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The Sandstone Chronicles: Rock Art and the Red River Gorge - An Appalachian Journey
Over the last forty years Kentucky's Red River Gorge has become a place of refuge for people seeking escape from the more stressful environs of cities and suburbs. Almost 500 years ago Native American refugees brought with them more than the mixed genes circulating in their blood. In their cognitive memory came design motifs and meanings laced with Mississippian, Mayan/Aztec, Mediterranean, and Asian influence. Their art was carved in the rocks of the Cumberland Plateau.
282 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 2005
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August 4, 2023
I was really exited through the first few sections of this book. Here’s someone whose sentiments about The Gorge really speak to me. It was like it was going to be a book written for me. He even rails against all the people who come and treat The Gorge like a playground they can disrespect and leave their litter everywhere. But then he kind of goes too far and gets full of himself…
Alan Cornette really wants to talk about the Native American rock art and carvings found in the Red River Gorge and surrounding areas. This is really what the book’s about, and I really appreciate that he took the time to hike deep into the forest to seek out some of the original locations of the archeological sites and that he was deeply invested in researching the history. But after a while, he starts to annoy me. Cornette wants to examine the history and background of the original people of Kentucky and their rock art, designs, styles, and symbols. He links them back to the Aztecs and the Mayans, who he believes were in turn partially influenced by the Chinese who reached the western shores of Central America before most European explorers reached the continental Americas. But he gets kind of presumptuous about how “obvious” certain style patterns are and he takes his speculations (some of which have merit) and often talks about them as if they’ve now become obvious facts. He gets a pompous attitude as he’s jumping to conclusions. His assumptions about the motives of older civilizations versus our contemporary one come across as arrogant. Cornette over-romantically paints the Adena, Woodland, and Fort Ancient people, claiming spiritual or sacred motives behind every single design of theirs he encounters, generally for no other reason than “it must be, they’re Native Americans”. But what’s his authority on this? He completely strikes down any notion that Native Americans would dare doodle out of boredom or inscribe their name for posterity’s sake or do anything at all human that’s not spiritual. Meanwhile, his overt contempt for contemporary society paints everything as being egotistical scrawl. He can’t see any cultural relevance to what people do today. This attitude gets old. I think he damaged what could have been a more enjoyable book. Well, at least now I know a little more about the rock art of The Gorge – just gotta take Cornette’s approach with a grain of salt.
Alan Cornette really wants to talk about the Native American rock art and carvings found in the Red River Gorge and surrounding areas. This is really what the book’s about, and I really appreciate that he took the time to hike deep into the forest to seek out some of the original locations of the archeological sites and that he was deeply invested in researching the history. But after a while, he starts to annoy me. Cornette wants to examine the history and background of the original people of Kentucky and their rock art, designs, styles, and symbols. He links them back to the Aztecs and the Mayans, who he believes were in turn partially influenced by the Chinese who reached the western shores of Central America before most European explorers reached the continental Americas. But he gets kind of presumptuous about how “obvious” certain style patterns are and he takes his speculations (some of which have merit) and often talks about them as if they’ve now become obvious facts. He gets a pompous attitude as he’s jumping to conclusions. His assumptions about the motives of older civilizations versus our contemporary one come across as arrogant. Cornette over-romantically paints the Adena, Woodland, and Fort Ancient people, claiming spiritual or sacred motives behind every single design of theirs he encounters, generally for no other reason than “it must be, they’re Native Americans”. But what’s his authority on this? He completely strikes down any notion that Native Americans would dare doodle out of boredom or inscribe their name for posterity’s sake or do anything at all human that’s not spiritual. Meanwhile, his overt contempt for contemporary society paints everything as being egotistical scrawl. He can’t see any cultural relevance to what people do today. This attitude gets old. I think he damaged what could have been a more enjoyable book. Well, at least now I know a little more about the rock art of The Gorge – just gotta take Cornette’s approach with a grain of salt.
Displaying 1 of 1 review