There's been some mention of High Places in recent posts and I just happened to have re-read something, published in 1643, that mentions those High Places too:
Other things, I imagine, could be prayed for too...
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My research has concluded that hilltop ceremonies were very common during the contact period. Nicolaes van Wassanaer provided a description of such a ceremony in New York.
"It appears that the Sickanamers before mentioned, make a sort of sacrifice. They have a hole in a hill in which they place a kettle full of all sorts of articles that they either have by them, or can procure, as a part of their treasures. Then a snake comes in, then they all depart, and the Manittou, that is the Devil, comes in the night and takes the kettle away, according to the statement of the Koutsinacka, or devil-hunter, who presides over the ceremony."
Early Puritan leaders such as Edward Winslow merely alluded to such ceremonial places. The early English colonists very much believed that to witness such ceremonies was as sinful as taking part in them. So whether they witnessed them or not, they certainly weren't going to memorialize it with pen and paper. Roger Williams says as much in his writings before walking a hairy line and describing some of it.
But Winslow did leave us with very interesting images. As a Shakespearean actor, I know how important imagery was in early Modern English. Winslow compared the Indian places of worship to Appollo's, "temple at Delphos," and Diana at Ephesus. These were the most famous of ancient ruins at that time in English history.
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