Manitou by the Walking Path — everywhere in plain sight

The Park was bulldozed into civilization as we now know it during the 1970's. The spot was once farmland of course - and someone will prove it to you by showing you the old stone walls, recalling a myth that this was "wilderness" until around 1700. Some old stories survive about Indian incursions and an incident or two in the general area, still sometimes popping up in the news media:  http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20120926/NEWS/309269896

    I've walked by this spot a bunch of times, as have many people, at the edge of the modern landscaping,  a boulder with some stones piled on it by the walking path:

 Closer, it seems there are two distinct circles:

One has a distinct Manitou Stone inside the circle of cobbles: 

Looking back to the more white quartzy construction, I pondered if this white quartz cobble might perhaps be a similar such Manitou Stone rolled over onto its side, knocked out of place: 

I was a little surprised to see that the west side of the boulder had been "walled," for lack of a better term, stones stacked up against the side of it: 

   “Once one awakens to their presence they (Ceremonial Stone Landscape Features) seem to be everywhere,” writes Diane Dix. https://nolumbekaproject.org/sacred-site-preservation/

     "Finally, I’d say that while many stone features have been destroyed, there are still thousands left. They are hiding in our back yards, in our state forests, along our waterways—everywhere in plain sight. Help others realize why they should be respectful of these when they find them, help them imagine what it might mean to have a religiously-important structure (e.g. something built to honor someone in your family) technically belong to someone else, or be at risk from vandals, pot-hunters, and developers. These stone structures are examples of how humans found a way to interact respectfully and in a mutually-beneficial way with nature. They are Natural Cultural nodes, blueprints for how we will need to think in the future if we are to survive and allow our natural world survive. They are important beyond the specific, and they should give us hope."  Lisa McLoughlin; Nolumbeka. {http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/2017/02/19/preserving-native-sites/}

Life Below Zero Series 2 Episode 12 - Cairn at a favorite spot to hunt caribou

85 Miles Southwest of Noorvik Alaska ~23:28

There's that trail again

This is why I like my camera

Cuz it delivers nice colors:

Playing the "Occam's Razor" card - and getting it wrong

Occam's Razor is a principle for selecting between alternative hypotheses. The statement is:

If alternative hypotheses equally explain the facts then the simpler hypothesis is preferred.

This principle is used to claim that a simple explanation is correct when, in fact the explanation is not simple but is simplistic - naive and not actually covering the facts. Such uses of Occam's Razor pick a hypothesis and then cherry pick which facts to observe and which to dismiss. Famous examples, challenged by "fringe" archaeology, are common:

The "Clovis First" hypothesis: all humans arrived in America in a single "wave" of migration, after enough of the glacier had receded to make that possible. 

  - simple [CHECK]

 - all the facts [not unless you ignore thousands of examples of pre glacial sites, ignore the absence of Clovis material in Siberia, ignore the obvious diversity of arrowhead design styles] [NO CHECK]

The "No Europeans before Columbus" hypothesis.

 - simple [CHECK]

 - all the facts [not unless you ignore hundreds of European inscriptions, the tuberculosis resilience of New England's coastal tribes, as well as the general human tendency to go long distances in boats.] [NO CHECK]

The "Indians did not build in stone" hypothesis:

 - simple [CHECK]

 - all the facts [nope, there is not a single fact supporting this statement. Actually, the statement is not a testable hypothesis, and does not rise to the level of scientific statement] [NO CHECK]

So in practice Occam's Razor is used, not to choose between alternative hypotheses, but to exclude facts from consideration. If you hear Occam's Razor used in a conventional archeological discussion you can be almost certain it is being used to gloss over key details that do not fit the conventional thinking.

