Friday, November 13, 2020

Split Wedged Rock - Sippewissett

 

There should be word for this: when a dog posts guard on top of a structure.


Note the steel drill holes and the already removed portion of boulder, on the left side. You may need to zoom in to see the wedge. The missing piece of boulder was not nearby. In the course of trying to convince a friend that this was a ceremonial structure, I argued myself into the position that this wedge could have been used as a separator, inserted when the rock was first broken, to keep the sides offset from each other during subsequent moving and removal. Of course that does not preclude the wedge having been used with ceremonial intentions as well. :)

7 comments :

Norman said...

Please tell me why this is a "ceremonial structure." I don't see it. Not with the steel
drill holes.

pwax said...

I am not sure this is but the steel drill holes are used in places where I think it is ceremonial.

Norman said...

Is there something written about this? Might James Gage be able to determine when the holes might have been drilled, based on their profile? Eighteenth or nineteenth century drilling?

pwax said...

We don't need James Gage. They are circular hole - in use from colonial times onward.

pwax said...

Norman: Why you think the age is relevant? What conclusion would you draw from it being seventeenth, eighteenth, or nineteenth century? Indians started using steel as soon as they had access to it, certainly by the 1500s.

Nevertheless, it is clear that splitting the rock had a practical purpose, since they removed the left side of the boulder. What is not clear is why wedge the remaining pieces?

Curtiss Hoffman said...

Steve DiMarzo's dog often is shown standing on stone structures!

pwax said...

You missed the previous discussions of dogs?