Rock Piles

SRAC blog

2012-01-28T05:33:00.002-05:00

by theseventhgeneration
Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies (SRAC) recently posted about Spanish Hill. That article was published as the lead article in the New York State Archaeological Society's Newsletter. Click here for the announcement, which contains a link to the pdf version of the NYSAA newsletter and a link to the original blog post.

Stone Heap by Golf Course

2012-01-27T09:11:00.001-05:00

Near the Western Hills Golf Course - near Park Road in Waterbury (or possibly Middlebury) CT

It was once part of a Deer Park I wonder about sometimes: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2008/01/im-still-wondering.html

Rock Pile - Sebago Maine

2012-01-27T05:45:00.003-05:00

Reader Rob S. also writes:

I have another to share with you. I was tickled pink when I found it in October.

Ohio Archeology

2012-01-26T16:08:00.003-05:00

Norman Muller sends some interesting articles:

Ohio Archaeology [click here]
Serpent Mound [click here](PDF)

One of these rock piles is not like the others.

2012-01-26T06:08:00.011-05:00

Reader Rob S. writes:
Hello everyone:
I thought I'd help to get our minds off the snowy woods:

On the afternoon of the seventh of this month I went to Poor’s Hill to see if I could find anything; it’s located next to Peabody Pond in Sebago, Maine. I finally did stumble upon some rock piles nested in one of the hollows of the hill. Most were low to the ground and could barely be discerned from the snow and leaf litter.One, however, stood out from the rest. It was taller and I could make out a green bucket from under the rocks. I lifted one of the rocks, but there was nothing to see but ice. The rock was put back in place. I believe it was used to lure in bears for some hunter. I intend to go back in the spring to see if there’s more to be found nearby.

Yurok Language

2012-01-25T16:13:00.001-05:00

Norman Muller writes:
I received this reply from Andrew Garrett, Professor of Linguistics and Director, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, in reply to the question where did the Algonquian language originate? Thought you might be interested.

No, the more accurate way of describing the matter is to say that the Algonquian languages, as a family, are related to the Yurok language and to its immediate neighbor (in California) the Wiyot language. The three together, Wiyot plus Yurok plus Algonquian, have roughly the kind of relationship that Celtic languages plus Romance languages plus Germanic languages respectively have (except as if there would be one "Celtic" and one "Romance" language in this case). The more standard view as to place of origin is that the location of the ancestral population was somewhere in the upper Snake River basin, near where Washington, Oregon, and Idaho now converge; the people who spoke a language ancestral to Algonquian languages headed east (including to the St Lawrence basin) and the people who spoke languages ancestral to Wiyot and Yurok headed down the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Pacific coast, three or four thousand years ago. (The wikipedia page for "Algic languages" is not inaccurate, though it does not have up-to-date bibliography, or see pp. 72ff of the following:

http://books.google.com/books?id=fFX066QfQv8C&pg=PA311&lpg=PA311&dq=golla+algic+wiyot+yurok+klar&source=bl&ots=nhOES81UlJ&sig=NMAV7z92A2OZphyZzQ9RHrLJ998&hl=en&ei=1oS_TaT2Lc6cgQeClfn0BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=Wiyot&f=false)

A Found Image

2012-01-25T08:46:00.010-05:00

Shenipsit Trail, Glastonbury to Vernon

http://www.everytrail.com/view_picture.php?trip_id=154927&picture_id=307914
From a site to further explore: http://www.everytrail.com/best/hiking-connecticut where it is written, “This list shows the most popular Hiking in Connecticut based on user reviews, votes, and mobile downloads. Plan your next trip with EveryTrail guides by downloading a guide to your mobile phone with the EveryTrail iPhone or Android app.”

Sythetic Hand Axes

2012-01-25T06:10:00.001-05:00

[Not rock pile related] I cannot resist a good hand-axe.

Halifax History

2012-01-25T06:01:00.001-05:00

I think these might be some new pictures. (Click on the "Mystery Walls" link)

Harvard Rt 2 RockPile

2012-01-25T05:48:00.007-05:00

Reader Russ, found a pile you can see from the highway.
He writes:
Large pile on RT2 east at mile marker 109 in Harvard just before the 110/111 exit. You seem to be out that way frequently. Easily seen from the high way. Best accessed off Old Shirley Road about ¼ mile up on the right. Coincidentally the Harvard conservation map shows a tiny bit of shading very close to the location? The pile is anchored by a large stone and is about 25 – 30 feet long. Looks good framed in snow.
Also:
There seems to be a hollow or depression on the south west side, as you approach from the road. It is located near a small stream. There was also quite a bit of marsh surrounding the stream. Very frozen last Saturday making things easier. Culverts have been added with the construction of the road but the stream runs past roughly north / south on the east side of the pile. Seems logical with the grade that it runs three and a half seasons and likely forever.
I looked for other smaller piles without success. Quick peeks from the street suggest that behind the private homes on the same side of the street there may be more. The back yards are filled with granite. Possibly the source of the pile stone?
I have attached the link to the Harvard conservation land if you look closely this piece is quite close to a couple of very small non-designated shaded areas. Has the pile been quietly protected?

http://www.harvardconservationtrust.org/trails.htm
There appears to be a new trail behind the private property. The entrance is right at the spot where the west bound exit from RT2 wraps right around the corner onto 111. There is a clear orange arrow posted on a tree beside it. There is no place to park and I am at present unclear if it is public or private. It would be worth a peek if accessible.

[PWAX: I blogged about this pile a few years back here.]

DNA evidence follows the pack

2012-01-24T05:55:00.004-05:00

[Not rock pile related]
Here is an article about the domestication of dogs. I love this sentence:

..."In other words, man's best friends may have originated from more than one ancient ancestor, contrary to what some DNA evidence previously has indicated."

Winter Doldrums Setting In

2012-01-22T10:02:00.008-05:00

It looks like it is that time of year again. There is enough snow on the ground to make spotting rock piles difficult and I am a bit lazy about walking in the snow at 7 degrees F.

Update: A question for readers from the south: Is there any time of year when you cannot go into the woods?
Update 2: I should have asked: is there a time when you prefer to not go in the woods?
Update 3: I guess I won't have that excuse if next weekend is like now: 54F.

News of the Upton Chamber

2012-01-21T18:00:00.001-05:00

Via reader Keith:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/features/x1192848596/Upton-chamber-remains-mystery-despite-testing

Virtual Camp Whiting Tour

2012-01-21T13:49:00.000-05:00

It's snowing where I am, maybe where you am too. Take a walk back in time to 2009, early Spring, down in Woodbridge CT.

Click here: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2012/01/virtual-camp-whiting-tour.html

Town of Stow Conservation Land Boundary

2012-01-20T18:36:00.002-05:00

Split Filled Rock - Before and After

2012-01-20T18:30:00.002-05:00

From the eastern side of the top of Flagg Hill in Stow, MA.

Water Tower Hill in Westford's Greystone Conservation Land

2012-01-19T06:00:00.015-05:00

Is this a site of individual prayers?
After finding an interesting see-through structure (blue "X") I crossed the valley and found a rock pile at the foot of the water tower hill.I could see other rock piles higher on the hill above (see the water tower up there?):So I went uphill, zigzagging back and forth between small rock piles, each built with a handful of smaller rocks on larger supports. For example:I don't know how to classify this site. It is typical and reminds of similar hillside sites (eg Flagg Hill, Stow or the southeastern foot of South Manoosnoc in Leominster). [Also like this from the other day and about a mile or two from this spot] The piles are not arranged in lines or evenly spaced and the site lacks the structure of a marker pile site. At most here there might have been some slight clustering of the piles into little groups. I hate to cop out on this but when the piles are not in obvious relation to each other but are occupying one specific topography, I imagine there is something special about this place that called for rock piles by more than one person over a more extended period of time. In other words a site individuals would go back to.
But of course I really have no evidence or special observations about these places one way or the other. There were a few other rock piles here and there on the hill.

