Sunday, September 05, 2010

California Rock Lines and other aerial photos

Ron Smith writes:

I have been poking around your site and the California rock line page referenced on your site is a page from my site which surprises me that anyone has looked at it. You seemed interested in the aerial view, next weekend I plan to begin photographing the Shasta Valley from a small plane and if the photos turn out ok they will be posted on the site. As of now my photo library contains over 30,000 photos of rock lines and associated structures and they are available for free to anyone doing research on rock lines and connected structures. I have no idea how to show what is in the library other than posting photos to my site. Over the last month many photos have been posted to my site and more will be posted in the future. It is hoped to have the Rock Line section of the site finished in six months. Feel free to download the larger images if you have use for them, that is what they are there for and photo credits are not needed. If you are looking for anything in particular let me know and we will see what's in the library.

This is my favorite photo of the recent uploads. Panoramas are so much fun and great for displaying the rock formations / lines.
[CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL]

On your site you have a section on propped rocks, there are some interesting propped rocks out here and eventually there should be a section on my site covering them.

On a recent trip through Nevada I stumbled across a very interesting area that has some megalithic looking steps and what looks to be at least one large rock line about 1/4 mile long, oriented north - south and containing rocks up to several tons. There is much more at the Hickison site and some photos are on my site, more trips back there are planned.

What is not up on my site yet is far more interesting than what is.

On occasion it would be nice to be able to compare notes with other people who actually go out and look at similar rock structures. For the formations out here only the physical evidence counts and the only evidence left are the rocks themselves. If you chose to reply please let me know a little about yourself and your group.

Info like this:

Ron Smith
Woodland CA
phone number on request

65 year old curmudgeon.

Work background is land title research and mapping.

Looking at the rock structures and rock lines is a 3 year old hobby that has become an obsession.

[PWAX
- here is Ron's website, great photos!]

5 comments :

pwax said...

With the dry desert conditions, you can see those walls from miles away. The photo at the start of Ron's website looks like it might be from an angle just about as intended for seeing those distant walls. I guess long ago in New England, the same distant visibility would have been possible.

Tim MacSweeney said...

Trying to figure out similar stuff in my neighborhood, I've been rounding it out with looking at the 1934 aerial photos online at the CT State Library Website, back when the area was all about cows and apples and less wounded forest. After re reading 1491 by Charles Mann, it is not surprising to me to find stuff out west. Half a planet, full of people and the "grey beards," as Mann calls them, defend and dissmiss it all as only a few hundred years of occupation by settlers, when a far older and different types of civilization existed in the western hemisphere...

Tim MacSweeney said...

"Some have also claimed Native Americans used controlled burning to prevent large wildfires. Evidence for Native American burning is for localized management within a half-day’s walk from villages, not that they were able to reduce the severity and frequency of uncontrolled wildfires. There is little reason to believe Native Americans could prevent the occurrence of large wildfires on the broader landscape. Indeed, one ethnographic report describes a massive wildfire in San Diego County prior to the time of European contact that resulted in a significant migration of Native American residents to the desert."

from:
http://www.californiachaparral.org/enativeamericans.html

The "Rock lines" Ron is looking at may just well be partly fire control devices - and "ceremonial" as well...

Norman said...

Somewhere I read that lichenology as a dating tool has much more success in far western states that here in the East, which is plagued by acid rain.

A fascinating website, and the photos are excellent.

Norman

Norman said...

Larry Harrop posted some photos from Elizabeth, a woman who lives in RI and who visited Joshua Tree NM this summer. Larry posted one of her photos showing some propped boulders

I'd like to see what Ron has of this category.