Piney Creek Site

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Piney Creek Site
Piney Creek Site overview.jpg
An overview of the site
USA Illinois location map.svg
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Usa edcp location map.svg
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LocationNorth of Piney Creek in Piney Creek Ravine State Natural Area
Nearest city Campbell Hill, Illinois
Coordinates 37°53′49″N89°38′10″W / 37.89694°N 89.63611°W / 37.89694; -89.63611
Area0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
MPS Native American Rock Art Sites of Illinois MPS
NRHP reference No. 01000601 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 31, 2001

The Piney Creek Site is a prehistoric rock art site located on the north side of Piney Creek in Piney Creek Ravine State Natural Area in Randolph County, Illinois. The site consists of a sandstone outcropping with over 150 petroglyph and pictograph designs, the most at a single known site in Illinois. The designs are divided into four distinct groups; three of these are on the center and ends of the rock shelter's wall, while the fourth is on a joint block of sandstone within the shelter. Most of the designs were created during the Late Woodland and Mississippian periods, which spanned from 450 to 1550 A.D.; a number of the figures were added after 1550. A 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall spear-holding anthropomorph in the western group is the largest individual petroglyph in Illinois. In addition to anthropomorphs, other common designs at the site include zoomorphs, quadrupeds which probably represent deer, and symbols; the quadrupeds and anthropomorphs are frequently depicted in motion. The rock shelter was likely used as a religious site by prehistoric inhabitants, and several of the designs appear to have mystical or spiritual significance; for instance, the winged anthropomorphs likely represent shamans. [2]

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 2001. [1]

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The Piney Creek West Site is a prehistoric rock art site located north of Piney Creek in Piney Creek Ravine State Natural Area in Randolph County, Illinois. The site consists of four petroglyphs painted on the inside of a rock shelter and a pictograph painted on the outside. The interior petroglyphs include an abstract shape, two curved lines, and a serpentine line with a pit at one end; two of the petroglyphs are filled in with ochre pigment, representing the only intact example of this painting technique in Illinois. The pictograph, which has deteriorated badly, depicts a human left hand; nearby flecks of paint from an unrecognizably faded figure likely indicate the site of the right hand. The paintings were likely added during the Late Woodland period, which lasted from 450 to 900 A.D. The serpentine figure inside the shelter suggests that the site had spiritual significance, as it resembles other prehistoric rock art depicting shamanic trance states.

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The Tegtmeyer Site is a prehistoric rock art site located north of Piney Creek in Piney Creek Ravine State Natural Area in Randolph County, Illinois. The site consists of two petroglyphs painted on a sandstone rock shelter. One petroglyph depicts a winged anthropomorph in flight, while the other depicts a winged zoomorph which may also be flying. Based on their similarity to other sites from the period, the petroglyphs at the site most likely date from the Mississippian period. The petroglyphs resemble some of the figures painted at the nearby Piney Creek Site; given that the Tegtmeyer Site was unsuitable for inhabitation, it was most likely used for additional paintings which could not fit at the Piney Creek Site.

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Wagner, Mark J. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Piney Creek Site. National Park Service, 2000-05-15.