By Geophile
Noticed this on the Portal this morning--a new entry about a chamber in Montville, Connecticut. Probably familiar to Norman, but maybe not the rest of us. There's an allegation of Ogham.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Long Hill - Leominster MA
Continuing the series on "Eastern Massachusetts Hilltops", this one: Long Hill is pretty obscure. I had to do a bit of bushwaking and forest road following to get there - a pretty place with scattered white pines and chestnut oaks and no more than a few suggestive rocks.
All I got for my effort was a quiet place to sit for a moment before heading back into the laurel. And that was how most of Sunday went. I did find a small site at the end of the day, back in Westford.
All I got for my effort was a quiet place to sit for a moment before heading back into the laurel. And that was how most of Sunday went. I did find a small site at the end of the day, back in Westford.
South Manoosnoc - Leominster MA
This is a view from the south, from a shoulder of Bayberry Hill. Leominster Mass is off to the right. A reason for taking these panoramas down the power lines is that it is a rare place where you can see the view. South Manoosnoc is part of my main stomping ground and I like to pretend I have already explored that hill....right. Generally exploration is hindered by the thick growths of mountain laurel. But I am getting used to it and daring to explore more. One time, I found a few rock piles over there on the left side of the picture, and I have cut up to the top of the hill without seeing much before coming back down the way I went up. I have never been to about 70% of it.
Clark's Gully NY
Reader m.s. sent this in, an invitation to visit a new blog.
Friends,
I am survey places in greater upstate NY looking for places of prayer in Upstate NY— www.MotherEarthPrayers.org . Yesterday I went to do some more surveying and cleaning up of one of my reviews, Clarks Gully http://www.jubileeinitiative
I posted the following to a blog on Clarks Gully I created to post updated pictures of new finds within the area. I thought you might be interested.
Peace,
Madis Senner
PS Any suggestions about places to review for Mother Earth Prayers would be much appreciated.
http://clarksgully.blogspot
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Clarks Gully--Monument Erected
Since I first posted my review of Clark’s Gully and began cleaning up the space someone has created a small monument pictured above. It is not strategically located (ie on earth phenomena) and can be found by the large campfire area. Maybe the revelers that frequent the campfire area were behind this.
I find this very interesting and an affirmation of the power of Clarks Gully. I believe that people are drawn to the same site over and over again through out history. Many times I find a stone structure or pile of rocks that is not very old, but when I look closer I find that history is repeating itself; that the old farmers stone pile marked the intersection of several Native American trails or was a gathering place, etc…Stone structures deteriorate over time, but the spirit of a place, particularly if it is strong, can be indelible.
The fact that the Seneca people believe that they were born on South Hill, Clarks Gully lies at its base, and that Native American historian A. C. Parker and NY State Historian William Ritchie found mounds and stone structures associated with the Adena culture there speaks volumes to the power of the place. The area still has a very good vibe, a strongly positive geographic samskara, is a testament to what went on there before. However, a variety of actions less focused on God and spiritually have been transpiring there for some time. Still it is positive.
We all look for meaning in our lives, whether we are ascetics or party goers. How we find that meaning and represent it is a function of who we are, our focus and our intentions. No doubt people that created the monument felt the call of the land to create something.
More from that Monroe County site
By Geophile
There were three good-sized rock piles there, none of them in great shape. They're right up against a train track embankment, so there may once have been more. On the other side of the embankment a long wall comes down the hill on a slant directly toward the piles which are built in an area that contains 3 springs, all within 10 to 12 yards of one another.
Above, the rock piles with the embankment behind them.
Above: one of the springs.
Then there was this--a rock whatsit. The boulder has that small flat propped rock on top and that curious structure of flat and round rocks to one side.
A close-up of the side structure.
This isn't man made, but at the time it was just so pleasing that we all stopped to look at it: an old grape vine curling gracefully over a boulder--Composition with Boulder, Vine, and Autumn Leaves. We also saw many nice native plants like hepatica and striped pipsissewa, along with mosses and lichens whose names I don't know.
We took a path from the site further downhill, and found several natural terraces, each with a small stream of its own, large enough to host a small village or hunting camp. One had a stone covered with small crystals in the middle of it. It may have been the weather and the aesthetically pleasing form of the land, but together we imagined people living in bark homes, growing small fields of maize and squash and tobacco, hunting the abundant game. Hard as that life might be at times, there must have been days like these warm days in fall when in that place, or in places like it, life seemed pretty good.
There were three good-sized rock piles there, none of them in great shape. They're right up against a train track embankment, so there may once have been more. On the other side of the embankment a long wall comes down the hill on a slant directly toward the piles which are built in an area that contains 3 springs, all within 10 to 12 yards of one another.
