I cannot resist a nicely flaked stone axe [Click here]
"may be about 100,000 years old"
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sacred Landscapes and Sacred Memories - presentation
“Sacred Landscapes and Sacred Memories”, presented by Pamela Ellis,J.D., and Rae Gould, Ph.D., of the Nipmuc Indian Nation, on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 7:00pm at the Littleton High School Auditorium and Performance Center at 56 King Street.
Free and open to all.
Native Americans were subjected to the Puritan vision of how “Indians” should conduct their lives in accordance with traditional English practices. They were converted to Christianity and relocated to a series of Praying Villages, starting in 1651 with Natick, followed by thirteen others, including Hassanamesit (third site in present day Grafton) and Nashoba (sixth site in present day Littleton).
This presentation offers a historical focus on the nature of early Colonial Native settlements and praying villages from the Nipmuc perspective, using Hassanamesit as an example. Hassanamesit will be examined in its role beyond that period through the 19th and 20th centuries. The land forming Hassanamesit Village has passed through the Nipmuc Cisco family and now is the Hassanamisco Reservation of the Nipmuc tribe, never passing out of Native American ownership.
Pamela Ellis, J.D. is the Tribal Historian/Genealogist and Cultural Resources Officer for the Natick Nipmuc Indian Council. Her legal practice specializes in Indian Affairs.
Rae Gould, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Anthropology, is the Nipmuc Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and has additionally served as Tribal Researcher, Archivist, and Archaeologist, with a prime focus on Hassanamesit.
This program is provided by the Dr. Ed Bell Forum, an endowed public education seminar series sponsored by the Littleton Conservation Trust, and is supported in part by a grant from the Littleton Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Free and open to all.
Native Americans were subjected to the Puritan vision of how “Indians” should conduct their lives in accordance with traditional English practices. They were converted to Christianity and relocated to a series of Praying Villages, starting in 1651 with Natick, followed by thirteen others, including Hassanamesit (third site in present day Grafton) and Nashoba (sixth site in present day Littleton).
This presentation offers a historical focus on the nature of early Colonial Native settlements and praying villages from the Nipmuc perspective, using Hassanamesit as an example. Hassanamesit will be examined in its role beyond that period through the 19th and 20th centuries. The land forming Hassanamesit Village has passed through the Nipmuc Cisco family and now is the Hassanamisco Reservation of the Nipmuc tribe, never passing out of Native American ownership.
Pamela Ellis, J.D. is the Tribal Historian/Genealogist and Cultural Resources Officer for the Natick Nipmuc Indian Council. Her legal practice specializes in Indian Affairs.
Rae Gould, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Anthropology, is the Nipmuc Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and has additionally served as Tribal Researcher, Archivist, and Archaeologist, with a prime focus on Hassanamesit.
This program is provided by the Dr. Ed Bell Forum, an endowed public education seminar series sponsored by the Littleton Conservation Trust, and is supported in part by a grant from the Littleton Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Odd Smooth Stone
Decided I should stop telling about this stone that has made me curious and post it so I can get comments from people here. The picture below gives a general idea of the shape from the "top". Note the lines on the side in the lower part of the picture.
And this next picture shows it from the "bottom". Note the three holes, almost looking drilled.In this picture it is hard to see the lines radiating from one of them.
The next picture shows why one person said it might be a bird effigy stone. Not sure he was right, but he was the only one of three men I showed it to who looked at it for more than an instant and who didn't say it was just a natural rock. It crossed my mind that they might have looked at it more closely if it hadn't been handed to them by a woman but maybe I was just feeling irritated. That white is just shine. I wetted the stone for a couple of these photos.
Now here I am holding it in the way that is so natural. Two of the fingers on the left side here each naturally find a little indentation that fits, and likewise the thumb fits the contour of the stone.
And when it is held as it is above, you end up with the point, the sharpest tip of which has broken off, in the perfect position to mark or incise, say, a design on pottery or even maybe to put holes in leather, as seen below. It fits so well that I could easily use it for something like that and have less problems with slippage than with most modern tools. the hand fit is so firm and tight.
