step-like edge and associated hollow depression on Boulder 2 immediately down slope from the cupules and vulva-shapes resembles soapstone bowl extraction scars. The faint and barely visible remains of two human-like figures can be seen on the sloping surface near the center of Boulder 2. The bodies of these round-headed figures are fairly straight whereas the arms and legs are slightly arced. Near the center of the boulder, slightly lower down from the human figures, is the faint remnant of a nested ring design. Two bird track-like designs are visible on the surface. Remnants of densely incised graffiti and natural weathering on the main southeastward facing side of the boulder has probably destroyed many petroglyphs

Track Rock Boulder 3





A diagram of Track Rock Boulder 3 A total of 16 cupules have been traced on Boulder 3. Three foot-like shapes and one track-like shape have been traced. One foot resembles the right foot of a human, complete with heel and five toes. The heel of a second foot is all what remains after a curvilinear design was pecked and carved over the toes. The weathered remains of what appears to be a third foot occurs on a pedestal that was left in the center of a vandal attempt to extract a rectangular soapstone slab. The single track-like mark vaguely resembles the front track of a squirrel or some kind of a rabbit-like animal. A maze-like network of curvilinear lines is concentrated in the bottom south-central portion of Boulder 3. Near the center of the maze are two circular motifs, one enclosing a pair of cupules and the other enclosing a cross. Lower down, on the eastern side of the maze, is a square-shape that is sub-divided into a grid. On the lower edge of the boulder and on the opposite side of the maze from the grid the lines form what looks like a vulva shape. A trident-shape protrudes from the top of the maze. An incised zigzag is visible near the eastern edge of the boulder.

Track Rock Boulder 4





A diagram of Track Rock Boulder 4 The southwestern third or so of the boulder has been destroyed by vandals and it is not known what once occurred on the destroyed section. A total of 39 cupules have been traced on Boulder 4. Five foot-like motifs have been traced. Two of the feet resemble normal human feet with five toes, a third foot is sideways with its toes barely visible, a fourth foot has some of its toes truncated by a later curvilinear motif, and the fifth foot is human-like but has six toes. A maze of curvilinear lines covers most of the boulder. Near the center of the maze are two oval motifs, each with a cupule at its center. A second pair of oval motifs, each with a cupule within, occurs near the east-central edge of the boulder. A third pair of oval motifs with cupules occurs on both sides of a straight incised line that runs diagonally down the eastern side of the boulder. This straight-lined motif has previously been identified as an atlatl spear thrower, but is now interpreted as a map. A second straight-lined motif occurs near the center of the current southern edge of the boulder. This motif can be construed as representing an atlatl spear thrower too, even though it could represent other forms. The straight southeastern edge of the boulder is chipped on its upward-facing side. By knocking off various flakes from this side, somebody was able to create a serrated, or scalloped, edge. Similar scalloped edges at several rock art sites have been noted in the Columbia Plateau area of northwestern America. Informants said that such scalloped edges could have been used for rubbing a stick against and so generate a rasping sound as an aid to induce visions of a spirit helper.

Track Rock Boulder 5





A diagram of Track Rock Boulder 5 The edge is interrupted by two rectilinear quarry scars, each with a removal pedestals within. These scars mark the locations where petroglyphs were removed from Boulder 5. A total of 37 cupules were traced on Boulder 5. Five bird tracks, four human-like feet, and a vulva-like shape have been traced. Remnants of curvilinear and rectilinear designs can be seen in the southern half of the boulder. These are most likely only small sections of what used to be much larger motifs on the boulder.

