Note the boulder in the background on the left:
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Little Ossipee Stone Mound
Reader Rob Sirois also writes:
I had almost forgotten about the (rock pile) mound in the middle of the Little Ossipee a few miles down stream from Lake Arrowhead
I had almost forgotten about the (rock pile) mound in the middle of the Little Ossipee a few miles down stream from Lake Arrowhead
Lake Arrowhead Mounds
Reader Rob Sirois writes:
Since you’re on the subject of mounds & structures in lakes;
In early June of 2009, my son and I went fishing in a canoe on Lake Arrowhead in Limerick. Our luck with the fish was not all that good. So, we decided to explore some of the swamps and backwater areas. As we passed through a channel I noticed a number of small islands rising abruptly out of the shallow water. Each island seemed much too regular in size to be natural. I wondered if they were man made, perhaps Native American mounds. Centuries ago Lake Arrowhead was nonexistent; it was formed when a hydroelectric dam was built across the Little Ossipee River. It’s certain that the area around these islands was once dry land and these islands were mounds of some sort.
Three of these mounds are roughly ten to fifteen feet high and about twenty to twenty-five wide. Two other mounds are nearly half that size, and there may be a sixth mound in a swampy meadow which made it hard to determine size. All seem to be somewhat circular when viewed from above. After my son and I got back from our trip, I searched Google Earth to get another perspective on what we had come across. 
What I saw convinced me that we had come across some man made structures, I just don’t know for sure if they’re Native American.
Since you’re on the subject of mounds & structures in lakes;
In early June of 2009, my son and I went fishing in a canoe on Lake Arrowhead in Limerick. Our luck with the fish was not all that good. So, we decided to explore some of the swamps and backwater areas. As we passed through a channel I noticed a number of small islands rising abruptly out of the shallow water. Each island seemed much too regular in size to be natural. I wondered if they were man made, perhaps Native American mounds. Centuries ago Lake Arrowhead was nonexistent; it was formed when a hydroelectric dam was built across the Little Ossipee River. It’s certain that the area around these islands was once dry land and these islands were mounds of some sort.
Three of these mounds are roughly ten to fifteen feet high and about twenty to twenty-five wide. Two other mounds are nearly half that size, and there may be a sixth mound in a swampy meadow which made it hard to determine size. All seem to be somewhat circular when viewed from above. After my son and I got back from our trip, I searched Google Earth to get another perspective on what we had come across. 
What I saw convinced me that we had come across some man made structures, I just don’t know for sure if they’re Native American.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Rock Lake Revisited
By Mike Ault, Copyright 2007
“About 2 years ago I read about the pyramids of Rock Lake. In Native American legends there were the “stone teepees” visible from the shore or canoe when the water level in Rock Lake was low, early settlers also reported these structures. Then in the early 1800’s the level of the lake was raised by 10-20 feet to allow for a mill to be constructed, inundating these structures and driving them from men’s minds until the 1900’s when again the levels in the lake were low enough and the water clear enough (in the early spring and late fall) for the tops of the structures to be visible. In the late 1960’s these structures where documented in the 1967 issue of "Skin Diver" magazine in an article by John Kennedy. Several popular books such as “THE LOST PYRAMIDS OF ROCK LAKE” and “ATLANTIS IN WISCONSIN” by Frank Joseph and “THE DRAGON IN THE LAKE” by Archie Eschborn, brought the structures to the attention of the world generating interest from several television shows that specialize in ancient mysteries…Randy had chosen Fremont Bar as our first dive site. It is likely that Freemont Bar is probably at least one of the sites that led to the stone teepee legends. The bar is in about 20-30 foot of water and consists of a sand bar with a pile of rocks on each end that are roughly the same size and shape. The placement of the stone piles on Fremont bar reminded me of the placement of the earthen mounds at Aztalan…The Fremont bar seemed to me to definitely show the hand of man in the placement of the stone piles and their uniformity. Some experts have claimed that they are only glacial drumlins but why would a glacier leave two nearly identical piles of stone on either end of a sand base? Also during the dive at Fremont bar I found what I believe was a mortar stone. The mortar stones used by Native Americans were usually 2-3 feet in diameter and have a depression chipped into the top side that when used with a pestle stone worked as a primitive grinder for grain or for shells to add as binder in pottery clay. The stone I found was about 2 feet in diameter, about a foot and a half thick and had a depression on the top that fit the typical mortar stone description exactly. In most cases mortar stones where left behind when a site was abandoned as they were too heavy to be transported…On the next dive we examined the so-called “Delta Mound” site. It was a uniform 10 feet depth and had very well defined sides…
