Born and reared in the Ohio Valley, Steven R. Shaffer saw his first petroglyph at age ten and has never lost his fascination for these ancient images. Shaffer studied Historical Interpretation at Ohio University, and regularly contributes to publications such as The State, Appalachian Heritage and The Charlotte Observer. He recently worked as a communications writer for Corning Cable Systems, a world leader in the fiber optics industry, before returning to those subjects he enjoys best — history and prehistory. Shaffer's latest large project is the book Old Wounds: Oral Histories of America's WWII Servicemen in German and Japanese Prisoner-Of-War Camps (released in 2000).



After visiting a Kentucky cave containing ocher paintings of animals, human handprints, and geometric designs, Shaffer saw the need to create awareness, while encouraging documentation and preservation, by writing the script for a one-hour public television documentary entitled Written in Stone: The Prehistoric Native American Rock Art of the Ohio Valley. The program will allow viewers to explore the little-known and often endangered prehistoric petroglyphs (carvings) and pictographs (paintings) which survive in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Created with the assistance of professional archaeologists and Native Americans, the program will be directed by Emmy Award-winning Cinematographer Scott Spears, and narrated by veteran actor Gary Sandy, best known for his role as Andy Travis in the television classic WKRP in Cincinnati. Shaffer crafted the program's shooting script, and will continue to contribute to the documentary as Producer and Project Director. Production for Written in Stone is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2005.

Written in Stone will offer viewers much more than the opportunity to view a number of rock art sites, as High-Definition camera crews will capture the search for a "lost" petroglyph boulder. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Archaeologist Dr. Bob Maslowski, aided by Marshall University Professor Dr. Dewey Sanderson and a team of SCUBA divers will use side-scan sonar to explore the murky floor of the Ohio River. Their goal is to locate the Indian's Head Rock — a well-known petroglyph boulder, which disappeared beneath the waters nearly 80 years ago, when dam construction raised the river to its current level. Will their three-year search be successful?

Media Working Group's award-winning documentaries and feature films have been seen on BBC 2, BBC World Services, WNET-New York, the Learning/Discovery Channel, the statewide Ohio PBS Consortium, and Kentucky Educational Television. More than 50 works have been produced and distributed since 1988.

Written in Stone has the support of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized Native American group which formerly inhabited the Ohio Valley.