Padding the horizon with a stone wall

Light and shadow are important concepts in understanding the possible archaeoastronomy of a site. I find myself wondering: where is the horizon at sunrise and what shadows will cross this site during the day?

I recently visited a site with some stone walls that were on the horizon and had the thought that those walls could be changing how light falls across the site. I'll call this "padding" the horizon. Here is how the idea came up.

There is a big conservation land in Upton, north of Grafton Rd. In the past I found rock piles along one tributary brook in there (see here and here) , and wanted to go back and cement my understanding of the upper and lower areas I saw on different occasions. The blue outline is correct and there are a number of different clusters of rock piles in there.
With my wife along, we headed north from the entrance at "Oak Knoll Ln" (right of center at the bottom) until we came to the brook, and then explored up along it. It should come as no surprise that there are rock piles up along in there.
The first thing you see is a group of three short stretches of stone wall, lined up as if they were all one wall. Here is the first

 Here is the 2nd and third in the distance. Note a trail following along.

 Closeup of 2nd

 closer view of 3rd

view back towards the 2nd. I noticed a boulder at the center of the picture, in the background but capable of throwing a shadow onto these walls.

[If you click in to examine this photo, you can see some interesting trail highlights with the snow. It confirms that the standing stone back there is part of the site]

Then some pretty damaged piles:

A couple of typical burial mounds (I assume because of the conspicuous hollow and vague rectangular shape):

Some of the piles were only a few rocks shy of being "short stretches of wall":

The main features of interest were the many short stretches of wall. Here was another:

I was having trouble telling one bit of wall from another. Was it three or four examples or perhaps twice that number? Here is the one I want to talk about:

I was babbling about how these walls could make shadows, and tune the moment when the light appears over the hill.

I was explaining to my wife, how this wall would be on the horizon if you were below (where most of the rock piles are located). Here is one end of this neat "horizon" wall:

 At the other end, a pretty noticeable little enclosure. A place to sit and watch the play of light?

Anyway, you can see how this wall could be on the horizon from below. It only appears for a short stretch perhaps because that was the only bit of horizon that needed tuning. Or perhaps it is simply about the wall making a nice shadow with something else? Have you ever seen the stone wall get taller as it crosses a height of land? [I know I have pictures of this but cannot find them at the moment] I never had a hypothesis about why. Now I can at least suppose: enhancing the high point changes its shadow.

So there were other little bits of wall in there and lots of weirdness under foot (look closely at the right hand side of the photo -right click to magnify):

I could not tell if I was re-photoing the same short walls:

Please note the notch and short extension of the wall at the far end.

Certainly an interesting place. I was looking for some explanation for the short stretches and concluded that: once their job is done there is no reason to continue the wall. What is the job? Maybe something to do with light.

Sanguache Stone (Snake) Walls (CO)

"Secrets of the Saguache stone snakes: A remarkable mystery endures"

 Andrew Gulliford -  Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017

    “As we walked down the hill following the snake, I spoke with former Saguache County Commissioner and ranch manager Mike Spearman. He told me, “The creation of walls took an incredible amount of hard labor. I have yet to observe a wall that created an enclosure, so it is hard for me to believe that they were built by Spanish sheepherders. The serpent was revered by Native American cultures. Snakes were messengers who connected them with their ancestors who had returned to the ‘underworld.’”

Andrew Gulliford is a professor of history and environmental studies at Fort Lewis College. He can be reached at gulliford_a@fortlewis.edu.

https://durangoherald.com/articles/135140-secrets-of-the-saguache-stone-snakes

The Stone Turtle Hut (I think Norman has mentioned this one in the past):

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267572051_Luminescence_dating_of_anthropogenic_features_of_the_San_Luis_Valley_Colorado_From_stone_huts_to_stone_walls

Snow...no rock piles

Ah! but wait! I have got a story to tell about this.

Saw some good stuff in the last few weekends.

Rockwood

Never saw this before:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rock_pile_in_Rockwoods.JPG

Added: If individual rock piles get Wikimedia attention does that mean I can get some media attention for cool sites, then post them on Wikimedia? Seems like another way to promote the subject.

Continuining to walk clockwise around Sandy Pond

Walking clockwise on the north side of Sandy Pond, Lincoln the account left off here:

Continuing as the trail nears the northern end of a little wetland, on the  right is a small rectangular  horseshoe-shaped pile.

Hard to photo:

It wasn't until we got around to the northeast side of Sandy Pond, along the edges of that wetland, that more extensive mounds started to show up. This gives you an idea:

This whole side of the wetland has a "debris" of stones piles along it.  I have seen very similar things at Woodbridge Rd in Carlisle. This was more extensive.
I am looking over the photos, trying to decide what to post. How about this:

I am pretty sure that is what a pile looks like when it has been deconstructed. It's what a vandalized pile looks like. But actually, there were so many other things:

View back up towards the path:

These are long mounds with hollows. Sometimes it seemed an extended complex, sometimes a collection of separated features. Here the view is to the west or northwest:

Let's take another look at that first example:

Again:

It is almost a spiral.
Here some little "chambers" going along the same wetland edge:

It is clear these are deliberate structures.

