Julius Caesar, 'Gallic War,' Book IV v. 36.

"On the same day deputies sent by the enemy came to Caesar to treat of peace. For them Caesar doubled the number of hostages previously commanded, and ordered them to be brought to the Continent, because the equinox was close at hand, and with a damaged flotilla he did not think it right to subject his crossing to the hazard of winter storms."

"quod propinqua die aequinocti"

Caesar clearly understood the value of knowing a seasonal marker for the Equinox. It is not only planting and harvesting that make use of accuracy in calendar keeping, but also maritime navigation, especially in the northern latitudes. The English word 'equinox' is a near literal rendering of the Latin 'aequinocti' and is the principal descriptor in English for the astronomical event of the sun's apparent crossing of the celestial equator, resulting from the Earth's axis tilt. Thus the change of the Earth's angle toward the sun in daytime and the consequence of shortening days in winter and lengthening days in summer. Looking at Gaelic dictionaries of 1780, 1831, and 2004/2010, reveals that Gaelic describes the equinox in a variety of ways:

"comhfhadthrath; comh-fhad-thrath; and co-rhreagradh nan trath"

These are three principal names for the Equinox in Gaelic; each emphasizing the "conformity" of the season - that is, the equality of night and day in length. "co-rhreagradh" means "conformity" or "congruence."

Judaculla Rock has both a prominent deeply grooved line pointing to the Winter Solstice sunrise and the setting Pleiades as a marker for the Spring Equinox (rising in Autumn). These are just visible at the right side of the photo below.

The Romans had an accurate calendar system; the Celts also had their own calendar system. Judaculla Rock shows evidence of being a calendar system. The key then lies in figuring out how these calendar systems relate to each other. There will be the indication of who created the Judaculla Rock carvings.

Christopher Gist making camp in the Ohio Territory in January 1751.


Christopher Gist was commissioned by The Ohio Company in September 1750 to make an initial survey of the Ohio Territories bounded by the Ohio River.

"You are to go as soon as possible to the Westward of the Great Mountains, and carry with you such a Number of Men, as You think necessary, in Order to search out and discover the Lands upon the river Ohio, & other adjoining Branches of the Mississippi down as low as the great Falls thereof: You are particularly to observe the Ways & Passes thro all the Mountains you cross, & take an exact Account of the Soil, Quality, & Product of the Land, and the Wideness and Deepness of the Rivers, & the several Falls belonging to them, together with the Courses & Bearings of the Rivers & Mountains as near as you conveniently can."

His journey in 1750-51 was in the area now known as Kentucky. He kept a detailed journal which became the property of The Ohio Company and was published in London in 1776. The following entries for December cover the period of the Winter Solstice in 1750. These remarks are worth considering as they are from the earlist 18th century European observations of the inhabitants of the Ohio. This will help in answering the question of how calendar systems are understood in various cultures.

From Christopher Gist's journal:

"Friday 14. - Set out W 5 M to Muskingum a Town of the Wyendotts. The Wyendotts or Little Mingoes are divided between the French and English, one half of them adhere to the first, and the other half are firmly attached to the latter. The Town of Muskingum consists of about one hundred Families. When We came within Sight of the Town, We perceived English Colours hoisted on the King's House, and at George Croghan's; upon enquiring the Reason I was informed that the French had lately taken several English Traders, and tha Mr Croghan had ordered all the White Men to come into this Town, and had sent Expresses to the Traders of the lower Towns, and among the Pickwelinees; and the Indians had sent to their People to come to Council about it.

Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 - Nothing remarkable happened.

Monday 17. - Came into Town two Traders belonging to M Croghan, and informed Us that two of his People were taken by 40 French Men, & twenty French Indians who carried them with seven Horse Loads of Skins to a new Fort that the French were building on one of the Branches of Lake Erie.

Tuesday 18. - I acquainted Mr Croghan and Andrew Montour with my Business with the Indians, & talked much of a Regulation of Trade with which the they were much pleased, and treated Me very kindly.

From Wednesday 19 to Monday 24. - Nothing remarkable.

