Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk Effigy Mounds (Putnam County, Georgia)

 The ancient peoples east of the Mississippi River were noted for their mound building. Cities, villages, ceremonial centers and burial mounds can be found all over the united states. Since moving to Atlanta a couple of months ago, I've visited a coupe of the sites in this state, but today, I'm heading to a couple of unique ones that are in the form of bird effigies, and could reasonably be called geoglyphs.

The first is known as Rock Eagle Effigy Mound and is protected by the University of Georgia. I arrived early enough to find the parking lot empty. The approach to the ancient monument has been paved with a cobblestone walkway, leading to a stone observation tower that was built in the 1930's to provide visitors with aerial view of the figure. The mound itself is made of quartzite stones piled up some ten feet or so above the ground to form the unmistakable shape of a bird in flight. The figure is protected by a tall fence surrounding and the cobblestone walkway surrounds the fence allowing visitors to walk all the way around the site. I take some time to climb up the tower, which has a wooden staircase and is four stories tall, but open to cold morning air. It does provide an outstanding view of the figure though.

The second effigy mound, Rock Hawk, is about fifteen miles away and sites near Lake Oconee. There seem to be a number of trails in and around this site which is owned by the Georgia Power company, but opens it up to the public. This site also has an observation tower to provide a bird's eye view of the effigy, but this one is open air and made in a much more modern style. Looking down on the Rock Hawk mounds, the similarity is obvious and archaeological research seems to indicate a common history. Unfortunately, this second site is in not in as good of condition as the first. While it is protected by a fence just like Rock Eagle, past visitors and perhaps time itself have not been as kind. The general shape is obviously that of a bird though. 

After reading a bit further on these sites, it seems there were early reports in the mid-nineteenth century of two more mounds, one in the form of a third avian and another in the shape if a snake, but modern research has been unable to confirm the existence of these other two and they may have been destroyed as the lands that held them were settled and farmed. It's a shame to have lost such treasures, but I'm glad the remaining two will be protected going forward.