Archaeology | Indigenous people knew little about vast ancient American earthworks

From author Brad Lepper writing in the Columbus Dispatch (I think this might apply in New England as well.):
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2014/08/24/indigenous-people-knew-little-about-vast-ancient-american-earthworks.html

From Teig Tyrson writing in Bucksport ME:

 I went in to the remote area plateau overlooking the freshwater pond thought to be the retreat area of a stronghold.  The goal was to find the stonewall that contained artifacts.  The directions were more then sketchy with no starting point or some confusion on which road it was actually on.  Big surprise I staggered around for 4 hours in dense underbrush ledge and raspberry bushes. 
Long story short, I came across an area that looked like it could go either way as a natural glacier propped rock or it might be something more. 
Thought I'd run it by you, see what you thought.  There is a square looking odd shape towards the top that had carved looking aspects to it.  

Blogging to resume after labor day

I'm looking forward to going out exploring.

More stonework around Echo Lake

From Matthew Howes:

I went back to Echo Lake.  Here is what I saw-

  More Standing Stone Marker(s) (pics included,) more Propped Boulders, a Stone Enclosure, a Drum Stone (Rocking Stone) that is pretty identical to the one found at the Fairbanks Conservation Land in Holliston, 3 petro-forms, one directly outside of the Chamber/Shrine I stumbled upon; and another one of the petro-forms looks like it represents a fish (eye socket, mouth marked out on stone), and did I say Chamber, yes, another Chamber found right around this area!!  Pictures can only go so far, though, they never tell the whole story...

 This place is not easy to access though (i.e. hike through, which might actually be a good thing) and is a huge area, but the effort is worth it.  I would have liked to of explained each picture as you scroll through it, but the e-mail only lets me insert the pics, not copy and paste them for some reason. 

The sacred stone piles on Mohegan Hill

"The sacred stone piles on Mohegan Hill are a critical feature of the traditional landscape of Mohegan Hill; they were created by the “Little People” who live deep within the ground of Mohegan Hill. These “Little People” or Makiawisug are the ancient culture heroes of this region. These stone piles also possess powers that protect the Mohegan people from outsiders. Not only do the “Little People” still live within the ground on the Hill and continue to guard the stones, these stone piles are perceived as being made of the bones of Mother Earth and they contain messages that guide generation after generation of Mohegan People. Contemporary Mohegan tribal members make offerings to the “Little People” in hopes that they will continue to protect our Tribe."
http://newenglandfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-little-people-who-live-under-hill.html

Norumbega Oddities

From Teig Tyrson:
https://www.facebook.com/1426925797556816/photos/a.1432555670327162.1073741833.1426925797556816/1469166516666077/?type=1&theater

Propped Boulders/Standing Stones- Echo Lake

Matt Howes writes:
  Attached are photos I took of Propped Boulders and some Standing Stones/ Horizon Markers around the Echo Lake area of Milford/ Hopkinton, MA.  ... I had gone there the other weekend with Prof. Curt Hoffmann, but this weekend I went back to the area we were looking around in and found some more stone-works.  There were also some cairns Curt and I found, and a few more standing stones/ markers, and even some petro-form-looking things I did not take photos of because the memory banks on my phone were getting full. (I need to get into the habit of using my new camera...)

Franklin Town Forest

There is a marked entrance on Summer Str. I wanted to get over to that "Uncas" pond but was blocked by a private camp entrance. So I went in on Summer Str.

Going straight back and downhill to the east, you see rock piles immediately:

After looking at a few, I decided they were evenly spaced, what I call a "marker pile site" and, although old, retained a faint sense of having once been rectangular:

I have come to associate marker pile sites with chambered mounds ("large piles with hollows") so I was on the lookout around the edges but I did not see anything.
In one part the piles seemed more debris covered and broken down - which I think of as an indication of age but it could be differential "weathering":

So I walked around and down hill and found more piles, deeper and deeper in the bushes, on the way down the slope.

Going back uphill and a bit further north, things got a big bigger and messier:

Then I did see something big in the distance:

That is a pretty large pile of rocks and I wanted to think it was a "mound" and not just a discard pile at the bottom of a field. Looking it over...what have we here?

With or without the tire, here are two collapsed chambers - the "hollows" I was hoping to see. So I end up believing this is a substantial burial mound. Here are some other views:

After that I walked around more, went back to my car and snuck into the woods near the camp entrance. I found a few more piles over there doing a quick survey. The whole area is probably full of sites.