In the next two pictures I tried to capture the three shallow lines that radiate from the largest hole. I have no idea why they are there. They only show up in certain light. in the first picture the stone is wet and you can kind of see them. They also show up in the fuzzier picture below it.
The holes on the bottom would not have to do with the possible use as an awl or drawing tool. I have tried and there is no natural way to hold it firmly as there is the other way, not if you want to keep your fingers free of the holes. I haven't posted a picture that shows the side where the thumb matches the contour but there are a couple of shallow straight lines on that side as well.
So there it is. Any words of wisdom, anyone? Thanks!
And this next picture shows it from the "bottom". Note the three holes, almost looking drilled.In this picture it is hard to see the lines radiating from one of them.
The next picture shows why one person said it might be a bird effigy stone. Not sure he was right, but he was the only one of three men I showed it to who looked at it for more than an instant and who didn't say it was just a natural rock. It crossed my mind that they might have looked at it more closely if it hadn't been handed to them by a woman but maybe I was just feeling irritated. That white is just shine. I wetted the stone for a couple of these photos.
Now here I am holding it in the way that is so natural. Two of the fingers on the left side here each naturally find a little indentation that fits, and likewise the thumb fits the contour of the stone.
And when it is held as it is above, you end up with the point, the sharpest tip of which has broken off, in the perfect position to mark or incise, say, a design on pottery or even maybe to put holes in leather, as seen below. It fits so well that I could easily use it for something like that and have less problems with slippage than with most modern tools. the hand fit is so firm and tight.
In the next two pictures I tried to capture the three shallow lines that radiate from the largest hole. I have no idea why they are there. They only show up in certain light. in the first picture the stone is wet and you can kind of see them. They also show up in the fuzzier picture below it.
The holes on the bottom would not have to do with the possible use as an awl or drawing tool. I have tried and there is no natural way to hold it firmly as there is the other way, not if you want to keep your fingers free of the holes. I haven't posted a picture that shows the side where the thumb matches the contour but there are a couple of shallow straight lines on that side as well.
So there it is. Any words of wisdom, anyone? Thanks!
Hill between Century Mill Rd and Danforth Brook
I was heading up the northern side of a hill near Danforth Brook in Bolton and was a little surprised to see a rock pile as I glanced downhill:
But there it was. It even had a bit of lighter colored rock in it, something you see occasionally in marker piles.
Up on the side of a hill this way, I automatically assume that is what the piles are. But I needed to find something else since one rock pile does not make a site. Here was another:
And a view back up the slope towards the first one. 
Note how the shadows stretch across the place.And here was another:
And another, this one nicely built, including the more typical "vertical sides" I expect from marker piles. 
Here is another view back towards the first pile. The piles were all more or less at the same level or slanting a bit in a downhill diagonal from the first, I guess evenly spaced if you include a few rocks poking up through the leaves.
It is worth noticing how flat (not level) the ground is here.At the top of the hill, a lone sentinel, but still more or less part of this same rock pile cluster:
Closeup:
This is a big hill. Last time I explored it was on an overcast day and I quickly got lost. I remember going around the hill several times looking for my entrance direction and coming back to the same spot unexpectedly. This time it was a bright and sunny and I decided to stay to the left (east) and explore some more in that direction. This first cluster came as a surprise. Seeing a few more traces near a little vernal wet spot, facing northeast, was less surprising:
Also throughout the woods I came across occasional rock-on-rock or other small rock piles:
And I kept going until I got back down towards the road and the brook, and saw some familiar rock piles over there. Headed back by road to my car, hearing a police siren and wondering if it was my car on Century Mill Rd, improperly parked again. Yup, but the policemen was quite polite and I was soon on my way home.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Back at the new site, quartz stemmed arrowhead
Last week I posted about a new site where I found a few arrowheads. I didn't have time last weekend to thoroughly and systematically scour the entire area, I skipped around a little and there were a few spots where I did not have time to search. During the week it rained on two days, this was enough to encourage me to go back and to see what I might have missed and if anything new had been exposed. Looking in a little place that I had not been before, I found a broken quartz projectile point midsection- a large point or blade missing the tip and also snapped at the base. For me any find is a good find and this was enough to make the drive and the time spent searching worthwhile, it was good to find it.
