The woman who told me about Simon Hill in Norwell, MA sent along the following photo of a small stone mound from the site.
Bruce McAleer also visited the site. He reported at least 25 rock piles there. He sent along this photo:
I'm told that more than 3/4 of the hill is slated for development. Just six privately owned acres will be saved from the 200 condo construction.
Jim:
ReplyDeleteIf you have not already, could you suggest that the woman contact Doug Harris about it? I know Bruce M. emailed Doug but it is important that Doug have a local contact if he is to get involved.
Peter
I sent Doug Harris a letter, along with ones to the Natick Nipmuc as well as one to the Mashpee, two weeks ago, I never heard anything back.
ReplyDeleteI will be going up there myself this weekend. Dr. Meli.
I'm the woman who contacted Jim. I have talked to Doug Harris and sent my pictures, a map of the proposed development and references of Simon in various books. Doug wants info on his tribe. I believe he was a Mattakeeset, however they have various spellings, such as Massachuset, Mamattakeeset. Can anyone help me? Does anyone know when Dr. Mehil is visiting the site? What have you found? Would you sharw with me. I haven't heard back from Doug, I know he has been traveling. My e=mail is auntie71@verizon.net. Thank you for any help you can give me. Marie
ReplyDeleteFROM MASS HISTORICAL WEBSITE...
ReplyDeleteI’m concerned that stone piles in a project area may be Native American grave markers. What should I do?
Piles or continuous walls of fieldstones are common in rural Massachusetts wherever there are rocky soils. When historians and archaeologists have conducted thorough, professional research into such stone piles, they have invariably shown that these features are not associated with the Native American settlement of Massachusetts. When it is possible to determine their origin, stone piles prove to be related to agricultural activities such as clearing of fields for pasture or cultivation, and/or marking property bounds during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, pursuits that were once much more common in what may now be residential suburbs. Because stone piles or walls often marked property lines or boundaries between different land uses such as pasture and woodlot, they are often in a linear row or other geometric pattern, some of which may be consistent with cardinal compass points, solstice sunrises or sunsets, or other celestial phenomena.
http://www.anthropology.ccsu.edu/fraudsweb/frauds.htm
To MHC: you know nothing.
ReplyDelete