Geophile brings up a topic I have been puzzling about: how to lead the public to an understanding about rock piles. No offense, but they are not too likely to come to this blog and somehow get the basic introductory information.
The main flaw with the blog as a medium is that it is not good as a fixed reference. For example it worries me that the data is completely unstructured. If you want some information about -say- the Turtle at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle then you can find it easily by using the "SEARCH THIS BLOG" feature at the top. But where is a reader supposed to go to find out, in general, about the relation between rock piles and Native American spirituality? Between rock piles and Land Conservation? Unless that was the specific topic of a posting, there is nothing available. Or, suppose you want to see an organized Index of what material has been covered in the blog - where do you go? Suppose you want to see the information hierarchically? All of these are problematic for the blog as a medium.
So, may I suggest that a solution might lie in the direction of printed "Guide to Rockpiles" book? So why don't I just write it? Aside from being busy with the blog, with some talks I am planning in local towns, with some housework, and with my 9-5 job, I don't have much time. More critically, I tend to do a bad job with large scale expository writing. I tried writing a book and could only manage to express the key points - not appealing well to a general reader.
So let's think about this. I know several of us have tried writing more sustained expositions of the subject but possibly they will all suffer, as did my effort, from not being appealing to a general reader. One thought I had was that with a good editor organizing the effort [hint, hint] we could do it as a colaboration. So what do you think? Use the comments.
After all, why this blog? Not just as a place to publish site descriptions, I also hoped to use it as a platform for creating changes in current land use practises. But that won't happen if we just go on with the site descriptions.
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4 comments :
Great idea, Peter (meaning I've had it myself ;oD ). Of course, at some point we would have to address the excellent point you make in the explanatory material you placed at the top of the blog--the balance between keeping them secret and making them public. This problem has always been what held me back from publishing much on this topic. Do I want to be responsible for large scale destruction of sites by new age maniacs (not saying that all new agers are maniacs; most are thoughtful, but the maniacs tend to be more . . . enthusiastic.) Or is this fear unfounded?
I feel this topic could be made interesting maybe not to the general public but to a sizeable audience. I see that in the U.K there's a growing audience for topics like sacred landscape and the subtler understandings required in seeing the world from the different perspectives this subject matter requires. We may be a little behind them in the U.S., but there are more people here, so the percentages can be lower, if you see what I mean.
Let's face it, much as we admire Fell's work and, of course, Manitou, reading them only makes us think more about The Book That Doesn't Exist. Accumulating as readers and contributers to this blog are the people who could write it. There are some knowledgeable people here who are also good writers. But what about the Indians, the assumed users of the sites? How could you do this and still be sensitive to them?
If we can find an acceptable way to handle that concern, then I think the project is possible. I see Norman already addressing a point in his excellent style in the post above. It's like we're all champing at the bit already.
Yes we are champing at the bit. I think you should consider being the editor and starting us off with an outlining project. I also think we could do this as "open source".
In following this discussion, I have found three major themes. First, a need for an introductory book or booklet on the subject of rock piles. Second, a need to articulate a code of ethics for researchers and visitors going to these site. Thirdly, a need to develop preservation tools. thes preservation tools can be in the form of model bylaws for town /city to adopt, guidelines for working with private land owners and non-profit conservation organizations with land holdings, etc.
All three of these issues are being addressed by various individuals on the web and in print. The extent of thoses effort does vary from simple to advanced. It may prove useful to take "inventory" of what has already been accomplished or to use previous work as a place to begin.
A collaborative work on the subject of rock piles would be useful in providing a unified voice for the field. In addition, some sort of organized formal perservation guidelines are need. This is an active topic discussion amongst both wetland conservation and historic conservation people. I believe Professor Thorson (Stone Wall Initiative) and Professor Curtis Hoffman are both working in this area. Currently, I am unclear as to where they are with their work. Again, based on the questions I have been fielding, there is an urgent need for some tangible guidelines, if not, a "model" stone structure / archaeological resource preservation bylaw that can be implemented at the local level.
James Gage
www.StoneStructures.org
I'm not sure if I have commented on this already, but I had an unpleasant experience about four years ago or so, after I had posted my article "Stone Rows and Boulders.." on the NEARA website. This web article focused on four sites, two of which were in Montville, CT. One of these, I felt, I perhaps gave out too much information as to its location, because when I returned there one fall I discovered that a New Ager had destroyed one cairn (this was one that leaned against a boulder) and part of a wall to construct a shrine against a large boulder. This angered me, and I had the web article partially altered to remove certain words. We want to educate, but at the same time we also have to be careful. It is a delicate balancing act we have to follow.
As for Hoffman and Thorson, the former is an open mided archaeologist who belives that the Indians constructed cairns and other stonework in New England. Thorson is much less accepting of Indian stonework, unfortunately, and his goal is to preserve the existing colonial stone walls in our midst.
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