image source:
The top of the mound had numerous stone circles, some with stones weighing at least 100 pounds or more. All of the stone circles we found had the same accumulation of silt and moss as the underlying stones of the mound which seemed to indicate they had been underwater the same length of time…After diving the alter we pulled up the anchors and sought out the location of the effigies reported to be of a turtle and a headless man…We found odd shaped cutouts that ran about 4-5 feet in diameter and to about 3 – 4 foot in depth. I followed the edges and they seemed to be a partial shape of some kind but whether it was a turtle, headless man or just some weird natural formation I am not sure, if I was a betting man I would have to place money on it being the partially silted in turtle effigy, I have never seen a natural phenomena that could produce that type of pattern to that depth…”
http://www.scubamage.com/files/rock_lake_rpt.pdf
“About 2 years ago I read about the pyramids of Rock Lake. In Native American legends there were the “stone teepees” visible from the shore or canoe when the water level in Rock Lake was low, early settlers also reported these structures. Then in the early 1800’s the level of the lake was raised by 10-20 feet to allow for a mill to be constructed, inundating these structures and driving them from men’s minds until the 1900’s when again the levels in the lake were low enough and the water clear enough (in the early spring and late fall) for the tops of the structures to be visible. In the late 1960’s these structures where documented in the 1967 issue of "Skin Diver" magazine in an article by John Kennedy. Several popular books such as “THE LOST PYRAMIDS OF ROCK LAKE” and “ATLANTIS IN WISCONSIN” by Frank Joseph and “THE DRAGON IN THE LAKE” by Archie Eschborn, brought the structures to the attention of the world generating interest from several television shows that specialize in ancient mysteries…Randy had chosen Fremont Bar as our first dive site. It is likely that Freemont Bar is probably at least one of the sites that led to the stone teepee legends. The bar is in about 20-30 foot of water and consists of a sand bar with a pile of rocks on each end that are roughly the same size and shape. The placement of the stone piles on Fremont bar reminded me of the placement of the earthen mounds at Aztalan…The Fremont bar seemed to me to definitely show the hand of man in the placement of the stone piles and their uniformity. Some experts have claimed that they are only glacial drumlins but why would a glacier leave two nearly identical piles of stone on either end of a sand base? Also during the dive at Fremont bar I found what I believe was a mortar stone. The mortar stones used by Native Americans were usually 2-3 feet in diameter and have a depression chipped into the top side that when used with a pestle stone worked as a primitive grinder for grain or for shells to add as binder in pottery clay. The stone I found was about 2 feet in diameter, about a foot and a half thick and had a depression on the top that fit the typical mortar stone description exactly. In most cases mortar stones where left behind when a site was abandoned as they were too heavy to be transported…On the next dive we examined the so-called “Delta Mound” site. It was a uniform 10 feet depth and had very well defined sides…
image source:
http://www.scubamage.com/files/rock_lake_rpt.pdf
More "Indian Burial Ground" YouTube
[Click here] - Seems the idea of rock piles as Burial Mounds is (or has become) pretty widely believed these days.
"Indian Burial Grounds"
From the Georgia Outdoor News Forum [click here and scroll to the bottom]. Every time I read these things the writers seem more informed about the subject.
A commenter writes: "Are those mounds earth or rock? Hard to tell from the pics. Mounds on eastern slopes overlooking a valley with a water feature (creek or river) have a high probability of being indian graves. The east is the land of the "living" and the water is a path to the afterlife. Usually groups of mounds on eastern slopes are even higher probability of graves."