West of Peppercorn Hill, Headwaters of Mill River Upton

Had a fun walk down from the W. Main Str following the brook south and over to where it crosses East Str near the termination of Walnut Str. The walk was fun because, after crossing East street, I had an adventure getting through 50 yards of rose bushes in order to avoid the houses on either side. Boy! are rose bushes a pain. I exited, bloodied, via a small site and then on to the western edge of Peppercorn Hill. I got up on the hill then circled round though a new development and back west to East Str. - then back to my car, walking on roads.
At the beginning when I was north of Walnut Str, a small brook confluence was the first place I saw rock piles - and they are very much to be expected in this context: low to the ground, possibly in a line with spacing:

Right nearby, just to the south, a typical rectangular mound:

 Note the "trail" going through it on the left side. Closer:

Closer:

Other views:

Then that peculiar mound at the edge of the field:

Now I cross East Str at the intersection with Walnut. 50 yards in (wiping off some blood), some unexpected old piles in the swamp:

 This is right at a spring:

Then I went in a little further east, where there were several other small clusters of rock piles on the outcrops along the brook.

And:

 Closer:

And a path leading up past some rock piles:

With

 Closer:

And let's follow the path a little farther, to an outcrop over the brook:

Or we can look at this same outcrop, as it appears from the brook side, a trail leading up it:

Unresolvable ambiguity

Talk about confusing! Half of this pile's attributes are pure field clearing. The other half are pure burial mound, so I have no idea how to judge it. It is fun to discuss.

Some comments:
This pile is at the lower edge of a field. And it is covered with vines. The vines mean that a good deal of dirt was "scooped up" along with the rocks when they were dumped here. It is at the angle of repose for dumped rocks. That is why is is obviously a field clearing pile.

But from an opposing view: the pile is not really at an angle of repose - it is too broad and even on top. Also, all the rocks are the same small size - and what field has discards of such uniform dimension? Finally it has a hollow and so looks like a typical burial mound, if it was seen anywhere else. [That is not entirely true, since most rectangular mounds with hollows are low to the ground and this one sticks way up. It does happen sometimes, I have see tall ones at the top of the Falulah, and further south in Hassanamessit (neither example had a hollow though), so it is possible.]

You can see this mound from East Street in Upton/Hopkinton,  about 100 yards downhill to the west, behind the old yellow house:

Norvin Green State Forest (& "The New Weis Center for Education, Arts & Recreation") in Northern NJ

 “...an interesting mix of ancient native work along with possibly colonial era and post-colonial ruins.”

45 IMAGES CREATED 3 APR 2017

   

Will Kuberski  writes,“I suspect these were built on top of an ancient site, a much earlier construction. The foundations appear to be dug out of solid bedrock. It seems apparent that the farm was built where it is because the natives had previously built walls, leveled areas of earth and possibly engineered certain features of the area. There are classic rock piles and snake walls throughout the area that seem beyond the scope of a small horse farm. An interesting feature of this is called "the Natural Pool", which lies at the bottom of a stream which runs down the mountain. It was apparently dug out by hand in the 1930's for local recreation, and is still used. There's no telling what kind of neolithic history was wiped out during that construction, but it warrants a closer look. I suspect the entire area was a significant native site that has been almost obliterated by early settlers, but still apparent. Excavations on the farm house and the area have not been done, however it seems that the Weis Center staff might welcome such endeavors. Luckily the preservation of this area is not under threat.

All pics are free to download and publish as long as they're credited: Photos by WK Imagery.

  Thanks!

                Free download password: 01234

http://wkimagery.photoshelter.com/gallery/Norvin-Green-State-Forest-Wyanockie/G0000PUWLkJsHPpM/

Mass. Arch. Soc. Meeting RESCHEDULED

[From Curt Hoffman] Rolf has informed me that he is available to speak to the Central Mass. Chapter on the 15^th.   Please spread the word!

Details:
April Meeting, Sat. April 1 15 , 2017, Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Avenue, Worcester MA
Remember to enter the Whitmarsh Street side of the church
AGENDA
7:30 Business Meeting: Janet Bessette
7:45 Refreshments: Alan Smith and Curtiss Hoffman
8:00 Lecture: