Here are a few shots from the NEARA field trip. We hiked up Overlook Mountain near Woodstock NY. It is an area with a history of Native American activity, forestry, and slate quarrying, so the usual difficulties with interpretation apply. But the features were impressive, including massive elongated cairns, stone on boulder rockpiles, and “serpent walls”.
Here’s one of the giant cairns. The wall is curved around the two trees in front, leading one to wonder whether they (or a previous stump that had been forested) were there when the structure was built.
Many stone on stone features at several sites on the hillside. We debated whether the moss on some stones on this pile indicated recent rearrangement or different moisture retention of those stones, which did appear to be more porous.
A short wall terminating in a large boulder could be interpreted as a serpent effigy, especially given the mouthlike crack. 
3 comments :
I was wondering if anyone knows about some very distinct rock piles that I found on Mt. Guardian, the small mountain just west of Overlook Mtn. I do not have an exact count yet, but there were at least dozen obviously stacked piles of stone, some over three feet tall. I did not see any obvious signs of old quarries nearby, nor any old service roads or trails. I found this while bushwacking well off the beaten trails.
Well George: take some pictures and send em on in.
I've seen them on Mount Tremper as well.
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