A "V" arrangement

This is for Tim MacSweeney who wrote about a "V" of stones that had a calendrical use. He wrote about it several places, the only one I could find was here.

On Saturday, I was exploring the Warren Brook Watershed Conservation Land in Upton, following a planned route and not seeing anything, when things started to show up. I noticed a little line of rocks on the ground - helpfully highlighted by the snow:Then I noticed there was another line of piles, rocks, and propped up rocks that formed a "V" with the first line. Not being a compass user, I cannot confirm these alignments match the ones Tim M. writes about. [Click on the picture, I outlined the component rocks in red]I'll write more later about the Warren Brook Watershed Conservation Land in Upton. There is a lot of stuff there and I only scratched the surface - it is a big patch of woods.

More about Opacum Woods

Mike H writes:

I went out this morning to Opacum Woods in Sturbridge and my camera batteries did not last long. I had to use my cell phone. The site on the western shore of Opacum Pond is very complicated with many walls that criss cross and bend and turn. I want to head back there tomorrow to sketch out the site and hopefully it will be less too confusing to me.

Separately, Mike emailed this about "thick walls" at Opacum :

These three pictures are from Opacum Woods in Sturbridge, at end of Old Brook Road, West side of Opacum Pond. A stone wall heading east down an incline, toward the pond, curves and then takes a turn north and changes from a "normal" stone wall, approximately 18-24 inches thick, to a structure 8 feet thick, for approximately 28 feet, then goes back to the normal thickness.

The first photo is taken from above in a tree, south of the wall corner, looking north. Left side is uphill, right side is down hill towards the pond. The stone wall takes a corner at the bottom of the photo and changes for a length of 28 feet in length, 8 feet thick at the ends and about 4 feet thick in the middle.
The other two photos are taken from the downhill (right side) of the first photo, South is the left side and North is the right side.Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Mike H, Sturbridge

Propped Boulder - Sturbridge, MA

Mike H. writes:

I was getting my camera ready for this coming weekend and I came across some photos from November 29

These were taken in the Breakneck Brook WMA in Sturbridge, off of Breakneck Road, at the top of the peak named High Bunk. Three photos of a large boulder that is propped up by smaller rocks underneath.

Mike H, Sturbridge

Montville Rock Piles - recent use?

Photographer Ted Hendrickson writes:


Here is something about the Montville site have been visiting; This is in reference to pwax's post of Feb. 2. As he was puzzling over the Miller Hill site, he referenced Mavor's comments:

"...We came across some reasonable answers to the enigma posed by the mound rather quickly, to our surprise, that is, in a couple of years. We believe we now know how the mound was built, when it was built, and the names of some of the people involved. But most important of all, as it turned out, the investigation opened the door to 'invisible Indians', descendants of Native Americans, living among the general population, who prefer not to be recognized, but who carry on many of the old traditions...." It made me think of an experience I had recently. We live in Southeastern CT, where, as many of you know, the "invisible Indians" are no longer invisible but run two of the largest casinos in the world. Both tribes are working to retain and regain their cultural history. The Mohegans have an especially long tradition of this. Being new to this "rock pile" thing we mentioned it to a neighbor of ours who is a pretty involved tribal member. She had no idea what we were talking about. And yet, an experience I had at the end of December made me think that the "piles" may still be actively used.
We stumbled upon this area in early November, looking for the Montville “souterrain”. Turned out we were in the wrong area, just north of the correct zone, but still on Beaverdam Hill. Many cairns, rock piles and covered boulders. The small piles were difficult to spot through the leaf litter, but I shot many of them anyway, not wishing to disturb anything. This was a heady experience, my first convincing encounter with a clearly ritualized local landscape.

I returned a week or so later. Looked for some of the boulders we had seen previous and the large mound we had seen. It was unclear to me if it was field clearance or purposeful. Discarded tire was confusing, the rough panorama shows the large pile that merges with the slope on the other side. When I returned to my car, the police had put a orange sticker on my window that read "suspicious vehicle". I was safely pulled off in, what appeared to me, a parking spot. Hmmm...
I returned at the end of December to photograph with large format camera and poke around the side of the large mound where I had seen some bottles on the last visit. This time I put a sign inside my windshield, "Photographer In Woods" , just in case the police came by again. The glass bottles were gathered into a pile at the base of a sapling, Others were scattered about, some on the mound itself. A small stack was on the flank of the pile with some bottles near it. It looked more recent than the covered boulders in he area. The bottles were not ancient, but not brand new. I would estimate that they might be from the last 30 years, a mixture of bottles, flasks, and jars. Not sure what I was looking at exactly, but it was intriguing. As I was packing up my camera, I heard a car/truck stop on the road, back up and stop. Doors slammed shut. I made my way back to my car and as I was putting my equipment away two men emerged from the woods on the opposite side of the road where I had been. Looked like your average Joe's. As they got closer the lead guy started giving me a pretty big stink about this area being private property and how I shouldn't be there... and what were you taking pictures of anyway, etc., etc. I adopted a conciliatory attitude, apologizing but noting that there were no signs posted and no houses or structures of any kind in view. I assured him I was "just a photographer" only taking pictures, not disturbing anything, just enjoying the landscape. He made no claim to be the owner and I did not think fast enough to ask if he knew who's property it was. Just wanted to exit smoothly and quickly as possible... They left grumbling. I have not had a chance to see if I can figure out who owns this tract, but it would be interesting to find out. Before they left, they pointed out an Nature Reserve nearby where I could wander instead...

