Cosmic event ended the ice age

[Not rock pile related] The latest about the disappearance of the mammoths. [Here]

Underwater Rock Piles

I just happened across this:
http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2013/05/underwater-copper-culture-site.html

[PWAX here: hey everybody, go look at that link]

First look at Spruce Swamp Brook - Shirley

I went into the woods on the trail into the Holden Rd Conservation Land. There was sand on every side but I thought I saw rocks across the the brook and stepped off the trail. And stepped on a rock pile I would not have seen. This one found me:

It has two larger rocks at either end. In between are a number of smaller rocks, including some quartz which is common around here.

Then stepping over towards the brook, the new Royal Ferns were pretty:

See the flat meadow in the background? The brook meanders through it. But check out this rock pile in the brook:

I don't see how this could be anything other than a rock pile which got buried in silt.

Oak Hill, Dover

For the most part I found the walk to Oak Hill to be dull: dry woods and muddy swamps. But I kept seeing outcrops that looked modified, with bits of stone wall connecting or extending them. I saw this propped boulder:

 I only photo'd a couple of rock piles.

These were both along the heights. Both have the shape of a "U" and are about 4 feet across:

I interpret this as an early form of "rectangle with hollow".

Name that flower

Seen in Shirley.

Shirley Appetizer

A note about the southern slopes of Merrill Hill along Musquash Brook - Hudson NH

Just a note:

There are rock piles just about everywhere you would expect. I was a bit surprised at "?" (location not precise) and bit disappointed not seeing anything next to the larger pond. At D was an example of rock piles turned into a fire pit. See the rocks on the left:

And another (triangular) pile a few feet away.

At A, was a larger mound, as I was hoping:

 

I blogged about C here and here. At "?" there were a few piles on rocks around a small spring. There were, in the end, quite a few along the slope.

(I guess that wasn't such a quick note.) 

One More Bulldozer Story

I've got one more sad "Stone Structures vs Modern Machines" Story to add.
Before:

 After:

See: http://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2013/05/been-busy.html

I am looking for an arXiv user

[Not rock pile related] Is anyone out there an arXiv user?

Small tributaries of the Musquash

In has been three weeks since the heart leafed lilies came out, and two weeks since the new leaves of the trees made a golden light. We took a nice walk along the lower slopes of Merrill Hill in Hudson NH and found rock piles just about everywhere I expected- especially along little brooks. Here was one spot.

Note the vertical fin in the pile across the brook. 

A video:

Notched Rocks

Over the last several weekends, looking for arrowheads in the fresh dirt, I have come across several notched rocks. Some, I am not sure are artifacts. Others seem clear. But it is interesting to interpret details.

Here is the nicest"knapp-able" material, smoother on the lower portion:

 Perhaps used on a soft material.

Here is something more like a hammer (pretty when wet)

Look more carefully at the rust stains in both pictures. They suggest contact with organic material.

Here is a pretty rock:

Here is another little one. I have been carrying it around for a month or so, unsure if it is an artifact. It is quite small:

 

It has a little white dot on it. Here is the back side.

More about bulldozers and rock pile site destruction

Writing about the destroyed Mayan pyramid, Ted Hendrickson writes:
Yes, in this case I think the site was well known but those jokers just did not care. A local example from my neighborhood, this is in North Stonington CT. This will be a driveway to a house. I have to go back and see what happened here (this photo is from February). It was a large pile with a hollow top, so hollow it almost gave the impression of a ring. The excavator is apparently curving around it, but has toppled one side and pushed some trees and brush into it. Other photo from December when I first saw it.

 

Major Mayan Pyramid bulldozed for road fill.

Thanks to Ted H. for reminding me of this:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/13/world/americas/ap-lt-belize-bulldozed-pyramid.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Why is such a story never analyzed by the people who promote secrecy? In our neck of the woods, logging ,forestry management, and development in general are the equivalent threat - and I see bulldozed rock piles frequently. Widening a stretch of Rt 2 in Lincoln, they took out a site last week.

Kolomoki Mound State Park

Kolomoki Mound State Park - Excavated mound near Park museum

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50497236@N00/447734172/in/pool-indianmounds/

The find of the year, for me

In a cornfield in Concord MA:

Well, I think, there's an arrowhead. Will it be whole? Don't get your hopes up.

Yes it was! I forgot to take a picture just after plucking it from the ground but at home, cleaned up, with the other items from the day, it is a pretty Stark point.

I find the flaking on the lower right very well done. Since this point is not symmetric I think it was probably a knife. I think the material is hornfels ("horn stone").

The orange stone on the left is slightly polished and notched on either side - possibly an ornament. The quartz is a crude blade or scraper. I find few complete items made from quartz. Here is what it looked like at first:

 A very good day.
More detail:

 

A reader asks about rock piles on her property

Reader Jane writes:
I am sending some photos of the piles. The first 3 photos shows the larger of the two and is about 15 feet in diameter, about 4 feet high on the lower end and about 2 feet on the upper side of the hill that it is on.

 

 

The last 3 photos are of the smaller one ............. about 12 feet in diameter and more uniform in height at about 3 feet as it is on more level ground. They are within several hundred feet of each other. There are stone walls on the property so we found it odd to see these two circular stone piles.

I didn't know quite how to find out about them and luckily found your site. I took these pictures last week when my husband and I were in the woods to look at trees to be cut. I ended up with an ER run that night as I picked up a deer tick .......... most likely on that first rock pile as I pulled branches, etc. from it to get a better photo which I didn't do with the second one. It would sure seem to make those photos and that ER run worthwhile if we have stumbled onto something!!
Whatever information you would like to share with others is fine. I live in Pittsfield and just found this ...........

Marked rock in Walden Pond

Got this from reader Michael Coffey (continuing the occasional reporting on anomalous rocks at Walden Pond):

I was hiking at Walden pond yesterday and was drawn to a round white rock submerged in the shallow water about 4 feet from one of the small beaches. I pulled the ~6x8x10" rock out of the water and was pleasantly surprised to find markings on one side. I took some pictures of the markings and then returned the rock to the water (Seen in the bottom picture).

 

 

 

 

I imagine these are someone's initials they carved at home before bringing the rock out to Walden to place on the pile next to the site of Thoreau's house. But one of the marks looks like it could be a chevron so I wondered if it could be something older. The markings look very different depending on the angle.

What do you think? Any idea what kind of rock it is?

Treasure hunt - artifact in crack

Got this in email [if you want to reply, feel free to contact me and I will forward your email, without taking a cut]:

Playing onliine game, you may have heard, Venatu.com.  We are looking for an artifact hidden in pic att. or go to the site and the pic is on first clue page.  I'll tell you more @ it.  there is a $1,000 prize which I would share w/finder or whomever helps me locate.  So far I think it is along the CT river.  Has to be near water.  PLEASE give me a call and I'll give more info.  We are on the 9th clue so I will catch you up.  Thx for any help.