I kept looking and moved into an area where I had looked the week before. I tried to ignore my own footprints and the rocks I had already flipped over. Fron time to time I would spot a chip or flake barely peeking out of the dirt, any broken edge protruding from the soil has to be checked. Then I found this, fully exposed on the ground:
This is something special and I was thrilled to find it. I looked at it for a long while before I picked it up, savoring it. Here it is in my hand, for scale:
The most remarkable thing about this find, to me, was this: less than two feet away from this obvious and exposed point, was the footprint of an arrowhead hunter who missed it. And that hunter was me. I must have practically stepped right over this thing. I would like to believe that this point was exposed by the recent rain, but I don't know that it rained hard enough to completely expose this if it was buried before. Perhaps it was covered by a leaf on my previous visit. But it could also be that as I walked by this point I was distracted just for a moment, maybe I was picking up some other rocks nearby, or looked up at a bird for two steps in just the wrong moment. Sometimes I will revisit a place where I have looked and find tiny fragments I missed barely visible and mostly buried in the dirt, that is normal as you can never spot absolutely everything. But this one was super obvious and I seem to have walked right by it. I scoured the entire area, looked everywhere I could, I didn't find anything else.
This point appears to have grinding on the stem. I took another look at the felsite stemmed point I found last week and that definitely was ground. This quartz one was probably resharpened down from something bigger. I think these might be Merrimack points, 6,000 years old.
I kept looking and moved into an area where I had looked the week before. I tried to ignore my own footprints and the rocks I had already flipped over. Fron time to time I would spot a chip or flake barely peeking out of the dirt, any broken edge protruding from the soil has to be checked. Then I found this, fully exposed on the ground:
This is something special and I was thrilled to find it. I looked at it for a long while before I picked it up, savoring it. Here it is in my hand, for scale:
The most remarkable thing about this find, to me, was this: less than two feet away from this obvious and exposed point, was the footprint of an arrowhead hunter who missed it. And that hunter was me. I must have practically stepped right over this thing. I would like to believe that this point was exposed by the recent rain, but I don't know that it rained hard enough to completely expose this if it was buried before. Perhaps it was covered by a leaf on my previous visit. But it could also be that as I walked by this point I was distracted just for a moment, maybe I was picking up some other rocks nearby, or looked up at a bird for two steps in just the wrong moment. Sometimes I will revisit a place where I have looked and find tiny fragments I missed barely visible and mostly buried in the dirt, that is normal as you can never spot absolutely everything. But this one was super obvious and I seem to have walked right by it. I scoured the entire area, looked everywhere I could, I didn't find anything else.
This point appears to have grinding on the stem. I took another look at the felsite stemmed point I found last week and that definitely was ground. This quartz one was probably resharpened down from something bigger. I think these might be Merrimack points, 6,000 years old.
Unidentified, funny, little rocks
Spear throwers or "atlatls" are sticks used to extend the length of the thrower's arm, perhaps even adding some "whip" to the throw. These were in use well into the more recent times, even after the bow and arrow became popular (around 0 AD around here). For example I think they found a spear thrower on the body of a hunter whose remains melted out of the glacier in British Columbia and these were dated to something like 1100 AD. Anyway, here is an example of a spear thrower from the website Tangible Sanctity:
This has two features of interest: a handle, and a hook at the back to hold the butt of the spear. Missing is any example of a counterweight - something added on the shaft to make the whole shaft heavier, or to change its recoil/follow-through characteristics.
For years, I have been bringing back curios from my surface collecting and imagining them to somehow be involved with spear throwers. Here is one of the nicest:
It is slightly polished and - to me - clearly an artifact. There was a book (can't find it on my shelf at the moment) that called these things "bow tie" spear-thrower counterweights.
I found lots of other much less clear examples of similar rocks. Like this one made of slate, and obviously ground smooth in some places, flaked a bit in others.
[A back story on this is that I did not collect it when I first saw it, then got to thinking and went back. It took most of the summer before I spotted it again.]
