Norman M. writes:
Ted Timreck has come out with a new DVD, "Before the Lake was Champlain," which is available at the Hidden Landscapes store: www.shop.hiddenlandscape.com/main.sc. I've seen it and it is very good. There will be another one listed on this site in another couple of weeks or so, which will deal mostly with the cairns in Vermont.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Nice cairns on Farm in Delaware County NY - from TwoHeadwaters
Other people are having good luck this spring.
[Click here] and more generally:
http://twoheadwaters.blogspot.com/
[Click here] and more generally:
http://twoheadwaters.blogspot.com/
Lyme CT Rock Piles from Larry Harrop
Larry writes:
I just posted this site from Lyme, CT on my blog that I would like to share with you.. It's one of the most interesting sites I've visited.
http://larryharrop.com/blog/
I just posted this site from Lyme, CT on my blog that I would like to share with you.. It's one of the most interesting sites I've visited.
http://larryharrop.com/blog/
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Somewhere out in Westminster MA
Sorry for the voice over, I must have been in some kind of pedagogic throes.
Gateways, Doorways, Windows - interpreting gaps, cracks, and veins in rocks
I increasingly believe that Native American ceremonialism included an understanding of spaces between rocks ("gaps"), cracks in rocks, and veins of other material within a rock. What this understanding was I don't know. One can only look at how things are being used and where they occur and what they occur in conjunction with, to try to make reasonable guesses. So here is a site at the Sargent Farm Conservation Land in Stow that occurs on a westward facing slope, at a spring - a place where water comes out of the ground with a few simple rock pile constructions all around. 
Here we see patterns that occur over and over at springs or at places along a brook - often where there are waterfalls or cataracts or, at least, the sound of water gurgling. Here is a first such pattern - a gap between two rocks, enhanced with some simple rock piling:
Notice how the gap opens up towards a puddle of water in the background; also notice there is a smaller, subtler gap along that same line but a few feet beyond the first one. Here is a gap or a crack (narrower than a gap, not large enough for a person to walk through) that is filled with smaller rocks. 
I suspect this means something different than a gap. And here is another a few feet away:
I could not see that these were pointed towards the water, like the gap, but I failed to observe carefully. Another very common pattern is a crack that is roofed over with a few smaller rocks. Maybe this is like the last two examples, maybe it is something different. 
In my little "cosmology" I imagine cracks that open downward had a particular significance - perhaps as doorways to an unpleasant spirit world, needing to be blocked. I was walking around looking at these and spotted a very noticeable black rock-on-rock: 
(closer)
(another view)
I was not until I got home and looked at the pictures that I noticed the black rock is sitting over a vein of quartz. There is some similarity to the covered crack of the previous pictures and I have very little doubt that this black rock was selected because of its deep color and iron rich composition. Did we think of quartz veins as having so much power that this was required? It is a new pattern for me and a pretty dramatic example.
Here we see patterns that occur over and over at springs or at places along a brook - often where there are waterfalls or cataracts or, at least, the sound of water gurgling. Here is a first such pattern - a gap between two rocks, enhanced with some simple rock piling:
Notice how the gap opens up towards a puddle of water in the background; also notice there is a smaller, subtler gap along that same line but a few feet beyond the first one. Here is a gap or a crack (narrower than a gap, not large enough for a person to walk through) that is filled with smaller rocks. 
I suspect this means something different than a gap. And here is another a few feet away:
I could not see that these were pointed towards the water, like the gap, but I failed to observe carefully. Another very common pattern is a crack that is roofed over with a few smaller rocks. Maybe this is like the last two examples, maybe it is something different. 
In my little "cosmology" I imagine cracks that open downward had a particular significance - perhaps as doorways to an unpleasant spirit world, needing to be blocked. I was walking around looking at these and spotted a very noticeable black rock-on-rock: 
(closer)
(another view)
I was not until I got home and looked at the pictures that I noticed the black rock is sitting over a vein of quartz. There is some similarity to the covered crack of the previous pictures and I have very little doubt that this black rock was selected because of its deep color and iron rich composition. Did we think of quartz veins as having so much power that this was required? It is a new pattern for me and a pretty dramatic example.I believe these gaps, cracks, and veins are a major part of what was going on at this site and my guess is that it has to do with channeling of "energy" both positive and negative, creating an interplay and perhaps balancing of forces. Some explanation is needed for why all these similar patterns occur in one place.
Finally let's take a closeup of some of the little rock piles:
The neargound pile might actually be part of a small "gap", because of the second rock next to it. A closeup of the far pile, suggests its components are not random rocks:
I wonder about the shape of the lower rock, and about its composition:
But that is another story.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Vision Quest Seat
I had forgotten about this. From "Andrew Gulliford, PhD" [Click here]
This looks a lot like the "U"s we see around here. (eg these if you scroll down)
This looks a lot like the "U"s we see around here. (eg these if you scroll down)
Rock piles along a stone wall in Stow, MA
I was on my way back from an disappointing excursion to Sudbury State Forest and saw a piece of woods in southern Stow that looked like a nice piece of woods with water and rock. Passing a small conservation land sign I realized I could go in. When I stepped into the woods there was a lot of slashed logging debris underfoot. [Time constraints prevent me from ranting about this horrible forestry practice of chopping down most of the trees and leaving lots of branches and stumps on the ground. This can turn acres of nice woodland into a place which is impossible to walk through and will remain that way until some forest fire cleans it out. Whole sections of Mt Wachusett are destroyed for hiking this way]. So I picked my way carefully along the hillside, not really expecting to find rock piles. But when I got all the way across the conservation land to a wall, I saw a rock pile a few feet from the wall.
