Ekonk And Yawgoog - Another View

by JimP
Here is a photo of the features on the largest of three boulders believed to have pecked petroglyphs at the Ekonk Hill site:
A team of experts headed up by Connecticut State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni studied the Ekonk Hill site. They determined the features in the photo above to be pecked petroglyphs. They further concluded that the grooves of the petroglyphs were outlined with ochre stains.

Dating tests determined the site was likely in use anywhere from 1,000 to 3,500 BP. For more information on who was involved with the field research and the methodologies used one would have to contact Nick Bellantoni, David R. Wagner of the Quinebague Community College, the U.S. Geological Survey, or the Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office -- all of whom were in some capacity involved in research at the site.

Ekonk Hill is on private property and the site's exact location is highly guarded. Everyone is discouraged from attempting to visit it.

For an archaeogeodesic perspective of Ekonk Hill, see John Q. Jacobs's paper at this web page: http://www.jqjacobs.net/rock_art/ekonk.html

A few miles from Ekonk Hill on the property of the Yawgoog Scout Camp sits this petroglyph that the Boy Scouts have named Symbol Rock:Deep inside the narrow grooves of this petroglyph can be seen some of the same ochre staining found at Ekonk Hill. Some of the staining is so deep and sheltered from the elements that it has remained preserved and still retains a bit of its original deep red color. The sharp eye of Rhode Island NEARA coordinator Jim Egan was the first to point that out to me.

Roughly 50 feet away from Symbol Rock sits what the Boy Scouts have named Millennium Rock:It also exhibits some of the same ochre staining as found on Symbol Rock and at Ekonk Hill. But are those features the result of natural causes? Geologists who have studied this area since the 1920's say no.

Within the same town as Symbol Rock sits the Miner Farm where I first came across this circle:The circle does indeed appear to exhibit some of the same ochre staining that can be found at Yawgoog and Ekonk Hill. Or is it the result of natural causes? I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever know for sure.

It's very hard for me to argue with those experts who have field studied Ekonk Hill and Yawgoog. But it's equally as easy for me to see the obvious similarities between some of the features on those sites and those on the Miner Farm.