It took until I got back home that I realized they might be worried about the site as tribal members but did not want to tip their hand about the significance of the area? So, I'm kind of spooked now until I can figure out who owns these woods and whether I can get permission to investigate further. Its a pretty special place. After seeing some the recent posts I wonder if the large pile is a tumbled down platform mound?


If anyone wants to see more photos go to:
http://web.me.com/tedhendrickson/
Go to "My Albums" then click on Montville 1, 2 and 3

Westford Boulders

Read Frank K. writes:

For months, I have been obsessed with taking pictures of boulders around my house in Westford. I am fascinated by the size and age of these ubiquitous objects. I was surprised by your site. I cannot believe that other people share my interest and fascination.

I have posted the photos at http://home.comcast.net/~j1rzk/

Crazy Walls - Sherborn MA

Got this in a "Satellite view" of Sherborn, MA
That's Brush Hill, it's conservation land and, dang!, I am going to go there tomorrow. Turns out it is even on the Bay Circuit Trail.
Update: It turned out to be dull on foot.

The Wachusett Tradition

I have given it some thought and have looked at quite a large number of rock pile sites and it has crystallized into an idea that one kind of rock pile site is related specifically to Mount Wachusett. Several years ago I heard Curtis Hoffman say something like that all ceremonialism in eastern Massachusetts was directed towards that mountain. At the time this seemed an oversimplification and, now, I think it only covers a part of the variety of rock pile phenomena.

But I saw a site last weekend that really exemplified one common combination of things:

• a view of Mt Wachusett
  
• a rectangular pile 10-20 feet long by more than 8 feet wide
  
• built up, occasionally more than four feet high
• singly or doubly chambered (with a hollow)
• mostly in westernmost suburbs of Boston
  

I'll show pictures in a moment.

But seeing these features together, as I say, crystallized the idea that this combination represents a particular ceremony or ceremonies from a particular culture which I want to call the Wachusett Tradition. I don't know what ceremony but it looks like burial. I don't know what culture but sense that these piles are pre-colonial. I see them in Berlin, I see them in Framingham, in Harvard, and as far east as Lincoln. I see them mostly in the western suburbs.

But I have to fudge with the ideas. For example, the pile in Lincoln [first pile here] is low, and has no view of anything; it is simply a pile that fits the physical description. Or the piles in Berlin [here] have a good view and fit the physical description but the view does not actually face Wachusett. Or the piles in Harvard [here] with a view not towards Wachusett and oval rather than rectangular. So let me take the site from last weekend as the classic example, this is on Apron Hill in Boylston MA, on conservation land. I approached the site along a nice looking stone wall:Approaching from the south, I stayed to the left following the wall as I got near the hilltop, wanting to see if there were any large piles with a view towards Wachusett. Here is a first glimpse. There is a large stone mound right of center and something smaller to the left over by the wall: Here is a closeup of the pile:It is rectangular but has a small pile appended to it.

Here is a closeup of what I am calling a hollow in the pile [with suburbia's intrepid encroachment in the background.]
Here is the Wachusett view, masked by trees, but you can make it out:And here is a smaller pile over closer to the wall, sized a bit like the appendage to the first pile.
Another view:
And here is the view back towards the first pile.Further back, in the direction away from Wachusett there was at least one more squarish pile, pretty damaged and unclear under the snow.

I was thinking about exactly this kind of site when I went looking at Apron Hill. Those small hills in northern Boylston looked perfect for viewing the mountain, so I was hoping to find more of the big piles I seem to keep coming across this winter. I was getting close to the idea a few weeks ago when I wrote about Rock Piles at Overlooks [here].

Having finally noticed these identifiable features of a particular kind of rock pile site, having made this identification as something somehow related to Wachusett, the question becomes whether any particular new or old site should be considered as part of this "Wachusett Tradition" or not. So for example, the site in Holliston on Miller Hill [here] might be part of the same tradition or not. I think those big sites in Leominster [eg here] are probably part of this tradition, or at least include this; and the same goes for those sites in Westminster around Muddy Pond [here]. So this is a unifying idea that I believe relates to one culture. It is far enough west of Boston that it seems to be "Central Massachusetts" the ancestral home of the Nipmuck.

Holliston Golf Course Stone Mound perspective

Joanne Hulbert, the Holliston Town Historian and Forest Committee manager writes:

Although the Mavor interpretation of the golf course pile is tantalizing, Many years ago I spoke to Mary Driscoll Murch who lived nearby when the piles were created on the Howe Brothers Farm in an attempt to clear the fields for pasture land. In order to get an idea of what they were up against, the Murch property next door has their rocks still in place and there's alot of them! Mary remembered watching the farm hands - Italian, Portugese and/or Irish, depending on who told the story (Jimmy Macchi said they were Portugese) and the workers were told to build a stonewall around the field "wide enough to drive a wagon upon it - not that they would, just a measurement - and they had so many rocks left over they built the famous pile on the north and started another south of the present golf course clubhouse - but the didn't finish it. Also there's other structures further out on the property. Some have recently been dismantled. My father was a close friend of the Murches and had been told of the rock clearing by them. The town has alot of other great sites, but I don't think we can attribute the golf course piles to anything other than a grand attempt to clear the fields.

