More aerial surveying

[Sorry, I am at least temporarily addicted to this off-subject topic]. I was scanning around near some other features found by reader dc, down inland of the Horn or Africa and west of the Rift Valley. First we see some fun examples of structure [which are very dense in some places] and what looks like an entire large buried city:I only belatedly learned to include the coordinates in the screen grab. Check out that item at the bottom.

Then closer to the Rift Valley and a bit south:These are modern day huts. This converts me to believing the numerous "pie plates" are similar: small villages from the past.

Update: I read that many animal bones were found inside of some of these pie plate. Perhaps I misunderstood but this suggests they were slaughter houses. So where are the tools?

More aerial ruins from the desert of Asia and Africa

Reader dc writes:

It is always interesting to see what shows up in the middle of nowhere in deserts, on Google Earth. Here is what appears to be a reservoir, in the middle of nowhere, no roads, no cities, but a few
ancient stone structures are visible as well. To the northeast about 1.6 miles is another one, and a third 12 miles to the south. This is as far east as I have poked around so far. I have found similar "reservoirs" in Syria, Jordan, Afghanistan and Sudan, as well as Djibouti. dc.
Interesting five sided fort in the Pakistan desert. Thought you might be interested.
The Chaldi desert in Kenya is loaded with "pie plates" just like the ones in Syria and Jordan. Here is an example. If you poke around you will see many hundreds of similar structures.
I thought you might appreciate these concentric stone rings in the desert of Kenya. Many similar structures in the area but this is the only one with the definition to see at least four circles

Another interesting stoce circle in the Chaldi desert of Kenya. This one is really in the middle of nowhere, on an island of rock in a sea of sand. Other similar structures in the area.

6 good definition stone circles in Kenya, some others with lesser definition.

Wachusett Tradition (Rectangular Mounds with Hollows) at Peppercorn Hill

Acton trail clearing

The date keeps changing. Now it is "some weekend in October". If you can help, please stay tuned.

Name That Fungus

Anyone recognize this? Found in Estabrook Woods.

Rectangular Mounds in the Woods

More to follow.

Help clear cairns for the Acton interpretive trail system.

Anyone interested in helping?
The weekend of Oct 8,9 is slated for trail clearing at the Acton Nashoba Brook conservation land. The goal is to create side loop trails that highlight some of the many rock piles or "cairns" in there.

I may be leading one effort. Wanna help? Keep the date reserved, check back here for details, or contact rockpilesmail@gmail.com

Readers send pics of aerials from the mideast

Reader dc sends this "Giant Serpent Mound" from Syria near Golan:
See http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=32.965299,36.035115&spn=0.008731,0.026093&t=f&z=16&ecpose=32.96529859,36.03511458,2597.03,10.777,0,0

He also writes:
Here are some "pie plates" (many actually) aka stone circles/structures/wheels among several long "kites" (they look like comets). The most interesting thing is there are two photos just to the west that show on the ground what these structures look like.
And "5 of the 6 pyramids on the island of Mauritius".

Lost in the woods

Later, after exploring north and east, I dove back into the woods a second time, heading northwest from the west bank of Falulah Brook, where Ashby West Rd crosses the brook. Heading more north than intended, I ended up somewhere south of the Fitchburg Reservoir and west of Ringe Rd. Not finding much and getting tired, I headed straight east, as best I could, ending up about where Mayo crosses Ringe. Somewhere in that trajectory I crossed a small brook and found myself looking at an oval mound, covered with ferns next to the brook.Then I saw five or six other good sized, very decrepit, smeared out mounds. Do I know these are rectangular mounds with hollows? Not really but consider. Here is an outline, suggesting a small pile with a hollow:and here are some rectangles:(see a hollow? see the rectangle?)
Mostly these were totaly submerged in the cinnamon ferns.Here is a view down the gully:Perhaps the most interesting thing about this small collection of mounds was the the causeway crossing the gully in the center of the collection. This is about 2 tractor widths across.
Here, in the middle and going up to the left, we see rocks along one edge of the causeway. The other edge is to the upper right in the photo.

