Experiencing a NEARA Research Trip to A Stone Site in Maine - YouTube
Dear friends: why are you stripping a pile and digging around it like this? (See around 35 minutes in.) Tell me: what was learned by this exercise?
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9 comments :
And why is the plastic soil baggie being blurred out in the video?
What don't they want us to see?
Mike here - answering Norman, the soil baggie is blurred because it had location data, Longitude and Latitude. It was a real pain to make that work and move with the baggie, actually.
As I said over on YouTube, when you, Peter, said you were horrified by this digging - Understood. I'm not trained for this, so I did no digging. I'm also averse to disturbing the stone features on a personal level, as I mention in the video. That said, it appeared those trained for this did their best to respectfully dig around the features themselves only as much as needed to gather samples for OSL testing. Prior to this, showing that this newly discovered area actually was a CSL site involved some uncovering of the features by the property owner under professional guidance, as the features were heavily buried. It's a balance, for sure. On the plus side, this land owner was aware enough to notice that the stones on this slope weren't quite naturally placed, and sought out more answers.
Those who are curious on the progression of things here may want to watch the prior video as this site was discovered last year. This is after my first visit in May: https://youtu.be/MUJfzxbVCjY
I'll answer any questions I can.
I remain horrified. The idea that "those trained for this did their best to respectfully dig" does not resonate. Yes Curt Hoffman is a professional excavator. But this act is not particularly respectful and the only justification would be a useful research result. Where is that result?
I guess the problem is that people want to be sure something is a CSL and are not aware of what details are important. A lot of focus on geology and a group of people standing around a single pile. At a site like this [I did not see and any outstanding features], it is more about the relations between multiple piles.
Maybe this is as good a time as any to say this: You will not get much of a clue by putting a single rock pile under a microscope and dissecting it. After all, what exactly is it that you are trying to understand?
Now I hear a guy talking about removing some of the "pestles". Then he says: "The voice in my head always said 'don't touch it'".
I should add - Mike - I am grateful you made the video and do not intend to put you in the middle of this.
Thank you, Peter.
I feel like I'm naturally in the middle a bit, so no worries. I've been trying to help this site's owner, Dan, since last February when he first reached out, so I feel some responsibility. And I like the guy - his heart is in the right place! I can offer some answers to the best of my knowledge. NEARA is helping the landowner do the testing, which he's paying for. I believe 5 OSL tests are being done by the Utah State University Luminescence Lab. Other soil control samples were taken upslope and downslope of the stone assemblages, which I believe are being tested to determine whether material has flowed through the OSL sample testing area beneath the stones. I also believe, based on my recollections, that this was being tested for any trace of human or animal remains. It's likely at least 6 months for OSL results to come back, so April or May we should learn something.
Also? It seems important to note that much of the clearing of the piles you see had been done prior to this research visit. That one pile you pointed out in the video at the 35 mark, for example, was one dug down around a couple of months earlier to determine how deep the stone piles went and if they were all on bedrock or not. There are hundreds there, many as yet undisturbed, most which have been cleared have been cleared only lightly. The landowner's been flagging and cataloging them.
While I indeed cautioned against disturbing the site, much of it was so completely buried it's still hard to determine its full extent. Some uncovering seemed to be required? The site owner kept reaching out for help. The Maine State archaeologist was no help, and felt there was nothing significant here. As the landowner began to speak with more people from NEARA, CSL Experts and other stone sites online, many encouraged him to clear more, and he was introduced to Stephen DiMarzo who instructed him on careful recovery work. The landowner spoke extensively with Doug Harris, who visited last summer, and the Gages, who also made their way up there eventually.
This is three miles off the beaten path up the side of a Maine mountain. There seems to be a legitimate requirement to answer the question "Is this anything worth preserving" against which to balance the need to respect and not disturb the stonework.I don't know how to strike that balance, but I do believe an attempt at that balance is being made here.
Having witnessed several instances of OSL testing being performed, I have to say this is the best example I’ve seen to date. From what little I know, Dr. Hoffman’s sampling strategy of control samples and uphill and downhill sampling can’t be improved. The precautions taken were above and beyond the minimum required, so I have no problem with that.
As to digging in the stone pile itself, I have to say that if we are ever going to determine the age of these things, then samples will have to be taken. Posturing about the age and sacredness of stone piles is not good enough, and that includes me. The probable or “best guess” needs to be based on field testing along with reviewing what some may consider to be that boring ethnographic and historic data. The pieces need to be put together.
In the Southeast human burials in stone piles are extremely rare, so I wouldn’t make that a primary concern. In the couple of instances I know of burials being encountered the excavation was stopped. Data that demonstrates that the stone piles are prehistoric or historic will benefit all concerned by providing a baseline to work with.
For what it's worth, the Penobscot THPO has visited the site (prior to the sample extraction), and it is at least possible that he gave permission for the samples to be taken. In my opinion, decisions about what should or should not be done at these sites are not ours to make; they are up to the indigenous descendants of those who created them.
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