I somehow stumbled upon this blog this morning {nailhed} and these following photos at this post { Just Like an Aborigine}.
The blog author starts out saying, “When I started learning about the fabled, ancient aboriginal ruins that existed in northern Michigan, there was one in Negwegon State Park on Thunder Bay that I was especially interested in…More than any other place in the state perhaps, these ruins were harder for me to find than any other, and it in fact took me three separate attempts over the course of about eight years to finally achieve success. The first attempt was in 2007, another was in 2014, and finally in 2015 I spent the night camping in the woods there to make sure I didn't come back empty-handed again. Since the sites of the ruins are obviously both culturally and archaeologically sensitive, their location is not advertised openly by the DNR or the universities that have studied them, and with good reason. Therefore I had to read extremely carefully between the lines and use a lot of intuition and map analysis skill before having any idea where in the 3,738-acre preserve I should set out to look...By the same token, I will not disclose the whereabouts of the ruins in this post, other than to say that they are near the Alpena-Alcona county line. This is a 2,500-year-old archaeological treasure that has not been well studied yet, and does not need to be disturbed by idiots like us. For someone who writes about these places with a mind to spark people's interest in their home state, it is a challenge to walk the line between writing to inform and educate versus portraying them in too seductive a light, or portraying them in a way that could invite superficial tourism as opposed to respectful tourism.
"Sure enough, here was what looked like a cairn:"
And there's so much more, quite interesting, and yes I did send the blog author a link to Rock Piles...
The blog author starts out saying, “When I started learning about the fabled, ancient aboriginal ruins that existed in northern Michigan, there was one in Negwegon State Park on Thunder Bay that I was especially interested in…More than any other place in the state perhaps, these ruins were harder for me to find than any other, and it in fact took me three separate attempts over the course of about eight years to finally achieve success. The first attempt was in 2007, another was in 2014, and finally in 2015 I spent the night camping in the woods there to make sure I didn't come back empty-handed again. Since the sites of the ruins are obviously both culturally and archaeologically sensitive, their location is not advertised openly by the DNR or the universities that have studied them, and with good reason. Therefore I had to read extremely carefully between the lines and use a lot of intuition and map analysis skill before having any idea where in the 3,738-acre preserve I should set out to look...By the same token, I will not disclose the whereabouts of the ruins in this post, other than to say that they are near the Alpena-Alcona county line. This is a 2,500-year-old archaeological treasure that has not been well studied yet, and does not need to be disturbed by idiots like us. For someone who writes about these places with a mind to spark people's interest in their home state, it is a challenge to walk the line between writing to inform and educate versus portraying them in too seductive a light, or portraying them in a way that could invite superficial tourism as opposed to respectful tourism.
The last thing I need to do is help the fetish-oriented treasure hunters and
arrowhead-diggers find another place to plunder. But by the same token if I
were to keep these places totally secret and never talk about them at all,
then I am taking away the opportunity for new people to be introduced to
something that may spark their imagination and inspire them to learn more about
our cultural heritage and history. If no one learns about old places and why
they're valuable, if no one experiences the wonder of fading ruins, then our
culture will continue to cheapen and hold superficial values instead of
cherishing things like wilderness, and the subtle remnants of ancient cultures..."
Skipping along to the Rock Pile part:
"...I heard my partner exclaim that she saw something up
ahead--piles of rock!"
6 comments :
Great find Tim.
That last picture is quite clear. Same as in New Brunswick and, actually, same as many things in MA, although they are using larger component "rocks" than I am used to.
I wonder if these sites are as rare in Michigan as the author thinks. The decision to publish or not has gotten simplified over the years. Way too many places for "Arrowhead" hunters to get to and spoil. Sites turn out to be much less unique than I thought originally. I wonder who came up with the "2,500 years old" part?
I'm glad Ive seen a rock formation like this even if just in a photos.
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There are certainly many links to follow - and I'm glad to see the references to the "real stuff" and not just the pseudo science - or "junk science," as the blog author terms it.
I particularly like this part: "My partner, who is a wetland biologist by trade and who has experience in forestry, suddenly posited a very interesting observation that might lend some insight as to the historical context of the landscape we currently found ourselves in. She pointed out that even though we were clearly in a wetland, there were white pine growing here--a species of tree that is not commonly found growing in wetlands.
"One of the ways we identify wetlands is by the kind of plants that grow there," she said. For instance, "You don't find cattails growing in the desert. We know white pine typically is not found in a wetland, so when we find it growing like this it is unusual." This was something that only happens in groundwater-driven scenarios she said, so something unusual is going on at this location related to the hydrology and geomorphology of the landscape if we are seeing trees that usually only grow in upland areas. In other words, the way it has apparently changed over time is abnormal..."
(I'd love to see photos without the snow cover in this one: http://www.nailhed.com/2015/03/ancient-echoes-from-forest.html)
Whoever wants to: compare the last picture of this post with the last picture of the previous post. If you right click on them and "Open link in new tab" then click on the image, it gets magnified.
I’ve found one of the pits. It’s actually visible from google earth if you know where to look.
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