Here is something from the Google, a bit along these lines:
So let's stipulate that there was some kind of a spear-thrower counter weight. Formally a "banner stone" that had a hole through it and, informally, a whale-tail or bow-tie shaped item that was bound to the spear-thrower. For better or worse, here are the objects I kept. You can say whether they even look like artifacts; let alone fitting my theory of spear-thrower counterweights.
But then there is a class of small rocks that I think of as "sharks" and which I bring home out of puzzlement rather than any understanding. Maybe these played the role of the "hook" at the distal end of the spear-thrower:
I am convinced these are artifacts. Voice your objections in comments.
Meanwhile, here is in modern version of the spear-thrower hook from the Google:
All the discussion of bird stones reminded me of the topic of spear-throwers and the question of the function of bird stones - their uniformity as well as the holes drilled through them, make it clear that they had a specific function.
Update: Here is some interesting stuff about the B.C. Iceman (from here)
This has two features of interest: a handle, and a hook at the back to hold the butt of the spear. Missing is any example of a counterweight - something added on the shaft to make the whole shaft heavier, or to change its recoil/follow-through characteristics.For years, I have been bringing back curios from my surface collecting and imagining them to somehow be involved with spear throwers. Here is one of the nicest:
It is slightly polished and - to me - clearly an artifact. There was a book (can't find it on my shelf at the moment) that called these things "bow tie" spear-thrower counterweights.I found lots of other much less clear examples of similar rocks. Like this one made of slate, and obviously ground smooth in some places, flaked a bit in others.
[A back story on this is that I did not collect it when I first saw it, then got to thinking and went back. It took most of the summer before I spotted it again.]Here is something from the Google, a bit along these lines:
So let's stipulate that there was some kind of a spear-thrower counter weight. Formally a "banner stone" that had a hole through it and, informally, a whale-tail or bow-tie shaped item that was bound to the spear-thrower. For better or worse, here are the objects I kept. You can say whether they even look like artifacts; let alone fitting my theory of spear-thrower counterweights.
But then there is a class of small rocks that I think of as "sharks" and which I bring home out of puzzlement rather than any understanding. Maybe these played the role of the "hook" at the distal end of the spear-thrower:
I am convinced these are artifacts. Voice your objections in comments.Meanwhile, here is in modern version of the spear-thrower hook from the Google:
All the discussion of bird stones reminded me of the topic of spear-throwers and the question of the function of bird stones - their uniformity as well as the holes drilled through them, make it clear that they had a specific function.Update: Here is some interesting stuff about the B.C. Iceman (from here)
Scientists believe Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi was a hunter, who lived roughly 300 years ago — but possibly longer. He appeared to be in good health when he died an accidental death on the glacier.
Among the findings, researchers have determined:
- He was in his late teens or early 20s when he died.
- He wore a robe, likely made from about 95 gopher or squirrel skins, stitched together with sinew.
- He carried a walking stick, an iron-blade knife and a spearthrower.
Who built the ancient structures in Canada and New England?
Just saw this question as a search term one visitor used to get to this blog. Isn't the answer contained in the question? I mean who lived here in "ancient" times?
Split Boulder.....with two offering holes in Hopkinton, RI
From Jeff in RI:
Cut back some brambles and brushed some pine needles away to reveal the holes. A Eureka moment for sure!
Update: I did not post one picture, because I missed its importance. Note the drill hole at the top of the crack:
Larry Harrop says:
This photo shows the holes. If you follow the thin crack to the top where the boulder is split, you'll notice a third hole that probably caused the crack.(half a hole on each side of the crack) I think somebody was quarrying that boulder.
Cut back some brambles and brushed some pine needles away to reveal the holes. A Eureka moment for sure!
Update: I did not post one picture, because I missed its importance. Note the drill hole at the top of the crack:
Larry Harrop says:This photo shows the holes. If you follow the thin crack to the top where the boulder is split, you'll notice a third hole that probably caused the crack.(half a hole on each side of the crack) I think somebody was quarrying that boulder.
Philip Smith
Norman Muller writes:
I came across this article while browsing an archaeology website, and to my amazement found Philip Smith's name being prominently mentioned. He mentioned to me during my visit earlier in the month that he had done some excavating in Egypt, but I had no idea he was involved in the discovery of what now turns out to be paleolithic drawings!
