Saturday, March 27, 2010
Northern Upton Woods
Not a lot of drama up here but the woods of northern Upton are full of short stretches of wall and of lines of rock piles. 
Is this a traditional boundary marker?
A quiet place:
Is this a traditional boundary marker?
A quiet place:
Friday, March 26, 2010
Roadside attractions - Fitchburg/Ashby
One the way back and forth, having not gotten quite as much physical exercise as I wanted, I watched out the car window for places to explore, and spotted rock piles in a couple of places. This, along with a few other things, was on Old Northfield Rd west of Rt 31, north side of the road:
At a a different place I saw a little domed pile next to the road, explored a bit and found ~8 oval ground piles with quartz. Here was the view from the road:
And the nicest pile there:
There was also this striking pile - about 10 feet long with a fine piece of quartz at one end:
Detail of the quartz:
I was close to the road and only a few feet from someone's backyard, so I was worried about being accosted and hurried in and back out of the woods. So I parked somewhere less conspicuous and snuck back through the woods. Saw this item about which I was curious:
Note the six-pack of old Budweiser cans and that the cans are un-opened. I wonder if this might be a donation? since otherwise you need a scenario of someone choosing a rock pile as a place to stash some beer, who then forgot about it.
At a a different place I saw a little domed pile next to the road, explored a bit and found ~8 oval ground piles with quartz. Here was the view from the road:
And the nicest pile there:
There was also this striking pile - about 10 feet long with a fine piece of quartz at one end:
Detail of the quartz:
I was close to the road and only a few feet from someone's backyard, so I was worried about being accosted and hurried in and back out of the woods. So I parked somewhere less conspicuous and snuck back through the woods. Saw this item about which I was curious:
Note the six-pack of old Budweiser cans and that the cans are un-opened. I wonder if this might be a donation? since otherwise you need a scenario of someone choosing a rock pile as a place to stash some beer, who then forgot about it.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Site by the Turtle Rock - NY
by theseventhgeneration
The lure of this site was explained to me as a cellar hole (no roof), a V shaped opening facing a stone wall (to the south), a very wet floor, and a neat shelf built into the back wall. How could I resist?
Walking along and looking for it, I bypassed a few rock piles and the "turtle rock", realizing I would have to go back and explore, but I wanted to find that cellar hole first. When I found this cellar hole, I was not impressed. The opening faces south, so I was leery that I had found what I was looking for.
A short walk, maybe 75 feet, further to the south yielded the find. It is exactly as described, but for one wall of the V entryway having collapsed. This shot is looking north, through what is left of the entryway, toward the shelf.
Looking at it, I wonder if it was built as a V or has time taken its toll? The drystone construction to the left in the photo above is thick, maybe 3 to 4 feet, so the construction could be intentional.
Close up of the cool shelf.
There are 2 wet spots in the floor. This is the larger of the two. The smaller one is right in front of the shelf.
So I have to ask myself, is this a cellar hole for a cold storage building or something else? This is not a wet area and there is no obvious spring coming up out of the ground around this hole, except for in the hole. All the spring houses I've seen around here are over a year-round flowing spring. So, what is this? And what is the relationship of the two small cellar holes so close to each other, one wet and one dry, both with south facing entrances? Practicality tells me a cold storage facility should have a north facing entrance, but maybe that's just me.
The turtle rock is to the north and west of the cellar holes. Continuing west, this shot is looking to the south. An obvious rock pile and a large rock on rock in the background.
Then, this really large rock pile right next to the stone wall has me stumped. There are two rock piles in the hay field across the stone wall, and they line up with the far end starting point of this large rock pile. I should mention that there is a small bit of farm debris on one of the rock piles in this area, as well as on the cellar hole with the shelf.
Descending on the northwest side from that stone wall, this wedged, or propped rock (I am not certain that it is a split-wedge). Now, looking back at my photo, I should have paid attention to the separation between the base rock and the middle rock. I didn't move that branch out of the way for a better shot.
Even further downhill and to the north, there are about 4 rock piles in a break-out zone. I have never before seen such a nicely formed rock pile in a break-out zone.
The lure of this site was explained to me as a cellar hole (no roof), a V shaped opening facing a stone wall (to the south), a very wet floor, and a neat shelf built into the back wall. How could I resist?
