Explorers have found a great deal of skeletons, arrowheads, and the remains of several forts in the Falls area (southern Indiana and northern Kentucky — the Louisville area). A lot that was found, mapped, and recorded is now gone and that is a bit troubling. You see, a lot of early pioneer folk had no trouble confabulating stories and finds. It was almost a cottage industry. Trying to figure out which pioneer/explorer/farm owner was honest and which one wasn’t is a bit difficult when records are so sparse. Still, the sheer amount of finds from a wide variety of people of all walks of life is impressive.

Hundreds of skeletons of adult males over 6ft. 6in. have been found on both sides of the river. Their heads were oriented to the east but that isn’t the most interesting bit. Most of them were buried in the sitting position, facing east, with weapons in their laps. Almost all of them had skulls that had been hit by a blunt object on the left temple after the individual had died. Ritual breaking of the skull after death is only found in one other culture of which I am aware — British culture (meaning Welsh) from 900-1350AD. Local Indians describe the white settlers (sometimes called white indians) as very tall. Nearly a dozen skeletons were measured out at over seven feet tall.

A large pile of human bones has been found near the head of the Falls on Corn Island. This is probably all that remains of a massive battle the local Indians say occurred between them and the white Indians. This area has produced nearly ten thousand arrowheads, axes, and other battle implements over the last two hundred years, a great many of which are in museums and the rest in private hands.

In 1912, long past the heyday of faking artifacts, Craig Crecelius found a stone near Brandenburg, Kentucky which is still on exhibit at the Meade County Library nearby. It is sometimes loaned out so call before you go to visit. The Brandenburg Stone is an exciting find because it isn’t a pictograph — it is alphabetic. That means it could not possibly have been made by Indians for none of them had an alphabet until it was created for them by white missionaries and the great Indian Sequoya (1767-1843. His story is fascinating, by the way. Look him up). The writing could not be deciphered until, in the late 1960s, photos of the inscription was sent to a group of ancient historians including Brian Blackett and Alan Wilson. These men had already made a name for themselves in their study of an ancient Welsh alphabet called Coelbren. It was used by the Welsh (aka Britons, British) from the late 400’s until the 1800’s, though it remained in Welsh schoolbooks as an alphabetic option until 1910. The inscription read “To promote unity, to be wise, we divide the land for our children.” (this is an idiomatic translation. The original, if you go word for word, is confusing unless you understand the expressions and forms used by ancient Welsh. It reads something like “toward strength, divide the land we are spread over, purely between offspring in wisdom.”)

Several forts were found in this area with some impressive stone walls, but the walls were taken down, the stones shipped downstream and incorporated in the foundation of the railroad in 1895. We cannot say who built the forts. Some Indian tribes did use stones to lay out their defensive enclosures but most people I’ve talked to think the way the walls were originally laid out indicates European influence at least. I really don’t have an opinion on that. One fort, though, stood out. Rose Island, upstream from the battle site where the pile of skeletons lay, had a well described fort. It’s stones, too, were used by the railroad in the 1890’s but not before Herman Rave and others drew and wrote, in detail, about the layout of the fort. Rave said it most resembled the fortress of Pen Man Mawr which sits on similar topography in Wales. Rubble built stone walls rose 12 feet high enclosing an area of ten acres. A ditch was placed in front and behind the walls. Mounds were built outside of the enclosure which leads me to think that Indians had joined this band (regardless of some fringe writers, I think it is certain that Indian tribes built all of the mounds. There is no serious reason to think otherwise. They may have had help here or there, but it was plainly a part of the culture of several tribes). Those mounds are empty of artifacts and are considered places of worship or lookout mounds. The Rose Island fort is also known as the Great Stone Fort.

Unsurprising factoid: fifty nine years after the walls had been taken down and shipped away, Gerard Fowke, an archaeologist with the Smithsonian Institute, declared that the fort was not man made but a natural formation. For what it’s worth, Rave and others had also said that SOME of the walls were of natural origin. They believed the Welsh incorporated those natural outcroppings into their fort. That is not unusual for Celtic people. The great castle of Edinburgh, Scotland rests on top of a volcanic rock that was incorporated into its design. Photos below.

Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

castle-edinburgh-castle

Stone towers, walls, and forts have been found all over this area. Most were mapped, drawn, and described before being taken down to be used for building materials in houses, streets, and bridges. Not much remains. It appears that there was a burst of activity and a flowering of the Welsh traditions before the Battle of the Falls. Afterward, the forts and villages were deserted. What happened to the Welsh is a story which needs to wait a few more days…