Above, the rock piles with the embankment behind them.
Above: one of the springs.
Then there was this--a rock whatsit. The boulder has that small flat propped rock on top and that curious structure of flat and round rocks to one side.
A close-up of the side structure.
This isn't man made, but at the time it was just so pleasing that we all stopped to look at it: an old grape vine curling gracefully over a boulder--Composition with Boulder, Vine, and Autumn Leaves. We also saw many nice native plants like hepatica and striped pipsissewa, along with mosses and lichens whose names I don't know.We took a path from the site further downhill, and found several natural terraces, each with a small stream of its own, large enough to host a small village or hunting camp. One had a stone covered with small crystals in the middle of it. It may have been the weather and the aesthetically pleasing form of the land, but together we imagined people living in bark homes, growing small fields of maize and squash and tobacco, hunting the abundant game. Hard as that life might be at times, there must have been days like these warm days in fall when in that place, or in places like it, life seemed pretty good.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Nashoba Hill - Westford, MA
A few days ago I was contrite that I missed knowing about the rock piles on Nashoba Hill - the ski place. So FFC got permission from the landowner and we explored the western part of the hill as thoroughly as possible. There might have been "ca'rns" up there twenty years ago but the only signs of any today are one solitary rock pile at the southern extremity of the wooded slope (1/4 way down), a rock-on-rock with a classic "boat rudder" shape:
and a few boulders surrounded by cobbles suggesting piles that had been cast down.
Otherwise, the western side of the hill is covered with subtle little 4-in-a-row or 5-in-a-row lines of low rocks. FFC is so fond of looking up the directions with a compass and trying to interpret them with the "Stupid Sheet" [see link to the right] that it was hard to make progress combing back and forth across the slope (at different height levels on the hill). But we did eventually give the hill a pretty good going over and, not seeing any great show of "ca'rns", it is less embarrassing to have missed what was there. I had also been told about some piles at the edge of the swamp east of the hill. So the day after exploring the hilltop, I went and looked over there along the swamp. Eventually, and not that close to the hill, I spotted four low ground piles, which I will show you later. But they were so inconspicuous I have a hard time believing they would be "ca'rns" so described. So I think I need to explore some more.
There is one long continuous stone wall that runs across the summit of Nashoba Hill from northwest to south-east. This wall has been measured over and over and Tim Fohl's observation that the wall is aligned with the summer solstice sunset and winter solstice sunrise seems to be correct. West of the wall is woods, east of it is the ski area. Here is the solitary pile from along the wall to the south and west.
Perhaps the most interesting feature we saw, pointed out by FFC, was a rock with a rounded groove running around it. I always assume grooves like this are natural differential weathering;
but I expected to see some change in the minerology along the groove or at the bottom of it. I could not see any such in-homogeneity. I looked closely:
This looks like the same rock throughout with no differential weathering to explain it. It really looks like a man made groove to me. FFC thinks it is part and the same scheme of alignments on the hill. The way the groove is placed lines it up with an arc across the southwestern sky.
The most common features on the western side of the hilltop were lines of stones. Here is one, I think it was aligned with true north. You can see 4 or more rocks in a row through the undergrowth.
and a few boulders surrounded by cobbles suggesting piles that had been cast down.Otherwise, the western side of the hill is covered with subtle little 4-in-a-row or 5-in-a-row lines of low rocks. FFC is so fond of looking up the directions with a compass and trying to interpret them with the "Stupid Sheet" [see link to the right] that it was hard to make progress combing back and forth across the slope (at different height levels on the hill). But we did eventually give the hill a pretty good going over and, not seeing any great show of "ca'rns", it is less embarrassing to have missed what was there. I had also been told about some piles at the edge of the swamp east of the hill. So the day after exploring the hilltop, I went and looked over there along the swamp. Eventually, and not that close to the hill, I spotted four low ground piles, which I will show you later. But they were so inconspicuous I have a hard time believing they would be "ca'rns" so described. So I think I need to explore some more.
There is one long continuous stone wall that runs across the summit of Nashoba Hill from northwest to south-east. This wall has been measured over and over and Tim Fohl's observation that the wall is aligned with the summer solstice sunset and winter solstice sunrise seems to be correct. West of the wall is woods, east of it is the ski area. Here is the solitary pile from along the wall to the south and west.
