NEARA Conference

You're invited to the upcoming NEARA conference in North Kingston, RI, with a suggested lunch on Saturday, and a biennial ESRARA conference in Ohio, with a new communications app for the MA Chapter.

Note

• Attend the ESRARA biennial conference in Ohio.
• Consider attending the NEARA conference in North Kingston, RI.
• Explore and share ideas/plans for the fall chapter field trip.
• See: https://neara.org/conferences/2026-11-13.html

Chocolate in Ohio again shows idea of "Mayans in Georgia" not so ridiculous

See here: Ancient DNA reveals cacao was consumed in present-day Georgia 1,000 years ago

[Note: the article is about the Etowah Mounds in Ohio. Not clear why the title says "Georgia".]

For reference, Trap Rock Gap researcher Thornton was being attacked for this proposal. See here for previous discussion: Rock Piles: Search results for Mayans

Came across some rock piles

It has been a while. 

Video coming up...

Here it is: Obscure Burial Mounds - Mansfield MA

As soon as I stepped into the woods I got a sense there were probably rock piles all over. But I was there to check on some openings - that looked plowed from the Google aerial views. Returning, disappointed to not be able to hunt for arrowheads, I did see some rock piles next to the trail.

Quartz Arrowhead from Marshfield - Naah! That's not a Clovis

 

Interesting scenery, arrowheads not so much

Interesting scenery, arrowheads not so much

A basalt [or actually black rhyolite] arrowhead missing its tip, from the Fairhaven side of New Bedford harbor. Video above.

Come to think of it, this proves the spot is worth exploring more carefully. Finding a place with arrowheads is harder, and more valuable, than finding individual arrowheads.

Update: I was excited to find this arrowhead. When I cleaned it up, it turned out to be nice flaking PLUS it was a new site PLUS it was a new material. So I went back a couple days later and examined that beach pretty carefully. Not a single thing was found - nothing. So why return after this? In fact this single, solitary, fragment of an arrowhead is all we are going to get from this place, short of some extensive digging. So that's it: we are never going to learn anything about who and when this arrowhead was made. A whole story, hinted at but lost. It is sad.

Some wonderful old photos of mounds

From here: What the Hopi Said About the Mound Builders Who Came Before Them — Documented in 1879

11 Appalachian Stone Mysteries

11 Ancient Structures Hidden in Appalachian Mountains — Why Locals Stay Away?

Compared to the slow progress we have made in New England, towards incorporating stone structures into a coherent understanding of Native American stone work and ceremonialsm, it seems we are doing pretty well. Down there, it is kooks versus official Archaeologists (and clearly the kooks are the smart ones).