Sulphur Springs Bluff Site (23JE1934)
This important rock art site is situated along the banks of the Mississippi River in Jefferson County, Missouri. The site is situated on private property and is not open to the public.
The Sulphur Springs Bluff Rock Art Site (23JE1934)
consists of cluster of pit and groove petroglyphs (right of the 3 meter stadia rod) and a single pit and groove petroglyph associated with a historic name (left of the stadia rod and above the 50 cm scale).
The Sulphur Springs Bluff Rock Art Site (23JE1934)
was reported to DNR in 2017 by John Klein of the Archaeological Research Center in St. Louis. Frank Magre had visited the site at least as early as the 1970s evidenced by a photograph in the landowner's possession. The site is discussed in Carol Diaz-Granados' dissertation (Diaz-Granados 1993:505-506; illustration 58.1c) and The Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Missouri (Diaz-Granados and Duncan 2000). Scale = 1 meter.
Detail of the petroglyphs at the Sulphur Springs Bluff Site.
Yes, I did visit the site.
Thomas Ray was a great help in relocating the site; the Mississippi River is behind us.
Thomas Ray asked me to explain the meaning of the pit and groove petroglyphs.
An easy explanation is that they are gourd rattles (Osage, pe'-xe). I purchased this painted rattle in 2017 from a Maya artisan in Guatemala.
The pit and groove petroglyphs somewhat resemble the "Keyhole Houses" documented at a half dozen archaeological sites directly across the Mississippi River from the Sulphur Spring Site. Here is an aerial photograph of Keyhole houses in Area P-5 at the Range Site in Illinois (Kelly et al. 1987:plate 15).
Keyhole Structure Feature 2413 excavated at the Range Site in Illinois (Kelly et al 1987:Figure 50). "Maybe" the pit and groove petroglyphs symbolically represent Keyhole structures of ancestors or Keyhole structures of the Spirit Beings living in the Mississippi River.
Keyhole Structures in occupation area P-5 at the Range Site in Illinois (Kelly et al 1987:Figure 77).
Another plan of the Keyhole structures at the Range Site in Illinois (Kelly et al. 1984:Figure 47. The Keyhole structures belong to the Patrick phase that dates from AD 600 to AD 800.
Keyhole structure Feature 5226 at the Range Site in Illinois (Kelly et al 1987: plate 16upper).
Keyhole structure Feature 5230 at the Range Site in Illinois (Kelly et al 1987: plate 17upper).
A thousand thanks to Thomas Ray for his assistance locating and photographing the site. Thank you to the property owner for permission to visit the site. Many thanks for Eric Fuller for his insights into Osage language and traditions.
Bibliography
Diaz-Granados, Carol
1993 The Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Missouri - a distributional, stylistic, contextual, temporal and functional analysis of the State's Rock Art. Unpublished dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis.
Diaz-Granados, Carol and James R. Duncan
2000 The Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Missouri. University of
Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.
Kelly, John E., Fred A. Finney, Dale L. McElrath and Steven Ozuk
1984 Late Woodland Period. American Bottom Archaeology. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.
Kelly, John E., Andrew C. Fortier, Steven J. Ozuk, and Joyce A. Williams
1987 The Range Site: Archaic through Late Woodland Occupations. Late Woodland Period. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.
Designed by Neathery and Michael Fuller,
St. Louis Community College
Webpage created 16 October 2015
Webpage updated 3 December 2017
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