Also here with "Some of the mounds or "cairns" in GA have been found to have bone fragments, or artifacts and others nothing. So no one is really sure what some of the mounds were actually for. But ones on eastern slopes overlooking water tend to be graves and should be left alone out of respect."
A commenter writes: "Are those mounds earth or rock? Hard to tell from the pics. Mounds on eastern slopes overlooking a valley with a water feature (creek or river) have a high probability of being indian graves. The east is the land of the "living" and the water is a path to the afterlife. Usually groups of mounds on eastern slopes are even higher probability of graves."
Also here with "Some of the mounds or "cairns" in GA have been found to have bone fragments, or artifacts and others nothing. So no one is really sure what some of the mounds were actually for. But ones on eastern slopes overlooking water tend to be graves and should be left alone out of respect."
House On Spears Path - Foster RI
"Our house was over 250 years old. It was situated half a mile up a dirt road from the main road - pretty well secluded, surrounded by woods. The basement was made of stones and had a dirt floor. On the grounds there was an Indian burial ground (mounds of rocks covering the dead). We heard that an elderly couple had mysteriously disappeared from our house and it had been boarded up years and years before we ever moved in. We never found out - just a good story. The town has a long history of happenings and no one really pays much attention - it's normal. The witches, the 4 year old in Foster Center speaking in an ancient language. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?"
From Archive X (not sure what that is).
From Archive X (not sure what that is).
Earthen Mound Tour of Wisconsin - includes some stone mounds
[click here and scroll down]
Promoted from comments:
There are many serpent mound structures in the Golan Heights and western Syria viewable in Google Earth. Here is a Google Maps link that shows four such structures close together. CLICK HERE
Promoted from comments:
There are many serpent mound structures in the Golan Heights and western Syria viewable in Google Earth. Here is a Google Maps link that shows four such structures close together. CLICK HERE
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Chanterelles?
I have some Russian cousins who are passionate about hunting mushrooms. So I have been paying closer attention, out walking. With all the rain followed by warm weather I could easily collect 100 pounds of mushrooms in an afternoon.
So I have heard about and seen pictures of chanterelles and eaten them in fancy restaurants but I have never seen any till now. Lots on the ground where I was exploring in Lunenberg.
I am going to give in to my cousins' passion tomorrow and look for mushrooms with them instead of rock piles. Luckily the place I am taking them to look for "black trumpets" (see here) has some rock piles too.
So I have heard about and seen pictures of chanterelles and eaten them in fancy restaurants but I have never seen any till now. Lots on the ground where I was exploring in Lunenberg.
I am going to give in to my cousins' passion tomorrow and look for mushrooms with them instead of rock piles. Luckily the place I am taking them to look for "black trumpets" (see here) has some rock piles too.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Georgia Prehistoric
turkey trot rock, georgia 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler/3294479520/in/set-72157600131426912/
stone mound, Little Mulberry Park
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler/5236344829/in/set-72157600131426912From a Flicker photo set by Alan Cressler: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler/sets/72157600131426912/
Indian Mounds, a disscussion group with photos by others:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/indianmounds/pool/with/474240467/
Cormier Woods Reservation - Uxbridge MA
The caretaker for the Cormier Woods Reservation, a property managed by the Trustees of Reservations, writes:
Here are a couple of photos in one area. After noticing the stone piles, I had done some research on-line and started to see patterns here on the property. Circles of stones, stones lined up in odd places, stone piles with quartz near center, cairn-like piles, etc. This is a very old farm and of course there are [also] farmer’s stone piles from clearing fields or marking boundaries. These other configurations have captured my imagination. We have a large glacial erratic boulder field on one part of a trail, and a very large ‘waymarker’ stone near the cellar holes of an early homestead on another part of the trail.