Walking along and looking for it, I bypassed a few rock piles and the "turtle rock", realizing I would have to go back and explore, but I wanted to find that cellar hole first. When I found this cellar hole, I was not impressed. The opening faces south, so I was leery that I had found what I was looking for.
A short walk, maybe 75 feet, further to the south yielded the find. It is exactly as described, but for one wall of the V entryway having collapsed. This shot is looking north, through what is left of the entryway, toward the shelf.
Looking at it, I wonder if it was built as a V or has time taken its toll? The drystone construction to the left in the photo above is thick, maybe 3 to 4 feet, so the construction could be intentional.Close up of the cool shelf.
There are 2 wet spots in the floor. This is the larger of the two. The smaller one is right in front of the shelf.
So I have to ask myself, is this a cellar hole for a cold storage building or something else? This is not a wet area and there is no obvious spring coming up out of the ground around this hole, except for in the hole. All the spring houses I've seen around here are over a year-round flowing spring. So, what is this? And what is the relationship of the two small cellar holes so close to each other, one wet and one dry, both with south facing entrances? Practicality tells me a cold storage facility should have a north facing entrance, but maybe that's just me.The turtle rock is to the north and west of the cellar holes. Continuing west, this shot is looking to the south. An obvious rock pile and a large rock on rock in the background.
Then, this really large rock pile right next to the stone wall has me stumped. There are two rock piles in the hay field across the stone wall, and they line up with the far end starting point of this large rock pile. I should mention that there is a small bit of farm debris on one of the rock piles in this area, as well as on the cellar hole with the shelf.
Descending on the northwest side from that stone wall, this wedged, or propped rock (I am not certain that it is a split-wedge). Now, looking back at my photo, I should have paid attention to the separation between the base rock and the middle rock. I didn't move that branch out of the way for a better shot.
Even further downhill and to the north, there are about 4 rock piles in a break-out zone. I have never before seen such a nicely formed rock pile in a break-out zone.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Indian Place Names of Worcester County
Found this while looking for the history of Wright Ponds Ashby. This is about the Nipmuck. For example, contains a definition of Hassanamesit (the name of the Grafton praying Indian village):
"The Indian place names translated are in many cases similar to our English ones, but for the sake of euphony, if for no other reason, many of their originals should be retained. Quinsigamond, Wachuset and Hassanamesit are more euphonious than Pickerel Pond, Hill Town and Little Stone Place." [emphasis added]
"The Indian place names translated are in many cases similar to our English ones, but for the sake of euphony, if for no other reason, many of their originals should be retained. Quinsigamond, Wachuset and Hassanamesit are more euphonious than Pickerel Pond, Hill Town and Little Stone Place." [emphasis added]
More Piles with Tails: Wright Ponds - Ashby MA
Over time, I am going to explore more, north of Fitchburg - a place with lots of woods. Wright Ponds, a pair of ponds linked by a short brook flowing from the south to the north, seemed like a reasonable place to look for rock piles with "tails", so I drove there this weekend. I was going to explore along the edges of the lake but gunfire from the associated "Rod and Gun" club dissuaded me and, instead, I walked along the road and spotted something rock pile like in the little wetland next to the brook connecting the two ponds, located as shown by the red outline above.
A long, messy rock pile. If I had not known what to look for, the backside would have looked like more mess but, magically, it resolved into a rectangular pile (in the center of the photo) with a narrow neck connecting it to another bit of rock pile on the right.
After some more examining, I conclude that there are really two "tails": one to the right, and another to the left. Something like this:
Here is a view from the the left (of the previous picture):
Look at those big slabs in the foreground and recall that idea of a "hollow" on the opposite end from a tail. I think this fits that pattern and those slabs are the sides of a "crypt" or "chamber" in the pile. You know I think these were burials but the jury is definitely still out on that. Here is another view of the main rectangle:
We are looking towards the "tail" and there are a couple of pieces of quartz in the pile. For example:
Also here is a view from the far end, showing a small outlier pile a few feet to the right:
***
And here is a little context. We are looking more or less north towards the upper pond.
