Judaculla Rock

The Mystery of the Judaculla Rock


In North Carolina in the mountains of Jackson County lies a large mysterious rock full of petroglyphs yet to be deciphered. For the Cherokee Indians the rock is of special importance and the site where the rock resides is a sacred site where ceremonies used to take place.

The name Judaculla comes from the Cherokees who believed that it was an ancient creature which dominated the mountains. Its name means ‘he has them slanting’ or the ‘slant-eyed giant’ - a powerful being with super-human powers with the ability to fly that used to jump from mountain to mountain and was even capable of controlling the wind, rain, thunder and lightning. The creature was able to take ordinary people to the ‘Spirit’ world and was able to communicate with people. It appears to be a similar type of ‘god-like’ creature as the ones mentioned in all mythologies around the world.

Judaculla once landed on the rock, leaving on it a seven fingered hand print. Many rumours and legends surround the mysterious rock including strange sounds and UFO appearances during the night.

The stone is a curvilinear shaped outcrop of soapstone rock with more than 1,500 petroglyphs all over it. The ages of the petroglyphs are probably between 2000 and 3000 BC and during digging around the stone, quarry tools were discovered. No other stones in the area were found with similar markings, making the stone even more mysterious.



The stone is located at the base of the mountain where there is an abundance of metals and minerals to such an extent that there are supposed to be detectable electromagnetic interferences around the rock.

Theories about the content of the petroglyphs on the rock are abundant. They span from maps to religious symbols with a secret message or just graffiti of ancient people. They may represent animals or humans or other figures of importance.  Recently a team of scientists used laser guided equipment in order to create a detailed view of the Judaculla Rock for studying it. Unfortunately, the weather has started corroding the rock and the symbols will gradually disappear since the rock is ­­open to the weather.

Unfortunately, for the time being the secret meanings of the Judaculla rock will remain locked.

By John Black

Related Links

Judaculla Rock

Judaculla Rock’s Mystery

Judaculla Rock gets overdue recognition

The History of the Judaculla Rock

Related Books

Related Videos


Interesting, some of these look familiar, some of these symbols do not. The American indians are a topic we need to learn mroe about, there are a lot of these relics all over what is now the United Staes, some dating back 8,000 years...before Sumer!

Next article