Tuesday 25. - This being Christmas Day, I intended to read Prayers, but after inviting some of the White Men, they informed each other of my Intentions, and being of several different Persuasions, and few of them inclined to hear any Good, they refused to come..."

Christopher Gist's journal was written with attention to detail. These passages cover the period of the Winter Solstice since they cover the calendar days of Friday December 14 through the beginning of Tuesday December 25. The days which include the solstice - December 19 to 24 - are noted as "Nothing remarkable." We might conclude then that within this village of 100 families there was no celebration of the solstice. What might be inferred from that?




Reading the Lines of History.


Using the 1750-51 journal of Christopher Gist and the records of Julius Caesar as evidence, what observations can be made regarding calendar systems? In paritcular what obersvations can be made regarding the equinox and solstice in these two records? Looking into these two sets of journals, pragmatic but detailed in their observations, it is possible to draw out some observations that relate to calendar systems and their usage. This has a direct bearing upon interpreting the carving of Judaculla Rock.

Christopher Gist records information about the tribes he visits, including notworthy activity such as an incident of Wyendott justice that resulted in an execution on December 26 of a prisoner of the Wyendotts. Had there been a celebration of winter solstice, he would surely have mentioned it. This makes me believe that the Wyendotts did not mark the solstice in any particular way. A friend from upstate South Carolina pointed out that solstice marking in the Southeastern forest is uncommon because the forest obscures the observation. The Cherokee did not record any traditional solstice celebration or observance as far as I can tell from James Mooney's reports. I have searched the Gist PDF using the online version; and I found no results for these words: solstice, equinox, stars. Sun and Moon only yield 'Full Moon' as a time keeping method; and Sun is used only as a generic formula 'the rising and setting of the Sun' as a phrase in a treaty.

Looking through Caesar's commentary of 'The Gallic War' I noted the use of the equinox as a calendar marker only twice; but the two times were both in Britain at the close of summer when the threat of storms on the ocean crossing to the Continent became of concern (Book IV v.36 and Book V v.23). I have previously mentioned the first instance. I will transcribe the second here because it describes the consequences of winter storms during a Channel crossing.

"But of the ships sent back empty to him from the Continent - both those which had disembarked troops on the first journey, and the second fleet which Labienus had caused to be built, to the number of sixty - very few made the rendezvous; almost all the rest were driven back. Caesar waited some time for these in vain; then, fearing he might be precluded from sailing by the season, as the equinox was nigh at hand, he packed the troops of necessity more closely together; a complete calm ensued, and he weighed anchor at the beginning of the second watch, and at dawn touched land and brought all the ships safely to port."

The marking of the autumnal equinox by Caesar was done for maritime safety. His time marker was likely not stars but the Roman calendar, since he kept a daily journal of the expedition. Christopher Gist's journal is of the same pragmatic nature; and his daily log is marked by his English calendar and his journal starts with his departure date.

Not all cultures use daily record keeping calendars such as used by the Romans and the English (derived from a Roman calendar). Some cultures use visual references in the sun and stars. Celts are noted for astronomical based calendars; and in the Western Hemisphere, Paleoindians of South America and Uto-Aztecan cultures of Meso-America and the Southwest are noted for sun and Venus alignment calendars. The sun is the source of solstice markers since solstice is a Solar-Earth relationship. Equinox is more frequently based upon stars, because the sun location at equinox changes quickly on a day to day basis. Of the stars, in the Northern Hemisphere, The Pleiades is the most common marker - through all of recorded history and undoubtedly prior to written records.

The Pleiades marker on Judaculla Rock then is the key to answering the question: what culture carved the stone?

Icelanders of 1350 believed there to be Gaelic speaking people south of the failed Norse Vinland settlement:

"Enn helzt thotti theim, sem their maelti irsku."
("it appeared to them that they spoke Irish")

('Eyrebyggja Saga' transcribed by Valdemar Asmundarson, Reykjavik, 1895, p.166.) People and events named in Eyrebyggja Saga can be dated to 1029.