Small rock pile site near southern entrance to Estabrook Woods - Concord, MA

Something was telling me I never looked carefully at the woods at the very beginning of the Estabrook Road, so I went out to comb that part very carefully. Finding a solitary rock pile was no surprise, then I came across some funny things that - in the end - I had to recognize as a sort of rock pile site.

Here is a quick description. Entering the woods following Estabrook Rd from the south, leads past some beautifully manicured mansions. I could not resist this one scene with the first hint of spring color and the thought "and now it begins...."I continued up the road, heading north, and took the left hand path when I got to the initial cross roads. This left hand path is the one called "Estabrook Rd" although it is a dirt path today. Actually rather than taking the path, I headed into the woods to the right of that path and swept back and forth. I found myself on a secondary path, parallel with the main Estabrook Rd. At one point, next to this secondary path, I came across a disturbed rock pile. My pictures are lousy but to get some idea, it kind of snaked around:At one end was a larger boulder, like a "head" on a snake:I did not give it much credit. There were some other pile-like collections of rocks nearby, incorporated into a stone wall. I did not give these much credit either. It all just seemed like messy wall construction. But then I spotted this a few feet away:I thought "wait a minute...that's a real rock pile". And with that the other piles came into focus as old remnants built into the walls and otherwise part of a small site. Here is a view southward of the small valley I was in. The notable pile is one of two on the left. On the right, a wall comes up (from the south) and tops the knoll with another rock pile. The "snake" is behind me while taking the photo. I should have blogged about this at the time, two weeks ago. Now I cannot remember how many piles in all or how exactly they were placed. Something like this: two piles downhill from the snake, the "notable" and adjacent piles, the one on the knoll, and two boulders with loose rocks on top. An interesting structured layout. It is not just an array of evenly (or unevenly) spaced piles of the same sort. Frankly it reminds me of some of the Wachusett Tradition sites I have looked at recently.

Here are some of the piles. Downhill from the "snake":Here is a the "notable" pile: Looks a bit familiar, eh? [Try drawing the outline]. Here is a detail: Here is a small neighboring pile:I did not get any decent photos of the boulders with scattered rocks on top. Here is a view back over to the knoll:A picture of the pile on top of the knoll, trying to make it look like a pile rather than a brief widening of the wall: Definately an easy walk: 3 minutes from the entrance, following Estabrook Road, on the right at the point where the first dip occurs to the left.