E.S.R.A.R.A. Newsletter Quarterly of the Eastern States Rock Art Research Association 30th Member of the IFRAO-International Federation of Rock Art Organizations Volume 13, Issue 2 Summer 2008 ESRARA Officers President- Mark Wagner (Illinois) Vice President- President’s Message... Jan Simek (Tennessee) GreetingsGreetings to to All All Old Old and and New New Members: Members: Secretary- As anyone involved in eastern North American rock art research is Marilyn Hudson aware, the sites that we deal with today represent only a fraction of the rock art sites that once existed in this region. In my own state (Illinois), one of the (Georgia) art sites that once existed in this region. In my own state (Illinois), once of the most famous North American rock art sites—the Alton Piasa or “Piasa Bird” first described by Father Marquette in the late 1600s—was destroyed by a lime- Treasurer- limestonestone quarry quarry in the in 1850s. the 1850s. Since Since that that time time numerous numerous other other Illinois Illinois rock rock art sites Michelle Berg-Vogel arthave sites been have destroyed been destroyed by coal mining, by coal highway mining, andhighway reservoir and reservoir construction, construc- clean- (Illinois) tion,ing of cleaning cave walls of cave to remove walls to graffiti, remove chalking/painting, graffiti, chalking/painting, vandalism, vandalism, and the cutting and theout cuttingand removal out and of removalrock art ofpanels. rock The art panels. result is The that result we deal is that with we a dealsadly with di- minished resource base from which to try to interpret the full range and types Member-at-Large- a sadly diminished resource base from which to try to interpret the full range andof rock types art of sites, rock both art sites, prehistoric both prehistoric and historic, and that historic, once thatexisted once in existedthis section in Paul Nevin of the Midwest. (Pennsylvannia) this section of the Midwest. In Illinois and other states, however, rock art and other cultural re- Ex Officio- source sites located on public lands (at least) are now protected by a suite of Dr. Fred Coy, Jr., state and federal laws, policies, and procedures that have developed over the Dr. Charles Faulkner, last century starting with the passage of the first federal Antiquities Act in 1906. 1906.The purpose The purpose of these of lawsthese is laws not isto not restrict to restrict public public access access to archaeological to archaeo- sites Dr. Carol Diaz- but to insure that such sites are not damaged or destroyed inadvertently or de- Granados, logical sites but to insure that such sites are not damaged or destroyed inad- vertentlyliberately or bydeliberately individuals, public by individuals, agencies, public or other agencies, entities or— othersuch asentities mining— com- Iloilo M. Jones suchpanies as— miningthat are companies required— tothat comply are required with state to and comply federal with environmental state and federal regu- environmentallations even when regulations operating even on whenprivate operating land. These onprivate laws and land. regulations These laws apply andnot onlyregulations to members apply notof the only general to members public but of the to professional general public archaeologists but to pro- as fessionalwell. archaeologists as well. (continued(continued on on page page 3) 3) Page 2 E.S.R.A.R.A. Newsletter Editorial Committee InsideInside this this issue: issue: Editorial Committee SpringSpring Quarterly Quarterly President’sPresident’s Message Message 1 1 VacantVacant SummerSummer Quarterly Quarterly The Indian Head Rock 3 HeatherHeather Carey Carey InsideControversy Story Continues 2 [email protected]@fs.fed.us FallFall Quarterly Quarterly The Ceremonial Mace Motif in Illinois 4 NancyNancy Bryant Bryant Inside Story 2 Rock Art by Mark J. Wagner [email protected]@rollanet.org WinterWinter Quarterly Quarterly Dick’s Ridge Serpentine Stone Wall 14 VacantVacant Insideby Story Tommy Hudson 3 ManagingManaging Editor Editor CarolCarol Diaz Diaz-Granados-Granados Upcoming Conference Information 16 Inside Story 4 New Museum Exhibit at SIU- 18 TheThe opinions opinions expressed expressed in this in this Inside Story 5 Carbondale newsletternewsletter are thoseare those of the of individ-the individ- ual contributorual contributor or editor or editor and and do do not necessarily reflect those of the World Rock Art News 19 not necessarily reflect those of the Inside Story 6 ESRARAESRARA organization. organization. NewNew Summer Summer Quarterly Quarterly editor editor GreetingsGreetings fellow fellow rock rock art enthusiasts! art enthusiasts! My name My name is is HeatherHeather Carey Carey and and I have I have recently recently had had the honor the honor of be- of be- comingcoming the new the new editor editor for the for summer the summer quarterly. quarterly. Since Since I amI a am new a new face face to ESRARA, to ESRARA, let me