Track Rock Boulder 6





A diagram of Track Rock Boulder 6 A total of 153 cupules were traced on Boulder 6. Fourteen vulva-shapes were recorded, 11 are football-shaped and three are circular. Of the fourteen vulva-shapes, two resemble cross-in-ring motifs. Each of these cross-in-ring designs contain a tiny cupule within the central groove, slightly below the intersection point of the cross lines. An elaborately carved vulva-form, on the central western portion of the boulder, has striations and a row of cupules along its periphery. Another vulva-form, lower down and closer to the southeastern side of the boulder, has striations outside its right-hand edge. Short vertical lines emanate from the bottoms of at least eight vulva shapes. Eighteen foot-like motifs have been traced. The feet vary in proportion and size; a particularly big foot with massive toes near the upper center of the boulder resembles that of a giant being. One track, near the upper central portion of the boulder, resembles the front track of a bear. Four of the six tracks that were traced are bird-like, while the other two are unidentifiable. Of all the footprints and tracks recorded, only one bird track points downwards, the rest point upwards, away from ground surface. Overall then, with the exception of the single downward pointing bird track, the feet and tracks create the impression of humans and animals walking to the apex of the rock, beginning at ground level. Remnants of curvilinear lines can be seen scattered across the boulder. A grid-like design occurs near the northwestern corner, while an inverted U-shape can be seen closer to the southeastern side. Four human-like figures can be seen on the boulder, two of which are upside-down. A figure on the eastern slope of the boulder has arms that terminate in cupules. Two cup-in-ring designs can be seen on the boulder too, both occurring west of the center.



Detailed Descriptions of the Figures at Track Rock

The figures represented at Track Rock range from non-representational, to abstract, to highly stylized. As a result, we can specifically identify only a few motifs as discussed below.

Human Feet



The shapes of human feet are fairly common at Track Rock.  Some are partial feet, and one has six toes.  The meaning of this foot is unknown, but the very large ones may represent spirit beings.

Animal Tracks



Many bird tracks are present, and at least one bear track is clearly recognizable on the largest boulder.  Tracks and footprints commonly occur on rock art sites and are often considered to represent reproductive potential and hunting magic.  The vast majority of tracks are pointing upward, as if the animals, humans, and birds have emerged from the ground immediately in front of the boulders and then moved up and over the boulders, away from the viewer, who stands down-hill from the panels.

Cupules



Cupules are small, pecked circles and the most common figure on the boulders. Such figures are common across the United States. In many cases the figures themselves are not important, but rather, the actual act of creating them in the first place. To make a cupule, one makes a repetitive motion of pecking the rock and this act is part of a ritual relating to the spiritual significance of the location.

Human-like Stick Figures



Human figures at Track Rock are generally arranged perpendicular to the ground surface. Two human figures are upside-down, and these figures hint at experiences in the inverted spirit world. The world behind boulders within mountain passes and at other natural junctures on the landscape was one of spirit beings. High peaks in Georgia and North Carolina were the abodes of Immortals/Mountain People and Giant thunder deities. Within each of these mountains were open country and towns, with houses ranged along trails, very much a mirror image of the everyday world of waking consciousness.



Grid-like and Curvilinear Designs



Grid-like and curvilinear designs are present on at least two boulders. Based on comparisons with figures recorded elsewhere, these are thought to represent structures and houses.



Each dot-within-outline design (i.e., one or more cupules encircled by a line or a number of intersecting lines) may represent a house (outline delineating walls) with a fire-place and/or pits (indicated by dots)


Combinations of such figures, along with dots and lines, are interpreted as possibly representing maps. An excellent example of this at Track Rock is on Boulder 4.


This figure was once interpreted as a spear thrower but is now thought to represent a map.

Stories from the Cherokee About Track Rock Petroglyphs

There are a number of Cherokee accounts for the origin and meaning of Track Rock that were recorded in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  Many of these stories were reported as being literal accounts for the origin of the carvings.  However, it is very important to remember that any interpretation of these accounts should consider metaphor in any understanding.  The people who took down the stories heard them and reproduced them in the context of their own world-view.  At the same time, Native informants may well have tailored what they said to the known interests or biases of the people with whom they were interacting.  Lastly, there were likely meanings and understandings of the figures that the informants did not share with the people recording the stories because it was privileged information.  The following section includes summaries of some of these stories, as well as an interpretation of what they may mean.