It was in bad shape and I did not think it was significant, probably just part of the wall. I followed the wall along and found a second similar pile - on the ground, not too well defined - about the same distance from the wall. 
So I was thinking - perhaps these were part of the wall building, or that perhaps someone had dumped piles along the side of the wall. But then I saw this wedged rock on the other side of the wall and, to me, this is distinctly ceremonial:
Look more carefully at the wedge - certainly an eye catching crystal inclusion.
There were some other features on the far side of the wall including more rock piles along the wall (some pretty decrepit), some little standing stones, some faint traces of alignments:
(Look closely along the vertical line above the small rock pile in the foreground - there are four rocks, one in the distance - not a very good alignment).
There was a a nicely formed oval ground pile:
(closer)
(closer)
I was looking to find white quartz in the pile and, instead, saw a black rock. Now you know I think of quartz and ground piles as indicating possible burials. So what is this? A different kind of burial or something different?
Also along the wall there were other very decrepit items, looking like rocks dumped along the side of the wall. I was vacillating between believing and not believing this was a ceremonial site. That wedged rock is pretty compelling but...still. There were maybe 10 or so piles along this first stretch of wall I explored. There were many piles so covered with debris, so subtle. Who would ever even notice them?
Then I walked uphill and into a corner of the walls maybe 30 yards from the first cluster of piles. Here there was a puddle of water trapped in the corner and another collection of piles.
These were much less ambiguous, and here was the quartz (a closer view of the same pile):
(closer)
But these piles were also evenly spaced and somewhat in lines - which I imagine as different from burials - using the phrase "marker piles".
I was thinking more about marker piles being evenly spaced. Say you asked someone to draw 20 dots on a piece of paper, keeping the dots as evenly spaced as possible and within a confined part of the page. People will either place dots in triangles or rectangles to do it. A kind of "grid" appearance emerges even if that is not the intention. Anyway, this was more ambiguity for the site. Piles along a wall, mostly the same distance from the wall, some even spacing, some quartz, some black burnt rocks, give the site its particular character.
The corner of the walls was itself an interesting place with a well constructed "corner cairn":
Here are a couple of panoramas showing the wall corner. First the view from the rock piles (the corner cairn is just to the right)
There are about eight evenly spaced piles along the near side of the water. They are pretty invisible. Here is a view back towards the site on the other side of the water. A very typical and lovely spot for a rock pile site.
After poking around a bit more I headed back to my car.
I saw a big rock-on-rock (just beyond the puddle to the right in the previous picture)
As it turned out there were more rock piles all the way back to within maybe 20 yards of my car. Had I turned uphill at the start of the walk, I would have been in the rock piles the whole time. These last piles, forming a somewhat distinct cluster along a different wall ,were also ground piles. I noticed one with an unusual concentration of lighter (feldspar) rocks:
I noticed a couple that were larger and more above ground:
These are really small mounds, with a lot of below surface volume. They may be more than 10 feet across. So they are substantial but - geez! - they are invisible. Who will notice them? Luckily they are protected in this conservation land.
The neighbors are probably not aware of this site, maybe thirty or more rock piles across the street.
It was in bad shape and I did not think it was significant, probably just part of the wall. I followed the wall along and found a second similar pile - on the ground, not too well defined - about the same distance from the wall. 
So I was thinking - perhaps these were part of the wall building, or that perhaps someone had dumped piles along the side of the wall. But then I saw this wedged rock on the other side of the wall and, to me, this is distinctly ceremonial:
Look more carefully at the wedge - certainly an eye catching crystal inclusion.
There were some other features on the far side of the wall including more rock piles along the wall (some pretty decrepit), some little standing stones, some faint traces of alignments:
(Look closely along the vertical line above the small rock pile in the foreground - there are four rocks, one in the distance - not a very good alignment).There was a a nicely formed oval ground pile:
(closer)
(closer)
I was looking to find white quartz in the pile and, instead, saw a black rock. Now you know I think of quartz and ground piles as indicating possible burials. So what is this? A different kind of burial or something different?Also along the wall there were other very decrepit items, looking like rocks dumped along the side of the wall. I was vacillating between believing and not believing this was a ceremonial site. That wedged rock is pretty compelling but...still. There were maybe 10 or so piles along this first stretch of wall I explored. There were many piles so covered with debris, so subtle. Who would ever even notice them?
Then I walked uphill and into a corner of the walls maybe 30 yards from the first cluster of piles. Here there was a puddle of water trapped in the corner and another collection of piles.
