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Decorated boulder in United States reveals links to Early Bronze Age Ireland

Mystery as to how the ancient boulder came to be in Georgia

By
KATE HICKEY,
IrishCentral.com Editor
Published Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 8:00 AM
Updated Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 8:00 AM

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The Funk Heritage Museum, near Atlanta, Georgia, has identified the 11-foot long boulder decorated with ancient petroglyphs are being identical to those found along the Atlantic Coast in Ireland
The Funk Heritage Museum, near Atlanta, Georgia, has identified the 11-foot long boulder decorated with ancient petroglyphs are being identical to those found along the Atlantic Coast in Ireland


After 11 years of searching the Funk Heritage Museum, near Atlanta, Georgia, has identified the 11-foot long boulder decorated with ancient petroglyphs are being identical to those found along the Atlantic Coast in Ireland, which date from the Early Bronze Age.

The new discovery creates more questions about North America’s history than it answers.

Dr Joseph Kitchens, Director of the Funk Museum, on the campus of Reinhard University took over the challenge back in 2008 to find out where this massive boulder with concentric rings, circles, crosses and stars (what archaeologists call petroglyphs) carved into its side came from.

Having ruled out the more likely sources such as Native American Indians Kitchens cast his search wider and found his answer last week in Northern Ireland, according to reports in The Examiner.

Kitchens contacted the Irish Megalithic Organization and its founder, author Anthony Weir. It has been confirmed that this boulder in Georgia is identical to many found in Ireland. Weir has been documenting and photography petroglyphs in Ireland for over 30 years.

His descriptions of the boulders found on the west coast of Ireland are almost identical to the one mysteriously found in Georgia.
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He describes a boulder on the Dingle Penninsula, County Kerry that has the same markings and is the same size as the one at the Funk Heritage Museum.

How the boulder came to be in Georgia remains a mystery.

The identical stones in Ireland date from the Early Bronze Age. The carvings were carved by non-Celts at least 1,500 to 500 years before Celtic writing, known as Ogham script began. Experts are not sure what the meaning of these carves could be. Many of these boulders appear around grave areas. In fact similar stone can be seen at Newgrange, County Meath.

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13 Comments

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Searlit | May 26, 2011, 11:02 PM EDT
@ mcdolan, that's interesting! I live in CT but I never heard about the carvings on the banks of the river. I saw a program maybe twenty years ago about the beehive-like huts built in Montville, in southeastern CT. It was probably on PBS. I haven't seen or heard anything about it lately. I'm going to check into it. There might be a guided tour, but it's a rare occurrence, and there would be a long waiting list. I also saw a program like the one bunkerhill mentioned. They did a facial reconstruction on the skull that was found. It came out looking like Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame.
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S.Connolly | May 26, 2011, 10:35 PM EDT
Doesn't anyone any more believe in Leprecauns?
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PatriciaHarty | May 26, 2011, 05:14 PM EDT
450 millions years or so ago, Ireland belonged to the landmass that is now called North America
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badolan | May 26, 2011, 01:19 PM EDT
There ya have it. The Irish discovered America.
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suzandpej | May 26, 2011, 12:07 PM EDT
Bad puncuation..otherwise ok! LOL!
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bonjouryall | May 26, 2011, 10:16 AM EDT
hey, maybe southern rednecks settled Ireland! A good scientist doesn't rule out any possibility.
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bunkerhill | May 26, 2011, 09:44 AM EDT
I think we are about to discover a huge chunk of our missing past. There will be new exploration of the legend of Hy-Brasil; along with the legend of tall, fair, haired men found in Central and South America. Indeed some native Americans welcomed the Spanish as returning gods. And then there is the mystery of the huge skeletons of red headed men found in the American west. I believe this was on the history channel. The reporter went to a museum where the heads of these mummies were "hidden" away and he questioned why? He then compared the skeleton heads to a normal skeleton and that is when the huge stature of the skeletons became apparent. He said the red heads had to be huge men. However you still see extremely tall redheaded men and women in the West of Ireland. Did you know that a law stating that all police and firemen in NYC had to be six feet or over, changed in the 60's because there were so many tall Irishmen that it was totally biased in their favor? I agree with the writer who asked why things like the redheaded mummies in the west are hidden? I also wonder why it was denied for so long that there was a huge Irish presence in Iceland when Gaelic was spoken along so many of the Scottish Islands heading that way. The Gaelic speakers didn't walk to those Northern Islands and the Icelanders always maintained they were part Irish. Anyway these new findings are very exciting and ancient Ireland is truly a mystery. We are also beginning to realize how much history was altered to serve the posturings of a few in power.
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mcdolan | May 25, 2011, 08:30 PM EDT
@Searlit -- Yes, I've heard this before (mid-80s at the International Symposium on Brendan the Navigator at Trinity College Dublin). Apparently when the Connecticut River was being dredged/drained carvings were found in the stone along the embankments of celtic-like swirls, triskeles, etc. Also, we were told at this symposium that the native Americans (Algonquins?)had a term for 'white fathers' that had lived in the area in the old days--8th/9th century. St. Brendan and his brothers??
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bootsjoyce4 | May 25, 2011, 07:01 PM EDT
I've heard of Georgia and Conn. celtic huts before. Maybe the Irish WERE the first ones here.You can find Irish inffuences all over the globe.
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Searlit | May 25, 2011, 11:49 AM EDT
There's a place in CT, the native Americans called it Gungywamp. It is thought to be the area St. Brendan arrived in America. There are beehive-like huts there with Christan markings on them. I don't think the public is allowed in there. Why would anyone want to keep it secret?
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mikecontractor1 | May 25, 2011, 10:40 AM EDT
we should examine natural cause and effect
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Ms.Gail | May 25, 2011, 10:39 AM EDT
Would be nice to know if there is a geologic relationship between Georgia rock and Irish-Atlantic rock or if rock is native Georgia.
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SeamusMor | May 25, 2011, 10:37 AM EDT
It must be a hoax. Like the "Viking" tablet "found" in Minnesota. Whomever carved the Georgia stone is having a good laugh today!
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