[Looking at the trail map it looks like ideal topography for rock piles. - PWAX]
Here are a couple of photos in one area. After noticing the stone piles, I had done some research on-line and started to see patterns here on the property. Circles of stones, stones lined up in odd places, stone piles with quartz near center, cairn-like piles, etc. This is a very old farm and of course there are [also] farmer’s stone piles from clearing fields or marking boundaries. These other configurations have captured my imagination. We have a large glacial erratic boulder field on one part of a trail, and a very large ‘waymarker’ stone near the cellar holes of an early homestead on another part of the trail.
[Looking at the trail map it looks like ideal topography for rock piles. - PWAX]
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Woodbridge
(An older Photo from Elderslie in Woodbridge CT)
I was just reading about Seymour CT in an old issue of The Connecticut magazine: an illustrated monthly, Volume 6 edited by William Farrand Felch, George C. Atwell, H. Phelps Arms, Francis Trevelyan Miller (1900). When I came across this: "In 1731 they bought of the Indians all the land known as Indian Hill, in Derby, situated upon east side of Naugatuck river near the place called the Falls; all the land that lieth eastward, northward and southward, except the plain that lieth near the Falls up to the foot of the hill." This deed was signed by John Cookson and John Howd and other Indians. Indian Hill included what is now known as the Promised Land, and east to the Woodbridge line (http://books.google.com/books?id=kvQLAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22the%20fishing%20place%20at%20Naugatuck%2C%22&pg=PA315#v=onepage&q=%22the%20fishing%20place%20at%20Naugatuck,%22&f=false)."It reminded me that I meant to post that I had visited, camera-less, The Elderslie Preserve in Woodbridge, near the Seymour town line (sort of). I was on the way home from the New Haven Train Station, just after Hurricane Irene. I took an hour long walk through the woods off Peck Hill Road, looking at some Rock Piles I had seen before and many that were new to me. There was little storm (or earthquake) damage and once again I was impressed with the great number of stone monuments in the preserve to the west of the boyhood home of "PWax."
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
He's baaaaaack!
He [winter] is gone, he's withdrawn, to the rugged mountains....(Faust by Goethe)
Without further comment:
Bars
An old post - http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2006/05/indian-bars.html led to a newer post - http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2009/10/revisiting-old-post.html which leads to this from The History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642 -- 188O by Samuel Orcutt and Ambrose Beardsley - Published: Press of Springfield Printing Company, Springfield, Mass., 1880: " In laying out land this year on the Neck, the locations are designated by Paul's Plains, East hill, Indian field. Bar Plains; which last is supposed by some, to have meant Bare plains, but as there was another name for land a little further up the river, apparently called Baren plains, the former may have been called Bear plains, where the bears came to obtain grass (Pg 69 - 70)," another opinion of what "Bars" meant. Now I wonder what bears did with the grass in those days...
Chuse
“Of the Indians who lived on the reservation, the most authentic accounts pertain to Joe Mau-we-hu. He was a son of Gideon Mauwehu, a Pequot, who was a sachem of the Derby tribe of Indians, living on the state reservation, at Scatacook, in Kent. After he had taken his tribe or clan thither from the Naugatuck country, according to Barber, Gideon had a desire that his son, Joe, should be brought up among the whites, and accordingly placed him in the family of Agur Tomlinson, of Derby, where he remained during his minority. On attaining manhood he preferred to remain in Derby, and his father gave him a tract of land on the plain at the falls, which was called the Indian Field. Here he established himself as a sort of a sachem of the few Indians remaining in this locality, building his cabin on the south border of the flat, tilling a little ground, but subsisting mainly on hunting and fishing. He had the respect and confidence of the whites, and for a few years lived among them on Indian hill. He was known mostly by the name of Chuse, or Chuce, it is said from his manner of speaking the word choose. The locality now took the name of Chusetown, being so called until it took the name of Humphreysville, in 1803. Other Indians were also here for short periods, and on the hill, east of the plain, they had a burial ground, each grave being designated by a heap of stones.”