These were much less ambiguous, and here was the quartz (a closer view of the same pile):
(closer)
But these piles were also evenly spaced and somewhat in lines - which I imagine as different from burials - using the phrase "marker piles".I was thinking more about marker piles being evenly spaced. Say you asked someone to draw 20 dots on a piece of paper, keeping the dots as evenly spaced as possible and within a confined part of the page. People will either place dots in triangles or rectangles to do it. A kind of "grid" appearance emerges even if that is not the intention. Anyway, this was more ambiguity for the site. Piles along a wall, mostly the same distance from the wall, some even spacing, some quartz, some black burnt rocks, give the site its particular character.
The corner of the walls was itself an interesting place with a well constructed "corner cairn":
Here are a couple of panoramas showing the wall corner. First the view from the rock piles (the corner cairn is just to the right)
There are about eight evenly spaced piles along the near side of the water. They are pretty invisible. Here is a view back towards the site on the other side of the water. A very typical and lovely spot for a rock pile site.
After poking around a bit more I headed back to my car.I saw a big rock-on-rock (just beyond the puddle to the right in the previous picture)
As it turned out there were more rock piles all the way back to within maybe 20 yards of my car. Had I turned uphill at the start of the walk, I would have been in the rock piles the whole time. These last piles, forming a somewhat distinct cluster along a different wall ,were also ground piles. I noticed one with an unusual concentration of lighter (feldspar) rocks:
I noticed a couple that were larger and more above ground:
These are really small mounds, with a lot of below surface volume. They may be more than 10 feet across. So they are substantial but - geez! - they are invisible. Who will notice them? Luckily they are protected in this conservation land.
The neighbors are probably not aware of this site, maybe thirty or more rock piles across the street.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Very Large Mound
I posted this photo above awhile back of the largest mound I know of in the area I live in, just across Townline Road, in the next town to the east of where I live, oddly enough. It's not a great photo but my sister and Dan give you an idea how Very Large a Mound it is.
I've been meaning to go back to The Very Large Mound to get some better photos of it for about 10 years. And today was the day. Approaching it from the southwest, I was surprised to be able to see it from quite a distance...
Crossing the road and the townline, I could see
the uppermost part of The Very Large Stone Mound. 
Looking SW:
Looking SW:
I'm also piecing together some video on this,as well as trying to locate it on some older aerial photos and maybe some maps - as soon as I figure it out...
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A good long weekend
I am 3 for 3 this weekend - three sites found in three days of exploring. You see the same patterns over and over again: low ground piles with a piece of quartz, located along a stone wall; a split rock propped open by a rock with interesting crystals; a cracked rock with small stones covering the crack. Always where water is coming out of the ground. Over and over this weekend I found myself zooming in for a closeup of a single piece of quartz. In one place, I got lucky and found a view over water towards a prominent nearby mountain (Wachusett) and found something more elaborate, a multi-component site with some larger piles.
So I will be trying to get these sites off my camera and into this blog during the week.
So I will be trying to get these sites off my camera and into this blog during the week.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Little Genesee Settlement - rock piles at an old settlement in Guilford, CT
Found via reverse link searching [Click here]
Update: I guess what is most interesting to me is that the writers of the article went online to find out about rock piles, so naturally they ended up here because this blog gets good Google placement. In today's world the Internet is the authority. So why is the contrary view, that rock piles are of no significance, not as well represented online? Obviously negative statements do not have the same depth of "link-ability". Unlike the notion that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" you can say, with respect to the Internet, that absence of negative views is de facto evidence the positive views must be correct. So all those doubters out there need to get busy promoting the non-importance of rock piles before it is too late that the public comes to believe our lies:)
Update II: Another point is that negative views about rock piles do not consider the physical evidence of the sites. Until they do, those views are not strong ideas.
Update: I guess what is most interesting to me is that the writers of the article went online to find out about rock piles, so naturally they ended up here because this blog gets good Google placement. In today's world the Internet is the authority. So why is the contrary view, that rock piles are of no significance, not as well represented online? Obviously negative statements do not have the same depth of "link-ability". Unlike the notion that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" you can say, with respect to the Internet, that absence of negative views is de facto evidence the positive views must be correct. So all those doubters out there need to get busy promoting the non-importance of rock piles before it is too late that the public comes to believe our lies:)
Update II: Another point is that negative views about rock piles do not consider the physical evidence of the sites. Until they do, those views are not strong ideas.
An old FFC "Sacred Video Clip" from July 2006
I noticed the shape of the wedge (a bit hard to make out in the video) is like the shape of a turtle shell:
It is a pretty good match. Could a turtle have crawled in there and gotten stuck?
It is a pretty good match. Could a turtle have crawled in there and gotten stuck?Thursday, April 09, 2009
Propped Rocks from a small summit east of Rocky Hill, Leominster MA
Here is another from the same hilltop. Look close inside the shadow under the rock - there is a wedge in there:
Nothing else to see up there; these hills have all been extensively quarried and little ceremonial activity has happened since. Perhaps these are examples.
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