Wednesday, October 10, 2012

More on stone mounds from Madison ME

With reference to the place described here, the owner Joshua W. sent some pictures. He writes:

Forwarding you the pictures I took of the site today, which I sent to Norman Muller earlier. ... Just let me know when is convenient for you and I can be around. We can take a spade out there and maybe clean up the quartz or the stacked rocks a bit to see the extent of the site, and if it is even man-made, or just naturally occurring.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Also, Norman mentioned Red Paint People earlier, which I find fascinating. Some of the rocks pictured in the bedrock do have red stains, but these are probably moss or lichen or something. I call it bedrock; my father believes they are large boulders from the Kennebec River bed eons ago, or glacial erratics. My little sister is looking for graduate studies in preservation and conservation, and just participated in her first dig at a site in New Hampshire. She wrote her thesis on Father Rale, as he is referred to here in Madison (actually, the colloquial reference here in town is Father Ralse). She is absolutely thrilled we may have a site here, whether it be Abenaki, Red Paint or whatever it may be. She is still looking for the original text of Father Rale's writings from when he was in the area because she finds the translations inadequate. She believes they are in some Jesuit archives somewhere, or in the possession of his descendants. The are definitely in Europe, which limits her ability to find them. The Norridgewock village is so close to where we are, Father Rale must have been familiar with the area, and she hopes to find the site mentioned in those writings.

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