let introduce me introduce myself. myself. I I receivedreceived an MA an MAin Anthropology in Anthropology from from Southern Southern Illinois Illinois UniversityUniversity—Carbondale—Carbondale several several years years ago andago and am cur- am cur- rentlyrently an archaeologist an archaeologist with with the U.S. the U.S. Forest Forest Service Service— — ShawneeShawnee National National Forest Forest in Illinois. in Illinois. I am I very am very excited excited about becoming involved in the organization and look about becoming involved in the organization and look Heather Carey looking for rock art. forwardforward to meeting to meeting many many of you of youat the at 2009 the 2009 ESRARA ESRAC Heather Carey looking for rock art. conferencethis coming this coming spring. spring. Volume 13, Issue 2 Page 3 In the News… The Indian Head Rock Controversy Continues As reported in the Spring 2008 ESRARA newsletter, last year a group of local historians and divers removed a boulder from the Ohio River bed that contained mid-19th century carvings includ- ing a face known as the “Indian Head”, as well as nineteenth century inscriptions and transported it to Portsmouth, Ohio. The boulder was located in that part of the Ohio River claimed by Kentucky and was a registered archaeological site in Kentucky. This has resulted in the state of Kentucky tak- ing legal action against the parties involved in the removal. On June 19, 2008, a Kentucky grand jury issued an indictment against Steve Shaffer of Ironton, Ohio, for violating Kentucky’s Antiquity Act by removing the rock without a permit. Violation of this act is a class D felony that carries a sen- tence of one to five years in prison. Shaffer appeared before Greenup County Circuit Court Judge Robert Conley on July 24, 2008, at which time his attorney entered a plea of not guilty to the charges against him. Shaffer was released on a $5000 signature bond with a pre-trial hearing set for October 16, 2008. The grand jury also issued an indictment against diver Michael Vetter, who was involved in the removal of the boulder, charging him with one count of violating the Kentucky Antiquity Act. An arraignment date for Vetter has not yet been set. In addition, the grand jury issued a recommen- dation that future grand juries continue the investigation. (continued from page 1) Which brings me to the Indian Head Rock removal controversy, which was discussed in de- tail in the last newsletter and is briefly updated above. As someone who is interested in the preser- vation of the history of our country, including both prehistoric and historic period rock art sites, I cannot support what appears to be the unwarranted and—as charged by the state of Kentucky— possibly illegal removal of a rock art site from its original location without the permission of the state and federal agencies involved who are charged with the protection of such resources. This type of unauthorized action, no matter how well-intentioned the motives of the people involved may have been, represents a threat to all rock art sites located on state and public lands in eastern North America. Many rock art sites in our region, for example, are located in remote areas that most of the general public never visit, but I doubt that many (hopefully) of our members would sup- port cutting out and moving the images at these sites to more accessible locations where they could help support local tourism. Yet that is precisely one of the arguments that has been made as to why it was necessary to move the Indian Head Rock from the Ohio River to Portsmouth, Ohio. In closing, I would note simply that I believe the state of Kentucky and the Kentucky SHPO office are proceeding correctly in this situation, which hopefully can be resolved before the individuals involved in the removal of the rock face even more serious consequences. Best Regards, Mark J, Wagner, ESRARA President Page 4 E.S.R.A.R.A. Newsletter TheThe Ceremonial Ceremonial Mace Mace Motif Motif in Illinois in Illinois Rock Rock Art Art ByBy MarkMark J. Wagner J. Wagner Center for Archaeological Investigations SouthernCenter Illinois for Archaeological University, Carbondale Investigations Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Introduction The “ceremonial mace” is a well-known MississippianIntroduction-period (ca. A.D. 1000-1500) motif in the southeastern United States where it occurs on portable shell, copper, and stone objects recovered from a number of sitesThe throughout“ceremonial the mace” region. is a Often well-known shown Mississippian as being held-period in the (ca.hands A.D. of human 1000-1500)-like figures motif in who the mostsoutheastern likely represent United supernatural States where beings, it occurs the mace on portable or war club shell, consists copper, of and a long stone shaft objects or handle recovered with from a bi- a lobednumber upper of body sites and throughout trapezoidal the or region.