Saturday, April 21, 2007
Weekend plans
Ooh! Bruce M. says he located an obscure stone chamber. The hunt begins! I was going to go to SVT land in Berlin and perhaps back to Lunenburg - have to scramble the schedule around a bit.
More Nipsachuk photos
Reader Tim M. sent several other photos. Starting with the one I find most informative, here are some views of the site:
Readers familiar with this blog will know what I mean when I observe that these piles are somewhat evenly spaced and in lines, will know that I often report about such things. Let's look at some individual piles:
....hmmm....they look pretty vertical sided. Does that ring a bell with any readers?
In addition there are a number of damaged piles:
For example, we have heard of the plan to excavate piles already damaged by percolation test pitting:
And other types of structures:
Now we see hese pictures it is possible to guess that this is a marker pile site. It may be related to the famous King Philip's War battle but it is very unlikely that these piles are burials (at least not the vertical sided ones). In fact these piles match well with the physical description given by Mavor and Dix in Manitou, describing the one rock pile they excavated in Freetown.
While I am over here dis-agreeing with everyone, let me add that I was told by Curtis Hoffman that Ted Ballard had counted the same number of piles (was it 24?) as warriors reported to have died in the famous King Philip's battle that took place there. At the time I heard this it sounded too good to be true. It still does. As I look at how water is seeping out of the ground everywhere at this site, it surprises me anyone would believe there are bodies buried there. I don't think bodies were placed in the water supply. What is my point? It seem great that the town of North Smithfield is preventing development - but there is a lot of mythology being created about this site and it will inevitably color how other sites are perceived - for better or worse people will be operating with false assumptions. And what is this site if not a burial ground? I believe marker pile sites may have been created as memorials but function as connecting a viewer to points on the horizon. So a recommendation is: try to locate a position where you can look down the lines of piles (a place where the lines converge) and explore the compass bearings in those viewing directions.
Readers familiar with this blog will know what I mean when I observe that these piles are somewhat evenly spaced and in lines, will know that I often report about such things. Let's look at some individual piles:
....hmmm....they look pretty vertical sided. Does that ring a bell with any readers?In addition there are a number of damaged piles:
For example, we have heard of the plan to excavate piles already damaged by percolation test pitting:
And other types of structures:
Now we see hese pictures it is possible to guess that this is a marker pile site. It may be related to the famous King Philip's War battle but it is very unlikely that these piles are burials (at least not the vertical sided ones). In fact these piles match well with the physical description given by Mavor and Dix in Manitou, describing the one rock pile they excavated in Freetown.While I am over here dis-agreeing with everyone, let me add that I was told by Curtis Hoffman that Ted Ballard had counted the same number of piles (was it 24?) as warriors reported to have died in the famous King Philip's battle that took place there. At the time I heard this it sounded too good to be true. It still does. As I look at how water is seeping out of the ground everywhere at this site, it surprises me anyone would believe there are bodies buried there. I don't think bodies were placed in the water supply. What is my point? It seem great that the town of North Smithfield is preventing development - but there is a lot of mythology being created about this site and it will inevitably color how other sites are perceived - for better or worse people will be operating with false assumptions. And what is this site if not a burial ground? I believe marker pile sites may have been created as memorials but function as connecting a viewer to points on the horizon. So a recommendation is: try to locate a position where you can look down the lines of piles (a place where the lines converge) and explore the compass bearings in those viewing directions.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Some pictures from Nipsachuck in North Smithfield, RI
Reader Tim M. sends in pictures from North Smithfield. The area is pitted with small hills and wetlands.
Here is a house foundation:
And here a pile:
Here is a house foundation:
And here a pile:
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Ekonk And Yawgoog - Another View
by JimP
Here is a photo of the features on the largest of three boulders believed to have pecked petroglyphs at the Ekonk Hill site:
A team of experts headed up by Connecticut State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni studied the Ekonk Hill site. They determined the features in the photo above to be pecked petroglyphs. They further concluded that the grooves of the petroglyphs were outlined with ochre stains.
