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Talking leaves and rocks that teach: the archaeological discovery of Sequoyah's oldest written record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Rex Weeks  and
Ken Tankersley
Rex Weeks
Affiliation:
Anthropology, University of Arkansas, 330 Old Main, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA (Email: [email protected])
Ken Tankersley
Affiliation:
Anthropology, University of Cincinnati, 481 Braunstein Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA (Email: [email protected])
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Extract

The authors investigate the origins of the earliest script of the Cherokees, using inscriptions in the Red Bird River Shelter. Their analysis suggests that the engravings in the cave show the experimental creation of a syllabary (alphabet of signs). This in turn offers support for the historical notion that this writing system was not an ancestral practice preserved through missionaries, but an invention of the early nineteenth century; one that should be credited to the Native American pioneer scholar, Sequoyah.

Keywords

nineteenth centuryCherokeewriting systemsrock carvingBible
Type
Debate
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 329 , September 2011 , pp. 978 - 993
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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