Inscription Rock - Kelleys Island, Ohio Poster

This poster of Inscription Rock was produced from a vintage turn of the century postcard. This large limestone rock is on the south shore of Kelleys Island just east of downtown. The remains of at least two Native American villages were found very near the rock. Archaeological and historical research suggests that until about 1643 AD, Algonquian-speaking groups affiliated with the "Fire Nation" confederacy populated the Sandusky region. Historical references describe a water route of travel via Lake Ontario to the western basin of Lake Erie, an area rich in beaver pelts. It is assumed it was these pre-historic groups or members of roving bands of Iroquoian peoples (Neutral, Erie, Cat) after 1643 that carved the rock’s markingshe 32 x 21’ surface of the rock is covered with one of the finest examples of aboriginal art in the Great Lakes region. Known as a petroglyph, no one is sure what the unusual drawings depicted. The most widely accepted theory is that the large rock was used as a "message stone" where various Native Americans would make drawings noting that they’d been there, how the hunting or fishing had been and/or where they were headed next. The markings have been so eroded by exposure to the weather that it is difficult to see them. In 1969 The Ohio Historical Society erected a cover to attempt to preserve the rock. A small-portion plaster replica of the accurate and detailed sketches done in the 1850’s is at the site.