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Long+forgotten+Canadian+find+shakes+understanding+ancient+humans/5728755/story.html
I came across this article while browsing an archaeology website, and to my amazement found Philip Smith's name being prominently mentioned. He mentioned to me during my visit earlier in the month that he had done some excavating in Egypt, but I had no idea he was involved in the discovery of what now turns out to be paleolithic drawings!
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Long+forgotten+Canadian+find+shakes+understanding+ancient+humans/5728755/story.html
Attached is a photo I took of Philip in his home.
Hallstead PA
Norman Muller writes:
Those cairns that Don Windsor found in Chenago Co, NY, remind me of some I saw in Hallstead, PA, which is probably not far from the site Don found. See attached.
Those cairns that Don Windsor found in Chenago Co, NY, remind me of some I saw in Hallstead, PA, which is probably not far from the site Don found. See attached.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Exploring Chenango County, NY
by theseventhgeneration
Click here for a link to the Exploring Chenango County, New York blog by Donald A. Windsor. The link will take you to his post on the new rock pile site near Ludlow Creek.
Click here for a link to the Exploring Chenango County, New York blog by Donald A. Windsor. The link will take you to his post on the new rock pile site near Ludlow Creek.
A completely inaccessible rock pile site - Rt 110 Harvard, MA
This is something I have been waiting to see: a rock pile site that is completely inaccessible. Even with lower water levels it would be difficult to get to this island of rock at the northern end of Bare Hill Pond in Harvard, MA.
It is visible from Rt 110 just east of where it meets Under Pin Hill Rd. Look out into the water to the south and you see a small island. Again:
Look closer and you will see rock piles. 
Closer:
I could make out three in a line. That is a great example of a deliberate impractical construction.Here is an aerial:
[UPDATE: I was able to get out there, Feb 2013]
Cothren's Indian "Idol"
The legs were added, the material "petrified walnut(?)."
Image from: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/apg3269.0002.001/59?page=root;size=100;view=image (the next page is the illustration of Pomperauge's Grave, Nonnewaug's Grave a couple pages after that).Friday, November 18, 2011
Stones that look like birds- Cumberland RI
Here are a couple that I have found. Near the base of a small hill:
At the top of that same hill:
Peeking through the leaves in the foreground, near the top of the hill: a rock pile.
At the top of that same hill:
Peeking through the leaves in the foreground, near the top of the hill: a rock pile.
Looking for Bird Stones Online
So I start the day like I usually do. I make some coffee and turn on the computer.
When the coffee's done, I sit down at the computer desk and click the "Rock Piles" icon on my Desktop.
I'm happy because there's some new posts and some new comments, some of them continuing a conversation with me.
Who doesn't like that, a little validation on a subject most people consider just to be a symptom of mental illness, the delusion that common ordinary rocks are in fact artifacts of an ancient civilization?
I see Peter has posted up some links to "Bird Stones." Photos I've seen before, some I remember and others I don't, take on new meaning this morning because I've been doing some "Google Image" surfing and have just seen the same forms in smaller scale as well as in a more polished style. So I try to re-create the search to find those images and return the favor to my friend, validate his observations.
I find the first one and save it, along with some information as to where it was found, both physically and virtually (which website):
Bird Stone - Indian Relic - American Indian Artifact: This Bird Stone was found in Ohio. It measures 1 1/2" tall x 2 7/8" long x 1 5/16 thick.
http://www.mulewagon.com/product/bird-stone-indian-relic-american-indian-artifact
And then I come across a couple that are less polished and more greatly resemble our bigger cobbles - and boulders, now that I think about it:
"Kalamazoo Valley Museum; The carved bird-shape stone, called a birdstone, was found in the yard of Donald Myers of Comstock. Experts are not sure of their use but know they were made by inhabitants as many as 2,500 years ago. Myers gave the birdstone to the Museum in 2010." And it's a "Duck Stone" in a museum in Michigan, made by Algonquian speakers, the language group, a fact that validates our thoughts a little more. I see I've forgotten the space between "bird" and "stone." That's why I didn't see it before...
