Short walks in Parker Woodland (part I, the north)

Having seen pictures of crowded "cairn fields" from Parker Woodland, it seemed like a place worth visiting. Armed with Norman Muller's advice that the northern part of the woodland was more interesting than the southern part, we started into the park from the north end. 

I should mention that neither I nor my wife are in good physical condition. In fact, post pandemic, the priorities are losing weight and getting back into shape. But this was the first such exercise - it is hard getting off Cape - and the walks we took were pretty short. 

We started south along the dirt road extension of Thomas Parker Rd. Already before parking I had to stop and photo some of the large piles next to the road:

The property owner is a lucky guy:

Then, as you walk down the dirt road, clusters of rock piles appear on either side:

My wife asked a tough question: "OK so these are very nice and it is fun taking as walk, but what is the point of looking at more rock piles?" I was giving this some thought as we proceeded.

There was a trail cutting perpendicularly across the road and we followed the right hand (western) side trail, down through the woods, past a cluster of old house foundation. The rock piles were everywhere but, to me, seemed most clustered around the old foundations. This does not mean they piles were biproducts of colonial, agrarian, life but that these colonial farms were owned by Indians. The ongoing presence of modern Indians in the area was clarified later, during the second walk at the southern end of the park. 

This is such well-trodden territory that it was not hard to find newspaper articles describing the "mysterious" cairns of Parker Woodland. They all reference the groups of rock piles we saw later and do not mention the material at the north end of the park. As suggested by Norman's comment, the woods to the north are much more "full" - with one cluster of rock piles after another, non-stop wherever we walked. But being out of shape we did not walk far and I regret not having the time or energy to explore places between north and south. It is a big patch of woods. My wife was starting to go more slowly.

I wonder if the brainiacs who could not decide whether the crowded cairns on a rocky hillside (see below) were farming biproducts, even noticed these other rock piles in the northern end of the park? The nicest structure I saw was this one (to the rear of previous):

I consider this to be "rectangular", although it was wider at one end than the other. Next to it, was a gully with a stepped sequence of piles:

A lot of what I would call "marker piles":

Some, triangular from above:

There was very little quartz to be seen.

A marvelous place:

But we have not yet answered my wife's question. 

We continued west and down, till we got to the edge of a steeper drop-off and, lacking the will to go down and then back up, we reversed direction and went back towards the T. Parker Rd.

We followed the eastern trail a bit before getting too tired out (I know this is pathetic...having driven so far to get here and then being so physically limited) and heading back for the car. The sites thinned out quickly and we ran out of rock piles to see. On the way, a couple of noteworthy things:

Here, at least, was a piece of quartz:

Here was something larger:

And something a bit "box"-like.

Anyway, not much to comment on, the question of "why look at more" still bothering me. 

We trudged back to the car, then drove around to the southern end and "Parking Lot #2".

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Old Settlers Trail from Maddron Bald Trail to Campsite 33

From the continuing adventures of Eric, Noelle, and Sierra - a very fine rock pile picture.

Anomalous Structure in the Hampton Reservoir

I am spending time looking at the topo map trying to decide where to hike. This is southeastern Natchaug State Forest. What the heck do we have here?

At the lower left corner of the reservoir we see something strange. Don't tell me that is natural. Maybe it got flooded when they filled the reservoir.

Any ideas?

Appetizer

 

The curious number of cemeteries around Parker Woodland

Has anyone commented on this? The roads around Parker Woodland in Rhode Island are dotted with many more cemeteries than is normal:

Hoping to go there tomorrow, perhaps I'll take a look.

Last time in Tiverton (for now)

Having struck out at Wildcat Hill, I thought I would go back to the Pocasett Highlands nearby. It was even worse there - blueberries and empty swamps. Lots of rocks and.. nothing. Kinda strange.

Rather than throwing good hours after bad, I cut my losses after an hour, got back to the car, and drove back over to the Longplex area (per previous) because I thought I missed some of the area. At first I went down through the woods following the same path as before. Before coming to the place where I saw the mound(s) earlier, I noticed another one; very much hidden in the bushes, maybe fifty yards from the previous find.

Here is a rearview:

As I commented, there is internal structure if you look at it for a while.

It was interesting that this mound was built against a large split rock. It reminded me of two other "gap" related structures I noticed here the first time: the mound next to the wall (here) and this wall end (here).

Late summer colors

 

Yesterday, in Rhode Island

Tiverton #2

Continued to visit Tiverton, RI with a walk around Wildcat Rock. Felt like I spent a lot of time in the lowland bushes. Although these are pretty woods, they were astoundingly empty of signs of ceremonial activity. I expected more. 

