- Track Rock
Track Rock is located in the Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area in the
Brasstown Ranger District of theChattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. This 52-acre area contains preservedpetroglyphs of ancient Native American origin that resemble animal and bird tracks, crosses, circles and human footprints. Track Rock is explained by the Georgia Historical Marker placed there in 1988:This area is one of the best-known of the petroglyph, or marked stone, sites in Georgia. The six table-sized soapstone boulders contain hundreds of symbols carved or pecked into their surface. Archaeologists have speculated dates for the figures from the Archaic Period (8,000 to 1,000 B.C.) to the Cherokee Indians who lived here until the 19th Century. No one knows the exact meaning of the symbols or glyphs which represent animals, birds, tracks and geometric figures. The earliest written account (1834) was by Dr. Matthew Stephenson, who was director of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega. One of the favorite stories about Track Rock Gap was recorded by ethnographer
James Mooney who gathered Cherokee stories. The Cherokee called this site "Datsu'nalasgun'ylu" (where there are tracks) and "Degayelun'ha" (the printed or branded place). Cherokee stories include an explanation that hunters paused in the gap and amused themselves by carving the glyphs: the marks were made in a great hunt when the animals were driven through the gap, and that the tracks were made when the animals were leaving the great canoe after a flood almost destroyed the world and while the earth and rocks were soft. [ [http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gahistmarkers/trackrockgaphistmarker.htm Track Rock Gap State Historical Marker] ]There is a gravel parking lot at Track Rock and Track Rock is also accessible via the
Arkaquah Trail . Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area is listed in theNational Register of Historic Places .References
External links
* [http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/track_rock.html Roadside Georgia entry for Track Rock]
* [http://www.gabotsoc.org/articleTrackrock.htm Georgia Botanical Society article on Track Rock]
* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ga/Union/state.html National Register entry for Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area]
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