Dating tests determined the site was likely in use anywhere from 1,000 to 3,500 BP. For more information on who was involved with the field research and the methodologies used one would have to contact Nick Bellantoni, David R. Wagner of the Quinebague Community College, the U.S. Geological Survey, or the Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office -- all of whom were in some capacity involved in research at the site.
Ekonk Hill is on private property and the site's exact location is highly guarded. Everyone is discouraged from attempting to visit it.
For an archaeogeodesic perspective of Ekonk Hill, see John Q. Jacobs's paper at this web page: http://www.jqjacobs.net/rock_art/ekonk.html
A few miles from Ekonk Hill on the property of the Yawgoog Scout Camp sits this petroglyph that the Boy Scouts have named Symbol Rock:
Deep inside the narrow grooves of this petroglyph can be seen some of the same ochre staining found at Ekonk Hill. Some of the staining is so deep and sheltered from the elements that it has remained preserved and still retains a bit of its original deep red color. The sharp eye of Rhode Island NEARA coordinator Jim Egan was the first to point that out to me.
Roughly 50 feet away from Symbol Rock sits what the Boy Scouts have named Millennium Rock:
It also exhibits some of the same ochre staining as found on Symbol Rock and at Ekonk Hill. But are those features the result of natural causes? Geologists who have studied this area since the 1920's say no.
Within the same town as Symbol Rock sits the Miner Farm where I first came across this circle:
The circle does indeed appear to exhibit some of the same ochre staining that can be found at Yawgoog and Ekonk Hill. Or is it the result of natural causes? I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever know for sure.
It's very hard for me to argue with those experts who have field studied Ekonk Hill and Yawgoog. But it's equally as easy for me to see the obvious similarities between some of the features on those sites and those on the Miner Farm.
Here is a photo of the features on the largest of three boulders believed to have pecked petroglyphs at the Ekonk Hill site:
A team of experts headed up by Connecticut State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni studied the Ekonk Hill site. They determined the features in the photo above to be pecked petroglyphs. They further concluded that the grooves of the petroglyphs were outlined with ochre stains.Dating tests determined the site was likely in use anywhere from 1,000 to 3,500 BP. For more information on who was involved with the field research and the methodologies used one would have to contact Nick Bellantoni, David R. Wagner of the Quinebague Community College, the U.S. Geological Survey, or the Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office -- all of whom were in some capacity involved in research at the site.
Ekonk Hill is on private property and the site's exact location is highly guarded. Everyone is discouraged from attempting to visit it.
For an archaeogeodesic perspective of Ekonk Hill, see John Q. Jacobs's paper at this web page: http://www.jqjacobs.net/rock_art/ekonk.html
A few miles from Ekonk Hill on the property of the Yawgoog Scout Camp sits this petroglyph that the Boy Scouts have named Symbol Rock:
Deep inside the narrow grooves of this petroglyph can be seen some of the same ochre staining found at Ekonk Hill. Some of the staining is so deep and sheltered from the elements that it has remained preserved and still retains a bit of its original deep red color. The sharp eye of Rhode Island NEARA coordinator Jim Egan was the first to point that out to me.Roughly 50 feet away from Symbol Rock sits what the Boy Scouts have named Millennium Rock:
It also exhibits some of the same ochre staining as found on Symbol Rock and at Ekonk Hill. But are those features the result of natural causes? Geologists who have studied this area since the 1920's say no.Within the same town as Symbol Rock sits the Miner Farm where I first came across this circle:
The circle does indeed appear to exhibit some of the same ochre staining that can be found at Yawgoog and Ekonk Hill. Or is it the result of natural causes? I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever know for sure.It's very hard for me to argue with those experts who have field studied Ekonk Hill and Yawgoog. But it's equally as easy for me to see the obvious similarities between some of the features on those sites and those on the Miner Farm.
