Join Conserving Carolina Speaker Series at Landrum Library on Thursday, May 8th when noted naturalist, historian and outdoor writer, Dennis Chastain, will present on “Native American Rock Carvings of the Carolina Mountains” at 6:00 p.m.

This is a free program, open to the public.

Dennis Chastain will present a slide show about the petroglyphs, or ancient Native American rock carvings, found in the mountains of both North and South Carolina.

In the late 1990’s, he and now retired archaeologist, Tommy Charles, discovered more than 600 circle type petroglyphs on Pinnacle and Table Rock Mountains in northwestern South Carolina. In later years, a grand total of more than 2,000 of these curious artifacts have been documented at fifteen different sites, ranging from Pisgah National Forest and DuPont State Forest in North Carolina to the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Escarpment in South Carolina. Chastain will discuss a recent archaeological study, which he co-authored along with Dr. Johnanes Loubser, concerning the circle petroglyphs on Pinnacle Mountain.

The slideshow will also cover a wide variety of other rock carvings, including Judaculla Rock near Cullawhee, NC and more than 20 stick figure petroglyphs at Hagood Mill near Pickens, SC, along with numerous other petroglyphs and pictographs (cave paintings) from both Carolinas.

Contact the Southeast (Polk County) office of Conserving Carolina to register for the workshop or for more information, 828-859-5060, or Pam Torlina at [email protected].