The Independence Slab originally was a series of

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other description ...

carved in an outcropping of native silicious Berea sandstone located in the city of

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. It was discovered by area quarry workers in the mid-1800s who were quarrying building materials for a nearby church. The quarrymen are thought to have likely damaged large portions of the petroglyphs before realizing what they uncovered. A portion of the slab measuring was hand quarried and placed in the rear exterior wall of the

Independence Presbyterian Church Independence Presbyterian Church is a historic church in the city of Independence, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the 1850s, the stone church building was originally home to a congregation heavily dependent on the local mining economy, but ...

, sometime during 1854, where it has remained to this day. The surviving portions of the slab are thought to depict images of animal footprints, such as

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The com ...

, and a

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, ...

. and the petroglyphs are believed to be part of the Whittlesey period (1000-1650 AD). The Independence Slab is unusual, not only for the unorthodox way it was found and preserved, but also because petroglyphs themselves are rarely found in the Northeast Ohio area. Most Ohio petroglyphs have been found exposed to the elements, but the Independence Slab was noted to have been buried under a layer of soil prior to its discovery. Today, the Independence Slab is still embedded in the walls of the Independence Presbyterian Church which is located near the Independence Public Square on Brecksville Road. The church was nominated to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in the 1970s and mentioned the existence of the petroglyphs in its nomination documentation.

References

{{Reflist Petroglyphs in Ohio Cuyahoga County, Ohio