Mystery surrounds north Ga. ruins[Fort Mountain State Park]

AP ^ | 28 Dec 2008 | WALTER PUTNAM

[BGHater]

The remains of the 855-foot stone wall that gives Fort Mountain its name wind like a snake around the northeast Georgia park,and its very presence begs a question:Who put them there?

A Cherokee legend attributes the wall to a mysterious band of "moon-eyed people" led by a Welsh prince named Madoc who appeared in the area more than 300 years before Columbus sailed to America.

A plaque at the wall says matter-of-factly it was built by Madoc and his Welsh followers,but most professional archeologists give no credence to the legend.

"There has been no archaeological evidence to back up stories that either this Welsh prince or any others came to explore the New World," said Jared Wood, the manager of the archaeology lab at the University of Georgia.

As the legend goes, the group arrived at Mobile Bay around 1170,made their way up the Alabama and Coosa rivers and built stone fortifications at several spots near present-day Chattanooga, Tenn.

Dana Olson, an author who has spent decades trying to prove the legend,said circumstantial evidence on both sides of the Atlantic is too compelling to ignore.

"I've traveled all over the country finding these forts. Some of them are pretty well known,but I'm still uncovering some of them," said Olson, the author of "The Legend of Prince Madoc and the White Indians."

The stone structures have long been a topic of debate. Many scientists have come to believe that the walls at Fort Mountain and other Southeast sites were built by native Americans between 200 B.C. and A.D. 600.

"We're not exactly sure what purposes these enclosures served,"said Wood,the UGA archaeologist."But they were likely well-known gathering places for social events. Seasonal meetings of friends and kin, trading of goods, astronomical observance, and religious or ceremonial activities may have occurred there."

[Salamander]

Nobody’s ever dowsed for ‘lines of force’, there?

“Ley lines” and “straight tracks” can be very different from one another.

[SunkenCiv]

> Those old timers must’ve had some darned intelligent farm implements....:)

LOL!

> “a glacier did that”. Seems like it must have been a really determined and meticulous glacier, to me.

Same goes for “wrecked ships” which were able to cross the Atlantic, even though wrecks tend to, uh, sink to the bottom. And if a sound ship can’t make the crossing, a wreck sure as hell can’t. ;’)

[Salamander]

“even though wrecks tend to, uh, sink to the bottom.”

Repeal the law of gravity, now!!!

[I think that’s gonna be my “Hopeless Cause” for the new year]...:)

[mad_as_he$$]

There is hard proof of a group of red haired, over 6 foot tall people living in ancient Nevada. The Paiutes who tend to be shorter and rounder were very scared of them. The red haired people lived in a cave near Fallon, oddly all evidence has been gathered by the State and locked away for safe keeping. I believe they were most likely Viking. No “scholar” will investigate.

[mad_as_he$$]

This story has been passed down in my wife's family who are Cherokee from central OK.

[Fred Nerks]

http://www.lostworlds.org/fort_mountain.html

diagrams, photographs, symbols on pottery.

[Salamander]

I recognize the pictgraphs.

Simpler versions are on rocks, here.

Those darn Georgia Indians really got around.

[Fred Nerks]

It would make as much sense to describe "Serpent Mound" as a fort:

[Zionist Conspirator]

Sounds like Madeleine L’Engle.

[Salamander]

Yeah, they’ll be very safe...unless somebody bothers to sneak up from behind.

:::rolls eyes:::

Thank God I have ‘experts’ to set me straight on these things.

[ApplegateRanch]

Thanks!

I hope I get there again. If we know of such things on any of our trips (one reson we drive places, not fly) we go outof our way to visit.

One of my big regrets is that an acqauintance, who was a friend of Barry Fell, died before we could get to New Mexico to be taken by him to several confidential locations of petroglyphs. Most were on remote private land, but he knew the owners, and was quietly cataloguing & recording them.

Our pastor, who knew both Fell and Gene, is how I was introduced to the possibility of an invitation.

[Bellflower]

Could they have something to do with the Melungeons? I wonder if anyone has done a genetic background for any of the Melungeons yet.

[ApplegateRanch]

There is this;

http://www.melungeons.com/articles/melungeondnaproject.htm

[wildbill]

The Romans built fortifications every day while on the march, even when no enemies were apparent.

It’s second nature to a general/leader to protect his forces with fortifications when traveling through potentially dangerous foreign country.

[ZULU]

Interesting. The Tudors were descended from a Welshman - Owen Tudor - who was executed in the Wars of the Roses fighting on the Lancastrian side I believe.