Judaculla’s In-laws

The earliest known reference to the Track Rock petroglyphs dates back to the late eighteenth century. At a town located in a river valley somewhere in the North Carolina and Georgia region a purification ritual was being conducted in which Indians from the town prepared to be adopted by Judaculla, an invisible man who has taken a wife from one of the town’s women.  Unfortunately for the townspeople, a shout by two anxious warriors interfered with the ritual and made it impossible for them to join Judaculla in his mountain top townhouse.  Because Judaculla’s parents-in-law managed to properly fast and pray, they became the only two townspeople qualified to visit his mountain top townhouse. On their way to Judaculla’s abode, near Brasstown in north Georgia, the parents-in-law “made the tracks in the rocks which are to be seen there” The “tracks in the rocks” in this instance refer to Track Rock.  Judaculla, who is also known as Tsulkâlû′,or “Master of the Game”, is a giant who came from the land of the dead spirits in the west to visit the Cherokees, stayed a while as a friend and helper, and departed west again. Judaculla was very powerful and could control the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. He was known to drink whole streams down in a single gulp and stomp from mountain to mountain as one might over ant hills. The markings in the rock may well have served as a warning to people that they were approaching a sacred or dangerous area. Judaculla did not like people to approach his abode.



Judaculla Rock is in North Carolina. It is one of the greatest archaeological mysteries in the United States. The largest petroglyph in North Carolina, and one of the largest in the Southeast, is named for a Cherokee legend about its formation. Judaculla Rock sits in the Caney Fork Creek valley in Jackson County, outside of Cullowhee. The details of the petroglyph’s formation, as well as its origin and purpose, are unknown to scientists.



The soapstone slab is about sixteen feet long by eleven feet wide. The designs on it appear to have been produced in a variety of manners, including incising, pecking, and smoothing.



One legend claims that the markings are hunting laws that Judaculla ordered. Another has it that Judaculla jumped from his mountaintop farm and landed partially on the rock, producing scratches, while running a band of American Indians off his land. The seven-toed foot at the lower right hand side of the boulder is said to depict Judaculla’s footprint.

Flood Story

Two stories associate Track Rock with flooding.  One story asserts that the world was once deluged with water, and people and all animated beings were destroyed, except one family, together with various animals necessary to replenish the earth.  Their canoe landed at Track Rock and here the whole troop of animals was disembarked, leaving the impressions as they passed over the rock because it was soft after being under water for a long time.  This story is a metaphorical allusion to the Going to Water purification ritual and the resultant ability to hear and see departed spirit people.



The second flood story claims that the petroglyphs were made while the surface of the newly created earth was still soft and many birds and animals came fleeing through the gap to escape some pursuing danger.  It is very likely that this story is a variation of the creation story in which the twin sons of Kana'ti “started up the mountain to where their father kept the game. When they got to the place, they raised the rock and the deer came running out…followed by droves of raccoons, rabbits, and all the other four-footed animals…last came great flocks of turkeys, pigeons, and partridges”

Battle Commemoration

Other stories reported that a battle occurred here between the Creeks and Cherokees, and that these carvings were made to commemorate that event.  Some local informants reported to early American visitors that it always rains when anyone visits the spot in sympathy for the dead.  The closest known battle to have occurred between Cherokees and Creeks was in Slaughter Gap near Blood Mountain, south of Track Rock Gap. Circumstantial evidence suggests that among other functions, Judaculla Rock (in North Carolina) was used as a convenient three-dimensional picture-map to plan and commemorate battles against neighboring groups, such as the Battle of Taliwa against Muskogee-speaking Creeks.



A similar function of Track Rock is possible, since preparing for and commemorating important raids was as much a shamanic task as was preparing and expressing thanks for a hunt, rain-making, or healing the sick against evil spells; all being tasks that involved the continual co-operation with and consent from the spirit world.

A Sanctuary of the Great Spirit                 

A late tradition asserts that the area around Track Rock was the sanctuary of the Great Spirit.  When people came near, he became upset and commanded the elements to proclaim his power with thunder and lightning, along with deluges of rain. 



This account is a variation of the Judaculla story at Judaculla Rock, particularly expressing the general Cherokee belief that if not properly approached, powerful spirit helpers, such as Judaculla, could cause damage to a vision questing person, through sensations such as thunder, lighting, and earthquakes.

Hunter’s Carvings

Another story maintains that the carvings were made by hunters while resting in the gap.  Hunters resting at petroglyph boulders bring to mind the hunter who rested and performed rituals at seven stops along the Pigeon River in North Carolina, at least one stopover being the place where Judaculla and his family left their tracks on a petroglyph boulder.  Moreover, the mere effort that it must have taken to peck and carve the images on the Track Rock boulders suggests that they took commitment and persistence instead of being the product of idly passing the time by creating graffiti.


Indians will soon claim largest carving the world.