Structure made from quarry fragments

2012-01-18T06:13:00.009-05:00

Saw this at the Westford "Greystone" conservation land. Another view.Judging from the hole in the ground next to it, I think there must have been a boulder quarried here. I am guessing someone built this out of the scraps. But who knows.

I should mention that the rock pile site is across the valley starting at the foot of the hill and going up the slope from there.

Blog birthday

2012-01-18T05:59:00.002-05:00

I missed it on January 16th. This blog is now 7 years old.....Yay!

(African) mysterious stone circles

2012-01-16T19:54:00.000-05:00

“Metals, Magic and Muti” – Anthropologist suggests shallow surface mining as the reason behind thousands of mysterious stone circles...Upon closer examination, rocks in the area have been found to carry traces of ground ochre and oil, traditionally used by sangomas to coat their hair and bodies. Further, many of the stones in the area have been worn down, perhaps used to grind herbs for muti (traditional medicine). Professor Thornton suggests that the stone circles may also have been used by sangomas as sacred and protected workshops for their rituals, which may explain why they have been left largely undisturbed to this day.

http://www.origins.org.za/news/entry/wits_professor_robert_thornton_reveals_new_theory_on_stone_structures_of_mp/#disqus_thread

Big Canoe Again

2012-01-16T18:22:00.001-05:00

Another image and the statement "Don Wells (president of Mountain Stewards)... was able to determine that the cairns on the ridge actually form a snake pattern.
He used a compass to measure the angle that is formed from the last cairn to the first. This angle is approximately 137 degrees. If you follow the line of the angle it points directly at the island in the middle of Lake Petit. A Native American Cherokee told Wells the island was the probable location of the small Indian village that existed in Big Canoe hundreds of years ago. According to Wells, villages such as this often had a high place of special honor where a sacred fire would burn."

Peter posted here: http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2010/12/mysterious-stone-cairns-in-big-canoe.html

Above from: http://www.mountainvistarentals.com/indianrockspark.htm

Stacked Stone Tomb (in disrepair)

2012-01-16T12:51:00.000-05:00

http://www.tngenweb.org/darkside/graphics/providence-ms-1.jpg

Main site: http://www.tngenweb.org/darkside/typology.html

More about small mounds around large ones

2012-01-15T15:29:00.004-05:00

From Norman Muller:
Your comment on your blog about smaller stone mounds often suggesting larger stone mounds nearby is also commented on in an article by Jeffries and Fish in the attached:
http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Archaeology/images/PDFs/uga_lab_series_17.pdf
(See page 34 ff. See also page 54, bottom, about the grid-like arrangement of the smaller stone mounds below the larger one.)

Indian Mountain Complex - Tennessee

2012-01-15T08:48:00.004-05:00

Has this been mentioned before? [Click here]

For example, in light of my recent "Advice"
"...Garrow and Chase (1988) suggest that the actual burials are restricted to larger stone mounds, while small stacks and piles at the site served another unspecified, albeit commemorative purpose...."

Great rocking stone video - republishing.

2012-01-14T18:12:00.004-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9l0ov6RleI
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpTi10GsLeQ
I cannot find the one I made at Saddle Hill in Hopkinton. Ah, here it is:
http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2007/10/rocking-stone-hopkinton-ma.html

Elegance of New England ceremonial structures

2012-01-14T17:07:00.004-05:00

Porthole Pile - Flagg Hill, Stow MA

2012-01-13T16:57:00.003-05:00

I think I was with Dan Boudillion when I first saw this a few years ago.

End Stone by Spring and Serpentine

2012-01-12T12:58:00.006-05:00

Looking North West above at another large end stone, encircled below on a 1934 aerial, enhanced to show endstones and stone rows at a place called the "Wigwams." Native People lived here from first contact in 1659 and into the first decade of the 1700's. The stone rows on the right point toward two possibly 350 year old oaks at another junction of three stone rows. One of those rows leads south to another endstone above the uppermost waterfall in the dark grove of hemlocks in the lower right hand corner.

The Junction of three stone rows at left center is pictured below, looking South East, along the backbone of another stone row, the hemlocks on the same first terrace above the flood plain in the distance.

Rock-on-rock leading down a hillside - Westford/Tyngsborough line

2012-01-12T06:20:00.009-05:00

I was exploring and found 2 sites off the end of "Paddock" road, a side branch of Tenney Rd/Westford Rd. See the two small outlines at the top of the map here. Walked it and wanted to climb that small unnamed hill. Saw a rock-on-rock near the summit:When I walked over to this, I saw another rock-on-rock downhill.When I walked down to this, I saw another rock-on-rock downhill.Another view of this interesting shaped rock:And so it continued down the hillside. Here is a view back up the sequence:I do not think these rock-on-rock structures are marking a trail, although it is tempting. When I got near the foot of the hill, I saw three or four more structures, layed out in horizontal direction.
How about this nice one:If these structure define a trail, it is not designed for efficiency to get you from A to B.

Roadside Attractions - Tenney Rd Westford

2012-01-12T06:19:00.003-05:00

You can tell you are in a good area when you can spot 'em from the car:

Another small site off Tenney Rd, Westford, MA

2012-01-11T17:28:00.007-05:00

Visible to the side of the blue trail, was an invitation to follow the ridge.A small circle of rocks, with no evidence of charring on the inner surfaces:A small pile of broken rock fragments at the high point:
A granite quarry, with lots of unused blocks:At the end of the ridge, a final rock pile:

Advice: Look for the mound if you see the horizon markers

2012-01-11T06:16:00.016-05:00

I have been mulling over all the "Wachusett Tradition" sites of the last few months and how, so often when I find a rectangular mound with an inner hollow, the landscape surrounding the mound will have several other smaller piles that include quartz, or are vertical sided, or are "ski-jump" shaped. It seems very much the case that the larger mounds have company and are typically surrounded by these smaller piles. If the larger mounds are for burial then the smaller piles are for some other part of a mortuary ceremony - something that includes the underworld and the astronomy of the sky.
I walked into the woods on a trail starting from Teney Rd in northeastern Westford and was thinking about several different things when I topped a ridge and found some nice rock piles. I had anticipated finding something nice and was thinking: "If I find some rock piles, I should look carefully in the neighborhood for a, perhaps less conspicuous, rectangular mound...". Here is what I saw coming over the ridge:From another angle:Following my own advice, I looked around when I got to these piles and spotted something like a house foundation across the road and downhill. Later, I decided this was the mound I was looking for.So I want to recommend to other people hunting for rock pile sites: If you find some of those vertical sided piles, or piles evenly spaced and in lines, or piles along an outcrop and ridge where they form the horizon for a place slightly downhill; then you should check carefully to see if there is not some larger mound in the vicinity, perhaps slightly downhill. [Of course there are plenty of places without such a mound.]

Still further downhill were a couple of smaller ridge/outcrop bumps that also were good candidates for marking the horizon, as viewed from the "house foundation". One turned out to be an outcrop while the other turned out to be an elongated rock pile (that reminded me of Pratt Hill):
Another view:These pictures do not show a detail which is that: there is a dip in the middle of the structure, breaking it into two pieces. Fifteen feet uphill and in line with the dip there was a smaller conical pile, Here is the view of that smaller pile, facing back uphill towards the "foundation" and the outcrop beyond that:Off in another direction, forty yards across the slope and perhaps marking the horizon in that direction, was another outlier:
This one had a little quartz:Let's take a closer look at the "house foundation".
I see smaller rocks used than I would expect in a house foundation and what is up with that wall dividing the space in half?

Do you see how similar this is to the sites along Falulah Brook in Fitchburg? I wonder if we'll eventually discover this type of site is pretty widespread. I especially offer the advice above with the hope of hearing from you, my colleagues, who are out exploring in other places.

