Rock Eagle |
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The next oldest mound site in the state of Georgia, Rock Eagle, could not be any more different from the shell rings of Sapelo Island. This mound is an effigy in the shape of a bird with its wings spread. Originally believed to be 5,000 years old, more recent archaeological studies have shown that this effigy mound was most likely constructed around 2,000 years ago.5 It is one of only two such structures known to exist east of the Mississippi river with the second structure known as Rock Hawk also being located within the same Georgia county as Rock Eagle.
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Rock Eagle effigy mound has a 120 feet wingspan and is 102 feet long from head to tail. It has a vertical height of 8 feet from the ground to the top of the chest. The bird's head faces east, the direction of the rising sun. It is constructed entirely of white quartzite rock of various sizes. Many of the rocks were too large for one person to carry by hand and thus archaeologists believe they were dragged to the site on deerskins.
A. R. Kelly and the University of Georgia excavated the site in the 1950s. During this excavation Mr. Kelly found a single quartz projectile point and the cremated remains of a human burial.
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