It is hard for me to believe this causeway just happens to exist in the same spot as the mounds but independently from them. These were the only structures I saw in miles of woods, so I think the causeway is related to the mounds. But, believing as I do that the mounds are prehistoric, this kind of implies the causeway is also. I have a hard time with that as well. So it is all confusing.

Totally decrepit mound with hollow - eastern bank Falulah Brook

There are a lot of unexplored woods at the headwaters of Falulah Brook in Fitchburg/Ashby. Having found mounds with hollows in some of these woods, I am enjoying the prospect of exploring all of them. Yesterday I went northwest from where Ashby West Rd crosses the brook, wondering if there were more mounds in that direction. I found one as I headed back along the sides of the wetland.

For some reason I get a rather specific pleasure in recognizing that this is actually a human structure not a natural collection or a man made discarding of rocks. I know what I am looking for - a rectangular arrangement of rocks forming some kind of an outline; and I know where I am looking - along the margins of Falulah Brook. When I find exactly what I am looking for exactly where I am looking, I have no doubt about its identity. It is neat realizing these random seeming tumbles are actually part of a very pervasive culture up in these northern Mass. upland wet areas.

Gap piles - a couple of examples

From the east side of Falulah Brook, north of Ashby West Rd. I propose these piles have a function related to the gap between the pile and the adjacent boulder. It is a specific design I see frequently.another:

Alert! Alert! This blog has been taken over by Google Earth Users

OK I am having too much fun to worry about this not being rock pile related. Great game: pick some desert on the planet, zoom in, look for man made structures. Please send in your entries! Here is one from about 30 miles south of Karazal in Kazakstan:...'the hell? Note there is a good sized rock pile in there.

PS: You hit the "Print Screen" button on the top right of your computer keyboard, then open MS Paint and paste the image into the application. Save the file. Then send it here.

Or this weirdness from 1.5 miles southwest of Tovar Ranch Lake #2 in southern Texas. Note the line of trees crossing the level spot.
Or check out the faint concentric circles 2 miles west of Tovar Ranch Lake #2.

Seems someone has already started doing this more systematically [click here]

Another reader sends this [click here]

Site vandalism

The conversation about when it is OK to publicize a rock pile/stone mound site goes on and on. I want to report that yesterday I drove past the Littleton chamber on Littleton County Rd and those *$@'s have blasted away all the ledge rock nearby and shaken the chamber to the extent that it needed to be propped up. Is driving fast on that road so important? What are they thinking?

Meanwhile, I learned that my favorite mound site on Mt. Elam Rd in Leominster is being logged right up to the piles, with heavy equipment driving over stone walls and what all. Is this a good time to be turning a F'ing profit from the woods? [Again] What are they thinking?

I was re-reading notes from a conference where the Indians made very clear that public awareness was the desired way to protect piles and that, when in doubt, the sites should be made public. I am increasingly inclined to publicize all the sites. The biggest real threat comes from logging and road widening and all the unintentional destruction of woodland. Any kind of treasure hunter or new age vandal would be a small nuisance by comparison.

Mound distribution - Falulah Brook

Sites (in blue) with chambered rectangular mounds are pretty common along the headwaters of Falulah Brook in northern Fitchburg. I am sure there are others I have not seen. Sites (in yellow) with arrays of triangular piles are also pretty common along the old Mayo Rd.

Today I got thoroughly lost and so, when I finally stumbled on the type of site I was looking for, I had no idea where it was. Given where I exited the woods onto the road, I can guess roughly where the site was. But the ?s reflect my uncertainty.

