Signs

by Tim MacSweeney

Beyond the new signs, there were other signs of an ancient landscape.

More at: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2008/04/working-yesterday-taking-drive-after.html

More on that Southborough site I was talking about

So I came down right into the edge of the wetland and noticed a collection of flat rocks propped against supports. Let's take a look at the shapes of these flat propped up rocks. You can see that the nearest one, on the left in the picture above, is a bit "manitou" shaped. How about these two: These are all within a few yards from each other. I noticed a split-wedged rock: And here is what looks to me like the heart of the mystery: The spring.

A fine spirit door, Rocky Pond Boylston, MA

YouTube Debate

by JimP

My video on YouTube has sparked one visitor named, "factfirst," to begin a debate on the existence of Native American stone structures. I'd like to invite folks here to participate and add your thoughts. You are required to register for free with YouTube in order to post a comment, unfortunately. But please get involved. My lonely voice isn't enough, and this exchange is for posterity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExKcC4G--QE

Southwestern facing slopes looking across a wetland

A few weeks ago I described visiting a site [click here], which was a "marker pile site" facing southwest over a wetland. A weekend ago I went back to see if there was more to the site and, in fact, their were two other clusters of rock piles, also situated on southwestern facing slopes along the same wetland. It was as if that side of the slopes had been spray-painted with rock piles from the same southwesterly direction. Here are some photos from my visit, going from west to east (left to right on the map). First, another picture of one of the larger piles from the site visited originally. This is a platform type pile at the edge of a drop-off. View from above:View from below:Walking on along the edge of the wetland I was happy to see some more rock piles about 200 yards away: Another view of the slope from the other side: You can see a pile with a hole through it to the right hand side of this last picture. Here is a closeup: As I said when showing this as an "Appetizer", this hole through the pile is probably deliberate. An aperture pile with a bit of damage. Here is one with a bit more damage: Here is a suggestive looking rock-on-rock. Over time I have come to think upper rocks are sometimes a deliberate shape. It is easy to believe in this case. There were perhaps 7-10 piles in this cluster. Continuing on to the third cluster (furthest right on the map) these were much lower to the ground. Eventually I came away thinking this was an older part to the site. All the piles here were broken down. In this cluster, this part of the overall site, we are lower down, closer to the wetland. In fact we are within the breakout zone giving rise to the wetland. We're talking old broken down piles. How much longer till they disappear completely? And look at how the piles begin to blend in with the apparently random jumble or rocks: There were a couple of structural features to this sight worth mentioning. There was a larger boulder uphill from these piles making me wonder if the piles might be marking lines of sight from the boulder. And to the far side of that boulder there was one outlier pile. It was easy to imagine this pile being a line of sight from the boulder. I think this pile is in good condition and the pointed rock at the right hand edge is deliberate. I keep seeing these things and not noticing. I need to pay attention to the shapes of rocks in piles.I should mention this is in Southborough, MA.

Are there any rock piles in Nova Scotia?

Reading the visitor logs, I see a number of visitors from Nova Scotia. Is it that there are rock piles there? If I was going to Nova Scotia would there be someplace worth visiting in particular?

Update: Here are some modern ones.

Larry Harrop blogs the Easton "Cave"

Larry writes:

I found and blogged the "cave" at Borderland State Park that was posted on your blog. http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2008/04/cave-entrance-found-on-photoblog.html
It's the newest post @ http://larryharrop.com/blog/

Manchester MA - Mounds

Bruce McAleer writes in:

Here's some info about the town of Manchester, MA. Three indian mounds are mentioned as having burials. One was 150 feet in diameter and 8 feet high and had a large quantity of bones.

http://www.near-the-sea.com/MHS/masco.html

Chateaugay Lake, NY Blog

by theseventhgeneration

Shatagee Woods History is a blog that has information about the history of Chateaugay Lake, NY. Chateaugay Lake is in the Adirondacks, near the Canadian border, just west of Lake Champlain.

Here are links to two of the posts. The first is about Indian grave sites in the area. Click here for the link. The comments are interesting (mentioning standing stones).

The second post is a story of an Indian lead mine on Lyon Mountain (near Chateaugay Lake). Click here for the link.

"Cairns" from New Marlborough and Sheffield MA

Norman Muller wrote:

Lion Miles of Stockbridge, MA, had a tour of a remote cairn site in New Marlborough, MA, last weekend. Attached are some photos that he sent.

In a separate e-mail, he sent me some photos of stonework in Sheffield, MA,

Boom, Bust, or Barkaboom?

by theseventhgeneration

Yesterday I decided to check up on a possible site mentioned here almost a year ago. Click here for the link.

After reading the post and looking at the map...



I was sure there was a nice rock pile on CR 38. The road is just upstream from the junction of the Bush Kill with the East Branch and affords a nice view of Pakatakan Mountain. I also wanted to nose around Paktakan Mountain, to see if I could find the Dry Brook Ridge Trail.