A person seeking a vision or trying to achieve a purpose is often metaphysically equated with a hunter. Viewed in terms of related Cherokee accounts, such as the hunter in the Judaculla story, resting might have had vision quest or other ritual connotations.

What is the Purpose and Meaning of Track Rock?

A site like Track Rock does not have a single purpose. We know that the carvings were probably made over several hundred years, possibly by different ethnic groups. They were likely made for several different reasons. It is possible that some of the carvings were made to symbolize an event that had occurred, possibly a vision quest, while others were made to influence a future event. Other carvings (such as the cupules) may have been made as a by-product of ritual activities that occurred here. Track Rock represents a accumulation of events and actions over time.



The best way to understand a place like Track Rock is that it was a place of power within a sacred landscape. Native Americans rarely distinguished between the actions of humans and of their spirit helpers, because their identities were essentially the same. Ascribing supernatural origins to petroglyphs is a metaphorical way to describe the activities of humans acting under the influence of spirit beings.



Furthermore, the setting of Track Rock in a gap places it at a threshold. In numerous Cherokee stories footprints and tracks signify an in-between or transitional state or condition. More specifically, rocks with footprints and tracks signified the area of transition, a doorway or threshold, into the domain of dangerous spirit beings. Depictions of footprints and tracks are not only physical testimony that spirit beings were there some time in the past, but that they could still be lingering somewhere close-by in the present, and that they may return unexpectedly at any time in the future.


Indians lingering all over Georgia. 

Vast Indian Village - Controversy



Now I have referenced my first cousin several times on these post.

Robbie Ethridge - Professor of Anthropology - Ole Miss

She has a Ph.D., University of Georgia (g:d)
Ethnohistory, Environment, the American South and Southeastern Indians.

I am submitting the rest of this post WITHOUT her approval. She is of the expert opinion that early settlers are behind all these rock walls.



You know there is more to Track Rock Gap than just the boulders. It was a vast Indian village, the boulders are just a fraction. Richard L. Thornton put forth the idea in 2011 that this is all a Mayan Indian Complex from Mayan people who migrated to Georgia. His writings are disjointed to say the least but this is my excerpt of his main points.



Track Rock Gap Archaeological Zone covers a half square mile (320 acres). The ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru only cover about 40 acres.



The distance from the top of the acropolis to the lowest walls under a power line is 600 feet. The distance from the highest irrigation reservoir to the base is 800 feet. The distance from the top of the royal tombs to the base is 1050 feet.



Both the Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina and members of the two federally-recognized Cherokee tribes in Oklahoma have published articles in the national media and issued press releases, claiming that the Cherokees carved the Track Rock petroglyphs and built the stone structures on the mountainside nearby. 



They also claimed to have lived in the Georgia Mountains for many centuries.  All maps produced during the Colonial Era tell a very different story.



The 1725 map of South Carolina by John Herbert showed the Cherokee villages located in a narrow corridor between the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee villages.  There were now only a few Cherokee villages in northeastern Tennessee.  The mountains south of the Hiwassee River were labeled the Enemy Mountains.



The 1746 Map of the Cherokee Nation showed the Cherokees living in the exact same area. They had no villages east of the tributaries of the Savannah River or west of present day Helen, GA , which is east of Brasstown Bald and Track Rock Gap.  An Upper Creek town, named Kusa, was located near Blairsville, GA and a Uchee village was in the Choestoe Valley, south of Track Rock Gap.  Coosa Creek in Union County (Blairsville) is named after that Creek town.



During the early 1970s, when Jimmy Carter was governor of Georgia, the state Department of Transportation and the United States Forestry Service spent millions of dollars to open up the Brasstown Bald Mountain, Track Rock Gap and Arkaqua Creek Trail area to tourism.  A multi-million-dollar visitor’s center and Natural Science museum was constructed on top of Brasstown Bald in addition to a large parking lot and paved access trail. 



At Track Rock Gap emphasis was placed on six boulders that were covered with petroglyphs.  The boulders were gathered together in one location.  A small gravel parking lot was constructed to the south of their new location.  Originally, the boulders were approximately the same elevation of Track Rock Gap Road.  The Georgia DOT intentionally cut the new road bed about 25 feet below the boulders.  This was done to decrease the grade of the road and also discourage vandalism.



