"No need to overlay any eyes or even a brow ridge
above them or highlight details of the snout and nose, there is a great degree of
possibility that this stone may well have been humanly enhanced – visible even
in this series of rather fuzzy photo images...Trying a sepia version suddenly changed this observers identification
of exactly what sort of animal effigy was being portrayed; this stone may more
closely resemble a Panther head rather than the Bear's head first suspected:"
Full version here: Pondering a Possible Panther Petroform at Pomperaug Plantation (Woodbury CT)
4 comments :
Could it be a snake head? There appears to be an indention, maybe a "pit" in the top of the head like a snake or a turtle would have. And it looks like a panther too. BTW Tim, I got your recent email and will answer shortly. You know how I am.
Click on my "Full Version Link." The indentation could be for a horn. Wikipedia: Underwater panther was an amalgam of features from many animals: the body of a wild feline, often a mountain lion or lynx; the horns of deer or bison; upright scales on its back; occasionally bird feathers; and parts from other animals as well, depending on the particular myth. Underwater panthers are represented with exceptionally long tails, occasionally with serpentine properties. The creatures are thought to roar or hiss in the sounds of storms or rushing rapids...Some traditions believed the underwater panthers to be helpful, protective creatures...As late as the 1950s, the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians performed a traditional ceremony to placate the Underworld Panther and maintain balance with the Thunderbird..."
Camera-less, I wandered into another entrance to the parcel of land, the upper side this time. Instead of taking the "path of least resistance" I crossed the stream just above a huge Manitou boulder to find a row of stones that turned from linear to zigzag, had a serpent head style gateway and suddenly found myself out of "plow zone" to find a dozen or more cobbles on boulders, including some that had the grinding slick appearance AND the muller or metate stone still sitting on them!
What is that pit called? Just pit? I would like to see pics of that gateway area. The Gumpas Hill site Peter posted is extremely interesting to me. It is an upland gateway site. I've written a blurb on it I will post when finished, my opinion anyway, for what it's worth. Check out Mooney's "Myths of the Cherokee" for a good connection to panthers (Myth #73 P-324). At the head of a spring, they go into the ground, into another world, a world of opposites and dualism. Also see 247, 434, 449, 471 for more panther references.
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