As I am looking at it, I realize, this also is a pile with a "tail". Here is a sketch of the overhead view:
It is wonderful that a little understanding allows one to make sense of these broken down ruins - not to mention knowing where to look for them. Another view of this pile:
Then I explored more to the other side of the first pile, seeing a couple of piles in the newly forming brook:
Then an example of what I would call a "gap" pile; or perhaps here just structures to either side of a faint trail:
Finally, another look at the second pile with a bit of stone wall to the right:
Studying the stone wall, there was a bit of a spur leading over to the pile. Overall the site was like this (not to scale):
This sketch shows the main features of the site, with "Pile 1" , "Pile 2", and their relation to the wall and brook. Also the other smaller piles. It is worth comparing this to the site sketch from the Carlisle wetland of a few weeks ago [click here] where, as here, the piles were along a line in the form of a very messy wall.Looking more at the topo map fragment [at the top of this post], I see I should have explored along the edges of the hill to the west of the upper pond. Since I was pursuing a theory about southern and eastern edges of ponds, it did not occur to me - shows you the downside of having theories. Also: from the map, you can see there are some more woods and wetland edges to explore around there. I'll have to go back.
Update: from the Indian Place Names of Worcester County:
Neesepesesuck - Name of two small ponds in the southern central part of Ashby, now called Wright's ponds. This name, with very little doubt, is a corruption of Neeie-pavg-Kuek = ' two pond brook,' the ponds taking the name from the brook which is now called Pearl brook.
An Equinox Walk Through Gungywamp
Ted Hendrickson writes:
A local nature center arranged a walk through the Gungywamp Complex in Groton, CT on Saturday, corresponding to the Vernal Equinox. This well known and researched site still is a subject of discussion. We have been through several times, first in the mid 80's with Dave Barron. I think I appreciated the scene more this time. Arriving at the north end of the south complex, the donation piles on boulders flank an entry into the swamp.
Next to it the "Bridge" with manitou stones.
Proceeding south, the two rows of standing stones.
The real goal was to see the famous shaft of light in chamber one, which on the equinoxes enters through a small vent and grazes the north wall before entering the small beehive side chamber. Vance Tiede had already set up his camera in the doorway and was recording the light's passage.
The entry point for light at the top.
This propped boulder is next to the chamber.
A large group from a local community college showed up. So much for my communion with the mystery... Still a rewarding visit. Lugged my big camera around for some shots too.
A local nature center arranged a walk through the Gungywamp Complex in Groton, CT on Saturday, corresponding to the Vernal Equinox. This well known and researched site still is a subject of discussion. We have been through several times, first in the mid 80's with Dave Barron. I think I appreciated the scene more this time. Arriving at the north end of the south complex, the donation piles on boulders flank an entry into the swamp.
Next to it the "Bridge" with manitou stones.
Proceeding south, the two rows of standing stones.
The real goal was to see the famous shaft of light in chamber one, which on the equinoxes enters through a small vent and grazes the north wall before entering the small beehive side chamber. Vance Tiede had already set up his camera in the doorway and was recording the light's passage.
The entry point for light at the top.
This propped boulder is next to the chamber.
A large group from a local community college showed up. So much for my communion with the mystery... Still a rewarding visit. Lugged my big camera around for some shots too.
Opacum Woods Rock Pile - Sturbridge MA
Reader Mike H from Sturbridge writes:
This is a pile that I found in Sturbridge at the top of a hill in Opacum Woods. After you head through the tolls from the Mass Pike to I-84 W (exit 9), this hill is on the right side of the highway (west), the pile is at the southern end of the north south ridge, closer to off ramp for exit 3B than it is to the toll booth. This can be accessed from the Opacum Woods preserve. (20W, right on New Boston, 4th Right on Audubon, 2nd left on Old Brook (parking lot at the end of Old Brook Rd.) It is east of the trail on Old Walker Road. This area is at the intersection of the Baypath, (which followed rte 20) and the path to Quaboag pond and the Quaboag villages (which followed New Boston Road to the North.
