The Middle Fork Rock Shelter Inscription


2003 Photo of entry boulder by Alan Burgess, Chillicothe, OH.
Click here for 2323 x 795 pixel (162 KB) blowup

The linear inscription illustrated above is on a large boulder at the mouth of a rock shelter along the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River in Breathitt Co., KY. It was discovered in the early 1990's by Michael Griffith of Breathitt Co., and only recently came to the attention of the Midwestern Epigraphic Society by way of David Feldman of Lancaster KY and Dr. John Payne of Berea KY.

The site was visted by several MES members in summer of 2002, as reported in the MES Newsletter (date...) and again during the summer of 2003 by MES member Jack Burgess and his son Alan, who took the photo above.

MES member James Leslie has posted additional photos of the site, which he took during the 2002 expedition, on his website at http://home.columbus.rr.com/leslieworld/middle-fork.html. His photo on the left shows the above entry boulder in the context of its surroundings, together with a backpack for scale. (Be sure to click on the photo for a blowup.) His photo on the right shows an additional extensive inscription inside the rock shelter, to the right of the entry boulder. Leslie estimates that the inscriptions at the site have almost 600 strokes.

Detailed drawings of the inscriptions, based on data collected during the 2002 trip, will be forthcoming in the Midwestern Epigraphic Journal.

Return to top of this page .
Up to Kentucky Linear Page.
Up to Archaeological Outliers Page .

Page maintained and written by J. Huston McCulloch
Send comments to: mcculloch.2@osu.edu.
Last revised 10/30/03