From a blog called: In the Field

Sunday, October 25, 2009 ~ Quinnipiac Trail: Journey's End
http://sheltontrails.blogspot.com/2009/10/quinnipiac-trail-journeys-end.html

“The first part of the hike was in Naugatuck State Forest, Sanford Block, and included the highest point along the Quinnipiac Trail: Mt. Sanford at elevation 890 ft...Near the true summit I found one large pile of rocks and many smaller piles of rocks at intervals that made me suspect this might be a Native American ceremonial site. No view there, but when the trees were cut you would have been able to see for miles to the east and west.”
A Rock Pile search of the blog reveals a photo taken in Rhode Island:

http://sheltontrails.blogspot.com/2010/09/arcadia-forest-rhode-island.html
Searching 'stone' I found: "Here's perhaps the most unusual stone wall I've ever come across in the Grace Richardson Conservation Area. The weird wall/cairn/sculpture was a good six feet tall or so. It begs the question: Why?"

http://sheltontrails.blogspot.com/2010/05/random-fairfield-parks.html

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIP1ZNzlQMJkb6YQHtAeRPgr6pnrX7RmpufPv4bzqY6AbX1FQn0BpJf5ry32GiaFUUjstZAi9nPqew_jOx2fdXfR_Q0wkmlRNhbmgulFbALtqHItycMzUHD7TwSb7_RCY_fnR6/s1600/IMG_2694.JPG
The blog: http://sheltontrails.blogspot.com/
From the author's Flick Fotos, a Danbury CT find:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100939962699760019806/SheltonTrailPictures#5340597347954299506

Beacon Cap

-- glacial erratic boulder on high point (elevation 770 feet) on the Bethany, CT and Naugatuck, CT border. End of Beacon Cap spur trail of Naugatuck Blue-Blazed hiking trail. (photo location: 41° 27' 45" N, 73° 0' 12.6" W)

image from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BeaconCapGlacialErraticBoulder.JPG with a little thing by the photo location that gives you many choices for maps and satellite images. I particularly like the Bing Bird's Eye option, the boulder quite visible, along with other smaller boulders. Note the piled stones and the chamber-like overhang...

The photo is also part of "morrowlong’s" Flickr gallery “Naugatuck Trail - Bethany, Beacon Falls and Naugatuck, CT - April 3, 2010” ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/morrowlong/sets/72157623763256498/

Other views are available there, and I wonder if the stoneworking is modern or perhaps Indian - or possibly both.

I had mentioned stopping in Woodbridge after a trip to the NH Train Station recently; on the way to the station, the Naugatuck River beside us at the highest level I ever remember seeing, I was telling my daughter about the old route 8 on the hillside and wondered out loud to her if the old road had become a hiking trail. Turns out that it does and is how one gets to Beacon Cap, if I read the description of the trail correctly...

More on Mideast Aerial Surveying

This article actually does contain the word "cairn" - but this is not New England related.

I followed a link suggested by a commenter (a couple days ago here) to look at "serpent mounds" on the Golan Heights and soon became addicted to looking down at blank desert from above with Google Earth. As far as I can tell there is non stop archeology from the Mediterranean to India. There is an incredible density of structures, you can see cities, animal enclosures, alignments, stone circles, irrigation systems, fields, plots, some weird wedge/rectangle shapes that are quite like some of the Nazca lines (unlike what is seen in the above article which is not really like Nazca). It goes on and on.

By contrast, looking down at our own deserts - say- in New Mexico, there are many fewer man made structures visible. But I bet there are some surprises somewhere on this continent. Now that I am addicted to this aerial hunting, I plan on having a closer look around Hudson's Bay, and up in the dry parts of Washington and Oregon.

To the Google Earth Viewer.....away!

Pile with niche

From a walk in Harvard:
Note the boulder in the background on the left:

Mound with hollow? - Harvard walk

Little Ossipee Stone Mound

Reader Rob Sirois also writes:
I had almost forgotten about the (rock pile) mound in the middle of the Little Ossipee a few miles down stream from Lake Arrowhead