Rock Art of Kentucky (Perspectives on Kentucky's Past)

Rock Art of Kentucky is the first comprehensive documentation of the fragile remnants of Kentucky's prehistoric Native American rock art sites. Found in twenty-two of Kentucky's 120 counties, these sites span a period of more than three thousand years. The most frequent design elements in Kentucky rock art are engravings of the footprints of birds, quadrupeds, and humans. Other design elements include anthropomorphs, mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and abstract and geometric figures. Included in this book are stunning illustrations of the sixty confirmed sites and ten destroyed or questionable sites. Only two pictograph sites have been recorded in Kentucky. Pictographs are found infrequently in the Eastern United States and are usually indistinct because of rapid deterioration. In the thirty-three years during which this information has been collected, there has been an alarming deterioration of many of the sites. Ancient carvings have been destroyed by graffiti or have lost extensive detail because of climatic or environmental conditions, such as acid rain. Although all the Kentucky sites are officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places, several no longer exist or are at present inaccessible. In addition to making data available for the first time to the national and international archaeological community for further comparative and interpretive studies, Rock Art of Kentucky will appeal to nonspecialists interested in prehistoric Kentucky and Native American studies.