Notice any similarities to the photo from Berlin, MA?
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This is about rock piles and stone mound sites in New England. A balance is needed between keeping them secret and making them public. Also arrowheads, stone tools and other surface archaeology.
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Now that you mention it, yes I see a similarity. Neat. I'll be posting more about this Berlin hill during the weel.
ReplyDeleteI should mention what it is I think we are looking at here. These are split boulders that have the crack blocked from above. I do not know if this is different from inserting blocks into the crack but I doubt it. The current theory that, at least, seems consistent with other speculations is that this prevents aspects of the underworld from entering the daily world.
ReplyDeleteI really cannot find any trace in the ethnographic literature of split boulders being considered openings to the Underworld. I do find it to be true for huge clefts or deep holes in bedrock or outcroppings, or caves and caverns in bedrock or outcroppings, and even talus caves -- but not for split boulders.
ReplyDeleteInstead, my research shows traces of the belief that a spirit may dwell inside the boulder and it requires offerings for propitiation. Therefore the stone inside the split may be such an offering.
Perishable offerings were put into splits or clefts in boulders, such as bone, foodstuffs, et al. In the post-contact period, offerings were made with liquor.