Some interesting links

From Archeologica, several interesting links that are not specifically rock pile related:

Tree carving "arborglyph" convinces researchers the Chumash rock art included astronomy. [Click here]

And speaking of glyphs, here is something about the western Amazon and geoglyphs - large geometric patterns on the ground. [Click here]

Inuit trans-continental migration takes a couple of years not hundreds of years. [Click here]

A peculiar combination of rock piles

It seems that in the winter time, hunting rock piles by car makes as much sense as hunting them on foot. So last weekend I was cruising the back streets of Boylston MA, on my way to a hill and a walk, taking time to look side to side. Here was one rock pile, ~50 yards from the road, visible only at this time of year from the road. [On the west side of Rt 70, directly south of the Tahatawan High School.] So I parked and went down to take a look.

This is a tidy rectangular pile, but lying low to the ground and at the angle of repose.Aside from the rectangular outline, this is not a well built pile. And since the rocks have no lichen cover, I kind of assumed this was discarding of rocks - nothing too interesting. Of course there was a nice view westward towards Wachusett and there were a couple pieces of quartz in the pile, so it is a bit like a burial:Here is the view back towards the street - so I can brag about my spotting abilities.That was all well and good, except there was another pile nearby. The place is a spring with water forming up and becoming a brook and heading off downhill. Between the first pile and the brook was a flat pavement of rocks:Unlike the first pile, the rocks here are better covered with lichen. Easier to believe this is an older pile. But what can I make of it? Certainly not much in the snow.

Across the brook and uphill there was a third small rock pile, almost natural, hard to make anything of. Then a few feet downhill from the first pile, was a fourth, crescent shaped "eyebrow" of a pile:This just looks like a bulldozer swept through a rock pile, leaving one well-built section:andI did not know what to make of it.

I would dismiss any one of these piles if it was by itself. But collectively? Pick any scenario you like for the building of these rock piles. How would that scenario play out in explaining all four of them? That is the problem I had understanding this place. My best guess is that it is a badly damaged site, with some modern tweaking for unknown reasons.

In every swamp...

...and wetland, no matter how embedded in suburbia, there remain traces of Native American ceremonialism.

(side of the road, Boylston MA)

It is a compelling narrative for me that modern people live in a landscape that was largely modified earlier (perhaps prehistorically) but which is invisible to modern eyes.

Opacum Woods

Read Mike H. writes:

I took this photo this afternoon in Opacum Woods

http://www.opacumlt.org/opacum_woods.html


I was on the Northwest Corner of the Opacum pond, about where the O in Opacum pond is on the trail map This Structure of 3 built walls against the side of a large rock was interesting. It may have been a building, or a foundation? There was a spring in the ground nearby with built walls lining it in a circular patter and the top was covered by three or four rocks. I only had my cell phone with me, as I was CC Skiing on the pond. The satellite photos for this area just aren't as good as east of here yet.

Anyway, I am going to head back there next weekend with a real camera. There are other interesting rock things on the south west of this pond, near where the "rock shelter" as seen on the website is located.

Detailed report on the Oxford Stone Mound

Norman Muller sends this link to an article in the Anniston Star.

I am afraid it could not get any worse. A few crooks and ...that's it: no more archeology.

Robert Buchanan writes:

Last weekend I took a quick and very cold trip into the Moneyhole Mountain area of Fahnestock State Park. I goal was to explore a broken rectangular stone row array which was about 200m east of the spectacular wall I had found earlier in the winter.

The stone row rectangle was interesting in its position and isolation but not in its construction.

The highlight of the trip however was a discovery I made on the drive home. Instead of taking the usual road exit to the east of the area, I took the scenic route to the west and came across a nice perched boulder right beside the road.

Platform Mound at Miller Hill - Holliston, MA

On first approach from below, the platform looms to the left:
I made a video:

Saw some views of the platform:I like this thing:And of course this picture:Downhill to the northeast was another outcrop with a very damaged pile along it:
And the view from the mound towards the west:At least one of these was natural outcrop, the others were completely man made.Look at that wedge shape, that "ski jump" profile:It is like an early form of marker piles visible from a central platform. Is this not the very basic model of most of the sites around here? A viewing position (in this case a central platform) with slight geometrically placed 'marker' piles oriented in some way perpendicular to the line of sight from the platform? Frankly I cannot see how this would be for anything other than the shadows these piles would cast under various seasonally adjusted lightings, because the well defined faces of the piles are not even visible from the platform. Of course a simpler explanation would be that the whole theory is barren. Also it is possible these piles have been damaged beyond the point where there appearance is meaningful. Still, there is some sort of arrangement here.