This is a pile that I found in Sturbridge at the top of a hill in Opacum Woods. After you head through the tolls from the Mass Pike to I-84 W (exit 9), this hill is on the right side of the highway (west), the pile is at the southern end of the north south ridge, closer to off ramp for exit 3B than it is to the toll booth. This can be accessed from the Opacum Woods preserve. (20W, right on New Boston, 4th Right on Audubon, 2nd left on Old Brook (parking lot at the end of Old Brook Rd.) It is east of the trail on Old Walker Road. This area is at the intersection of the Baypath, (which followed rte 20) and the path to Quaboag pond and the Quaboag villages (which followed New Boston Road to the North.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Rock piles with tails
I am going to keep talking about this topic, since it came up in my explorations as described here and here. After writing those posts I had feedback from reader Keith that he has seen piles with tails (south of the Mass. Pike??) and from Norman Muller who first documented piles with tails in his description of the Stockbridge VT Cairn site [click here, then go to the third page and scroll down]. I'll quote from Norman's article:
"Similarly, more than 200 miles to the south, at the Oley Hills site, is Platform B (Fig. 15), a large stone platform with a terrace-like extension at the north end that ended at some large boulders, from above looking like the curved tail of a scorpion (Fig. 16). The similar morphology among these three examples is more than a coincidence, I believe, and reflects a widespread cultural and architectural response to the landscape. " (Take a look at Figures 4, 12, 14, and 15 from his report.)
So that is the background; I came to the same conclusion about a particular culture. Let's collect together some of the pictures. Here is Norman's Fig.14 (from VT)
And his Fig 15 (from PA, showing the tail with the main pile to the left of the picture)
And two examples I saw the other weekend (from Carlisle)
And I must add also the picture of the main pile at Apron Hill, Boylston MA
Now, for better or worse, I took Apron Hill as the defining "archtypical" example of the Wachusett Tradition. So I am obliged to see these other sites with the same peculiar rock pile type as other examples of that Tradition and re-use the name. [It is just a word but it is in my head now; serving to organize other thoughts - a point of reference.]
A couple of questions:
"Similarly, more than 200 miles to the south, at the Oley Hills site, is Platform B (Fig. 15), a large stone platform with a terrace-like extension at the north end that ended at some large boulders, from above looking like the curved tail of a scorpion (Fig. 16). The similar morphology among these three examples is more than a coincidence, I believe, and reflects a widespread cultural and architectural response to the landscape. " (Take a look at Figures 4, 12, 14, and 15 from his report.)
So that is the background; I came to the same conclusion about a particular culture. Let's collect together some of the pictures. Here is Norman's Fig.14 (from VT)
And his Fig 15 (from PA, showing the tail with the main pile to the left of the picture)
And two examples I saw the other weekend (from Carlisle)
And I must add also the picture of the main pile at Apron Hill, Boylston MA
Now, for better or worse, I took Apron Hill as the defining "archtypical" example of the Wachusett Tradition. So I am obliged to see these other sites with the same peculiar rock pile type as other examples of that Tradition and re-use the name. [It is just a word but it is in my head now; serving to organize other thoughts - a point of reference.]A couple of questions:
- what is the tail for?
- are all tails alike (some have more of a knob on the end)?
- what is the distribution of piles with tails?
- why do the tails curl clockwise only [so far anyway]?
- what is the cause or purpose of the hollow so often seen at the opposite end of the pile from the tail?
Speaking of a Turtle Vision
by theseventhgeneration
When you see something like this from a distance, all you can think is "this has got to be good"...
The hole is a half meter high.
There is an old quarry nearby, so I'm not sure what to say about that hole, other than the obvious nuchal notch, of course.
From a different angle, the rock in the foreground has a strange look to it.
No wedge that I could see, although I didn't remove all that debris. There is a wedged rock a bit further down the hill, but I'll post about that later.
That boulder hole is causing me to think hard about this site, but I still don't know what to make about both of these sites. There is definitely a mix of activity at both.
When you see something like this from a distance, all you can think is "this has got to be good"...
The hole is a half meter high.
There is an old quarry nearby, so I'm not sure what to say about that hole, other than the obvious nuchal notch, of course.From a different angle, the rock in the foreground has a strange look to it.
No wedge that I could see, although I didn't remove all that debris. There is a wedged rock a bit further down the hill, but I'll post about that later.
That boulder hole is causing me to think hard about this site, but I still don't know what to make about both of these sites. There is definitely a mix of activity at both.
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