Some time ago, Alan C. and I had discussed putting in a canoe and exploring some of the petroglyphs along the Hiwassee River.   In July 2019, I made a scouting trip to look for a close-by spot to put in.

I found a relatively good put-in spot near one of the clusters of glyph rocks. These are the petroglyph rocks that we would finally visit and photograph 3 years later!

While in the area, I visited Hiwassee Rock Known locally as Indian Rock or Fishing Rock, this flat petroglyph outcrop abuts the river.   Much of the outcrop is covered with petroglyphs, but portions of the panel were removed decades ago.   The intact petroglyphs include spirals, meandering lines, humans, and animals.   Note: this is on private property.

This boulder is approx. 6 ft x 7 ft. Unfortunately, at least two sections of this panel were cut and removed years ago.

Detail of petroglyphs

From a report on rock art of SW NC...

Fast forward 3+ years...   October 2022 We'd had to wait out the Covid pandemic, and then we never had the right combination of low water, good weather/photographic conditions, and availability.   But Alan, Noah Y. and I finally got lucky and joined up to photograph some of the Native American rock art here. This is just one grouping of petroglyph rocks that can be found along the Hiwassee River. Most of these rocks are underwater for much of the year.   We spent about 75% of our time brushing and washing the mud and assorted lichens off the rocks.   For the most part, the glyphs found in this area are considerably more recent than nearby soapstone bowl sites. A Middle Woodland (AD 800) to historic (AD 1838) range can generally be ascribed to them.

Group A - Petroglyph panel and numerous cupules On the right side, you see how the rocks looked before we cleaned them...

This tracing by Jannie Loubser shows the petroglyphs on this rock.

Dog/panther and coiled serpent figures on left side of rock.

The dog/panther on the right side is eroded and difficult to make out.

Group A - Glyph rock (R) and adjacent rock covered with cupules.

Detail of Cupule rock 1

Group A - Cupule rock 2

View of Group A rocks from Alan's drone.

Group B - another set of cupule-covered rocks

Cupules at Group B

Cupules at Group B

More Cupules at Group B

Cupules at Group B

Noah and Alan on Group B boulder

View of us at Group B from Alan's drone

Group C petroglyph panel Two human figures and a spiral serpent, among other figures. This panel, one of the few not regularly covered by river water, is more worn/eroded than the others.

Same image, with more contrast applied to bring out the faint figures a little more.

Tracing by Scott Ashcraft, showing the figures in the previous photo.

Group 3 - upper figure

Group 3 - spiral

Group 3 - lower figure

Group D - cupule rocks

There were scores of cupules on these rocks. Several were large enough to possibly be mortars.

Group D cupules.

More Group D cupules.

Group D cupules.

Grooves on rock in tributary creek. (Brasstown Creek)

Grooved rock with cupules, Brasstown Creek

Cupules - Brasstown Creek

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