More on geoglyphs
This is a subject about which there is dis-agreement. However, Norman Muller wanted me to add this.
Here is an explanation of what those curious weathered formations at the Miner farm and elsewhere are called. They are not geoglyphs but autoliths. Herman Bender provided me with the following explanation:
It took a bit of digging in my geology library, but I found it! The best term used to describe these rounded masses that weather out is : autolith - 1) an inclusion in an igneous rock to which it is genetically related Cf: xenolith, Synonym: Cognate Inclusion. 2) In a granitoid rock, an accumulation of Fe-Mg minerals of uncertain origin which may appear as round, oval or elongate segregation or clot. What it all means is that the 'round segegration' can be so close to the parent rock in lithology that it is barely indistinguishable and weathers out with Fe or iron present.
Hermann adds:
I as a geologist, have seen hundreds of these in nature and instinctively knew they were natural, a product of magmatic differentiation (i.e. an autholith) and in some other cases rheomorphic flow.
Here is an explanation of what those curious weathered formations at the Miner farm and elsewhere are called. They are not geoglyphs but autoliths. Herman Bender provided me with the following explanation:
It took a bit of digging in my geology library, but I found it! The best term used to describe these rounded masses that weather out is : autolith - 1) an inclusion in an igneous rock to which it is genetically related Cf: xenolith, Synonym: Cognate Inclusion. 2) In a granitoid rock, an accumulation of Fe-Mg minerals of uncertain origin which may appear as round, oval or elongate segregation or clot. What it all means is that the 'round segegration' can be so close to the parent rock in lithology that it is barely indistinguishable and weathers out with Fe or iron present.
Hermann adds:
I as a geologist, have seen hundreds of these in nature and instinctively knew they were natural, a product of magmatic differentiation (i.e. an autholith) and in some other cases rheomorphic flow.
International acclaim
From [click here]
Rock Piles Блог на тему мегалитов Англии c массой интересных ссылок [x]http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/Языки: EnglishОбъекты: all
Rock Piles Блог на тему мегалитов Англии c массой интересных ссылок [x]http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/Языки: EnglishОбъекты: all
East of Willard Brook SF in Lunenburg, MA
Went for a long drive and then ended up not being able to access the woods as I had hoped. So I drove around for a while until I got to a place I could get into the woods, maybe about where the "N" appears in the word "Townsend", and headed east uphill. Mostly it is class B moutain laurel and at one point I spotted a rock pile at the edge of some class C laurel, and managed to get a few pictures. There were maybe five small structures.Here is a first one with a detail showing some quartz material in an incorporated rock:
And as I dipped into the laurel, here is a second pile with a similar quartz(ite) detail:
That was all that was there - three or four very minor piles. There were a few other piles I noticed scattered about on the hill. I made one little video as I headed back down to the car.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Petroglyphs or Natural Geology?
Norman Muller writes in:
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Why Dr. Meli Deserves Our Appreciation
by Jim P.
Last night, the North Smithfield Town Council passed a resolution to halt all development in the areas of the Nipsachuk Swamp and Hill. It was accomplished with the help of Dr. Meli's tireless efforts. His survey of the property was an important element in the fight to save the site from the bulldozer. He lent his name, credentials, and reputation to the preservation of this important stone structure site.
For many years we have wondered loudly why archaeologists and anthropologists have largely ignored and dismissed this area of research. No matter what we ultimately think of each one of their conclusions, when we look back on these days in 10 or 20 years we will remember names like Dr. Curtiss Hoffman, Dr. William S. Simmons, and Dr. Fred Meli as those men who dared to step boldly from the mold and pave a new path for their fields of study. We will remember them as the pioneers they truly are. We will appreciate them for finally listening and taking an active interest in a subject that we've all been working hard to get them to notice for so long.
Burial mounds or not, Dr. Meli deserves our appreciation. We, of all people, should be able to clearly see the forest for the trees.