First, I'll get to the bust. The CR 38 "rock pile" is nothing more than a very large gravel bank. I'm not even certain it's picture-worthy, but I did snap some photos, so maybe a small shot here just to satisfy the curious:



CR-38 is a very short road. I'm sure I found the right pile. Well, to be honest, I drove up the road, turned around, stopped, took pictures of the gravel bank, stopped again to take a picture of Pakatakan Mountain (which can be seen quite nicely from CR-38), and, by then, a State Trooper pulled up behind me to see what was wrong, so I thought I should not keep nosing around there too much!

Now for the boom.

Pakatakan Mountain is beautiful. I found the trail I was looking for and also found something interesting near the trail head. Here is a close up:



And here is the whole thing, turned to the right and cropped to get the image within 9 MB's so I could upload it:



This is near the road in a very steep area. If you click on the photo above to enlarge it, you might be able to see a guy wire that is holding up a telephone pole on the road (left hand side). This is not an undisturbed area, but it is on the side of the mountain overlooking the East Branch of the Delaware River, near the base of the mountain.

Now, for the real "Barkaboom"...

On the drive out there, I passed 3 really nice rock piles. I was only able to photograph one because there was no place to pull over for the other two, but I'll figure something out and go back soon.

Here is how it looks from the road:



And this is a zoom shot:



Well worth the drive!

Hole through a rock pile. Hard to believe it is a coincidence

A relation between rock piles sites and the eastern sides of ponds near the Sterling-Leominster border

I have been to all but three of the bodies of water on this map and found rock pile sites as circled. A pattern is starting to emerge of sites on the eastern sides of ponds.

These ponds are man-made but the topography is natural and the piles could have been built before or after the damming of the waterways. The suggestion seems to be clear: I should go visit the remaining thee ponds.

Correction: I have been to that body of water to the upper right, Hayes Reservoir, and have not found piles on its easter side. More exploration around those ponds is called for.

Another pond just to the north

Speaking of rock piles next to a pond (click here), here are some next to another pond just to the north:You see the road in the background.These have mostly been pretty thoroughly bashed about.

By a pond

I poked my head into a little patch of woods at the southeast corner of a pond and found a large, low, almost triangular rockpile:Here are views of its sides, moving clockwise:
There appears to be some kind of a low ramp spiraling up the sides of the thing. It looks like the pile is triangular although I was not struck by that at the time. Where have I seen something like that recently? Once maybe in Weston, maybe a similar but pentagonal one from Acton.

Red Wing, MN Cairns

Norman got this from Bruce Koenen, a researcher. It includes a photo and a poster which I could not post directly so I screen-captured what I could. Bruce wrote:

In doing research for my paper I noted that the northeast seemed particularly rich in stone structures. I'm attaching a PDF version of the poster I did.

The image you saw on the web [see here] was taken between fifty and sixty years ago and unfortunately the photographer does not remember the exact location, however a colleague thinks he has relocated the spot and unfortunately the feature had not survived intact. The images on the poster will give you a sense of what is left of most of the features here. So far we have not re-located any intact cairns. The area where the cairns are found is developing rapidly so their long term survival is threatened.
I've attached a photo to give you an idea of how thoroughly the cairns were disassembled. The bases on most are relatively intact. The PA cairns do appear very similar, are they also hollow as the Red Wing structures appear to have been?

"Cave" entrance found on a photoblog

Reader Bruce writes in:

http://www.beepsandchirps.com/index.php?showimage=66

A Borderland State Park, Easton, Mass.


Caught my eye and perhaps deserving of a look by a better eye than
mine...


/bruce in ottawa/

Link to Borderland State Park here.

Tree of Peace

by Tim MacSweeney

I know you’ve heard of “Bury the Hatchet,” but did you know the rest of the expression is: “And Plant the Tree of Peace?”

“In an ancient time, the Haudenosaunee were ruled by warfare and anarchy, and people lived in fear and hunger, preyed upon by powerful warriors and tyrants. One day, a white stone carried a man, born of a virgin, across Onondaga Lake to announce The Good News of Peace had come, and killing and violence would end.
"Peace," he said, "is the desire of the Holder of the Heavens. Peace comes when people adopt the Creator's Mind, which is Reason." For years The Peacemaker traveled teaching the Path of Peace—that "all people love one another and live together in peace."
One by one he convinced each person, village and nation to accept his teaching. Hiawatha, an Onondaga, was his spokesman. At last, all the people gathered Onondaga Lake for the first Grand Council of the United Nations. There, Peacemaker transmitted The Great Law of Peace—instructions to form a society and government based on liberty, dignity and harmony. The White Pine—with five needles clasped as one—became symbol of Five Nations united as one Confederacy.
Peacemaker uprooted a White Pine, exposing a deep cavern with a river at its bottom. He told warriors to cast weapons into this hole and the river carried the tools of war deep in the Earth.

Replanting the White Pine, The Peacemaker said, "To bury the hatchet signifies the end of war, killing and violence."

"The Tree of Peace," Peacemaker explained, "has four white roots extending to Earth's four corners. Anyone who desires peace can follow the roots to their source and find shelter under The Great Tree."

http://www.championtrees.org/yarrow/TreeofPeace.htm


More here, about Treaty Trees:

http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2008/04/tree-of-peace-and-treaty-trees.html