From: History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume 2 edited by John L. Rockey
http://books.google.com/books?id=9Yk6AQAAIAAJ&dq=Ruggles%20guilford&pg=PA553#v=onepage&q=Ruggles%20guilford&f=false
From: History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume 2 edited by John L. Rockey
http://books.google.com/books?id=9Yk6AQAAIAAJ&dq=Ruggles%20guilford&pg=PA553#v=onepage&q=Ruggles%20guilford&f=false
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Georgia Challenge
I know more blog visitors come from Georgia than anywhere else in the south. Must be there are a lot of rock piles in Georgia. Could someone down there please start taking photos and blogging about them?
Refugia
You see the way development chops up the landscape? Each of those little loops of road enclose an acre or so of undisturbed woods. Someday this may be the only place left to look for new rock piles.
North of Frederick's Corner, Dunstable - another look
Back to exploring, east of where I found a Wachusett Tradition mound (click here) a week ago. I figured: once a good slope, always a good slope. Last time here I saw several very large piles of rock that might have been mounds but were certainly used recently to dump rocks from the properties uphill. That turns out to be pretty much the norm for this slope. You see mounds, and you see mess, and you cannot be sure if the mounds are just part of the mess or not. But the ambiguity was particularly confusing on this visit.
As soon as I stepped out of the tangle of growth between the road and the woods, I found a perfect two chambered mound.
It is big, overgrown and hard to make out in this photo which is foreshortened, so let me explain it using a sketch. A bird's eye view is something like this, a familiar shape (eg see here):
The mound is outlined with a retaining wall made of larger boulders and is filled with smaller sized rocks. A large single chamber fills a square portion (on left in sketch) and a smaller chamber is included in the adjacent section (on the right). A large piece of quartz decorates the retaining wall of the smaller chamber:
Here is another view. The quartz is visible in the foreground near the center of the photo. 
Here is a video:
As soon as I stepped out of the tangle of growth between the road and the woods, I found a perfect two chambered mound.
It is big, overgrown and hard to make out in this photo which is foreshortened, so let me explain it using a sketch. A bird's eye view is something like this, a familiar shape (eg see here):
The mound is outlined with a retaining wall made of larger boulders and is filled with smaller sized rocks. A large single chamber fills a square portion (on left in sketch) and a smaller chamber is included in the adjacent section (on the right). A large piece of quartz decorates the retaining wall of the smaller chamber:
Here is another view. The quartz is visible in the foreground near the center of the photo. 
Here is a video:A short stretch of stone wall leads up to the mound, stopping short. Here, looking downhill from the mound:
This mound was the big find of the day. I continued downhill and eastward and came to other places where the rocks could have been discarded from farming, or perhaps something more:
At the bottom of the hill along the side of the brook (Black Brook) was another site, on the slope still further east was a small marker pile site. I'll show those sites later.
In any case, this continued exploration netted three sites.
This mound was the big find of the day. I continued downhill and eastward and came to other places where the rocks could have been discarded from farming, or perhaps something more:
At the bottom of the hill along the side of the brook (Black Brook) was another site, on the slope still further east was a small marker pile site. I'll show those sites later.In any case, this continued exploration netted three sites.
Field Finds - Southeast MA arrowheads
Chris Pittman writes:
Friday after work I headed out towards a favorite spot. I hit some traffic and decided to change plans and check out another place that I visited for the first time in the spring. When I got there I was disheartened to see chest-high weeds everywhere. I got out to stretch my legs and found a small place where some of the ground was visible in patches. I wound up spending most of the weekend there carefully checking every possible area where the ground was not entirely obscured. It was tough going but really well worth it! I am very happy, some lucky finds. I have attached some pictures.
Wedged at Chaffinch Island
8/23/2011, Guilford CT- about 20 minutes after the earthquake.
8/25/2011 - wedged stone at extreme left of photo.
Monday, September 05, 2011
"What (turtles) we see depends mainly on what (turtles) we look for."
"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." -Sir John Lubbock
Above: Nonnewaug Fish Weir (1997)
Below: Chaffinch Island Fish Weir (2011)
"What (sea turtles) we see (by the sea) depends mainly on what (sea turtles) we look for (by the sea)." Click here for More: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-turtles-we-see-depends-mainly-on.html
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Indian sculptures at Bellows Falls
Benjamin H. Hall, in a History of Eastern Vermont, writes of the familiar Bellows Falls Petroglyphs, but adds this engraving above that I'd never seen before this morning: "a separate rock, situated a short distance from the main group, a single bead is sculptured, which is finished with rays or feathers, and was probably intended to designate an Indian chief. The length of the head, exclusive of the rays, is fourteen inches, and its breadth across the forehead in its widest part is ten inches..."
You can find the rest (by scrolling down) here: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vtwindha/hev/hevch21.htm
Saturday, September 03, 2011
Friday, September 02, 2011
“The Story of the Mound” by John Muir
"I beg here to digress enough to state that the Indians, until taught better by the white man, would not harm a grizzly bear, even in self-defense. For they held that the grizzly bear was the father of the Indian. The mother of the Indian they asserted to have been the daughter of the Creator, who dwelt in Mount Shasta. They held that the mountain was, of old, hollow like a tent; that they could see the smoke coming out from the top of the great wigwam. And their story is to the effect that once when the wind was blowing fearfully from the ocean-which may be seen from the summit of the mountain on any day of exceptional clearness-the Great Spirit sent his daughter up to beseech the wind to be still; that he warned her not to put her head out for fear the wind would get into her hair, which was long as the rainbow, and blow her away. Being a woman, however, she put her head away out, and so was blown out and down to the very bottom of the snow where the chief of the grizzly bears was camped with his family. The Indians further insist that the grizzly bear at that time talked, walked erect, and even went hunting with bow and arrows and spear, and the story goes on to say that, in violation of all the laws of hospitality, the daughter of the Great Spirit was made captive and compelled to be the wife of the chief's son, and so became the mother of all good Indians. Finally, when the Great Spirit found out what had happened to his daughter, he came out and down the mountain in a great fury; and calling all the bears together he broke their hands and feet with a club and made them get down on their all-fours like other beasts. He made them shut their mouths so that they could talk no more forever, and then, going back and down into the hollow of Mount Shasta, he put out the fire in his wigwam and was seen no more. They point to the three great black spots on the south side of the mountain and say these are his footprints and explain that he descended the whole vast cone in three long strides, showing how very angry he was. And as evidence of the truthfulness of what they say about their origin, they point to the fact that the grizzly bear is even yet permitted to use his fists and stand up and fight like a man when hard pressed.
All the Indians believe to this day that the grizzly bear can talk, if you will only sit still when he comes up and hear what he has to say. But this may not be advisable. However, I know one wrinkled and leather-looking old woman, a century old perhaps, who used almost daily go out to a heap of rocks on the edge of a thicket and talk, as she said, with a grizzly bear. She was greatly respected."
Kat and Jipijka’maq
It's where I found the first stanza of the poem that is missing from the fact sheet - Tim
“...(I)t is believed among the Mi’kmaq people that in order to have a successful hunt or fishing expedition, one must make an offering to the creator. This offering is referred to as Pagetunowwedoomkawa’ (Propser 2001, p.18). A portion of the poem Legend of Glooscap’s Door briefly describes eels as Pagetunowwedoomkawa’:
There is a doorway to Glooscap’s domain
Where you throw dry punk and fish
For his fire and food.
But you must not enter
Though you may leave a gift on stone
Waiting to feel goodness.
This is the way the legend goes
So the Micmac elders say.
At Cape Dolphin near Big Brads d’Or
There is a hole through a cliff
It is Glooscap’s door.
And on the outside a flat stone
It is his table.
The Indians on a hunt leave on table
Tobacco and eels.
This brings them luck, so the story goes
The legend lives on
The Mi’kmaq share a long cultural history with Kat. Petroglyphs in Nova Scotia’s Kejimkujik National Park located in Southwest Nova Scotia suggest the presence of the water creature Jipijka’maq - the Great Horned Serpent (Whitehead 1990). Examples of these petroglyphs are shown on this page. The one on the left portrays a Mi’kmaq man and woman in a canoe in the presence of a serpent.