********************

There is a different story here which I should not forget to tell: the story of confusing a large rectangular "burial" mound for a colonial house foundation.The characteristics of the one are not that far off from the other. The main mound here at Tenney Rd lacked structured walling, included smaller rocks but it was not that different from the poorhouse foundation(s) on Nagog Hill Rd.

More Tenney Rd (Westford, MA) Appetizer

2012-01-10T19:22:00.003-05:00

Plenty to blog about but no energy for it.

A Warm January Day at Flagg Hill in Stow

2012-01-09T16:58:00.001-05:00

2012-01-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

"Native American Scholar and shaman, Evan Pritchard, dedicates CoSM's cairn in honor of the indigenous people who walked our land 400 years ago... The shrine's shape, suggested by Evan, was modeled after stone mounds found in the Hudson Valley, some thought to be over 4,000 years old."

http://cosm.typepad.com/cosm_blog/2011/11/wappinger-shrine.html

Shrine of the Stone Lions

2012-01-09T08:53:00.000-05:00

"As can be seen in the photograph opening this entire blog entry, the stone lions are surrounded by a ring of rocks with one entrance."

http://srleebackyard.blogspot.com/2008/04/shrine-of-stone-lions.html

First finds for the year

2012-01-08T20:48:00.001-05:00

I spent a few hours out looking for artifacts this afternoon. I had an average day looking in a place where I found some decent points last year. I found a few broken projectile point fragments and one rough little dart point or knife, nothing really good, but I am thrilled with any find. I'm going to post pictures of everything I brought home today, just to show the types of artifacts one might encounter spending hours staring at the ground in a likely place- usually I will show only my better finds but thought it might be interesting to illustrate some more typical things. The items at left in this first picture are colonial-era English or Dutch kaolin clay pipe bowl fragments, these pipes have been excavated from Contact period Indian sites in this area but there is no way to date these bowl fragments and they could be from as late as the 1800s. In the center are two quartz projectile point fragments, the upper fragment is probably something worked down from something bigger and then discarded, the piece at bottom is a stem fragment of a "small stemmed" point and it is very finely flaked, it would have been a nice point. The object at right is the only (mostly) intact point I found.

Here is a front and back view of the point or knife. If I came across this in a place that was otherwise void of stone artifacts I might have simply dismissed it as nothing more than a broken rock. The tip and edges seem worn, I imagine from ancient use before this was discarded.

The edges do show the alternating flaking typical of most of the percussion flaked artifacts I find. I believe that this material is a type of rhyolite. Please excuse my dirty fingers, I had been wiping sand off of broken rock fragments for hours.

Here are some other artifacts I brought home, that I usually would not show. I like to try to preserve the entire artifact assemblage when I am surface collecting so I will bring home and bag stuff like this, I have a bag for each site I search. I don't bring home every single flake and chip but try to keep things that are representative examples, or things that may have been used as tools. In the top row are a waste flake of a banded quartz that was valued for making tools, another quartz flake that looks like someone might have worked on one edge, and a broken piece of some kind of unidentified stone, presumably waste from toolmaking. At bottom are a broken worked quartz piece that might have been a crude scraper or knife, a blue argillite flake showing flaking scars on one face, and a rhyolite flake. When I search a place for the first time, I am looking for artifacts like this; if you can spot chipping debris and flakes, you have found a spot worth carefully searching.

Here is the bigger stuff. At left, a big blue argillite chunk, broken, showing some possible flaking along the upper left edge, perhaps it is a broken remnant of an old scraper, or a tool for digging or woodworking, or juast a piece of material that never got around to being made into a point. The object at right is made of a hard fine-grained stone I can't identify, some of the cortex from the cobble is visible at the top and it has been flaked (crudely) bifacially and has an edge all the way around. Similar tools found elswhere are called "cobble choppers" or "proto-handaxes" and are said to be up to one million years old. I might suggest that this much younger tool was perhaps hastily made for some specific purpose and then discarded, it could have been used as an axe, I am just guessing.

A shrine

2012-01-08T17:37:00.001-05:00

A friend took me to a nice place in Carlisle MA yesterday to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather we enjoyed here this weekend. There was a lot of stonework in the woods, ranging from typical early American stone walls to more enigmatic features including standing stones and possible effigy forms. I wanted to share these photos of a feature that I thought was interesting, this is built into a stone row that runs along a brook at the bottom of a rocky slope. There is an opening in the row and this feature is adjacent to the opening, facing the water. I believe this little niche and the apertures above it are deliberate features in this structure and I would like to call this a "shrine" although that is admittedly based more on speculation than anything else.

The leaning slab at the end of the row on the left has a familiar shape and I wonder if this stood upright at some time in the past.

Circular stone wall, Montville CT

2012-01-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

Here is another example of a sort of enclosure surrounded by a circular stone wall, in tis case a rather large area is enclosed. This is at the Montville CT "Complex" site which also features two stone chambers as well as other, presumably more recent stonework.

Tenney Road Appetizer

2012-01-08T12:42:00.002-05:00

Nipsachuck "mound controversy"

2012-01-08T09:59:00.000-05:00

"Tribal oral history tells us that the Nipsachuck area was a place of ceremony...observations, study of tribal oral history and an archaeological report seem to point to an association with the annual Perseid meteor shower in mid-August, when "the souls of departed people would travel southwest along the Milky Way on their journey to Cautantowitt's house. Tribal oral history suggests that Nipsachuck was one of several places in southern New England for this yearly summer gathering of people and that the timing of the first battle, which took place during the peak time of the meteor shower, is highly suggestive of a connection between the ceremonial place and the battlefield." http://valleybreeze.com/2011/09/21/nsbw/next-step-at-nipsachuck-answers-about-burial-mounds

The Petroforms of Manitoba

2012-01-08T09:35:00.000-05:00

The Sweat Lodge - This feature (Fig. 2) represents Waynaboozhoo's Sweat Lodge. Waynaboozhoo is the original Anishinabe.
Image from: http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/parks/popular_parks/popular_parks/petroforms/info.html

Split wedged rock from Upton MA (republished)

2012-01-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

Squabble over presence of ancient residents in Blairsville

2012-01-07T07:04:00.004-05:00

http://www.ajc.com/news/squabble-over-presence-of-1283714.html

“Let your eyes focus here. They’re all over. Rock piles. Rock walls. Rock manipulations." ~ Carey Waldrip

Stone Circle - Wiccopee area of Putnam County, NY

2012-01-06T19:16:00.002-05:00

Rob Buchanan writes:
I noticed there have been some postings of examples of circular stone walls on Rock Piles. Below is a picture of a circular stone wall I found in the Wiccopee area of Putnam County NY.

Hobb and Hobomock

2012-01-06T17:23:00.004-05:00

If no one has mentioned it before, let me point out that the word "Hobomock" and "Hobb" both mean Devil in, respectively, Algonquian and English.

Snell at Twoheadwaters

2012-01-04T18:28:00.002-05:00

Good stuff [click here and scroll down to the beginning].

PREHISTORIC AMERICA VOLUME II.

2012-01-04T11:56:00.003-05:00

BY STEPHEN D. PEET, 1896.

EMBLEMATIC MOUNDS A N D ANIMAL EFFIGIES.

"The mythologic significance and the intent of the effigies as picture writing cannot be deciphered when any of the figures have disappeared. It is to be hoped that the effigies will be preserved and that this book will be an inducement for the continuance of the study and will increase the interest in them us the monuments of a people which has passed away."

http://www.archive.org/stream/prehistoricameri02peet/prehistoricameri02peet_djvu.txt

(I was looking this part of the book: "Serpent circle near Utley's...head and tail making a gateway or opening to the circle," but couldn't search for the phrase. I posted this http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2012/01/prehistoric-america-volume-ii.html

Indian Myths And Effigy Mounds By Rev. Peet (1889)

2012-01-04T06:51:00.002-05:00

"The groups are so placed that one answers to another from all the hill tops..."

More here: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2012/01/indian-myths-and-effigy-mounds-1889.html

Update: See this from p. 58:

Photos to Compare

2012-01-04T05:54:00.001-05:00

I saw a What's New section in RS' Relics of the Ancients site and found this one at:

http://www.relicsoftheancients.com/images/Shasta%20Valley/Lake%20Shastina%20Area/Alyssa%20Alexandria/Lake%20Shastina/076.jpg

It was in a group of photo uploaded 12/17/2011: "More Alyssa Alexandria photos in the Lake Shastina section" and it reminded me of:

http://laurelhillwalks.blogspot.com/2011/12/evans-hill-mound-bit-of-background.html

Obelisk Chamber, Reading VT

2012-01-03T16:54:00.007-05:00

Norman Muller writes:
In Reading, VT, is the Obelisk Chamber, which I’ve never seen. Photos of the chamber were sent to me by a woman who participated in an excavation at the chamber in the late 1980s, along with Ken Moore and Dorothy Hayden. An account of their finds was published in something called The American Institute Newsletter (published by Ken Moore). When Moore and company obtained permission to excavate the chamber, they found an obelisk inside the chamber and others outside! At first I had trouble believing an obelisk was found inside the chamber, until I enlarged one of the color transparencies I received and did see an obelisk inside the entranceway (this standing stone was removed by Moore and company and is now missing). Around 1989 Moore and his crew excavated around the entrance and found what appeared to be a large bowl. This was removed and has since disappeared. So much for the professionalism of Moore. However, the chamber is an important example of something other than a root cellar. Attached are photos of the chamber, a detail of the entrance showing the obelisk inside, and two photos of the bowl that was discovered near the entrance. I was persuaded to send you this after you posted a photo of a similar looking bowl...

Update from Norman:

I found a copy of the Institute Newsletter (of The American Institute for Archaeological Research, Inc.), Vol III, No. 3 (March 1987), and in it are some comments about the Obelisk Chamber.

The chamber is at an elevation of 2100 feet, and was brought to the attention of one of the members of the AIAR by the property owner who was clearing some land to build a new home, and discovered the chamber.

“The chamber is built above ground with the opening, or door, facing to summer solstice sunrise. A standing stone is in place a few yards in front of the entrance and the obelisk, tapered to a point, sits central within the chamber on a base. Around the outside are very large stones, now fallen, which have each a depression and base to indicate where they should stand.

“Outside, from the back, one may walk up what appears to be, under the silt, a flight of steps and stand at a squarecut sandstone altar which is at the front and above the door. This altar is split in half as is the ceiling slab under it, probably from lightning strike or earthquake in the past age, and had at either side a standing upright end slab. These have fallen and thence slid down either side of the mound, but their original place can be determined as each is cut to fit. Once restored, these ends will be similar to those on the sacrificial table at Mystery Hill.

“The next unique feature is that two openings seem to have been built in, one on either side of the chamber and from the inside lead out just behind at either end of the altar. Here again we see a feature comparable to the table at Mystery Hill with it’s speaking tube from inside the Oracle Chamber.”

All of this is difficult to visualize, and unfortunately no drawings were made of the chamber and its details to clarify what was written in the newsletter.

There was a photograph taken from inside the chamber looking out, with the obelisk silhouetted against the outside light streaming in, and in alignment with the standing stone outside. The photo is unfortunately distorted through photocopying, but I will make a copy of it and send it to you.

Too bad this important chamber was not properly documented.

More Circular Walls

2012-01-03T09:35:00.003-05:00

"On the west side of Kanawha river, opposite Point Pleasant, is a circular stone wall, about 200 feet in diameter, and about six feet in hight. This wall was built on the alluvial bottom and the stone must have been brought from the neighboring hills...An interesting description of these works was written by Capt. Page, of Ansted, some years ago, and they were afterwards visited and examined by Col. Norris, agent of the Smithsonian Institute. A few miles below this wall, on another high ridge just above Paint creek, is a similar work, but much smaller..."

History and mystery of the Kanawha Valley By John Peter Hale, West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society page 12)http://books.google.com/books?id=bRLVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=mysterious+circular+stone+wall&source=bl&ots=OUfFxAfJN9&sig=EP0sJvcaVb-kNas0SGBFzvEt5zM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3Q0DT_vUK8OEtgfO2dXRBg&ved=0CH4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Prehistoric Remains at Mount Carbon by Dr. Otis K. Rice"Among the most interesting of these prehistoric remains are those at Mount Carbon, about four miles east of Montgomery on Route 61. The Mount Carbon remains consist of a village site or sites between the highway and the Kanawha River and of stone walls and rock cairns on the mountain above the town. Early settlers of the upper Kanawha Valley, who like most other West Virginia pioneers lived partly by hunting, must very soon after their arrival in the valley have become aware of these walls. Yet, their concern with the grim problems of survival left them little time to explore the walls carefully, and their low regard for the Indians probably induced little speculation on their part as to the origin of the structures." http://www.wvculture.org/history/nativeamericans/mountcarbon01.html

Another Circular Wall (in GA)

2012-01-03T09:14:00.002-05:00

Captioned: One of the stone wall's circular 'pits' formed likely for defensive purposes.

Indians or Welshmen?

"The stone structures have long been a topic of debate. Many scientists have come to believe that the walls at Fort Mountain in Georgia and other Southeast sites were built by native Americans between 200 B.C. and A.D. 600." We're not exactly sure what purposes these enclosures served," said Wood, the UGA archaeologist. "But they were likely well-known gathering places for social events. Seasonal meetings of friends and kin, trading of goods, astronomical observance, and religious or ceremonial activities may have occurred there." Yet supporters of the Madoc legend say the wall's tear-shaped designs are similar to ruins found in Wales or elsewhere in Great Britain..."

http://ancient-tides.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

Circular

2012-01-03T08:57:00.000-05:00

If you scroll down you'll find this, along with other photos that make you wonder why the fools messed with the original stones that seemed to be interesting enough:

http://www.vcoiad.net/kol/Atlanta/index.html

It's captioned: I like the fact that the circular stone wall is only six inches high, tops, and there's still a designed entranceway. Maybe they planned to make the wall much taller but got bored. No good lazy Atlanta Indians. Or maybe this is Calvin's effort "The Triumph Of Perseverence."

Single Stone Turtle; a Detail in "A Wall of No Importance"

2012-01-03T07:41:00.000-05:00

Full story: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2012/01/detail-in-wall-of-no-importance.html

Evans Hill Mound - more details

2012-01-03T06:21:00.001-05:00

Lots of interesting things at Laurel Hill Walks:

http://laurelhillwalks.blogspot.com/2011/12/evans-hill-mound-bit-of-background.html

Grinding stone (?) from western PA

2012-01-02T18:17:00.004-05:00

Reader Kathy Y. writes:
My grandmother gave to me the large rock in the picture. It came out of fayette county pa.

Thanks for the nice walks, Littleton

2012-01-02T17:22:00.000-05:00

That is about it for daytime blogging

2012-01-02T14:30:00.001-05:00

Back to work tomorrow. Ah work! A mixed blessing.

There will be much less blogging in the daytime and no weekday explorations for a while. But I hope to be back out next weekend, and reporting on it.

A unique enclosure, opening to the swamp

2012-01-02T09:57:00.008-05:00

The red "X" marks the location of a curious enclosure in the Littleton, MA Town Forest.

I could not photo it very well but this shows the view, from the water side, of an area enclosed by stone walls with only a single opening in the direction of the swamp:Here is the opening, looking out:The plan was something like this:The enclosure was maybe 70 feet across and seemed to be full of large tumbled boulders. What could this be for? Maybe this video gives a glimpse of the place:

There was a standing stone, fifty yards away in the woods in one direction:There were a few very minor rock structures across the water about 20 yards from the enclosure:I do not know if this enclosure is unique. I can't come up with any guesses as to its purpose. Have you seen anything like this?

Once more, with feeling....another trip to Falulah Brook headwaters

2012-01-02T08:58:00.025-05:00

I tried again to circle these headwaters of Falulah Brook in northern Fitchburg. This time my plan was to walk along the southern edge of the brook, cross somewhere near the Worcester/ Middlesex county boundary, and come back along the northern side of the brook. Instead I crossed lower down, by mistake, and ended back near the beginning point earlier than I had wanted. I found a wonderful little Wachusett Tradition site there (outlined in red). But I had wanted to circle further upstream, so I reversed my steps and went back along the northern side until I got to another Wachusett Tradition site I saw in the past and, when my camera battery started to crap out, I circled back and ended by returning via the initial path along the southern side of the brook. Not important details, except that this was a walk with many small brook crossings and the rocks were icy, where wet. So it was difficult to score top points for brook crossing elegance - but I managed to keep my feet dry.

First off, next to Ashby West Rd, as you step into the bushes on the west side of the road, this is a messy pile I have photoed several times before. I liked the colors this time:
Walking and crossing some brooks, I was [I guess] on the north side of the brook when I noticed a single rock-on-rock in the boulder field. Why that one rock-on-rock? Notice the split boulder it is next to:Then I saw a couple of faint structures, seeming to lead to where a well built stone wall terminates at a nicely squared-off ending. And as I walked over to look at the stone wall, I noticed some larger things looming in the background:Here was one Wachusett pile:Note that this pile is entirely made from large rocks but without any smaller rocks involved. I see this frequently enough and, here, start to wonder about it. Why would one pile be made exclusively from larger rocks, while others are made with smaller ones? Compare with large pile in this scene, which I stepped into:
Let's have some other views of these fine piles. Here is the horizon view:Details of the larger mound:Note this is more of a "double chambered" example - There appear to be two separate hollows.

Here is a closeup of the vertical sided pile.This is a typical example of the kind of smaller piles one finds, like satellites around the larger Wachusett mounds.

There were numerous other satellites:

I like this clear relation between mound and satellite. Note the direction of the vertical side, note how the hollows are placed in the larger mound:Finally, just a brief look at some piles from the previously discovered site (uppermost blue oval on map). Here is one where you probably neither can see the rectangle, not the hollow. It is pretty worn down.I just want to compare it with this other one from there. It is another example of a pile built only from larger rocks.
Summary: Standard Wachusett Tradition site includes mounds with hollows surrounded by smaller satellites that have some of the attributes of marker piles. [By the way, I think it is a complex machine for getting the soul to the underworld]. Sometimes, one of the mounds will be made only from larger rocks.

"A Story Set in Stone"

2012-01-02T08:16:00.001-05:00

A single-boulder quarry hidden in the Petersham woods.

The blog author writes: "In 2011, I drew pictures of archaeological ruins in the New England forest, working on location, plein air from March to November, 2011. To decipher what I was seeing and drawing, I studied the history of the sites and the ecology of the forest. I'm back home in Oklahoma, sorting out what I saw and did and learned, and trying to write about it."
Click here for more about the boulder:

http://drawingthemotmot.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/a-story-set-in-stone/

Click here for even more:

http://drawingthemotmot.wordpress.com/

Is the competition still on?

2012-01-01T18:02:00.004-05:00

by theseventhgeneration
I am wondering if there is a new photo competition for 2012? There was this one from January 24, 2010, but I wasn't sure if there was another for 2011 (ending January 24, 2012). If there is a competition on, I have this photo to submit for the most rock piles in a single shot:I count 7 piles. This shot is especially poignant because all the trees marked in blue are slated to be logged. Rock piles are not protected on NY State land, but stone walls are.

Indian Stones/Cairns/Intentions

2012-01-01T15:30:00.003-05:00

Feast your eyes on some cairns from Jeff R in Rhode Island [Click here]

(New link added to the column on right.)

Random comparison

2012-01-01T08:04:00.002-05:00

Between this and this.

Time to pay more attention to how the small piles are disposed about the larger mound.

Last of the year (really)

2011-12-31T16:59:00.003-05:00

Have a great year.

Rockport MA Rock Pile

2011-12-31T12:57:00.004-05:00

Reader Mark A writes:

I grew up in Rockport Massachusetts and at the top of a hill are two large piles of rocks. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on their origin I do know the site was once the location of
a house-turned-hospital, but these are not foundation stones to my eyes. Here are some images:
http://eoinvincent.com/blog/turtle-rock/
http://harmonyclubwaltz.blogspot.com/2007/03/just-ducky-and-puzzle.html

And here is a writeup of the hospital:
http://vintagerockport.com/2011/02/14/leander-m-haskins-hospital-rockport-mass-1907/

MTDNA Haplogroups of the world

2011-12-31T07:28:00.003-05:00

[Not rock pile related]. An interesting graphic about genetic variations of Mitochondrial DNA, worldwide. [Click here]. From Cambridge's McDonald Institute.

Last rock piles of the season?

2011-12-30T09:24:00.020-05:00

I still have later today and tomorrow to explore in 2011 but, if it doesn't snow, I also have Sunday and Monday before my long "vacation" ends. I found employment. The recent obsession with rectangular mounds in Acton continues with finds in Fitchburg along Falulah Brook and, more surprising, a find at Newtown Hill in Littelton, MA.

Definition: A Wachusett Tradition Mound is a rectangular rock pile, more than 10 feet across, with one or more hollow depressions in the upper surface. (The hollow may be represented by an external "tail"). We'll say that a rock pile is Wachusett-like if it shares the basic dimension, or if it has a hollow, or if it is not rectangular but has hollows. From the point of view of these definitions the find in Fitchburg is a typical Wachusett Tradition site and the site in Littleton is more Wachusett-like. Forthwith:
I was not out driving all the way to Fitchburg in order to explore hilltops (smaller blue outline to the left, blogged about here) but to circle a wetland that seemed increasingly hard going. So I cut my losses and went downhill to the northeast back to Falulah brook. I should probably leave it all here with this video.

NIPMUC COUNTRY

That being said, as I got down to within a few feet of the brook, I came across a damaged rock pile:It is Wachusett-like since it has "rectangular" and "hollow" attributes but is far gone. A few feet away was something much better defined, a good example of a Wachusett Tradition mound:These are close to other mounds a hundred yards downstream where Ashby West Rd crosses. Finding these two rock piles, extends the boundaries of the site as I knew it.

**************************************************************

In Littleton, I have been to Newtown Hil before and been a little disappointed. I decided to climb over the hill and stay to the right, since I never did that before. This turned out to be a good strategy. Coming down that little wet valley on the north side of the hill, I saw a little rock pile where it first started getting wet:
Then further down, there is an L-shaped structure in the wet:I have found a number of such structures next to brooks. (Recall some from Forest Hill and Elbow Meadow.) Then...OOH! Big Game:

I find it interesting that there is a main pile (to the rear) and a smaller auxiliary pile to the left. The larger one is not rectangular but has multiple hollows. It was my impression that the piles above from Fitchburg also were in an arrangement of a larger one next to a smaller one. Another view of the larger:
The larger one was more polygonal than rectangular. This might be because of the available boulders. Here is the scene. These guys certainly have their feet in the water. What a lovely find! A view of the large mound from the other direction:

The outline is sort of diamond-shaped. A video from above:

Closeups of the smaller pile:
Then "down the valley" a rock pile I saw years ago. I guess I did not know, back then, to always explore in all directions around where you see something. Or I might have found the above Wachusett-like piles earlier. Now this whole valley is a big spot on my topo maps. There were several piles down at the bottom where the swamp begins, some I walked right past without noticing when I was here before. Others that I have photoed in the past.
See how this pile looks out over the swamp?Another, made from large blocks of rock:Is this even Wachusett-like? I say "yes" because of the overall site, where each pile acquires some of the attributes of its neighbors. So, an interesting site with some small outliers and larger mounds with hollows, and an L-shaped structure - all with their feet in the water.

"The Pristine Myth"

2011-12-30T07:13:00.002-05:00

From Atlantic Unbound (March 7, 2002)

Charles C. Mann talks about the thriving and sophisticated Indian landscape of the pre-Columbus Americas

"For years the standard view of North America before Columbus's arrival was as a vast, grassy expanse teeming with game and all but empty of people. Those who did live here were nomads who left few marks on the land. South America, too, or at least the Amazon rain forest, was thought of as almost an untouched Eden, now suffering from modern depredations. But a growing number of anthropologists and archaeologists now believe that this picture is almost completely false...Europeans who arrived early on found busy, thriving societies. When John Smith visited Massachusetts in 1614, he wrote that the land was "so planted with Gardens and Corne fields, and so well inhabited with a goodly, strong and well proportioned people ... [that] I would rather live here than any where." But by the time the colonists reached Plymouth in the Mayflower six years later, they found one deserted village after another—the Indians had been felled by European diseases to which they had little resistance."
The Interview here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/interviews/int2002-03-07.htm

The Atlantic Monthly | March 2002

2011-12-30T01:43:00.002-05:00

"Before it became the New World, the Western Hemisphere was vastly more populous and sophisticated than has been thought—an altogether more salubrious place to live at the time than, say, Europe. New evidence of both the extent of the population and its agricultural advancement leads to a remarkable conjecture: the Amazon rain forest may be largely a human artifact.(and, Tim writes, perhaps the agro-forests and "gardens" along the eastern coast as well, illustrated by the many stone constructions we've been talking about.)Maize, as corn is called in the rest of the world, was a triumph with global implications. Indians developed an extraordinary number of maize varieties for different growing conditions, which meant that the crop could and did spread throughout the planet...
Indian agriculture long sustained some of the world's largest cities. The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán dazzled Hernán Cortés in 1519; it was bigger than Paris, Europe's greatest metropolis.
From the article that became the book "1491"by Charles C. Mann

Whole Text: http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Chumash/Population.html

More re Stone Huts in Colorodo

2011-12-29T13:18:00.004-05:00

Norman Muller writes (referring to these posts):
I found an engraving of a stone hut/chamber in the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of Ethnology Annual Report #12 from 1890-91 (see attached) and sent an image of it to Native American Research and Preservation in Colorado (see attached). The resemblance is striking, even though the engraving is of a structure that was found in Fayette Co., WVA, probably a thousand miles east of Colorado. The caption under the engraving said the feature was probably built as a burial chamber.

"No. Nobody Found Mayan Ruins"

2011-12-29T12:18:00.004-05:00

I thought I would take a look at what else is being said on the internet about this story of 9UN367. Perhaps this is a typical example, illustrated with a pretty map. I want to comment that the connecting of Track Rock Gap to the Mayans may be nonsense, but lets be clear about the logic. There is a site with physical characteristics that are being documented and speculated about. You cannot dismiss the speculation by quoting theory from some other sites and other unrelated facts. So, for example, Thornton is looking at terracing at Track Rock Gap and saying it is uniquely like Mayan structures. The author of the link above has nothing to say about the facts and so their argument is just huffing and puffing. By contrast, pointing out that there are lots of other examples of such "terraces" and that they are all the way up into New England and (I suppose*) Canada, employs a different critique and is, I think, a fairer argument.

*Take a look at Bayers Lake and Birchtown maps. Or is it that these sorts of maps always look alike?

Speaking of Walls and Rock Piles...

2011-12-29T08:43:00.017-05:00

I usually do not pay close attention to stone walls. What is there to see? What is there to say? Someday, someone has to take the subject seriously and really get to know the different construction styles and different topographic settings and layouts that will (I hope) make it easier to tell the difference between a more recent versus a more ancient stone wall. And I don't mean that Thorson stuff (here or here) which manages to miss the main story. But on the other hand, sometimes the walls seem pretty integral to the place, the place seems to include the ancient, and it all seems worth reporting on together. So, I give you a flat hilltop in northern Fitchburg, uphill from Falulah Brook and the Wachusett Tradition mounds along the brook. [A reason for all the "activity" in this area is not hard to guess. Look how all the brooks come together here at the center of the map fragment.]

One mechanism for capturing site layout:

Another way to capture site layout is a collection of sticks:

Correcting a couple of errors in this stick placement, I get a layout something like this, with walls represented by straight lines and rock piles/mounds represented by ovals:

(Hardly survey quality!)

Let's look at some pictures.

I came up from the east and first got curious seeing the tall squared off wall end at the northern end of the "T" on the right and realizing this was a short stretch of wall:From the other side:
Here is a short(er) stretch that extends the southern stroke of the same "T":Here is the larger mound a few feet to the north; old from the looks of it:
And some views of the little scatter of light colored rocks on a support boulder. This convinces me the site is ceremonial:
[By the way: Is there a strategic use of quartz at Track Rock Gap?]

Some other artfully placed quartz:Placing quartz at a wall junction seems a common practice around here. Here is an old Oak tree and a bit a quartz at a junction downhill from these hilltop walls:Worth doing some compass measurements here.

Colorado Turtle

2011-12-29T08:24:00.005-05:00

Reader R. Sirois writes (comparing to Crestone CO structures mentioned here):
I posted these on facebook because of the similar structure minus the opening. You may use them as you see fit. This is in a location in Standish, Maine.

Additional Pictures from 9UN367

2011-12-29T08:03:00.010-05:00

Reader DG Merritt writes about the ("Mayan") Track Rock Gap:
Here are some additional images from around 9UN367, a very rich and intriguing site:

1_Wall13.jpg: Prehistoric wall in middle left of image, as seen from adjacent hillside. I believe this wall corresponds with Wall 13 in the Loubser and Frink paper. There are additional stone features at middle right.
2_Wall13.jpg: Closer view of Wall 13, with intrepid explorer Kevin Scallions. Track Rock Gap petroglyph site is at base of peak in background.
3_largeCairn.jpg: Large stone cairn at 9UN367, south of Wall 13, with life-size dummy provided for size comparison.
4_stonecircle.jpg: Stone circle or collapsed cairn at 9UN367, with additional linear features in background.

5_nearLgCairn.jpg: Kevin Scallions at stone features near large cairn.
6_Wall13.jpg: Another image of Wall 13, one of many linear features at this site.

I would like to point out that far from suggesting a "Mayan" connection for the features at this site, the Loubser and Frink paper says "Bearing in mind that 9UN367 is located at the headwaters of the Tennessee Valley it might have closer ties with the Tennessee and Kentucky area than with the Georgia area to the south."

...By the way, thanks for introducing me to Tommy Hudson a few weeks ago. We've had some interesting conversations.

Mound Types

2011-12-28T18:38:00.001-05:00

via Norman [click here]

Obsessing over rectanglular structures - more short walks from Piper Rd Acton

2011-12-28T09:24:00.009-05:00

While I was reviewing the map of Piper Rd (blogged here) I noticed another little landform to the south that also was surrounded by water and looked worth exploring. So I snuck behind houses over there on Christmas day (after getting the roast in the oven) and did the "tour de ridge" from Piper Rd over to School Street. There were little rock piles along the northern side of the landform (middle blue outline) much like at the ones at the earlier Piper Rd site:This was the firsts I found, and I called it my "Christmas Pile", as it was like a present:
More interesting to me was the larger somewhat rectangular pile at the easternmost extremity of the landform, a larger pile that might have been a "Wachusett Tradition" item. It was perfectly placed for it:Is this a pile with a tail? I was more or less visible from houses and did not stick around to take good pictures.

After doing this "sneak" I went over to the west side of the road to the legitimate entrance to the Acton Great Hill Conservation Land. Along the red trail in there there is one curious rock pile:
This could also be a rock pile with a tail. Also along the red trail there is an earthen rectangle with an inner stone lined hollow:
(sorry lousy picture)
Inner hollow:
I also thought I saw another, so faint there is no point showing the picture. So either this little part of Acton is full of (a count 4) rectangular Wachusett Tradition piles - rectangular mounds with hollows and/or tails; or perhaps it was nothing. I know I am obsessing about these sorts of rectangles.

Some History of Rock Pile studies at Track Rock Gap and other sites in the Southeastern US

2011-12-28T07:03:00.004-05:00

I asked Norman Muller to fill in some of the history of rock pile studies in the southeast. He writes:

In the late 1990s, probably when I contacted the University of Georgia Anthropology Department about Philip Smith’s 1962 article on prehistoric Georgia walls, someone in the department told me about Carey Waldrip’s research at Track Rock Gap. At that point, he and I maintained correspondence about his research of the terrace wall site at the Gap. This area is east of the petroglyphs at the Gap, for which the gap is named. In the 1990s, Carey, a native of Blairsville, GA, discovered the extensive stonework at the Gap. And then, in the late 1990s, he contacted Tommy Hudson, a developer, who then contracted Jannie Loubser to survey the site. Loubser at the time worked for New South Associates, an archaeological firm in Georgia. He was trained in South Africa, and is an international rock art specialist. Around 2000 Loubser surveyed the site and prepared a report, which is now available online.

In November 2002, while in Georgia attending a symposium at the University of Georgia, I drove to Blairsville to meet with Waldrip, who guided me through the wall site at the Gap, and then to another cairn and wall site a mile or so south of it. The majority of walls he showed me were low and generally parallel to the contour of the slope. The slope at the gap is rocky, the soil thin, and hardly desirable for agriculture. Plus, there were few streams or springs present to suggest that the walls served to dam or control water for an agricultural purpose. To my way of thinking, they were constructed for an entirely different function – perhaps ceremonial.

Since meeting Waldrip, I have corresponded intermittently with Loubser, and he has sent me pdf reports on the sites he has researched. Also, about four years ago I met Tommy Hudson at a meeting of the ESRARA (Eastern States Rock Art Research Association) in northwest Georgia. He funded the initial research of the Track Rock Gap site. Also, I have met and been in contact with Harry Holstein, an archaeologist in Alabama, who has researched wall sites similar to the one at Track Rock Gap.

Thornton’s recent hypothesis that the walls at Track Rock Gap are Mayan lacks credibility, judging from what I know about the site and the individuals who have studied it. If one reads what Thornton has written and compares it with reports by Loubser and Mark Williams (on Kenimer Mound), then it becomes clear that Thornton’s research is sloppy and that he modifies what others have written to support his own beliefs. Loubser’s research, however, is first class. He not only is a fine archaeologist, but he also has a deep understanding of Indian cosmology and mythology, which he incorporates in his reports. His article on Judaculla Rock in the journal Time & Mind (“From Boulder to Mountain and Back Again: Self-Similarity between Landscape and Mindscape in Cherokee Thought, Speech and Action as expressed by the Judaculla Rock Petroglyphs. Time & Mind 2 (3), 2009, 287-312) is exceptional not only for its sensitive perception and interpretation of Indian rock art, but also how knowledge of Cherokee history and beliefs amplify its interpretation.

Near Crestone, Colorado,

2011-12-28T07:00:00.003-05:00

there are four intriguing stone 'hut' structures......

Two are very 'turtle' shaped.

We would like to hear from you if anyone knows of similar structures, their uses, age, etc.

Native American Research and Preservation, Inc. @ http://stonequest.org/StoneHuts.aspx

Kenimer Mound

2011-12-27T14:25:00.001-05:00

Norman Muller emails:

This makes for interesting reading in light of what Thornton wrote about the mound. http://www.thelamarinstitute.org/images/PDFs/publication_47.pdf

Stone Mound in AL

2011-12-27T14:19:00.003-05:00

Also from Norman Muller:
Attached is a scan of a map that Harry Holstein prepared for a report he did, titled “A Preliminary Archaeological Investigation of the Morton Hill Stone Structure Complex, 1CA671, Calhoun County, Alabama,” for Jacksonville State University Archaeological Resource Laboratory, Research Series Number 5, March 2010. Compare this map with the one produced in the Loubser and Frink article [click here]

Track Rock Gap from Norman Muller

2011-12-27T14:08:00.007-05:00

Norman emails:
A link to a negative view of the claims of Mesoamerican presence in the Southeast.:
http://danelliott.wordpress.com/

Some other photos:

(Norman Muller)

Also:
Although the attention about Track Rock Gap has focused on the stone walls, little has been said about the site that gave the gap its name. This link, written by Loubser, provides some answers:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPyhQoYAOUjMeXDfODy-HWHg-zDrx8kb4ADOBro-3nk56bqF-RGGGSZOCoCAPi8eX8!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfME80MEkxVkFCOTBFMktTNVVJNDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=stelprdb5221888&navid=091000000000000&pnavid=null&ss=110803&position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&ttype=detailfull&pname=Chattahoochee-Oconee%20National%20Forest-%20Home

Armageddon Online says:

2011-12-27T09:22:00.001-05:00

"Googling "Archaeological Site 9UN367" yields more info, too, such as this paper (pdf)
"AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ETHNOHISTORICAL APPRAISAL OF A PILED STONE FEATURE COMPLEX IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH GEORGIA"

(which a quick scan reveals it doesn't go into the Mayan connection Thornton speaks of, but he mentions that)

and this interesting blog on stone structures in New England and SE United States, Rock Piles, which shares a picture here.

http://forums.armageddononline.org/threads/33640-Massive-1-100-year-old-Mayan-site-discovered-in-Georgia-s-mountains

Piper Rd Rock Piles - Acton MA

2011-12-27T08:49:00.015-05:00

For those enthusiasts who are reassured, as am I, to know they are commuting past rock piles, I just added a new site for people who drive on Rt 2 in Acton. The site is on Piper Rd, just beyond the corporate buildings to the south, as the road heads uphill and there is a small woods to the left - behind the buildings and before the houses. If you look in there, you can see rock piles as you drive bye. For example:It is a bit messy. But there are rock piles in there. Perhaps a bit like marker piles and a bit like breakout wetland ceremonies.One interesting feature was a very faintly defined stone "wall" that goes uphill briefly: At the top it turns a corner and becomes a more regular structure. Note the parallelism with the rock pile in the background. Is this a recent or colonial manifestation? Perhaps. But other piles at this site and other clusters are typical Native American:Some rock-on-rocks from there. I like their aesthetic.Every rock takes on significance.

Last artifact find, 2011

2011-12-26T20:33:00.001-05:00

This is likely to be my last find for a while. I wish I could show something as wonderful as that lovely quartz spearpoint a reader found recently but I was not so lucky (though I am still thrilled by any find of any kind). This piece is more typical of local artifacts, a crude triangular point, also quartz, but shaped using hard hammer percussion flaking, rather than the fine pressure flaking of that spearpoint.

It is missing the tip and looks like it might have taken a hit to the lower right corner but most of it is there. It is about twice as thick as most points of this size that I find. I think it probably was resharpened down from something bigger and most likely was used as a knife.

I found this on Friday, I got out of work early and raced to a place I wanted to search, a farm field on this occasion. Unfortunately for me, the farmer has used some kind of fertilizer that covers the ground in most places, there was little hope of finding anything, so I got back into my car and spent some time in a favorite spot, where I found this. It was mostly buried with just a tiny piece peeking out of the ground. Today I spent hours searching in four different places, I waded through mud and splashed around in the water and it was windy and all I found was one fragment of something so badly broken I am not sure what kind of tool it was. A typical day.

More (2) re Mayan's building stone mounds in Georgia

2011-12-25T08:22:00.001-05:00

[Click here]
From Examiner.com article by Gary Daniels.

