A Millennium-Old Bones of Contention: The Grouchy Falcon and its Elegant Sister

By Lake Oconee dwells the Rock Hawk Effigy Mound, a melody of thousands of quartzite stones, carved a millennium ago to mimic a large bird. Scholars remain puzzled as to the exact bird species it portrays, if it was indeed a hawk at all. Only two such effigies have been found east of the Mississippi; its long-lost sister, Rock Eagle, resides thirteen miles northwestward. The Rock Hawk, weathered and worn by Lake Oconee's unrelenting waters, contrasts dramatically. Rock Eagle stands, well-preserved, as a National Historic Landmark, boasting a parking lot and picturesque views. The forsaken Rock Hawk scowls at the lake from the fence that encircles it, the homely sibling to Rock Eagle's beauty. The Georgia Power Company, its watchful overseer, overlooks the area, yet offers no insights into the mound's meaning to the builders of yesteryear.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons