Rock Piles

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Pretty little things

A sign of fall, a red maple leaf:

A large Catocola at Burger King in Leominster.

High Ridge Wildlife Management Area Westminster

I located a wonderful large mound here, mainly by hunting systematically. I covered the area at the lower part of the map and saw a couple of possible rock piles next to the brook. But when I dove back in I found a large mound connected to short stretch of stone wall, in a pattern something like this:

It was hard to photo the whole structure. It was maybe a 40 feet long wall , with a 12 foot mound at one end (here the mound is one the left):

This is one of the biggest rock piles I have seen. When it gets big enough, let's call it a mound ("it's a beaut"):

Here is a view from the end of the stone wall:

Hmmm. Big. Might have had more structure once.

I was curious if there would be a hollow on top. Indeed there was a small compartment:

Here is the video:

I suppose the wall led off in a particular direction which I should have noted. Here is one more view of where the pile connects with the wall:

There were a few traces of smaller piles in the area:

For the sake of the memory, let me mention that just before finding this mound, I interacted with a baby wren and had to reassure it I meant no harm.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Appetizer - a little pyramid from High Ridge Wildlife Management Area, Westminster

Smoking Frog??

{That's all I know about a photo from: http://trailsandwalksri.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/mm-frog.jpg - which seems to be in Coventry RI ~ http://trailsandwalksri.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/maxwell-mays-coventry/}

Monday, September 09, 2013

More early fall colors

(since it belongs here, I'll repeat this photo of a newt)

lousy picture but you get the idea:

and

and the milkweed:

Jack-in-the-pulpit:

and red-bud:

Early Fall- starting to explore again

It was great getting back into the woods a few weekends ago but I did not have a lot of luck finding new rock pile sites. It was nice to show Spruce Swamp Brook to FFC. Here he is pointing out another rock pile underneath the silt. This one has a bit of quartz on top:

Here is another (3rd):

And some grooming which, to my surprise, revealed a small hole going into the center of the pile, about 3" wide (I didn't get a picture).

Then sharp-eyed FFC noticed a little circle of stone:

Look close! I was starting to doubt the site was anything other than messy result of field clearing but for such a minor feature as this little circle. There is no getting around deliberate structure like this, that requires a non-random explanation. Lucky to have FFC along. During the walk we saw a few new piles and, downstream from the entrance the terraces looked more intriguing than ever. Someone should go back.

The next day I went to Wolfden Hill in Leominster St. Forest. Saw a few things on the eastern side of the summit and slope (2 small piles visible here):

After that it was mostly just colors and interesting bits of wildlife.

A newt:

Moose poopie:

and a tired guy.

I followed the moose trails over to one of the headwaters of Steam Mill Brook.

Sunday, September 08, 2013

East side of Wolfden Hill, Leominster St. Forest

A bit dark and gloomy, pushing through class A and B mountain laurel.

Nice to be rewarded with something obscure:

It looks like a prayer seat.

Saturday, September 07, 2013

Another dog on another (possible stone) pile

Biscuit on some old ruins at a pond near the caves.

http://sheltontrails.blogspot.com/2012/06/tunxis-trail.html

Ravine Trail, Lyme CT

http://www.courant.com/community/lyme/hc-selden-creek-preserve-0117-pictures,0,613207.photogallery

Nice piles of stone I just happened to find an image of.

{http://www.courant.com/community/hiking/

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Recalling an effigy

Good lord! I forgot about this. Take a look, click through, and look at the photo, second from the top.

Something

Well, Bob Miner: I've got a similar pair of stones - only together because of the similar rosy color.

They were found ten miles apart, the hand axe in a pothole in the pavement on a little floodplain along Steele Brook in Watertown CT (turned into a "Plaza" in the 1960's) while the other one was found in a flower bed by an old Gothic Victorian house on Main Street Woodbury CT.

There's a "definitely human made edge" on that smaller stone, I've been told by many - at artifact identification day or at the Pow Wow (or in my dining room with Peter and Norman once).

When I've asked what the stone might have been used for, I've always been given the same answer:

"Something."

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

So nice to get back in the woods

This is the eastern side of Wolfden Hill, Princeton:

O ye O ye!

Got milkweed?

Stone axe and other artifacts from near the Narrow River in RI

From Bob Miner:
A friend found this ax head and thought maybe the round stone wheel may have been used for grinding on this, what do you think? These were found when digging a foundation close by Narrow River in RI.

Mayans in NC

Look Out! Mayans on the loose in the SE again! North Carolina this time!!!
http://www.archeolog-home.com/pages/content/caney-fork-creek-valley-usa-judaculla-rock-portrays-map-of-ancient-towns-in-the-north-carolina-mountains.html

"The locations of the rivers are remarkably similar to accurate maps today."

Credit: Richard Thornton

Waskosim’s Rock - Chilmark MA

"Waskosism's Rock and "Middle Line" were boundaries that divided Wampanoag land from Mayhew land for about ten to twenty years. Middle Line was a straight line drawn from Waskosim's rock across the Island to Menemsha Pond. Looking toward Menemsha Pond, the land on the right was Wampanoag and the land on the left was Mayhew. Today, Waskosim's marks a different boundary between the towns of Chilmark and West Tisbury. Waskosim means "new stone" in Wampanoag. You can find Waskosim's on a hike in the Land Bank reservation, which is beautiful woodlands and natural grassland vistas, marked by sign on North Road in Chilmark."

http://www.splitrockre.com/split-rock-vineyard-rocks.shtml