Last night, the North Smithfield Town Council passed a resolution to halt all development in the areas of the Nipsachuk Swamp and Hill. It was accomplished with the help of Dr. Meli's tireless efforts. His survey of the property was an important element in the fight to save the site from the bulldozer. He lent his name, credentials, and reputation to the preservation of this important stone structure site.
For many years we have wondered loudly why archaeologists and anthropologists have largely ignored and dismissed this area of research. No matter what we ultimately think of each one of their conclusions, when we look back on these days in 10 or 20 years we will remember names like Dr. Curtiss Hoffman, Dr. William S. Simmons, and Dr. Fred Meli as those men who dared to step boldly from the mold and pave a new path for their fields of study. We will remember them as the pioneers they truly are. We will appreciate them for finally listening and taking an active interest in a subject that we've all been working hard to get them to notice for so long.
Burial mounds or not, Dr. Meli deserves our appreciation. We, of all people, should be able to clearly see the forest for the trees.
Monday, April 16, 2007
New articles by Tim MacSweeney
I don't have much for this week, but Tim has a number of new posts over at "Waking Up on Turtle Island". Head on over there. [Click here]
Sunday, April 15, 2007
More about Nipsachuk - from the Providence Journal
From Sunday's Providence Journal (thanks to Larry Harrop for the link):
I find Adjunct Professor Meli's certainty that this is a burial site disturbing. Read how, in the course of a couple of paragraphs that certainty becomes an established fact. Comments on this topic are most welcome, especially from anyone who knows Meli, or has information about the site.
I find Adjunct Professor Meli's certainty that this is a burial site disturbing. Read how, in the course of a couple of paragraphs that certainty becomes an established fact. Comments on this topic are most welcome, especially from anyone who knows Meli, or has information about the site.
"...“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said William S. Simmons, a Brown University professor, chair of the anthropology department and expert in New England tribal folklore. “These are definitely human construction. Whoever built these built them carefully. ... One thing you can say about it for sure is that it’s old.”
Frederick F. Meli, an adjunct professor in anthropology at the University of Rhode Island, has toured the area four times. He said he found more cairns in the surrounding woods. He said he is certain they mark a burial ground.
“That type of burial mound is consistent with peoples in this area,” he said of the burial styles of New England’s native tribes.
THE ACADEMICS were brought to the woodland site by Wilfred Greene, chief of the Seaconke Wampanoags, whose tribal name is Eagle Heart. Greene and his 250-member tribe have appointed themselves the spiritual caretakers of the site in hope that the rediscovered burial ground might help the rebirth of their tribe...."
This really bother me, so I offer Meli a challenge: instead of lecturing innocent Indians and reporters of the Providence Journal, come over to this blog and explain yourself to the real rock-pile community. How do you know this is a burial ground? What research or scholarship do you have to back up your claim? What is the basis for your expertise?
Friday, April 13, 2007
Nice rock pile photo
[Click here]
I don't know if I linked to this before. I cannot decide if it is obviously a field clearing pile or whether the component rocks are too uniformly sized.
I don't know if I linked to this before. I cannot decide if it is obviously a field clearing pile or whether the component rocks are too uniformly sized.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
![[Click here]](http://www.travel-images.com/view.shtml?dagestan17.jpg){kind=link}
Fenton Rd - extending knowledge of the sites in Leominster State Forest
Last year I blogged and publicized the locations of some rock pile sites along Fenton Rd in Leominster State Forest, corresponding to locations B and C in the map fragment below [click here and look down the page a ways]. This account it about sites at A and a more extensive site on the hillside between B and C at D.
