TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY PARTNERS TO PROTECT ROCK SHELTER ART
CASE STUDY
Indian tribes have occupied northern Alabama for millennia, and for 600 of those years, a pair of bluffs overlooking the Tennessee River in Marshall County have provided a glimpse into their history. Although visible for ages, etched and painted images on the “Painted Bluff,” as the site has come to be known, were first documented the 1823 book The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee. The movement of settlers into the area during the 19th century resulted in displacement of the original inhabitants. As a consequence, many of the tribes that originally occupied this area have moved further south and west, but their ancestral, cultural, and spiritual ties to the traditional cultural and sacred places in this area remain strong. As the centuries wore on, impacts from man and nature alike took their toll on the sacred images.The effects of modern-day graffiti on the more than 80 animal effigies, ovals, circles, and other abstract symbols were documented in the 1950s. In 2004, a team of archaeologists from the University of Tennessee noted that, in addition to damage from vandalism and rock climbing at Painted Bluff, humidity and erosion were causing pictographs at the NRHP-eligible site to chip and flake away. The Painted Bluff overlooks land at TVA’s Wheeler Reservoir.The agency worked with the Alabama Historical Commission to have the site named to its 2013 “Places in Peril” list, highlighting the state’s most endangered landmarks.
34 | IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A REPORT ON FEDERAL HISTORIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 2018
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