Track Rock Gap now almost has the appearance of suburbia, not a remote archaeological site.  In 2012 the US Forest Service removed most of the signs so that tourists could NOT find the Track Rock Terrace Complex ruins near the petroglyphs.


Some of the royal tombs at the top of Track Rock terraces. They were sealed with quarried granite stones and coated with lime plaster. The mortar appears to be a combination of red clay and lime.

At this time, most archaeologists considered the stone ruins at Track Rock Gap to be product of 19th century farming activities. 



There was a joined proclamation present day Indians nations in Oklahoma stating that (1) the Mayas did not come to Georgia (2) Georgia whites were trying to steal their heritage, and (3) the Muskogee Creeks in Oklahoma and the Qualla Cherokees in North Carolina built the Track Rock Terraces together.



For the record, the Muskogee Creeks had nothing to do with building the stone architecture and major mounds in Georgia. Thornton claims they were built by his ancestors, the Itsate and Apalache Creeks.



There were at least 16 terrace complexes in Georgia. They had been ignored by the archaeologists.

1) Stone walled terrace complex on the Amicalola River near Dawsonville.
2) Stone walled terraces on a mountain, overlooking the Chestatee River, east of Dahlonega.
3) Large stone terrace complex and building ruins in the Rich Mountain Wilderness Area.


Ornate double wall in the Rich Mountain terraces

4) Stone ruins and terraces along the Upper Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers, north of Macon.


Site plan of terrace complex near Macon, GA

5) Stone cairns throughout West Georgia.  Ancient terraces on the side of a ravine along the Flint River, just north of the Fall Line.
6) Dozens of ancient stone ruins in Northeast Metro Atlanta.  They were concentrated along the tributaries of the Oconee River. 
7) The Apalachee River has almost non-stop archaeological sites along its 40-mile length, including stone mounds, stone cairns, stone terrace walls and earthen mounds.
8) Two of the largest terrace complexes had been made into county parks – Sandy Creek Park and Little Mulberry River Park. 


Ruins of rectangular building at Sandy Creek site

9) Stone building ruins and stone-walled terraces, overlooking the Nacoochee Valley, about 25 miles southeast of Track Rock Gap.

10) An NPS archaeologist informed me that there were at least two terrace complexes on the Chattahoochee River near Roswell and that they had been studied by Dr. Arthur Kelly in the 1950s. Although Kelly was at that time the Director of the UGA Department of Anthropology, the current generation of professors had redacted the complexes from the list of archaeological sites in Georgia.


Massive V-shaped wall at Track Rock facing the Winter Solstice Sunset.

Archaeological zone 9UN367 at Track Rock Gap, near Georgia’s highest mountain, Brasstown Bald, is a half mile square and rises 700 feet in elevation up a steep mountainside.  Visible are at least 154 stone masonry walls for agricultural terraces, plus evidence of a sophisticated irrigation system and ruins of several other stone structures. Much more may be hidden underground.



The earliest maps show the name Itsate, for both a native village at Sautee and another five miles away at the location of the popular resort of Helen, GA. Itsate is what the Itza Mayas called themselves. Also, among all indigenous peoples of the Americas, only the Itza Mayas and the ancestors of the Creek Indians in Georgia built five-side earthen pyramids as their principal mounds.



It was commonplace for the Itza Maya to sculpt a hill into a pentagonal mound. There are dozens of such structures in Central America.



Those with experiences at Maya town sites instantly recognized that the Track Rock stone structures were identical in form to numerous agricultural terrace sites in Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.



Johannes Loubser’s radiocarbon dates exactly matched the diaspora from the Maya lands and the sudden appearance of large towns with Mesoamerican characteristics in Georgia, Alabama and southeastern Tennessee.  Track Rock Gap was the “missing link” that archaeologists and architects had been seeking since 1841.



Just as happened in England after the Norman Invasion, the separate cultures of the commoners and nobility of the indigenous Southeast eventually blended into hybrid cultures that became our current Native American tribes.



The migration of Mesoamerican peoples, agriculture and architecture to the Southeastern United States is a fact. It is not a “theory” that anyone, including someone with a PhD in anthropology, can legitimately disagree with or ridicule. [0]pc



Learn more about how the Forest Service works closely with Creek and Cherokee tribal governments to manage, protect and better understand these important, sacred ceremonial sites.