I was thinking all winter about going back out to the end of Fenton road and trying to explore more in the northerly direction. In the end, I got over to the landfill area where the woods are full of blown in plastic bags, before turning back to the eastern side of the slope and ending up exploring downhill from where I was before. I turns out that what I thought was a minor site near a foundation hole (C) is actually a quite extensive site with multiple acres of rock piles in little clusters. At times it seemed to be a marker pile site, and at other times it seemed more like an effigy site. There were some of the intimate groupings of rock-on-rocks that I associate with brookside sites. Maybe one pile in ten has some of its original structure. The rest apparently are knocked down. Water is coming out of the hill everywhere on this slope between two streams flowing east (D).
To get to this site you walk in from Elm Rd on Parmenter - it is maybe 1/2 mile to the foot of Fenton and then 1/2 mile or so to the end of Fenton. Right at the beginning, you pass the outflow from Rocky Pond and then start up a little slope. I was thinking how much it was like a spot on the way up Horse Hill in Groton and was thinking that at Horse hill there are rock piles on the left - so I looked to the left and, sure enough, there was what looked like a rock pile. There were actually several piles and at a casual glance they looked to be the result of a roadside dirt disturbance. But I went over for a closer look and discovered there were several other rock piles on the slope (A) all overlooking Rock Pond to the southwest in an eminently suitable location. So that is quite a lot of rock piles sites along Fenton Rd.
Here are some of the piles I found at (A).
And here is a view to the southwest towards the pond:
I felt like I had already accomplished something finding this site, which I walked right past several times without seeing before.
Then I continued slogging up the road and eventually passed the brook at (B) and continued along the trail that begins where the road ends. I followed that right along through several patches of dense mountain laurel, taking digressions where I could. I passed the site at (A) and took one picture and then continued along the trail till I got to a sign "DEAD END" indicating that I had come all the way through to the edge of the landfill. Everywhere you look in there there are bits of plastic bag that have blown in from the landfill; and it starts to smell a bit funky too. I had hoped to explore to the north and then circle back around to the east below (A) but actually the mountain laurel prevented exploration to the north. However when I got back around to the east I started finding rock piles at the edges of the laurels and I poked around happily for a half hour or so, taking pictures of the piles in there. Some of them look like marker piles:
There were also numerous rock-on-rock groupings - suggesting either lines of sight or else a sense of containement and grouping:
I cannot resist a nice rock-on-rock picture:
Lonesome colors.
In a couple of spots that seems like clusters of marker piles, I tried to locate a high point from which to view down the lines of piles. But there were numerous different clusters and a much too complicated situation for me to resolve.
I also noticed some little groupings of piles, so intimate as to suggest a concetration of effort at a single spot. Here is one group and a couple of details.
(By the way, this steep sided pile, badly damaged as it is, was the least damaged pile I saw. Given the notion of "rock pile 1/2-life", this makes this one of the older sites I have seen.)
Some of these rocks looks selected for by shape. This one, with its bird-like symmetry, suggests and effigy.
I conclude it is an extended, multi-purpose site.
As I video blogged a couple of days ago, there were also the beginnings of stone walls (or "rows" for Tim M) starting in some of the gullies and heading off downhill into the impenetrable haze so typical of Leominster State Forest.
I am deliberately making these sites on Fenton Rd public, so you can go to Leominster State Forest and see what I mean. It is a fascinating place. Also, although I do not think Fenton Rd is a random cross-section, look at how many sites are along just this one road. It makes me believe there is still a lot more to be found hidden in this forest of laurels
I was thinking all winter about going back out to the end of Fenton road and trying to explore more in the northerly direction. In the end, I got over to the landfill area where the woods are full of blown in plastic bags, before turning back to the eastern side of the slope and ending up exploring downhill from where I was before. I turns out that what I thought was a minor site near a foundation hole (C) is actually a quite extensive site with multiple acres of rock piles in little clusters. At times it seemed to be a marker pile site, and at other times it seemed more like an effigy site. There were some of the intimate groupings of rock-on-rocks that I associate with brookside sites. Maybe one pile in ten has some of its original structure. The rest apparently are knocked down. Water is coming out of the hill everywhere on this slope between two streams flowing east (D).
