Both piles in the picture have a flat side. These sides are parallel but not at the same angle as the line drawn between the two piles. Something like this:
Here is a closeup of the rear pile:
The flat surface is quite clearly deliberate.Here is one of the less visible piles:
This view of the four shows the pile spacing, which is somewhat regular.
What I call a "marker pile" site. For better or worse this is the most common type of site found around here.
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Should you care to do some exploring, there are rock piles in the woods in every direction around this church.
I was asked recently and wrote:
I would guess this pile, behind the church, is what is left of a more extensive rock pile site. Over on the other side of the Arlington street, there is a strip of land next to the brook where there are some others rock piles. You might have a look at those and also visit the interpretive signs along the Nashoba Brook "Trail Through Time". In fact I know the woods pretty well between there and the top of Nagog Hill, and then down over to Nashoba Brook and south to the corner of Concord, Acton, and Carlisle. I can tell you that the rock piles continue, one cluster after another, all the way. Brewster Conant's land along Nashoba Brook is full of these structures. You would be surprised by what is along the southern shore of Grassy Pond, just north of the church.
These rock piles are all part of a historical/archaeological treasure that exists in Acton and other parts of Middlesex and beyond. They are believed to be Native American from the historical period and prior. They include burials, calendar features (like sundials), and the remnants of various ceremonies. Needless to the say, the English were pretty deliberately blind to such things.
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