Photo Friday: Prehistoric Effigy Mound in Georgia
 Eagle Rock, an ancient native effigy mound approximately an hour southeast of Atlanta in Eatonton, GA. |
I spent most of my life within a thirty minute drive from one of the continent's oldest known Native American archeological sites, and never saw it until recently. I didn't know it was there. This astounds me because I even attended middle-school camp at the adjacent property named for it. If there was a nature walk over to this treasure, I must have opted for crafts instead.
Eagle Rock in Eatonton, Georgia is an effigy mound estimated to be some 3,000 years old. Believed to be a burial site, It depicts a bird, measuring a third of a football field's length from head to tail and nearly as far from from wingtip to wingtip. That's no craft project. Near the chest, it measures up to eight feet in height.
If you've ever gathered firewood on a camping trip, then you have some appreciation for what collecting these rocks must have been like... I guess. That's the closest thing I can relate to the people who built it. But it's clearly not a pile of whatever's-around-that-can-be-carried. It's constructed entirely of white quartzite, some boulders that could only have been dragged.
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It's one of those places that you really can't see or appreciate without an areal perspective. From the ground, it just looks like a pile of rocks. So the University of Georgia Extension Service which manages the site built an observation tower. There is a plaque placed by a state heritage society at the Eagle's head that reads:
 ROCK EAGLE MOUND "Mound of prehistoric origin, believed to be ceremonial mound, made with white quartz rocks in the shape of an eagle, head turned to east, length 102 feet, spread of wings 120 feet, depth of breast 8 feet. Only two such configurations discovered east of the Mississippi River. Both are in Putnam County." "Tread softly here white man for long ere you came strange races lived, fought and loved." |
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omg. i get here, and my heart quickens. how i used to love/hate to go to rock eagle. did y'all have chinese firedrills? did you roll the adult's car around the road and just out of sight while they slept in their DEluxe suites? you know, several years ago a couple of grad school friends came down for a study session. one friend's thesis was designing an ecological something-or-other for new jersey, so didn't i just call up rock eagle and ask for a special grand tour, and didn't they just do it? we got inside places and building i didn't even know existed - and i spent a lot of time there. one friend held a snake (my other friend and i have more sense), and after the tour, they treated us to lunch on THOSE SAME GREEN MOLDED PLASTIC LUNCHTRAYS!!! oh i love you. maybe next time you're in this neck of the woods, i'll just give them a ringy dingy again.
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I would love to go exploring the old stomping grounds with you, WhollyJeanne. Funny how two strangers who met online can continue to find things in common. However, I have to admit that I didn't grow up at the camp like some kids do. Went there for a couple of weekend retreat type events. Special grand tour wouldn't bring back a lot of cherished memories, but I'd love to make some new ones. (Unless it involves snake handling, in which case, I'm going to opt for crafts.)
Have a great day!
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That is impressive. I like the plaque advising the white men to tread lightly.
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It still sort of astounds me that I never thought about -- or at least actively sought info about -- natives in the east until I moved out west and saw etchings and ruins outside of books. Thanks for your comment.
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Whoa, that's pretty cool. We used to go to Cherokee, NC when I was a kid, but that's just touristy. Never heard of this place. Thanks for the heads up.
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I've been to Cherokee a couple of times too. Don't remember much about it, but it did seem to pander to every stereotype about natives. It was all kind of "Disneyfied."
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