What I did find were examples of quartz rock-on-rock. This is an unusual feature in the parts of MA I have explored but they are common here in Tiverton for some reason.

Here is one:

other direction

another

another

further away

another

The woods were pretty empty of other features. Why? Had they been destroyed? These woods have seen a lot of activity. Or were they never here? Perhaps Tiverton was a no-man's land of some sort.

A walk in Tiverton RI

I parked on Progress Way, behind the Longplex Family Sport Center and dove into the woods, heading south. 

Rt 24 cuts across the upper left of the map fragment and I think I was following the dotted line, indicating an old road, that starts in the middle of where Rt 24 bends to the northeast. There were magnificent walls, mostly cast down and varying greatly in height. [Something wrong with my writing today...sorry].

I was confident that this was good hunting territory and, sure enough, that looked like a mound - not a wall - over behind there:

You see:

From the other direction:

And a closeup:

You can see this as two parallel ridges with a lower place in between - in the spectrum of "rectangular"; possibly with a "hollow".  Another angle:

Continuing my walk, here was a little gateway:

And here was a little knoll, crossed by a wall, and I thought I should climb and look beyond that wall:

Ah! A small site with groupings of piles-on-support:

Some of the piles and boulders seemed to define small spaces:

And then one of the most interesting things was some spurs coming out from the stone wall that also defined spaces (but this might be a different kind of "space"):

I have not seen too many of these but this is my first foray into Rhode Island . It is an hour's drive from Falmouth but I think it is worth it. There are lots of other woods in Tiverton to explore.

"Soaring With Eagles" - stone mounds in Georgia

[via Norman Muller]

Soaring With Stone Eagles - Archaeology Magazine 

Summer....it was nice to see you....sad to see you go

Tiverton Appetizer

 

I decided I needed a hike and drove an hour off-Cape to get to someplace interesting. Tiverton turned out to be a good choice and, as I study the map, I see five or so other hikes that look interesting in that town. There is a lot of conservation land, hard bedrock, and water. So I think I'll go back and get to know the place a little.

Mark Starr's 3D Models

 [via Norman Muller, these are fantastic images]

https://ceremonialstonework3d.wordpress.com

Moncacht-Ape 's journey across North America

 [Not rock pile related but interesting]

(8) The Incredible Journey of Moncacht Apé Across North America - YouTube

37K old site found in New Mexico

New Mexico mammoths among best evidence for early humans in North America (phys.org)

I note a couple of bits of sloppiness in the reporting. Clovis is only around after 14K years ago and there is no mention of the White Sands footprints - also in New Mexico. Finally the idea that it is now OK to accept a second group of "first Americans" to supplement the failing story of "Clovis First" is no less absurd than having a single such group.

Update: It is almost like a "Clovis Second" concept.

Mistaking man for earthquake

Balancing act: Can precariously perched boulders signal long-term earthquake risk? (phys.org)

Rest in peace Larry Harrop

Our community will be sad to hear that Larry Harrop died. No details are available, other than that he died in early June.

Larry was an occasional contributor to this blog and, although I only met him once, I always thought Larry took the best rock pile photographs. He did a wonderful job capturing the mystery, atmosphere, lighting, color, and beauty, of rock pile sites- mostly in Rhode Island. When I think of Larry I will always think of rock piles in the fog. His photos remain imprinted in my mind. 

His photo albums disappeared quickly from the internet but we have a few here to remind us of his work. See here.

A hole, trailing cobbles, and adjacent mound.

https://youtu.be/R4mDAq3Gzwo

This is in Wheeler Woods, west side of the new trail made by the Buzzard's Bay Coalition, who bought a heck of a lot of archeology without realizing it. You can see these things from the trail, above the main kettle hole.

Bullseyes and Rings

 I saw a couple of ring-inside-ring structures a year or so ago, at Quisset Harbor on Cape Cod (see here), mixed in with some other examples of simpler rings. Here are the photo's I took:

                        

And

                       

Since these are below high tide, I guess they were used when the water was still several feet lower. It gives you a sense of age.

Anyway, I saw another one, not so much a ring in a ring, but you be the judge:

These are all coastal facing, along this eastern edge of Buzzard's Bay.

Just for fun: A friend of mine climbed Mt San Gorgonio in southern California. Which drew my attention to the aerial view of that mountain top. One imagines the "ring of stones" concept was pretty universal:

You could probably write a book about what kind of archeology is found on American mountain tops. Possibly similar things were practiced at the other extreme - at the edge of the sea.

