Photo of the Inscription Rock Petroglyphs

Object/Artifact

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The Cardinal Collection

Name/Title

Photo of the Inscription Rock Petroglyphs

Entry/Object ID

2022.2.27.24

Description

This photograph of the petroglyphs on Inscription Rock hangs on a wall in the park office at Kelleys Island State Park. Inscription Rock is a large limestone boulder that sits on the southern shore of Kelleys Island and has over 100 pictographs on the surface. The tracing of the petroglyphs and a replica of the rock were done in 1850 to preserve the intricate work of the Indians. Inscription Rock is 32 x 21 feet and sits in the same place where it was found many years ago. The original petroglyphs on Inscription Rock have mostly eroded to the point of never being there.

Use

“Between three and four hundred years ago, Ohio pre-historic Indians, believed to be of the Erie tribe, pecked numerous inscriptions or pictographs on the top surface of this large native limestone rock. The figures, now nearly obliterated by the elements, were measured and drawn in detail by Captain Seth Eastman, United States Army, in 1850. This relief of the Inscription Rock was made from the original Eastman drawing. Scale is approximately 1 to 15. The meanings of the pictographs are not known. There are at least eight human figures, all with headdresses and some smoking pipes; also animal and bird forms.”- Inscription Rock Historical Marker -https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m-158974 You can view the historical marker erected by The Historical Society in 1968 at http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21461744.

Context

Inscription Rock is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Location

* Untyped Location

Kelley's Island State Park