Friday, May 07, 2010

Another little rock pile with a tail

This looks out towards the southwest, over Rocky Pond in Leominster State Forest. Last time I looked at this site, the main pile seemed like such a messy pile, near enough to Fenton Rd, that I thought it was probably just bulldozer activity. But this time I had a careful look around, recalling that there were also some smaller piles nearby. As I was saying, it is these small outliers that cinch the deal for me.Taking, therefore, a closer look at the main pile we see what is actually a very typical (and now familiar) design:
On the left is a rectangular structure with a depression in the middle. Then the pile has a lower wall-like extension curving around and ending to the right of the tree. This "tail" encloses another rectangular space.

I know this might seem a laughable interpretation of what looks like just another pile of rubble but, for me, this is a pretty standard Wachusett Tradition site with a view to the southwest over water and with the small outlier piles.

Update:
Note the map fragment from here where "A" is this site overlooking Rock Pond. Also, the plan of the main pile is this:
In general for sites along Fenton Rd, see here.

1 comment :

pwax said...

Compare this small pile with a tail to the huge mounds from a couple of post ago - from the same general area. The larger ones are at a higher elevation, more sky-ward than "water-ward". These could be different phases of the same culture. It tickles some kind of thought about sky focus versus water focus.