Woah Nelly or Woo Smelly.



My cousin is an expert and I trust her, but these post were meant to be fun and it's fun to poke the (Ole Miss) Bear. Anyway, a good hike i was able to cyber explore since there is so many images and interest. We did a tangent on Union County with Georgia Natural Wonder #71.

Georgia First In Flight

Something I did not see in any earlier History tangent on Union County is the sign just below Blairsville on Highway 129 going North. Twenty years or so before the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903, the story goes, a Georgia farmer and inventor named Micajah Clark Dyer took off from a mountaintop near his Blairsville home in an “apparatus for navigating the air.”


Clark Dyer and his wife Morena, photo courtesy Union County Historical Society.

No one still alive can say exactly what happened. Which means no one can conclusively testify whether the apparatus Dyer designed — a paddle-wheeled, wing-flapping device attached to a huge balloon — actually may have flown, floated, slid downhill or crashed into a meadow below.



What is known, with certainty, is that Dyer was granted a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for inventing a flying machine in 1874. And a patent would not have been granted had engineers — or their 1870s equivalents in what’s now the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — thought he was just another dreamer obsessed with the notion that a guy could fly.



Dyer’s descendants, though, claim the evidence they’ve compiled proves their flyboy forebear was successful, and are working to get him admitted to the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. They also want him recognized as an inventor who had a hand in helping Orville and Wilbur Wright get off the ground. The ultimate aim, says lead family historian Sylvia Dyer Turnage, 71, is to have him “recognized as the first person to design and fly an airplane.” A lofty goal for sure. But so far, she has convinced Union County authorities enough that they’ve issued a proclamation asserting that Dyer “flew over a meadow on his farm” from Rattlesnake Mountain near Blairsville.



The Georgia Legislature in 2006 passed a resolution making the same claim, dedicating a portion of Ga. 180 as the Micajah Clark Dyer Parkway and erecting signs honoring him. Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the resolution, and posed for photos with the Dyer clan.

More than folklore

Turnage is a great-great-granddaughter of Dyer. She has authored and self-published a book about his alleged feat, her argument buttressed by Dyer’s 136-year-old patent file: No. 154,654, granted Sept. 1, 1874.



Posted on the patent office website, the file includes Dyer’s drawings and sworn statements about his invention, detailing how to build it and why he thought it would work. Turnage says it’s more than mere folklore that Dyer flew the contraption in the late 1870s or early 1880s. Though no witnesses are alive who saw him fly, “at least three persons” testified to it, she says. And those witnesses passed along what they saw to relatives. Sue Collins, 86, of Blairsville, says she grew up hearing about the flying machine, and that her grandmother was a witness to the flight.
“My mother’s mother said she saw it just sailing down the hill,” Collins says. “I heard the stories from the time I was a little girl. I believe it’s true.”



To support the old stories, Turnage enlisted relatives to search through lists of millions of patents. At first, they couldn’t find a thing, not in the Library of Congress, not in the National Archives, not even in the U.S. Patent Office.



But then Google came to the rescue, and the patent was tracked down by Steven and Joey Dyer, great-great-great-grandsons of the aviator. Turnage says Dyer’s family fell on hard times and sold the patent to an Atlanta family, which sold it to the Wright Brothers, who incorporated his ideas into their design.

‘Navigable balloon’

It all sounds farfetched, but it would be a mistake to dismiss the notion, says Tom D. Crouch, long-time senior curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “His is essentially a navigable balloon,” Crouch says. “People knew about balloons so people were trying to invent ways to guide them and keep them in the air.” Which is exactly what Dyer’s patent says his did, or would do.



Aviation historian Henry Holden, author of dozens of books on early flight, says if Dyer’s patent really did find its way to the Wright brothers, evidence should exist somewhere, and Turnage would “have a significant story.” But unless all patents the Wrights used have been computerized, it’ll be hard to prove, he says. The Wright brothers were involved “in all sorts of litigation” about patents, and it’s possible, Holden says, that they got their hands on the Dyer drawings. “The Wright brothers learned a lot from people before them,” he says. Just this past week, however, it was reported that the Wrights’ original patent file has been lost since 1980.



