We went along with a Land Preservation group from North Stonington saturday, for the opening of a new trail through some of their property . I thought I would send some pictures of interesting features we saw and let the photos do most of the talking. Some distance in we came to a cool split boulder with wedged rocks, only one visible in this shot, but there were two nicely placed pink granite stones in the opening.
A large glacial erratic was positioned on a rise. Facing it was a small structure, some 20 yds. off but with a clear view of the stone. A seat? a niche without its top? Stones were clearly shaped and set up, they topped a small low rock pile, the larger flat stones may be part of it. Perplexing.
Definitely a serpent place!
Further along the trail, this perplexing little chamber's opening was 2 ft. by 1 ft high and it went back about 10 ft. A large tree had found it an inviting target. It was along a stream, a nearby ruined dam and mill dated from the 19th century. Sorry for the blurry shot.
A nice rock pile built on ledge! We were now on private property, the landowner, who was with us, did not know what to make of it.
A hot steamy walk, but worth it.
5 comments :
I am curious what was the reaction of the other people in the group as you noticed these things. Did you point out the features? How was that received?
Yes, it was interesting. We were keeping a low profile but couldn't help being noticeably interested in key features. We commented on the idea that there may be connections to Native American ceremonial or ritual uses and got both interest from some and humorous skeptical comments from others, but all good natured. There were only a dozen or so of us with everyone being very considerate and all. For example, the last pile, so carefully built on a ledge of bedrock garnered the explanation from one that it was a place a farmer must have buried his horse! By the way, I have a shot of the backside of this roughly oval shaped pile that shows it broken down, either collapsed or like someone was trying to access the inside. Would you see this as a hollow? I will send it to you.
Very interesting photos, particularly of the little chamber and the large stone pile. What is that leading to the chamber? It looks like green stone pavement or walkway of some kind. A narrow chamber of this sort reminds me of the "souterrain" at Montville, though of course that one is much longer.
OK, I see now. The "green" must be the shadow cast by the downed tree.
Yes, that's a shadow. I will have to go back and look at that feature again. Its proximity to the dam and mill site (it would have been downstream) makes me wonder if it was connected to that use. Some kind if sluiceway, or overflow drain? But that did not really make that much sense according to the lay of the land, but it deserves a closer look. I did not have a flashlight to look inside any distance. Someone in the group suggested a meat smoker (?!). Any reaction to that "seat" feature facing the erratic?
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