http://kvm.kvcc.edu/localhistory/thecollection/highlights/recent_aquisitions/donor_windows/native_american_artifacts.html
"Native American Indian Birdstone, pecked porphyry. 5 1/2" long. Ex. Dr. Warren Baker Collection." http://www.antiquehelper.com/item/308607
And then I see this in the images search page and I just have to click on it:
"This massive Indian thunderbird statue and egg has more color than most of the figurines we've found. Extraordinarily beautiful when wet, but shown here dry. The green color is the shade of the summer sky just before a big thunderstorm - when icy hail lurks above and reflects the greenery below. Rare green olivine quartzite with equally rare pink conglomerated quartzite egg (glacier ground), 3 parts. 6.3”h; 1762 gm"
And I just have to find out where it was found and just who this obviously crazy person is at http://www.iceageartifacts.com/index.htm. "Washed out af a hilltop cornfield in Illinois, overlooking the Spoon River," I find. And there's photo after photo, unusual stones sorted by color and type of stone, stacked up to make little petroforms, even this one of an "egg laying turtle:"
"Oh," I say to myself, realizing I've recreated a similar thing or two (or more), found in a "stone wall" (or three or more) or "pile of clearing stones" I think is a mound (or a hundred as well as in other peoples photos). And I think of a story stone that is a bird when viewed one way, and a fish and a turtle and a man and a dog and a snake, found in a cornfield across the street after a flood. And I think "Maybe they are not so crazy after all..."
When the coffee's done, I sit down at the computer desk and click the "Rock Piles" icon on my Desktop.
I'm happy because there's some new posts and some new comments, some of them continuing a conversation with me.
Who doesn't like that, a little validation on a subject most people consider just to be a symptom of mental illness, the delusion that common ordinary rocks are in fact artifacts of an ancient civilization?
I see Peter has posted up some links to "Bird Stones." Photos I've seen before, some I remember and others I don't, take on new meaning this morning because I've been doing some "Google Image" surfing and have just seen the same forms in smaller scale as well as in a more polished style. So I try to re-create the search to find those images and return the favor to my friend, validate his observations.
I find the first one and save it, along with some information as to where it was found, both physically and virtually (which website):
http://www.mulewagon.com/product/bird-stone-indian-relic-american-indian-artifact
And then I find a new one I hadn't seen before but "Hokey Smokes!" I think, "I'll be durned if that doesn't look just like that one Peter's linked to!"
"THIS BIRDSTONE WAS FOUND IN PIKE COUNTY OHIO AND IS MADE FROM QUARTZITE. IT MEASURES 2 1/2 INCHES X 1 3/4 INCHES. IT COMES WITH COA."
http://www.j-and-dee-artifacts.com/axes_bannerstones_birdstones.htm#birdstonesAnd then I come across a couple that are less polished and more greatly resemble our bigger cobbles - and boulders, now that I think about it:
http://kvm.kvcc.edu/localhistory/thecollection/highlights/recent_aquisitions/donor_windows/native_american_artifacts.html
And there's a rougher one:
"Native American Indian Birdstone, pecked porphyry. 5 1/2" long. Ex. Dr. Warren Baker Collection." http://www.antiquehelper.com/item/308607
And an even rougher one, this time made of the material we find many of our stones are made of, in larger form:
grey/white granite with felspar, 3"x2"...more
And then I see this in the images search page and I just have to click on it:
"This massive Indian thunderbird statue and egg has more color than most of the figurines we've found. Extraordinarily beautiful when wet, but shown here dry. The green color is the shade of the summer sky just before a big thunderstorm - when icy hail lurks above and reflects the greenery below. Rare green olivine quartzite with equally rare pink conglomerated quartzite egg (glacier ground), 3 parts. 6.3”h; 1762 gm"
And I just have to find out where it was found and just who this obviously crazy person is at http://www.iceageartifacts.com/index.htm. "Washed out af a hilltop cornfield in Illinois, overlooking the Spoon River," I find. And there's photo after photo, unusual stones sorted by color and type of stone, stacked up to make little petroforms, even this one of an "egg laying turtle:"
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