Crouch says “people like Dyer are absolutely fascinating” because they simply incorporated principles that they knew worked, like paddle wheels.Nicole Bissette, director of the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in Warner Robins, says proof that Dyer obtained a patent for his machine should “be enough for induction because it would show he contributed to aviation. That’s a great thing.”At the very least, Crouch says, the patent shows Dyer was regarded seriously by federal officials, along with dozens of others who obtained flying machine patents, going back to the first one recorded by the Patent Office, in 1799, for a “vertical aerial coach.”

Skeptical reports

Whatever the truth, Dyer himself apparently made an attempt to get the word out. In 1875, a year after obtaining his patent, a Gainesville newspaper carried a story about Dyer’s device, as did the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the Macon Telegraph and Messenger. The articles described his “apparatus” as ingenious, but regarded it with a tone of skepticism, much as publications today might react to a UFO sighting.

“The body of the machine in shape resembles that of an eagle and is intended to be propelled by different kinds of devices, wings and paddle-wheels, both to be simultaneously operated through the instrumentality of mechanism connected with the driving power,” reported the Gainesville newspaper, the Eagle.



The machine’s wings move up and down, all the papers reported. It was modeled after an eagle and “constructed to imitate” one. The Macon paper’s story added sarcastically that Dr. Thomas Fitzgerald Greene, superintendent of the state lunatic asylum at Milledgeville, “may just as well get a room ready for brother Dyer,” whom it said would either “break his neck during his first soar” or “certainly light at Milledgeville.”


Historical marker claims Ben Epps of Athens was first in flight in Georgia.

Building her case

Neither fate apparently befell Dyer, who died in 1891. Now Sylvia Turnage says she is determined to somehow prove that the first manned flight in a self-propelled plane took place in Georgia, not North Carolina. “To get a patent he wouldn’t have had to fly it,” said Elizabeth Dougherty of the patent office’s legal administration. But examiners with “technical expertise,” she added, would have had to believe Dyer’s machine might work.So far, a model of the invention has been placed in the Union County Historical Society’s Museum in Blairsville, Ga. 180 East was named the Micajah Clark Dyer Parkway in July 2006, and Turnage wrote and self-published “Georgia’s Pioneer Aviator: Micajah Clark Dyer” in December.



She wants to see replicas of the craft displayed in the Smithsonian, the Georgia Aviation Hall of Game, the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center in Idaho and the San Diego Air & Space Museum. She also dreams of seeing her ancestor’s air machine fly some day. She’s thrown out a challenge to Georgia Tech engineers to use the patent plans Dyer filed all those years ago to build his invention.

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North Carolinians, I hope you’re sitting down. I know you all are real proud of Orville and Wilbur Wright, and you’ve rebuffed challenges for their “first in flight” status from other states and countries, but historic research now suggests that the first flying apparatus actually went airborne in the North Georgia mountains more than twenty years before the Wright brothers’ highly lauded flight. Micajah Clark Dyer (1822-1891) filed patent 154,654 for his ‘Apparatus for navigating the air’ in 1874, a full 29 years before the Wright brothers made their historic first flight.



Be it known that I, Micajah Dyer, of Blairsville, in the county of Union and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Navigating the Air; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification…



Witnesses at Choestoe, Georgia to Micajah Dyer’s illustrated and written patent document were Francis M. Swain (a neighbor) and M. C. Dyer, Jr. (the “other” Micajah Clark Dyer who, to distinguish the two, signed Jr. after his name. He was an uncle to the inventor Micajah Clark Dyer, but they were reared as brothers by Elisha Dyer, Jr., grandfather of Micajah). The document was dated February 16, 1874. It was filed in the patent office on June 10, 1874, and was approved there on September 1, 1874.



“When he was not busy with cultivating the land on his farm and tilling the crops necessary to the economy of his large family, Clark Dyer labored in his workshop,” says his descendant Ethlene Dyer Jones. There he experimented with a flying machine made of lightweight cured river canes and covered with cloth. Drawings on the flyleaves of the family Bible, now in the possession of one of Clark’s great, great grandsons, show how he thought out the engineering technicalities of motion and counter-motion by a series of rotational whirligigs. He built a ramp on the side of the mountain and succeeded in getting his flying machine airborne for a short time.



