Rock Hawk Effigy Mound
Rock Hawk Putnam County
Woodland–Archaic 1000 BCE–1000 CE·Woodland peoples·🇺🇸 Georgia, United States
About
About Rock Hawk Effigy Mound
Second quartz effigy mound (1000 BCE–1000 CE) on Oconee River bluff: Hawk effigy 30 m (98 ft) long wingspan 18 m, quartz and limestone cobble hawk with forked tail similar to SECC falcon icon. Originally ridge top now partially inundated edge by Lake Oconee (Wallace Dam). Associated Woodland habitation scatters; paired with Rock Eagle 13 km away suggesting linked bird-of-prey necropolis.
Why it mattersTwin to Rock Eagle forming only known quartz effigy pair; evidence of paired Woodland ceremonial landscape.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relationship to Rock Eagle contemporaneity vs sequential
- 02Inundation extent obscuring original ridge context
Theories
- 01Paired hawk-eagle clan moiety dual necropolis
- 02Solstice sightlines between two effigies
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1000–500 BCE
- Period
- Woodland–Archaic 1000 BCE–1000 CE
- Culture
- Woodland peoples
- Builders
- Woodland
- Purpose
- Effigy burial mound, paired avian ceremonial landscape
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1000–500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1363 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
33.3433° N · 83.1794° W · 160 m · 2 mapped features
Rock Hawk Effigy Mound central feature
featureMain architectural feature
33.3433° N · 83.1794° WRock Hawk Effigy Mound secondary sector
sectorSecondary sector
33.3443° N · 83.1784° W
Gallery