PREHISTORIC ROCK ART FROM PAINTED BLUFF AND THE LANDSCAPE OF NORTH ALABAMA ROCK ART

Painted Bluff in northern Alabama is one of the richest and most elaborate open-air rock art localities in the Eastern Woodlands, rivaling some of the Southeast’s dark zone cave art sites discovered over the past several decades. Known for more than a century, the site has never seen detailed documentation until now. Painted Bluff contains motifs similar to iconography associated with Mississippian ceremonial objects, and a radiocarbon age determination (cal A.D. 1300–1440) would indicate contemporary use of the site. More than 80 images were painted on the cliffs, most using red mineral pigments but some reflecting polychromatic use of differently colored minerals. We present examples of the Painted Bluff artwork and discuss the site in the broader context of prehistoric rock art on the southern Cumberland Plateau and in northern Alabama.