2014 - Review

Here are my most memorable places and things from 2014  [I may have missed things because it is difficult to navigate the history of this blog]

January:
Finally got to Codman Hill in Harvard without fear of tresspassing, as it has become public land. Lots of different sizes and types of piles. I liked this one at the hilltop.

Found nice features on Green Hill in Shrewsbury on Fortune Drive:

also this classic miniature pyramid across the street from the Hill:

February:

There was too much snow on the ground for exploring.

Looking at the articles, what stands out in my mind is the claim of "Mayans in Georgia". It was not too well received here but I continue to think it an interesting and, actually, pretty non-controversial suggestion.

There were posts from new contributors: Curtis Hoffman and Sydney Blackwell.  Later in the year Matthew Howe began contributing lots of pictures and information from the Holliston area. Welcome and thanks!

Also some stone tools. Might as well appreciate these little snapshots of ancient times. My river rocks from Waltham commercial building flower beds:

clay beads from Sturbridge:

arrowheads from Narragansett Bay:

March:

Readers sent in more pictures and sites, alleviating the snow imprisonment for me. 

Equinunk PA (John P):

Sinking Creek Mountain (Tim MacSweeney got this one):

Still a lot of snow on the ground. Things starting to peek through. Chris Pittman starts finding arrowheads.

I finally put together a coherent theory of how marker pile sites function to track moving shadow positions during the year.

Cairns threatened by development at Lawton-Foster Rd in Hopkinton RI.

Major finds south of Peppercorn Hill along Camp Str. Milford. Not surprising, this is a very busy area full of sites; or one big continuous site - depending on how you count them.

A site from Gamble Lake, Michigan with "stone donut" piles - proving that the rectangular pile with hollow is a universal phenomenon in the eastern US (we saw near identical features from New Brunswick, Canada):

Also, sites were reported from southeastern CT, from Mt Shasta in CA, and there was ongoing discussion of Track Rock Gap in Georgia.

April:

I found new rock piles in my home town, Concord, which is always a surprise and slightly embarrassing. I am supposed to know this place. Just goes to show that a site can be hiding in any 50 foot square piece of woods. These new piles were just uphill from Minot Pratt's spring. Also my eyes were opened to features I probably ignored in the past:

The number "9" shape was mentioned recently.

Headwaters of Fall Brook in Sterling:

Fine cairns from Worcester NY (thanks Tim):

 

Notable stories evolved with the perjury charge of "A URI professor". A sad story in several ways.

West side of South Manoosnoc finally revealed a new mound site. It is fair to say I have been looking for such a place for a while. Glad to find it in the snow:

 

and a structure against a boulder:

More amazing cairns sent in from, this time, from West Virginia (thanks again Tim):

[This reminds me that this was a year after I noticed how dogs obsessively hang out around rock piles. I am sure there is a residual smell they can detect. Maybe dogs are better than sonar for certain determinations (yeah...you know what I am talking about).] 

Also some interesting rock art at this Facebook page from the owner of the above site.

I had forgotten this. Apparently I was a good boy and found several sites on South Manoosnoc. Including some effigies near a western sub-summit.

Tim M. is finding new sites and Chris P. new arrowheads.

More incredible cairns, this time from Eastern PA:

[It is interesting, how similar these "cairns" are from PA, NY, and WV. Maybe people only notice the big things but the smaller things are there too, unnoticed.]

Still snowy, still reporting on river rocks from Waltham. I love these things:

May:

Continued exploring northwestern Willard Brook State Forest. A "chamber":

Also several hilltop sites in Leominster and Westminster.

The town of Acton finished clearing a grid site as part of their "Trail Through Time". This included signs showing the grid:

And newly visible piles - meaningful to me (cuz the shape is a variant of a "9"):

June:

Chris P is having some luck:

(My luck consisted in finding a pair of nesting goshawks.)

A new stone "Beehive" from Medway found by Matt Howe:

July:

Not much exploring going on.

August:

Franklin State Forest. They have piles with hollows too:

(If this was a hole someone dug into the pile, the removed rocks should be scattered around. Note, they are not.)

I am spending weekends at the beach; not in the woods. Matt Howe sends in many photos from Holliston, Milford, Hopkinton.

September/October:

Rocky Pond Brook in Hollis NH, some large piles integrated with adjacent homesteads:

Found new rock piles at Weatherbee Ave in Acton, on a Sunday stroll with my wife:

Top of Juniper Hill, Ashby:

Aside from NEARA, I notice the advent of many smaller regional organizations promoting the idea of Native American Stonework. It is fair to say this idea has taken pretty firm hold in several of the towns in this area: around Concord, around Deerfield, and in many other places I am not tracking closely.

November/December:

Grand mound sites in Ashburnham:

And northern Townsend:

 

and

 

Some nice sites in Westminster here, and at High Ridge:

(compare to what I was just looking at on Noon Hill - it is the same as the structure at 'C')

Other smeared rectangles at Lovewell Pond in Nashua NH:

Various strangeness on the flat sub-summit in Franklin State Forest:

The incredible furry mounds at the top of Falulah Brook - how could I forget these?

I am spending lots of time exploring in Walpole and Medfield. There are lots of interesting sites at Noon Hill and I am well pleased with the old things I spot there:

Not too dramatic a year. Mostly filling in gaps and extending previous explorations.