 The cliff face of Painted Bluff. Facing west along the middle ledge. | |
 | |
| Location | Marshal County, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°27′47.33″N 86°26′46.95″W / 34.4631472°N 86.4463750°W[1] |
| Altitude | 248 m (814 ft)[1] |
| History | |
| Cultures | Woodland and Mississippian |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Jan Simek[2] |
| Ownership | Federal government of the United States[3] |
| Management | Tennessee Valley Authority[3] |
Painted Bluff is a cliff overlooking the Tennessee River in Marshall County, Alabama that features over 130 individual prehistoric Native American pictographs and petroglyphs. Painted Bluff is located about 4 miles (6.4 km) downstream from the Guntersville Dam and is only accessible by boat. The bluff is divided into three levels: the low ledge along the river, a middle ledge above it, and a high ledge near the top of the cliff face. A small cave is located along the low ledge.
Due to the humid environment, open-air rock art sites are rare in the Southeastern United States.[4] TVA archaeologist Erin Pritchard considers Painted bluff to be "one of, if not the, most significant open-air rock art occurrence[s]" in the region.[5]
The bluff has been subject to graffiti from the earliest days of its discovery by European Americans, with the oldest graffiti dating to the nineteenth century.
Painted Bluff is protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, meaning that damaging or destroying any property is considered a felony.[6]
- ^ a b "Painted Bluff". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
- ^ Purdy, Michael (17 November 2014). "Professor Awarded for Prehistoric Rock Art Research". The university of Tennessee Knoxville News. Archived from the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ a b Simek et al. (2021), p. 157.
- ^ "Painted Bluff, Marshall County, c.1400 (Places in Peril 2013)". ALABAMA HERITAGE. The University of Alabama. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ Kazek, Kelly (4 June 2013). "600-year-old cliff drawings, 200-year-old home listed as North Alabama Places in Peril (Odd Travels)". AL.com. Advance Local. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ Kazek, Kelly (4 June 2013). "5 things to know about the ancient cliff drawings on Marshall County's Painted Bluff (Odd Travels with photo gallery)". AL.com. Advance Local. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.