The Mi’kmaq believe Jipijka’maq is the eel. There are many similarities between Jipijka’maq and Kat. For example, it is said Jipijka’maq travel “about under the earth in their snake shapes...and sometimes they come up to the Earth World and carve great ruts in the land as they move across it” (Holmes-Whitehead 1988, p.4). In addition, a special distinction is made between snakes and Jipijka’maq. In the legend Miskwekepu’j contents of a bag is described as containing both “...snake bones and jipijka’m bones…” (Holmes-Whitehead 1988, p.13).
Another similarity exists between Kat and Jipijka’maq behaviour when traveling over land. Kat when traveling over land will leave behind it a trail of skimogan (slime). This trail of skimogan enables Kat to reach its destination to the next water source. Each Kat would contribute its slime to this trail and go as far as its slime enabled it to. In turn, the next eel would continue the trail by depositing more slime along the trail. The Jipika’maq on the other hand would carve great ruts in the land as it moved across it. These ruts are referred to as the “track of the serpent people” (Holmes-Whitehead 1988, p.44).
Another connection Kat has to Kejimkujik National Park are the remains of the stone eel weirs located along the various rivers in the park. Traditionally the Mi’kmaq used these weirs to catch eels and other types of fish The Mi’kmaq had to carefully choose where to construct these weirs due to the great deal of man power and time that was involved in their construction. Where to construct and when to use the weirs required a detailed knowledge of the local area and of various types of fish and their behaviours. Evidence of this type demonstrates the Mi’kmaq relationship to fish and other beings have been in existence for a long time. Located on the next page is a map of Kejimkujik National Park showing a blown up picture of a stone weir located on the Mersey River…”
From: “The Mi’kmaq Relat ionship with Kat (American Eel)” by: Kerry Prosper, Community Research Coordinator and Mary Jane Paulette, Research Assistant
A search for images of Cape Dolphin reveals this photo: http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/6196887.jpg
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Black Brook and Bridge Meadow Brook - proposing an experiment
Good lord! I just realized that almost 90% of the Black Brook and Bridge Meadow Brook watersheds are undeveloped wetland and low hills and that there is a Wachusett Tradition sample just north of Frederick's Corner in the midst of these watersheds. So that means a lot of places to explore hoping to find more examples from this culture. Shall we try to predict where things will be found? No, cuz I would be wrong. But those flat areas between hills, along brooks are intriguing and a good match to conditions west of here and south where there are many sites.
Ironically, what you find is limited to where you look. I have been over this part of the map before and naturally ignored flat wet and sandy areas. I just explored the hills. Now I have learned this part of town is not so sandy and, in this part of Middlesex County, low flat areas near beaver ponds and brooks are very worth exploring.
Update: Found 3 sites in there on another visit.
English Wildlife Refuge - Dunstable, MA
Here is a little bend in the road near the meeting of Dunstable, Tyngsborough, and Westford. If you park illegally where I did, at the red dot, and walk eastward, then you come to a pond, which I guess is actually a brook dammed by beavers. Where the water comes in at "A" I stumbled across a few low rock piles, about what I expected. 
But what I was really hoping for was a rock pile with a hollow. I have been wondering if there is any "Wachusett Tradition" to be found here, since Blood Rd/Horse Hill are nearby to the west. After circling the "pond", I was sneaking back out between two houses when I did find a small rectangular mound with a hollow at "B". In fact there are two other very large mounds on this same slope that look like they were created by landowners dumping rocks there. Of course it is possible the dumps were put on top of old mounds. Like at the Livermore land last week, you cannot be sure. However, finding this biases the discussion:
When I got out to the road, an angry policeman was there to tell me I should not park on the curb on a narrow road. That kind of hassle ruins a nice outing. But if you look at the map and poke around in "satellite view" it seems pretty clear that the same slope (with the large mound behind houses and the smaller one shown above) extends further east quite a ways and on into some interesting bumps and wetlands. You know where I am headed next.
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