A little "spell" in stones

Just being a contrarian, I think there is a slight different between a "spell" and a "prayer". The latter suggests something that is always benevolent; where the former might be malevolent as well.

Nowadays, when I see a little structure like this, I believe it is worth looking carefully at the individual rocks.

I see an old friend here, the cashew/boat rudder that is sometimes called a "manitou" but I beg to differ. As long-time readers may remember, I speculate that this has to do with making an agreement.

The middle rock is pretty non-descript.

The lower rock has a bit of shape too. Is that a Manitou? A Cashew? Something else?

It may all be nothing, or a meaningful little combination of elements.

This is left of the entrance to the WHOI Quisset campus, about 30 yards from the main road. I would mention that the valley to the right of the entrance is full of dumped rocks. Small rocks, compatible with being from disturbed mounds, I could not quite convince myself the piles were anything other than mundane. On the other hand, this part of Woods Hole is where most of the genuine mounds are, so that suggests they might be worth a closer look.

Eagle Rock 4H Mounds (GA)

(Replaces a removed post from 6/2016)

Mound Report: The following chapters are excerpts from a larger report titled: “Archeological and Historical Investigations for the Proposed Rock Hawk Trail Corridor Adjoining Lawrence Shoals Park and Little Rock Eagle Mound in Putnam County, Georgia” written by Jerald Ledbetter:

"Standard survey field methods were employed in accordance to the scope of work prepared by the Office of Historic Preservation in consultation with the principal investigator. Information on 28 sites, four isolated artifact occurrences, and more than a hundred rock piles was recorded within and near the project area."

 https://archaeology.uga.edu/gasf/report/3598

Removing stones from rock piles for "safekeeping"

In the previous post [see here] Norman describes a "Gorget on a Rock Pile" and mentions that there was an unusual "gorget" stone found in the pile. Later the State Archaeologist removed the stone for safekeeping.

I think the ethics of removing a special rock from a pile for "safekeeping" needs some discussion. Does anyone have any opinions about this? I remember Doug Harris, in a YouTube video talking about how removing a rock breaks the "prayer"  - only to then watch him remove a rock and put it back. Clearly removing a rock permanently, and taking it off to a place where they have presided over the destruction of many wonderful things, hardly qualifies as "safekeeping". 

Like any ethical question, I doubt there is a good answer. I just think the state carting off treasures should be done with reluctance. And who the heck is the State Archaeologist anyway? Why does he get to destroy the rock pile? To me it is inconceivable that these are the right people to make that call, or to be the keepers of special ceremonial rocks. Generally such objects are poorly documented, not accessible to the public and, basically, lost for good. I would give you odds, that a member of the public, today, would have trouble even getting to see the "gorget".

Comments?

Gorget on a rock pile

From NormanMuller:

In 2011 I was with a small group of NEARA members in Rochester, VT, which was led by Ernie Clifford.  We visited site R7-8, which is called the Beaver Pond site, near the larger Smith site.  We walked about a bunch of platform cairns and then came upon a low, long cairn on a rise overlooking a small brook and swampy area.  One member of our group saw a stone object resting on top of a large stone in the cairn  (`02-1702), and lifted it out for all to see (0060).  It turned out to be a preform slate gorget.  There was a bit of lichen at one end, and the surface that had been resting on the boulder had a rust color, evidently from the fact that slate contains some iron and it had oxidized out over time.  The gorget was also of poor quality, and had a number of deep scratches on it.  Obviously it was discarded because of this.  Most gorgets are perforated, but this one was not. 

I returned to the site the following weekend to photograph and study the gorget more carefully, placing it on a grey cloth and photographing top and bottom and one of the sides (0026).  I then placed the gorget back to where it was originally found.  Later, the National Forest archaeologist removed the gorget for safekeeping in Rutland.

This simply emphasizes that one should study cairns carefully.  You never know what you'll find.

Great Plains Site

 (3) Great Plains Indigenous Site 000: Tipi Rings, Cairns etc 2019-03-16 - YouTube

“Stonewalls in a Gully” (VT)

 

Josh Smart

 Hidden Vermont

 https://youtu.be/vl73eVwt57o

Why don't they have stone arrowheads in Europe?

I cannot find any pictures of elegant stonework from -say- France that is any more recent than those fine Solutrean blades. But what were the Europeans doing around 10K years ago? Just a little puzzle. I did see some fine things from Spain, so what is true?