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 The structure varies in height from 3 to 10 feet though averages around four feet. It measures from 4.5 feet wide at its narrowest point to 16 feet at its widest point. It has an east-west orientation and extends for about 928 feet near the summit of Fort Mountain. There are four breaks in the wall as it zigzags between the 2750-2760 foot elevation level. It is thought that these breaks in the wall's structure are recent additions added by European colonists and explorers. There are also between 19 - 29 pits in the wall which are also believed to have been added by looters searching for artifacts within the wall.
The wall is constructed of stones from the surrounding summit area of the mountain. (View QTVR) Though most of the stones are small or medium sized requiring no more than one or two individuals to lift them into place, a few large boulders weighing several tons are also part of the wall particularly on the eastern end. These boulders appear to have already been in place from natural rock falls and the Native American builders simply located the wall in such a way as to incorporate them into its structure. In some instances the wall seems to detour specifically to take advantage of these natural features.
The wall is believed to have been built around 400 A.D. and to have had a ceremonial function since it lacks certain characteristics  necessary for defensive purposes. First, the wall is so low in spots that people inside the wall would be completely exposed to danger from without. Second, there is no source of water within the wall to sustain its inhabitants during an extensive siege. Third, the wall fails to take advantage of strategic contours of the mountain slope and in some instances actually changes course and makes persons behind the wall more susceptible to hostile actions from persons outside the wall. For these reasons it is doubtful the wall was ever a true fort.
While at first the zigzagging shape of the wall seems random, it may give clues to the actual purpose of the wall. (Watch Animation) During the same time period that this wall was being constructed, Native Americans in southwest Georgia were producing a type of pottery with strange designs that have perplexed archaeologists for over a century. The pottery, called Weeden Island sacred pottery, contains zigzagging linear patterns very similar to the pattern made by the Fort Mountain stone wall. It has recently  been argued that these zigzagging patterns were actually derived from astronomical observations of specific planets and represent their movement around the night sky over the course of months and years. Could Fort Mountain represent something similar and could it have been the place that such astronomical observations were made?
Even today we build our astronomical observatories at the tops of mountains. It's a logical place to do so. It puts you closer to the thing you are observing. More importantly, for Native Americans living in a heavily wooded and forested environment, it puts you above the treetops and gives you a full 360 degree view of the night sky as well as the full sky dome from horizon to horizon.
The pattern of the Fort Mountain stone wall is very similar to the pattern on a pottery vessel found by archaeologist C. B. Moore. This vessel, referred to as "Vessel No. 1 from the Larger Mound Near Hare Hammock," is decorated with two bird-head handles. Incised on both sides of the vessel is a zigzagging pattern. This pattern has been interpreted as representing the movement of the planets Venus and Mercury in the morning sky. (Venus is the brightest object in the eastern sky before sunrise and thus would have naturally drawn the attention of Native American sky gazers.) Could the zigzagging pattern of Fort Mountain's stone wall be an attempt by early Native Americans to map upon the landscape the movements of these same bright objects in the early morning sky?
It is interesting to note that this same pottery vessel contains two ideas that were also being represented in stone around the same time period: bird effigies (Rock Eagle/Rock Hawk) and this zigzag design (Fort Mountain). Rock Eagle faces east and the Fort Mountain stone wall is oriented along an east-west axis. The pottery vessel was located in a grave on the eastern side of a burial mound and all the skulls within this mound were also facing east. The symbolism seems consistent.
Another interesting phenomenon was occurring in the same region around this same time: petroglyphs. Located in Track Rock Gap at the base of Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest peak, is a field of boulders which have been carved with curious designs. Other petroglyph rocks have been found nearby in Forsyth County. Some of these designs, primarily the concentric circles and the "dumbbell" figures, strongly resemble designs that would later show up on Weeden Island pottery vessels interpreted as being calendars. Could these petroglyphs be star maps carved in stone? Even today Brasstown Bald is one of the most popular sites in Georgia for astronomy. Could it have been equally as popular an astronomical observatory for Georgia's prehistoric sky watchers?
It is interesting to note that during the time period between 550AD and 750AD, which is when these petroglyphs were possibly carved, the Chinese Royal Court recorded over ninety comets visible to the naked eye, more than any other prior period. Thus there was plenty going on in the night sky to interest Georgia's ancient astronomers.
Although the true intent of these Native American architects and artisans may never be fully understood what is known is that these stone creations were only the beginning of their accomplishments. They would next begin the construction of pyramids at the Kolomoki Mounds complex.
Resources & Further Reading:
White, Max E. The Archaeology and History of the Georgia Native Tribes. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2002
Smith, P.E. 1962. Aboriginal Stone Constructions in the Southern Piedmont. University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology Series, Report No. 4. March: 1-47.
Allison, David. "Possible Astronomical Symbols on 'Sacred' Weeden Island Pottery." Early Georgia. June 2003.
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Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk would not be the only stone structures built during the Woodland period. Other stone structures can be found in north Georgia but this time they are not in the form of bird effigy mounds. Instead they are mysterious stone walls built atop several mountain peaks. Several of these walls, sometimes circular in design, existed throughout north Georgia including atop Stone Mountain, Alec Mountain, Ladd's Mountain and others but many were demolished for road fill. A few of these walls still remain including at the top of Fort Mountain.