Evidently, to hide his contraption from curious eyes, and to keep his invention a secret from those who would think him strange and wasting time from necessary farm work, Clark kept his machine out of sight, stored behind lock and key in his barn. Those who did not ridicule the inventor were allowed to see the fabulous machine. Among them were the following who bore testimony to seeing the plane; namely, his grandson, Johnny Wimpey, son of Morena and James A. Wimpey; a cousin Herschel A. Dyer, son of Bluford Elisha and Sarah Evaline Souther Dyer; and James Washington Lance, son of the Rev. John H. and Caroline Turner Lance.



Just when the fabulous trial flights (more than one) occurred on the mountainside in Choestoe is uncertain [about 1872-1874.] Prior to his death, he had invented a perpetual motion machine. It is also a part of family legend that Clark’s son, Mancil Pruitt Dyer, turned down an offer of $30,000 for the purchase of his father’s pending patents on inventions, especially the perpetual motion machine. Maybe Mancil reasoned that if he held out for more, he could receive it. Still another family story holds that Clark’s widow, Morena Ownbey Dyer, sold the flying machine and its design to the Redwine Brothers, manufacturers of Atlanta, who, in turn, sold the ideas to the Wright Brothers of North Carolina in about 1900.



“Mr. Dyer has been studying the subject of air navigation for thirty years,” says the Macon (Georgia) Telegraph and Messenger, June 27, 1875, “and has tried various experiments during that time, all of which failed until he adopted his present plan. He obtained his idea from the eagle, and taking that king of birds for his model has constructed his machine so as to imitate his pattern as nearly as possible. Whatever may be the fate of Mr. Dyer’s patent, he, himself, has the most unshaken faith in its success, and is ready, as soon as a machine can be constructed, to board the ship and commit himself, not to the waves, but to the wind.”


Dyer descendant Jack Allen, a retired Delta Airlines mechanic. crafted every piece of Clark Dyer’s airplane model to scale. Photo courtesy of The Towns County Herald.

“We had a call on Thursday from Mr. Micajah Dyer, of Union county, who has recently obtained a patent for an apparatus for navigating the air,” adds a July 31, 1875 article in the Gainesville (Georgia) Eagle. The machine is certainly a most ingenious one, containing principles entirely new to aeronauts, and which the patentee confidently believes have solved the knotty problem of air navigation. The body of the machine in shape resembles that of the fowl, an eagle, for instance, and is intended to be propelled by different kinds of devices, to wit: Wings and paddle-wheels, both to be simultaneously operated, through the instrumentality of mechanism connected with the driving power.



In operating the machinery the wings receive an upward and downward motion, in the manner of the wings of a bird, the outer ends yielding as they are raised, but opening out and then remaining rigid while being depressed. The wings, if desired, may be set at an angle so as to propel forward as well as to raise the machine in the air. The paddle-wheels are intended to be used for propelling the machine, in the same way that a vessel is propelled in water. An instrument answering to a rudder is attached for guiding the machine. A balloon is to be used for elevating the flying ship, after which it is to be guided and controlled at the pleasure of its occupants.



Clark Dyer later invented a spring-loaded, propeller-driven flying machine, according to several witnesses who saw him launch a successful model. Legend says he later personally flew in a full-size one with foot controls and a steering device. He would glide from a mountainside in Choestoe, on a rail-like ramp of his own design. “Mr. Dyer has worked thirty years on his machine,” said his neighbor John M. Rich in a letter to the editor of the Athens Banner-Watchman from April 28, 1885. “He is not crazed, but is in dead earnest, and confidently believes that he has solved the problem of aerial navigation. He is not a crank nor a fanatic, but is a good, quiet citizen and a successful farmer.” “People said he continued to work on perfecting the machine until his death on January 26, 1891 at age 68,” says Clark Dyer’s great, great granddaughter, Sylvia Dyer Turnage. “Since the patent we’ve found was registered on September 1, 1874, I believe he had a later and more advanced design in those 17 years.”



But for the remaining years of his life, he experimented tirelessly and became  increasingly secretive about his work, amazing neighbors by flying some sort of glider across his meadow lands. His mind perhaps on a more practical patent, Dyer kept his workshop off limits.  Still, visitors peeped through the cracks to see what one described as a “dragonfly.”

Today's GNW Gals are running Track for the Rock. Slippery Rock.