Council Oak in Dighton MA - under threat

[Not rock pile related] I got an email from George Gustafson:

The Council Oak in Dighton MA is an important location.  A meeting is being held on Feb 15 to discuss the building of housing adjacent to this site, Any suggestions to prevent this?

If the reader wants to help, I am happy to forward emails.

Neighborhood Stewardship of Rock Pile Sites and Acton's Trail Through Time

Following the comments of the previous post, I want to elaborate on the idea of neighborhood awareness and stewardship as a recommended option for rock pile sites. It is practiced actively in Acton, MA and somewhat also in Carlisle, MA.

Acton has an active public trail system incorporating rock pile sites in two or three places, with interpretive panels. It is called the "Trail Through Time" (TTT) and is the result of efforts by Linda MacElroy. Please see (http://ttt.connactivity.com/)

This bit of the trail system map shows three rock pile sites, an old "Pest House", and a stone chamber, and several historic-period features. Rather than vandalism, the town recently restored the stone chamber (which some thought was a  mistake). This trail system piggy backs on an existing system in Acton called the "Land Stewardship" program whereby each conservation land is under the protection of at least one individual living nearby.

The sheer number of sites (roughly one per every 5 minutes as you walk along) is a factor, as is the popularity of the trails. Anyone seen harming sites along this trail system is likely to get visited by the police; and the neighbors are proud of living near these interesting archeological features. I have not heard any horror stories and, as far as I know, the TTT program is expanding to incorporate other sites, as opportunity permits. Acton and all adjacent towns are full of sites, and they are going to get connected together eventually.

I see no reason why the National Parks should not be doing exactly the same thing.

So I propose this as a model: local involvement, proper signage, and individuals taking responsibility within the framework of a community. The community owns the site and protects it. People do not destroy their own gardens.

I invite you to look at Google results for the search terms "trail through time acton ma" [but leave out the quotes]. The Acton sites now have their own Wikipedia entries. That is what public awareness and stewardship look like.

ADDED: You can see that the new (non yellow) trails reach into adjacent Carlisle. I don't know about signage there but I do know those new trails go through rock pile sites.

This trail system is expanding. I should get Concord involved.

The logic of publicizing rock pile sites

The rock pile sites being damaged by vandals are a drop in the bucket compared to the sites damaged by real estate development and forestry practices. Those threats can be offset by public awareness, including public sites. So I want to ask NEARA member who favor keeping things secret: What justifies a policy of secrecy?

Mesa Verde "Sun Temple" - more Southwestern Archaeoastronomy

From:
http://westerndigs.org/mesa-verdes-sun-temple-reveals-geometrical-genius-physicist-says/

This report is a little more detailed than the last one which, as Tommy H. points out, had interesting comments.

Afghani Cairn

From The Land of Enlightenment around 51 minutes in:

Marbloro CT

Reader Mike writes:
I wanted to forward a photo I took last weekend in Marlboro CT. 

I was behind the Elmer Thienes-Mary Hall Elementary School off rte 66 and south main street.
At the south end of the school there is a paved path between the two playgrounds.
A winding stone wall on top of the ridge  is interrupted by this structure covered by three large stone slabs.  This view is due east and the sight line through the chamber is aligned east- west.  I sighted through the opening to the west and at the bottom of the hill next to the path is the remnants of a stone pile.

North Side of Sandy Pond Lincoln

Walking clockwise around Sandy Pond, on the northern side of the pond you might see this to your left :

It is actually a good sized old mound. Sort of a platform - at least in its current broken down state:

With a good view over the pond:

Easy to miss.

A fieldtrip north of Sandy Pond Lincoln

Gail Coolidge and Sydney Blackwell drew my attention to a part of the map I overlooked (having explored the area superficially, many years ago) and took me for a walk there. Sydney noticed a rock-on-rock in one place on a small knoll and later, when we went to take a closer look, you could already see something else behind it.

The first rock-on-rock is a familiar shape, like a boat rudder.

When I went to look at the 2nd feature, I could see a 3rd something beyond that.

Walking over to the third "something" it was a vertical fin of rock:

By this time a prospect opened up with several small features along the west side of the knoll. I didn't notice anything on the east side. This whole site is hidden on the back side of a knoll in the middle of a busy trail system.

Continuing, we see another rock-on-rock and something taller above it:

This looked suspiciously precarious but we got distracted. The picture shows the view to the south and Sandy Pond but we were going further north.

Where there was a larger rock in the bushes:

And a fair sized rock pile in the bushes, both on the north north west side of the knoll:

You don't find major new rock piles every day in Lincoln, MA

We discussed how this pile had nice vertical sides.

And lets not forget this strange bit of structure. It is not so interesting to look at but I will bet you it is the center of the site:

Then we had a closer look at the "suspiciously precarious" pile and decided the lichen growth was legit. Precarious or not, it is very well built.

 

This pile, nearly at the high point, would throw shadows -during the morning- over most of the features on the western and southern parts of the knoll, at one time or another during the year. Any shadows at the north end be following some other principle.