Any ideas?

[Goldspeed]

Found this in the middle of the woods. I'm in South Carolina a few miles east of the wateree river. Liberty hill area. This area has a lot of history including revolutionary and civil war era events. I've never seen anything like this hiking. I see two arrows pointing to an x. And two other markings symbols above the x. Help me!!!

 

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[Electricbutter]

Looks like the knights templar cross

 

[bobby5]

No help here, but Very Interesting.

 

[bradyboy]

corner property marker?

 

[G.A.P.metal]

I don`t know !
Is that paint on the rock,or other ?
Gary

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Reminds me of the raidation warning symbols but they are red.

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[Chiltepin]

It looks to me like a German Iron cross the top upper left looks like a crown symbol used on the ribbon that suspends the cross.

Bottom symbol I've seen before can't remember where. Is the right symbol the same as the bottom?

 

[Goldspeed]

Sorry I’ve been super busy with work. I was able to get back out to the spot. I took more pictures and found something. There is some history to the area. Sherman’s carolina campaign went through the area and burned everything in sight. It’s about twenty minutes north of Camden. It’s near the tiny community of Liberty Hill which was a thriving plantation community. I took my metal detector and I got a hit next to the rock. I’ll attach photos of what I found. . These are pictures of the markings around the cross. There was also a cactus patch. Very out of place for the area. And the wheel is what triggered my metal detector. Was wanting to detect more but was interrupted by a couple of guys four wheel driving the dirt paths. So I immediately acted like I was just hiking. Ditched my metal detector. Lol wanna go back as soon as I can. Been reading up on a lot of the areas history. Not so easy going with all the records being destroyed during the civil war.

 

[Goldspeed]

 

[Goldfinger450]

How the markings were done got me going on Paint OR gun powder etching, I would get a small sample and do some testing with black light and other such on the rock itself, I'll do a search on etching rock- black.

Search was weak, but then ? INK? the military commanders had scribes and smaller units would carry INK to write orders- dispatches also one should ask about what plants etc in nature would make a lasting etch, INK or paint on rock. Analysis of the dark pigment is going to tell you old or recent and there lead to conclusion about who may have marked the rock. Best of luck to you.

 

[Goldfinger450]

Civil War Ink Writing Instruments - Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop - The Fountain Pen Network The interesting thing in the INK is a Metal based INK= Iron Gall, now I wonder if it is detectable as a Metalic ink?? then you have Antietam which I had used in second grade with the nibs and ink wells in the desk. Extensive use in the civil war era.

 

[Wild_Treasurer]

Dig under it

 

[smokeythecat]

Painted on CW corps badge? Or kids too dumb to paint a billboard. I don't know. The symbol itself is a very common one. US Sharshooters' badge has it also, if I remember right.

 

[Goldspeed]

There’s no way of really digging under it as it’s pretty heavy. I highly doubts it’s kids because it’s actually on public hunting land. So I doubt kids would hike that deep in the woods. And I’ve searched all around and have found no other markings or anything similar. During the civil war the union had very difficult times crossing the wateree river which is roughly about two or three miles west of the location. There are many huge rock outcroppings and the area is full of smoky quartz. I’ve scratched my head so much over this lol it’s hard finding history of the area since Sherman and his troops absolutely demolished everything in sight.

 

[Craigwac]

The lichens have grown over the paint, so it's at least a couple of decades old. Wikipedia says it grows at around 1mm per year.

Hessians sometimes used that type of cross, and fought in the American Revolution - including battles in South Carolina. Would be impressed if their paint would last 240 years in the SC humidity, though.

Could have just been some bored kids. Iron crosses were popular with heavy metal bands. Or it could have been some neo-nazis or something. Too bad the other shapes are so deteriorated. Can't really tell what they are supposed to be.

I want it to be some kind of treasure map, but its likely just graffiti. You could take a sample of the paint and pay to have it analyzed. The composition of the paint would tell you its age. If it turns out to be very old, then you could take the pictures to an archaeologist or historian at USC or Clemson and see if they can make any sense of it.

 

[devldog]

It almost looks like a Federal Corps Badge from the CW. Interesting.

 

[Goldspeed]

It’s definitely not grafitti. There aren’t any homes close by. A few small hunting cabins but no communities. The closest would be Liberty Hill. I’ve been doing a lot of research. This area is full of history. It’s possible the Spanish explorers came through here. It’s documented that they were at Camden which isn’t far from Liberty Hill area. There were a few battles during the revolutionary war. The closest at rocky mount the second at fishing creek. Hanging rock is also not that far away either. The union troops during the civil war got held up by floodwaters trying to cross the wateree at cedar creek vis kingsbury ferry. Another mysterious topic I need to address. In the area I’ve found a couple of arrowheads and literally thousands of pottery sherds. I’ve also found a broken bottle that is civil war era or earlier. And last but not least I found a buckle or claspbof some sort. This looks to be pre civil war era. Deer season is over so I can safely explore more and will update on my finds. I really need a buddy to go along with me. More eyes lol.

 

[VooDoo710]

Looks like the knights templar cross

Yes I would have to agree ! These are also Iron Crosses ! They mean many things .