The Trail to Yupaha Collections

Understanding the Obsession with All Things Cherokee

Many history buffs in the Georgia Mountains are obsessed with all things Cherokee. They assume that Creek place names such as Oconaluftee, Coosa, Oostanaula, Oothlooga, Etowah, Chattooga, Nottely, Yahoola, Enota, Tesnatee, Soque, Nacoochee, Tallulah, etc. are Cherokee words. The myths can all be traced to the presumptions made by the first white settlers to enter the region. That’s right . . . the main river on the North Carolina Cherokee Reservation is an Itsate Creek word meaning “Okonee People – isolated.” The name has no meaning in Cherokee. The Okonee were major players in the mound-building business, who eventually joined … Read more

Trade Routes in the Lower Southeast

The memoir of French explorer, René Goulaine de Laudonniére state that the predominate flow of trade in the Lower Southeast in the late 1500s was north-south. Greenstone, gold, ocher, mica, crystals, precious stones and silver that was mined in the Southern Highlands, were traded for salt, shells, grain, skins, furs, colorful clays, dried fish and dyes obtained from lower altitudes. He emphasized that the desire to control the cargos of greenstone and gold from the mountains was the cause of many wars. A major trade route passed through Track Rock Gap, but it was not the most important one. The … Read more

Track Rock Gap Archaeological Survey

In the year 2000 the district office of the U. S. Forest Service in Gainesville, GA contracted with South African archaeologist Johannes Loubser to study the Track Rock Petroglyphs. Loubser operates under the professional name of Stratum Unlimited, LLC. Loubser’s published paper on the Track Rock survey was co-authored by Dr. Douglas Frink of Worcester State College in Massachusetts. This article is a brief analysis of that survey.

Totonac Civilization

Shortly after the abandonment of Teotihuacan, cities began developing in northern Vera Cruz. The location of Teotihuacan had become quite arid as today, while Vera Cruz benefited from have a lower altitude and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. The descendants of the builders of these cities called themselves the Totonacs and they claim to have also once been the elite of Teotihuacan. The architecture of these cities, the best known being El Tajin and Cempoala, shared some decorative details with Teotihuacan, but architectural forms and city plans were quite different. The Totonacs learned how to make pozzolanic concrete. This … Read more

Toltecs

The Toltecs are associated with a single city, about 100 miles north of Mexico City. It is known today by the Totonac word for town, Tula. However, that was also the probable name of Teotihuacan. The city probably had another name. The problem is now, anthropologists are not even sure what ethnic group lived there. The city was contemporary with the Totonac and Huastec civilizations, but its architecture bears no resemblance to either. What the architecture of Tula No. 2 does resemble is the Native American city in southern Illinois now called Cahokia. Tula’s pyramids are earth and rubble veneered … Read more

The Track Rock Terrace Complex

In mid-July, a member of the Unicoi Turnpike Preservation Association, telephoned me after reading an article that I had written in the Examiner. That particular column was about archaeological sites in western North Carolina. He was also a member of the Towns County, GA Historical Society. The Union County-Towns County line runs across the peak of Brasstown Bald Mountain, which contains Georgia’s highest elevation. Brasstown Bald is immediately to the east of Track Rock Gap. The outdoor enthusiast was primarily interested in what I knew about the use of the Unicoi Turnpike during the Trail of Tears Period (1836-1838.) The … Read more

The North Atlantic Tsunami

Between 2007 and 2012 scholars became aware of several archives and geological records, which described a catastrophic tsunami in the North Atlantic in 1014 AD. The date is especially relevant to the study of the Track Rock terraces. Currently, the oldest radiocarbon date for an agricultural terrace at Track Rock is c. 1018 AD – which actually could be 30 years in either direction. Forensic geologist Dallas Abbott of the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University has found evidence of a large meteor or comet strike in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which hurled extraterrestrial debris over 3800 … Read more

The Native American Holocaust

The population of Mexico began to drop almost immediately after the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. A smallpox plague devastated the population of Tenochtitlan while it was under siege by the Spanish. Many other European diseases spread across Mexico and Central America in the years that followed. Even prior to the Cortez Expedition, a smallpox plague devastated the Yucatan Peninsula, the Caribbean Islands and the advanced peoples living around the Mobile and Pensacola Bays on the Southeastern Gulf Coasts. Several European plagues that swept through Mexico during the 1500s and early 1600s killed anywhere from 30% to 80% of … Read more

The Migration Legend of the Kashita People

One of the many aspects of the contemporary Creek Indians that non-indigenous anthropologists seldom understand is that the Creeks are an assimilated people, composed of diverse ethnic groups, many of whom were originally enemies. The Itsate-speaking Creeks were the main players in the mound building business. However, they were decimated first by European diseases. and then by English sponsored slave raiders. By the early 1700s, the Muskogee-speaking minority were clustered in present day west-central Georgia and east-central Alabama. They were less affected by the holocausts that killed off 90-95% of the Itsate-speaking Creeks. The Muskogees came to dominate an alliance … Read more

The Indigenous Peoples of Northern Georgia

During the earliest part of this Paleo-Indians period, an ice sheet covered the portion of North America above the Ohio River. Brasstown Bald probably had a permanent ice cap, while permafrost characterized its upper elevations. No evidence of glaciers has been found. The valleys around Brasstown Bald would have been similar in appearance to those near the mountains of New England and Southern Quebec today. This Late Sub-Boreal Period evolved into an Isothermal Period in which northern and southern plant species grew in proximity. Vegetation grew throughout much of the year. This made possible the large mega-fauna populations. Around 10,000 … Read more

Tabasco and Chiapas

The southern end of Vera Cruz and all of Tabasco in Mexico are not significantly different in appearance than southeastern Georgia. Most of the region is level and humid, with many swamps and natural lakes. The coast of Tabasco is lined with tidal marshes almost identical to those of the coast of Georgia. Although most of the indigenous inhabitants of Tabasco are called Mayas, most are descended from ethnic groups that were not true Mayas, but absorbed varying degrees of Maya culture. One group, the Tamauli were originally refugees from Tamaulipas State in the northeastern corner of Mexico. This is … Read more

Site Tour of the Track Rock Gap Archaeological Zone

1 – Vent Trail: The entrance to the Vent Trail was only about 125 feet from Track Rock Gap Road. The Vent Trail appeared to be an old logging road that varied from about eight to fourteen feet wide. The trail’s lack of use had allowed dense stands of wild blackberries to grow up at the entrance along sections exposed to sunlight. Since the trail leads to the dormant volcanic vent, it is also possible that centuries of foot and horse traffic have widened the original trail to the scale of a road. Until this point in time, we really … Read more

Pre Darmos Casada

An inscription on a rock on Hoopers Bald contains the late Medieval Castillian words “PRE DARMOS CASADA – SEP 15, 1615” and an inscription on a boulder at Track Rock Gap contains the name “Liube 1725” a Jewish name… the significance of these inscriptions in South East United States are identified in this article.

Mexican Native Americans

As mentioned, three major centers of advanced culture blossomed around 900 AD and quickly disappeared around 1150 AD. They were the Toltec capital of Tula, the trade megapolis on the Ocmulgee River in central Georgia, and the cluster of towns connected by canals and raised bed roads around Lake Okeechobee. The causes of their contemporary rise and fall have not been studied by archaeologists and geologists. In fact, very few of these scientists seemed to be aware of the coincidence. Etula in northwest Georgia and Ichese in central Georgia continued to prosper for 50 years after the abandonment of the … Read more

Mesoamerican Words in Itsate

Both Itsate and Muskogee have borrowed words from other languages. In fact, Muskogee is the most aberrant of all the Muskogean languages. Prior to the European Colonial Period the Muskogee speakers were a minority among the ancestors of the Creeks, but rose rapidly to power after the Itsate provinces were almost wiped out by plagues and slave raids. The original homeland of the Muskogee in the East was a triangle along the middle section of the Chattahoochee river, eastward to the area around Macon, GA. Muskogee seems to have been a blend of Itsate with a non-Muskogean language spoken along … Read more

Mesoamerican Geographical Names in the Southeast

Am Ixel: This is a Chontal Maya word, which means Place of the Goddess, Ixel. She was the goddess of fertility in Classic Maya times and also the goddess of the new moon in Post Classic times. Both the coastal plain of Tamaulipas State and the Gulf Coast between Mobile, AL & Cedar Key, FL were recorded by the Spanish as being named Amichel. Apparently, the Spanish never recognized the connection. Ixel was the favorite goddess of the Chontal Maya, who were considered illiterate barbarians by the Classic Period Maya. For them, she was also the patron ‘saint” of young, … Read more

Mayan and Creek Similarities

Many, many suns ago, I was awarded a fellowship by Georgia Tech to spend a summer studying the indigenous architecture and town planning of Mesoamerica. The grant involved visiting all of the major archaeological sites in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. In addition, I was to photograph at least 2500 professional quality color slides for the Georgia Tech library. The education I received seemed only a little relevant to an architectural career in the United States, but it would make interesting conversation for dates and parties. Besides . . . Relaciones Exteriores (their State Department) let me ship home 125 kg … Read more

Late Woodland Cultures in the Southeast

In the Southeast, construction stopped at large Swift Creek ceremonial towns such as Leake Mounds in Cartersville, GA and Kolomoki Mounds in extreme southwestern Georgia around 650 AD. Apparently, the populations of these towns dropped substantially. Swift Creek Culture village sites were established in the upper Piedmont and Southern Highlands during this time. The Weeden Island Culture, which replaced Swift Creek in the Gulf Coastal Plain continued. Many of its ceramics had a distinct Caribbean or northern South American “feel” to them. While the Middle Woodland Cultures in the Southeast seemed to be waning, the population and cultural development in … Read more

Late Classic Maya Heartland

The populations of Maya cities and countryside exploded after the mid-Sixth century hiatus. Several cities reached over 100,000 people. According to NASA archaeologist Tom Sever, the Mayan civilization in Mesoamerica was one of the densest populations in human history. At its zenith around 800 AD, the total population was probably in the range of 22 million. Prior to the analysis by NASA most archaeologists assumed that the total population was in the range of 10 million. Slavery: Paralleling the population growth was general affluence, which enabled the Maya elite to import and export commodities and artistic creations to and from … Read more

Interpretation of the Track Rock Gap Petroglyphs

As a major portion of its professional services to the U.S. Forest Service in the year 2000, Stratum Unlimited, LLC prepared graytone renderings of the six main boulders at Track Rock Gap. These renderings will be of incalculable value to the citizens of the United States in the future. Because they remained exposed to the elements, the petroglyphs deteriorated at an accelerating pace in the early 21st century. Acidic rainwater is the primary culprit. The renderings of the Track Rock petroglyphs are presented on a website sponsored by the USFS. Johannes Loubser provided only generalized interpretation of the images on … Read more