The Ogam Petroglyphs of Southern West Virginia


The Council places NO credence in the three Wonderful West Virginia articles.

In 1983, the WV Division of Natural Resources published three articles in its Wonderful West Virginia promotional magazine claiming that some petroglyphs in remote areas of West Virginia are Christian messages carved in an ancient alphabetic script called ogham (or ogam) by Irish monks around 700 AD. One of these petroglyphs is known by several names. The Luther Elkins Petroglyph (46 Wm 3) was first recorded in 1965 by Edward McMichaels, based on information from two members of the West Virginia Archeological Society, Oscar Mairs and Hillis Youse. This should be the proper name of the site, following the convention that a site is designated by the name given in its first formal report. Robert Pyle reported the site in 1982 as the "Lillyhaven Petroglyph Site" and wrote about it in Wonderful West Virginia as the "Wyoming County Petroglyph." Some also call it the "Lynco Petroglyph."

The articles are widely cited by advocates of "fantastic" or cult archaeology, but are difficult to obtain. Since these allegations are often accepted uncritically, the Council obtained permission to reproduce the originals, along with skeptical articles published in the West Virginia Archeologist.


Another Translation

< Ogam Home >

Cult Archaeology


back to the main Resources page
Page last modified on January 11, 2023, at 10:31 PM
Powered by PmWiki