These stone piles are in Middle Smithfield twp. a few miles away from the first site [see here].
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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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8 comments :
Some of these have the same kind of hole in them as some others we have seen - I think from PA and NY.
I does seem like a lot of bother to support a fence pole but then: what is this hole for?
The fence pole style rock piles I've seen in central NY are always in a row so that the holes face each other. Normally, "one hole" fence post rock piles are small (1 - 2 feet high). If they are tall fence post rock piles, they either have 3 or more rail holes or (in one case) a stone wall joining the rock piles at the base and a single fence pole hole above.
In contrast to this, I've also seen random holes in rock piles which are also randomly placed (not in straight rows). The most recent I can think of is Ludlow Creek. My theory is that there was a different type of stone in the hole (quartz, maybe?) which was removed (stolen, or taken when the rock pile builder left?), but as of now, this is nothing more than wild conjecture. I have no way to prove it.
Doesn't someone - maybe Norman? - have some photos of similar stacks with the quartz still in it, about the same place?
The second photo shows a large cone-shaped cairn iwth a niche in the center, and in back is a similar cairn with a niche at the base. This shape is similar to the cairns at Hallstead, PA, and the niches remind me of a cairn I saw in Washington, MA. I'll have Peter post images of these. These cairns in Middle Smithfield are spectacular.
This site seems to have a large number of these impressive cairns. How many are there, I wonder? In the second photo I can count around seven. And the site would appear to be near a swampy area, judging by the first photo.
Yes, I would have to agree with Norman on this. Looking at the photos, these do appear to be niches. The one I referenced above, at Ludlow Creek, isn't a niche. If I can find a photo of it, it would be self-explanatory.
Speaking about niches in cairns, an archaeologist friend of mine near Charlestown, WVA, was shown a stone mound/cairn site on the side of a very steep hill/mountain not far from where he lives, and he noted niches in some of the stone mounds. They seem fairly widespread up and down the East Coast.
Kim, I serve as the chair of Middle Smithfield Township's History Commission. It would be helpful to us if we knew the site's location. While I have seen cairns of this shape in nearby Lehman Township, I haven't yet come across those shown in your pictures. Part of our responsibilities include the mapping of sites of historical interest. I can be reached at 570-588-4549. Thanks, Danny Younger
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