Update: What I really mean by "Oh My!" is: "What a scandal, to publish a ceremonial site location!" This is against the backdrop of a discussion I started on the NEARA message board about making a few sites public. Some people over there appear to be reluctant for NEARA to even publish directions to a place like Gungywump. Other responders on the message board are insistent that no NEARA sites can possibly be made public. And the more the reluctant ones drag their feet about this, the more inclined I am to say: screw it, let's publish it ALL. Here at Wildcat Hill in Ashland MA, for example, are many small non-descript "marker pile" sites. Most of the rock piles are damaged, there is no buried treasure, and it is publicly accessible conservation land. Whatever agenda thinks keeping these a secret is a good idea, is not my agenda at all. I had a conversation with a woman at a NEARA meeting a year ago who wanted to keep her (two or three) sites a secret. I argue in favor of my publishing most of the 500 or so sites I have located. She said: "Let's agree to disagree". I think to myself: "You go right ahead and disagree and keep your three sites secret but I'll go ahead with publishing most of mine and, in the end, what you want to do does not matter."
11 comments :
Looks like an outstanding find! Can't wait to see some more details.
Are these cairns enclosed by stone walls, as represented by the blue lines?
The blue lines are just an attempt to outline an irregular area. They are not specifically meaningful.
This consists of as many as 10 separate clusters of rock piles. Most clusters occur around a small knoll - the area is full of them. I believe these are radially organized marker pile sites.
I really don't have a problem with publicizing cairn sites on public lands, providing they are simple piles of rock. However, I question whether one should identify stone pile sites that probably represent burials, given that there are people out there who would not think twice about tearing a pile apart looking for "treasure."
In my opinion, development is a far greater threat to most of these sites than vandals or looters. I believe that increased public awareness of these places including where they are located will help save them from destruction. Keeping these sites a secret does nothing to help keep the bulldozers away. It is my hope that incresed public awareness of rock piles could lead to archaeological interest that might provide much-needed proof that some of these sites here in New England are Indian cemeteries. As much as I am uncomfortable with the idea of disturbing Indian graves, I think that documenting a rock pile site as a cemetery will have an immediate positive effect for the preservation of these places.
I agree with both thoughts. I don't get why the NEARA people are unwilling to think this through.
If I were to make a detailed map of the sites in Rhode Island that I know of, it would be turned over to the tribe first and not published.
I don't think it's my place to determine if a site should be made public or not. That's best left up to the local tribes.
Sweden, where my father was born and where my mother's parents came from, has an abundance of neolithic tombs that Swedes respect as part of their heritage. They are not vandalized that I know of. They are preserved because the sites are part of a common heritage, and here, in the U.S., we need to educate the public that the stone cairns and other features are part of our heritage, too, and should be respected and preserved. Hiding everything from sight will not do, but we need to be careful what we publicize, at least for now -- and until the public learns to respect our past. Native tribes need to be involved in this discussion, too.
I plan to leave copies of the maps in several different places. Those are the only resource that includes ALL sites.
I want to add that I think if you are the first to find a site, it confers on you a right to decide how to divulge it - following guidelines.
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