Acton Rock Pile

2011-12-24T18:40:00.001-05:00

Quartz Spearpoint from Marshfield

2011-12-23T11:04:00.004-05:00

Via a reader Brian B:

"My son C. & I were clamming in Marshfield last week and dug up this incredible arrowhead in the muck."

More re Mayan's building stone mounds in Georgia

2011-12-23T07:17:00.003-05:00

A reader Kathe B. writes:

In regards to this page http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2010/06/archaeological-and-ethnohistorical.html on your site that I found while trying to find more information on this http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/22/1100-year-old-mayan-ruins-found-in-north-georgia/ and this http://www.examiner.com/architecture-design-in-national/massive-1-100-year-old-maya-site-discovered-georgia-s-mountains

I thought you might find them an interesting read considering your blog (which I've only just found).

(PWAX) I strongly recommend that last link. It is much more detailed and convincing that there actually is a Mayan presence in Georgia. Of course, let me be the first to say, that things like small flat topped pyramids in Fitchburg might have a connection to those people as well. The only problem I see with the argument of Mayans coming directly to the eastern US, is that so many cultures between Mexico and the eastern US have the same kind of arrowheads as the Maya - so it should be viewed [I think] as a continuum from Mexico to here.

Google Earth images of Western PA rock piles

2011-12-23T06:30:00.008-05:00

by Kathy K. (aka: theseventhgeneration)
This is a follow up to the Tuesday, December 20, 2011 post "Western PA rock pile". Tim asked, in what direction was the first photo taken?

I hope reader Bill C. doesn't mind my taking the liberty to look this site up on Google Earth, but in light of the mining activity, I think it's imperative that this site is looked at seriously, before it is destroyed.

First, a look at the entire site, aerial view. The rock shelter is in the center of the strip mine. I marked the end of the tree line because it is so clearly visible in Bill's first photo. Note, this image is faced due north (compass in upper right).Next, a close up of the rock pile site between Evans Hill and the rock shelter (looking southwest). I believe rock pile #5 is the one with the standing stone, although I would need Bill C. to confirm this. I have not been out to this site.Last, Google Earth's simulation of the sunset on the 2011 Winter Solstice. The sun passes right over Evans Hill.There are more photos at Laurel Hill Walks, including some other structures at this site which look to be in danger from mining.

1,100-year-old Mayan ruins found in North Georgia

2011-12-22T15:03:00.002-05:00

by JimP

Click here for story:1,100-year-old Mayan ruins found in North Georgia

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient Mayan city in the mountains of North Georgia believed to be at least 1,100 years old. According to Richard Thornton at Examiner.com, the ruins are reportedly what remains of a city built by Mayans fleeing wars, volcanic eruptions, droughts and f...

Visit to the Robbins Museum

2011-12-22T10:35:00.013-05:00

I have a friend, Tom Todd, whose grandfather gave an arrowhead collection to what became the Robbins Museum in Middleboro (see here) and so, yesterday, he and his brother and I drove down to the museum. By pre-arrangement we were going to take a look at that collection. Middleboro is a bit out of the way, unless you are driving to Cape Cod, but WOW! That museum is a building filled with hundreds of arrowheads and other treasures worth going out of the way for.

We ended up spending several hours more than I expected looking at arrowheads and talking with the museum staff. To my pleased surprise, long time NEARA member Ted Ballard was there as one of the interpreters and also Curtis Hoffman. Curtis is the current editor of the bulletin of the MAS, chair of an archeology/anthropology department at Bridgewater State and one of Massachusetts' only archeologists who both has practical experience with digging sites and arrowheads as well as an interest in rock piles. I alternated between chatting with these old colleagues, looking at the museum's exhibits, and going into the room where they were unwrapping the Todd collection. This family comes from Concord and many of the arrowheads are from Concord. Apparently some more of the collection got moved to the Concord Museum. Much of what we saw at the Robbins Museum was broken and I wonder: where is the good stuff? Maybe in Concord.

Let me make some comments about the museum. A lot of the collection is magnificent. They have "whale tale" atlatl weights made of banded slate and others made of jade-like stone that are exceptional. They have bird stones, boat stones, celts, and gouges. They have examples of the only inscribed pendants I have seen using representative art (pictures of turtles or of figures). They have lots of grooved axes. They also have a few random non-New England artifacts mixed in with parts of the collections. I saw a couple of points made from materials that I have never seen elsewhere. I saw a small jade celt that looked like a pretty good match for some things I have seen from China. Looking at some of the cases of a hundred or so examples of the same small quartz triangular point shape, I had the feeling that excessive numbers tend to denature the beauty of the single item. I got the same feeling at the Louvre where Napolean's bounty is crammed in together with every other item ever collected by the French Empire. I wonder if this is the best way to display the beauty and the information of these arrowhead collections? In any case if you want to have your fill of Massachusetts arrowheads, the Robbins Museum is very much worth the trip. I had arrowhead images dancing in front of my eyes all evening and still this morning.

In my own collection I have examples of many of the types of item they showed at the museum. I do have some kind of atlatl weights, I have gouges, and I have grooved axes (which I did not find but got from my in-laws). I have examples of many of the basic arrowhead types and materials. I do not have a celt although I hope I find one someday. I have considered buying one in the meantime. The museum also showed examples of some cruder items - called "hoes" or "choppers" and I have a few items like that also. But I have a large number of crude old stone tools, like axes, hatchets, and large pebble choppers that were in no way represented at the museum. Sure enough, these old crude tools are still flying beneath the archeological radar. Similarly, although Curtis Hoffman is working at the Museum, there is no acknowledgement of the rock pile as an archeological artifact. It would be nice to see the museum represent these artifacts as well, to give a more complete picture of what you can find out there on the ground.

Ramapo Rock Shelter

2011-12-22T08:29:00.001-05:00

An acidental find while watching the Evan's Hill videos:
http://youtu.be/VTsbftE5SOo

followed by this sort of disturbing one:
http://youtu.be/buvKWu3YjVI

A Bunch of Stuff about Fences and Stone Rows

2011-12-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

(And Meer Stones too)

George Henry Durrie: Gathering Wood for Winter (New Haven CT) 1855

Found at http://b-womeninamericanhistory19.blogspot.com/2010/12/snowy-19th-century-american-countryside.html

where there are more paintings of farmers gathering wood than building stone walls...

http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2011/12/using-primary-sources-to-reconstruct.html

http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2011/12/stone-wall-wandering.html

http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2011/12/image-from-century-illustrated-monthly.html

http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2011/12/early-fences-rails-pales-and-meer.html

Stone lined springs, short stretches of wall, etc...

2011-12-20T08:52:00.007-05:00

A couple of stray photos from a bit of woods in Lincoln, where there were certainly plenty of signs of farming activity and a few signs of something less certain:
Some similar items from Pepperell (although the short stretch of wall here seems much older than the one from Lincoln, while this spring was obviously modern):There was a smattering of rock piles at both places. Eg in Lincoln:

Western PA rock pile

2011-12-20T07:33:00.003-05:00

Reader Bill C. writes:
...here's a few photos I took yesterday near Brush Valley,Pa. Laurel Hill walks has been in this area of mine but hasn't seen this interesting rock pile in person yet. This is a front and back view. Update: Those photos were actually from screen shots of video I took that day,this photo is from a still and shows more detail. The video can be seen at this YouTube address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9GAfavVG2E

Light posting

2011-12-19T19:14:00.002-05:00

No new finds of significance last weekend means a quiet week here on the blog. But the snow has held off and I'll be getting out Christmas week, provided the weather continues to be nice.

Amazing Massachusetts

2011-12-19T10:27:00.003-05:00

Just came across a website by Derek Gunn. (see here). Added a permanent link to the right.

Random comparison

2011-12-18T15:57:00.002-05:00

This and This