Saturday, February 11, 2017

Sanguache Stone (Snake) Walls (CO)

"Secrets of the Saguache stone snakes: A remarkable mystery endures"
 Andrew Gulliford -  Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017


    “As we walked down the hill following the snake, I spoke with former Saguache County Commissioner and ranch manager Mike Spearman. He told me, “The creation of walls took an incredible amount of hard labor. I have yet to observe a wall that created an enclosure, so it is hard for me to believe that they were built by Spanish sheepherders. The serpent was revered by Native American cultures. Snakes were messengers who connected them with their ancestors who had returned to the ‘underworld.’”

Andrew Gulliford is a professor of history and environmental studies at Fort Lewis College. He can be reached at gulliford_a@fortlewis.edu.
https://durangoherald.com/articles/135140-secrets-of-the-saguache-stone-snakes
The Stone Turtle Hut (I think Norman has mentioned this one in the past):


https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267572051_Luminescence_dating_of_anthropogenic_features_of_the_San_Luis_Valley_Colorado_From_stone_huts_to_stone_walls
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5 comments :

  1. Tim MacSweeney3:03 PM

    http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2011/12/near-crestone-colorado.html

    http://www.crestonecolorado.com/stonehuts.htm

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  2. pwax6:39 PM

    It is cool stuff. I did not see any mention of similar walls in California and New England? Weird how people fail to use the internet.

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  3. Tim MacSweeney8:51 AM

    Stone Stacks: "Cairns are scattered across the Weminuche Wilderness above Dollar Lake, on the peninsula between Pine River and Vallecito Creek, on the Cave Basin Trail and on Middle Mountain..."
    https://durangoherald.com/articles/84628-stone-messengers

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  4. Norman3:49 PM

    I've been to Durango and wish I had known about this site. I liked the attention given to the size and weight of the stones and the effort to bring them to the building site; not many focus on this important aspect of wall construction. And I echo Peter's comment that no connection was made to the walls around Lake Shasta in northern California.

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  5. Tim MacSweeney3:56 PM

    Harry H in Alabama and Jannie Loubser in Georgia have published a thing or two that mention snakes and stonewalls as well...

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