Conserving Carolina and the Landrum Library invite the public to attend a free program titled “Native American Rock Carvings of the Carolina Mountains,” presented by Dennis Chastain, a naturalist, historian and outdoor writer.

The program will be held at the Landrum Library, 111 E. Asbury Drive in Landrum on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

In the late 1990s, Chastain 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 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 present a slideshow about the petroglyphs, or ancient Native American rock carvings, found in the mountains of both North and South Carolina.

He 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, North Carolina, and more than 20 stick figure petroglyphs at Hagood Mill near Pickens, South Carolina, as well as numerous other petroglyphs and pictographs (cave paintings) from both Carolinas. 

The lecture is part of Conserving Carolina’s monthly Speaker Series at the Landrum Library. 

The next program will be held on June 5 when Melissa Pilgrim, director of research and associate professor of Biology at the University of South Carolina Upstate, will present “Hidden Biodiversity: Finding Reptile and Amphibians All Around Us” at 6 p.m.

For more information, contact Pam Torlina at Conserving Carolina’s southeast, Polk County office at 828-697-5777, ext. 300, or email pam@conservingcarolina.org or contact the Landrum Library at 864-457-2218.

– Submitted by Pam Torlina