Judaculla Rock

Judaculla Rock
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Judaculla Rock
Location	552 Judaculla Rock Rd., Cullowhee, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°18′02″N 83°06′34″W / 35.30056°N 83.10944°W / 35.30056; -83.10944Coordinates: 35°18′02″N 83°06′34″W / 35.30056°N 83.10944°W / 35.30056; -83.10944
Governing body	Local
NRHP Reference #	13000116[1]
Added to NRHP	March 27, 2013

Judaculla Rock is a curvilinear-shaped outcrop of soapstone with quarry scars and petroglyphs. It is located on a 0.85-acre rectangular-shaped property, owned by Jackson County, approximately 60 meters east of Caney Fork Creek, a major branch of the northwestward-trending Tuckasegee River, in the mountains of western North Carolina. The petroglyph boulder occurs within an artificially created bowl-shaped depression, which is currently covered with mowed grass (previously a corn field) and bordered on the west by a thicket of river cane (Arundinaria gigantea). Slightly upslope and east of the boulder are a few smaller outcroppings of soapstone bedrock, at least two of which show definite scars left by quarrying for soapstone bowl manufacture.^[2]

Description

The surface of the westward-slanting main boulder with petroglyphs, which measures roughly 22 square meters (240 sq ft), also includes scars left by soapstone bowl extraction, both as stems within three depressions, and as three hollow scallops.^[3] Numerous petroglyph designs are pecked and incised into the boulder. The densely packed nature of the motifs, especially along the upper two-thirds of the rock, in many instances makes it difficult to distinguish between motifs. Nonetheless, a minimum count of motifs is possible. Altogether, the following motifs have been identified: 1,458 cupules; 47 curvilinear units; ten bowl-shaped depressions; ten stick-like figures; nine rills; three concentric rings designs; three curvilinear motifs; three deer tracks; two claw-like imprints; one arc; one cross-in-circle motif; and one winged shape.

Date range

Petroglyphs that occur within three of the hollow scallops suggest that the petroglyph production post-dates soapstone bowl quarrying at the site, a finding that is supported by similar overlaps at smaller soapstone boulders in western North Carolina (Brinkley Rock) and northern Georgia (Track Rock Gap and Sprayberry Rock).^[3] Although numerous controlled archaeological excavation units in the area around the boulder revealed deposits that have been heavily disturbed in historic times,^[4] auger sampling of soils higher up the slope suggest intact layers.^[5] These layers, which contain soapstone and lithic fragments left by soapstone bowl manufacture, most probably date to the Late Archaic.^[6][7] In terms of stylistic cross-dating, the similarity between the concentric ring and cross-in-ring petroglyph designs on the boulder with ceramic designs from the same region suggests that the petroglyphs on top of the Late Archaic soapstone extraction scars date to anywhere between the Middle Woodland and Late Mississippian periods.^[8]

Cherokee lore

Judaculla Rock has special significance among the Cherokee Indians, even after their mass removal from the region in 1838.^[9] Cherokee accounts link Judaculla (also known as Tuli-cula/Juthcullah/Tsulʻkalu), their slant-eyed Master-of-Game,^[10] with the surrounding landscape, including landforms, rivers, and Indian towns.^[11] The petroglyph boulder occurs on an old trail that links the old Cherokee townhouse at Cullowhee, or "Juthcullah's Place," with Judaculla's reputed townhouse within Tannasee Bald (also known as Tsunegûñyĭ).^[12] From a traditional perspective, contemporary Cherokees continue to regard the boulder as spiritually significant.

Significance

From a rock art perspective the boulder is significant in that it contains more petroglyphs than any other known boulder east of the Mississippi River (i.e., Judaculla Rock contains approximately 1,548 motifs, which is 3.7 times more than the total amount of 421 motifs at the substantial Track Rock Gap petroglyph boulder complex in far northern Georgia). From an archaeological perspective, the intact deposits upslope from Judaculla Rock contains physical traces of Late Archaic soapstone quarrying and bowl manufacturing activities. The location of Judaculla Rock between Cullowhee townhouse and Judaculla's townhouse in Tannasee Bald is also reflected in Cherokee stories relating to other petroglyph boulders in the mountains and foothills of North Carolina and North Georgia.^[10][13] These intermediary locations tie together the summer-time agricultural pursuits in the floodplains with fall and winter hunting in the uplands. In this regard it is also significant that the petroglyph boulders are most likely stylized picture maps of the terrain in which they occur.^[14] If anything, Judaculla Rock is physical testimony of the entire landscape that the Cherokees inhabited and exploited, and as such not only embodies a distinctive characteristic of petroglyph boulders in the region but is also likely to yield additional information pertaining to the history and prehistory of the area. Recently completed efforts by Jackson County, in co-operation with the Parker family, the North Carolina Rock Art Project, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, the Western Carolina University, the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, and the Caney Fork Community Council, made it possible that a semi-circular elevated viewing platform be installed at the site, complete with interpretive signs. This pro-active and hands-on conservation and management of Judaculla Rock has turned the site into a textbook example of how rock art sites in other parts of the country can be preserved, interpreted, and gainfully presented on a sustainable basis to the visiting public, for many generations to come.

In 2013, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[1]

References

External links

• Jackson County Recreation/Parks Department

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