I have a policy of detailing locations of sites in Lincoln, MA out of a long-established enmity. But there are some nice woods. Here, then, is a site by Rt 2 just east of Tracy's Garage. This is the ultimate headwater of Hobbs Brook which soon becomes the Charles River. I went back to see the place and found something I had forgotten, or was not aware of last time I visited: a chambered cairn:
I know it is a mess but the uneven hollows in the pile have brief moments of well-made siding, in other words, they do look like remnants of holes built into the pile, now collapsed or broken. Now I know you will be saying: those aren't structural, that mess you see is just someone digging into the pile. However, I have been thinking about this type of pile since reporting on a recent find in Harvard (click here).As with the pile in Harvard there were small outliers:
(Compare with the last photo of the Harvard example above.) And several more rock piles uphill nearby:
This shows two of three not quite in a line but at about the same elevation on the slope. A closeup of one:
There were other rock piles on the slope that I did not pay too much attention to. I wanted to explore more to the south, which I did - taking pictures at the cemetery. But I did not find too much of anything new.Let's look at some more pictures. Here is a rock pile I included in the discussion of "Twins" (click here) where the parallel shape of these two rocks exemplified a certain type of rock pile [and still does].
Did I notice at the time that the support rock is also of this same kidney bean shape? Three of these shapes all together must mean something.And then this example, further uphill, of where a rock pile is clearly in lieu of a rock - convincing me that it is the object's location that is important, and it could have been a rock or a rock pile.
And then, how about the "money" shot of a rock pile with Rt 2 in the background.
I have tried to see it as I drive east from Tracy's garage, at the exact height of land. In principle it ought to be visible - one of four interesting things visible from this highway between Lexington and Leominster.
Interesting pictures, thanks for posting these.
ReplyDeleteFound this really intriguing as I often commute past Tracy's. What were the other three features you refer to visible from Rt 2? I've seen what looks like an old cellar hole on the right of the west bound lane past the Concord rotary, and lots of rows between 111 and 495.
ReplyDeleteAt the time (now it is end of 2015) I did not explore carefully on the north side of Rt 2, across from the blue outline. It is almost obvious from the way the outline is drawn on the map that the site is cut by Rt 2 - it would make sense that there is more to it - but it is all just at the edge of the wet areas and 2 times I missed it in only examining the high ground. In fact, I led a NEARA field trip right past the interesting stuff and no one, including me, noticed it at the time.
ReplyDeletepapijoe: the best feature is a rock pile south of Rt 2, just west of Rt 111 on the highground.
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