To get to this site you walk in from Elm Rd on Parmenter - it is maybe 1/2 mile to the foot of Fenton and then 1/2 mile or so to the end of Fenton. Right at the beginning, you pass the outflow from Rocky Pond and then start up a little slope. I was thinking how much it was like a spot on the way up Horse Hill in Groton and was thinking that at Horse hill there are rock piles on the left - so I looked to the left and, sure enough, there was what looked like a rock pile. There were actually several piles and at a casual glance they looked to be the result of a roadside dirt disturbance. But I went over for a closer look and discovered there were several other rock piles on the slope (A) all overlooking Rock Pond to the southwest in an eminently suitable location. So that is quite a lot of rock piles sites along Fenton Rd.Here are some of the piles I found at (A).
And here is a view to the southwest towards the pond:
I felt like I had already accomplished something finding this site, which I walked right past several times without seeing before.Then I continued slogging up the road and eventually passed the brook at (B) and continued along the trail that begins where the road ends. I followed that right along through several patches of dense mountain laurel, taking digressions where I could. I passed the site at (A) and took one picture and then continued along the trail till I got to a sign "DEAD END" indicating that I had come all the way through to the edge of the landfill. Everywhere you look in there there are bits of plastic bag that have blown in from the landfill; and it starts to smell a bit funky too. I had hoped to explore to the north and then circle back around to the east below (A) but actually the mountain laurel prevented exploration to the north. However when I got back around to the east I started finding rock piles at the edges of the laurels and I poked around happily for a half hour or so, taking pictures of the piles in there. Some of them look like marker piles:
There were also numerous rock-on-rock groupings - suggesting either lines of sight or else a sense of containement and grouping:
I cannot resist a nice rock-on-rock picture:
Lonesome colors.In a couple of spots that seems like clusters of marker piles, I tried to locate a high point from which to view down the lines of piles. But there were numerous different clusters and a much too complicated situation for me to resolve.
I also noticed some little groupings of piles, so intimate as to suggest a concetration of effort at a single spot. Here is one group and a couple of details.
(By the way, this steep sided pile, badly damaged as it is, was the least damaged pile I saw. Given the notion of "rock pile 1/2-life", this makes this one of the older sites I have seen.)
Some of these rocks looks selected for by shape. This one, with its bird-like symmetry, suggests and effigy.
I conclude it is an extended, multi-purpose site.As I video blogged a couple of days ago, there were also the beginnings of stone walls (or "rows" for Tim M) starting in some of the gullies and heading off downhill into the impenetrable haze so typical of Leominster State Forest.
I am deliberately making these sites on Fenton Rd public, so you can go to Leominster State Forest and see what I mean. It is a fascinating place. Also, although I do not think Fenton Rd is a random cross-section, look at how many sites are along just this one road. It makes me believe there is still a lot more to be found hidden in this forest of laurels
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Stone wall beginnings off Fenton Rd, Leominster State Forest
When I made these videos I thought they were examples of short stretches of stone walls. But in both cases I later saw that the wall was more extensive and led off into the impenetrable depths of the mountain laurel, downhill. Yet I doubt that these walls are particularly "agrarian", they seem to be celebrating the same water flow out from the hillside as are the rock piles, which are clustered about on the same hillside.
And this is the way it is, so far, off of Fenton Rd. There is always a little further you did not yet explore, and there is always a reason for going back. It is wonderful to be able to explore -essentially- a wilderness; like the guys going into the Honduran jungle to find Mayan pyramids. Who knew you could do the equivalent in Massachusetts?
And this is the way it is, so far, off of Fenton Rd. There is always a little further you did not yet explore, and there is always a reason for going back. It is wonderful to be able to explore -essentially- a wilderness; like the guys going into the Honduran jungle to find Mayan pyramids. Who knew you could do the equivalent in Massachusetts?
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