Perhaps the most interesting feature we saw, pointed out by FFC, was a rock with a rounded groove running around it. I always assume grooves like this are natural differential weathering;
but I expected to see some change in the minerology along the groove or at the bottom of it. I could not see any such in-homogeneity. I looked closely:
This looks like the same rock throughout with no differential weathering to explain it. It really looks like a man made groove to me. FFC thinks it is part and the same scheme of alignments on the hill. The way the groove is placed lines it up with an arc across the southwestern sky.The most common features on the western side of the hilltop were lines of stones. Here is one, I think it was aligned with true north. You can see 4 or more rocks in a row through the undergrowth.
Monroe County, PA; a small site, part one
By Geophile
Well, over the weekend we got back up to that site in Monroe County where my camera failed me. My son, Jonas Wisser, is home on fall break from Oberlin and since he had never seen the Railroad Drive cairn site, which is close to the trail head for the other site, we stopped there first. The picture above shows the nicest cairn there, which we've seen on this blog before, but it's always nice to look at. All of these pictures were taken by Jonas. (Training up the next generation!)
Then we went to the trail and made our way to the site. It was a beautiful day for it. One of the features of this site is a large, low rock pile featuring near one corner what I think of as a a rock-on-cairn as shown above. You can see it at the far end in the picture below, which shows the shape of the rock pile better. Notice the flat stone off to the left in the picture above. There were two like that at angles to one another.
There are a couple of short walls, too, incorporating some reddish stones.
And this possible split wedge, although the stone doesn't look wedged so much as placed. Note the low accent wall just behind it. The structure at the corner is the larger wall. There were springs and rock piles there, which I'll post separately.
Well, over the weekend we got back up to that site in Monroe County where my camera failed me. My son, Jonas Wisser, is home on fall break from Oberlin and since he had never seen the Railroad Drive cairn site, which is close to the trail head for the other site, we stopped there first. The picture above shows the nicest cairn there, which we've seen on this blog before, but it's always nice to look at. All of these pictures were taken by Jonas. (Training up the next generation!)
Then we went to the trail and made our way to the site. It was a beautiful day for it. One of the features of this site is a large, low rock pile featuring near one corner what I think of as a a rock-on-cairn as shown above. You can see it at the far end in the picture below, which shows the shape of the rock pile better. Notice the flat stone off to the left in the picture above. There were two like that at angles to one another.
There are a couple of short walls, too, incorporating some reddish stones.
And this possible split wedge, although the stone doesn't look wedged so much as placed. Note the low accent wall just behind it. The structure at the corner is the larger wall. There were springs and rock piles there, which I'll post separately.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Kanape Brook Trail
By Geophile
On our last day in Ulster County, NY a couple of weeks ago, we went for a walk in an area of mixed stone features. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, my camera was on its last expedition, and the quality of the pictures leaves something to be desired. The picture above shows a Conservation Corps spring box we found along the trail We'd heard it was there and we had no trouble identifying it.
Above is an ambiguous feature that could well be colonial or later. I'm not sure what it was, but thought it worth photographing especially because of the metal item laid on top.
The picture above shows one end of a wall that came up a steep bank from the stream. We'd seen some walls that were definitely agricultural in the area, very squared off and somehow unmistakably farmers' walls, but this had a different look and was associated with a spring and some much more freeform structures that didn't photograph well. It's possible this was ceremonial.
Stones on a boulder.
Here another interesting wall ranges uphill.
This very small pile along the path added to the mix of stone features. On a short walk we saw agricultural walls, the CC spring box, this and another very modern pile, and some possible ceremonial structures. The styles were distinct, all using the same material.
On our last day in Ulster County, NY a couple of weeks ago, we went for a walk in an area of mixed stone features. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, my camera was on its last expedition, and the quality of the pictures leaves something to be desired. The picture above shows a Conservation Corps spring box we found along the trail We'd heard it was there and we had no trouble identifying it.
Above is an ambiguous feature that could well be colonial or later. I'm not sure what it was, but thought it worth photographing especially because of the metal item laid on top.
The picture above shows one end of a wall that came up a steep bank from the stream. We'd seen some walls that were definitely agricultural in the area, very squared off and somehow unmistakably farmers' walls, but this had a different look and was associated with a spring and some much more freeform structures that didn't photograph well. It's possible this was ceremonial.
Stones on a boulder.
Here another interesting wall ranges uphill.
This very small pile along the path added to the mix of stone features. On a short walk we saw agricultural walls, the CC spring box, this and another very modern pile, and some possible ceremonial structures. The styles were distinct, all using the same material.
A small Westborough Rock Pile Site
A colleague told me about a conservation land with rock piles and I decided to go and try exploring it myself. I didn't find anything until I was trying to get back to the trail, feeling slightly lost and, ironically, stumbled on a small site in a break-out zone, where water was coming out of the hill in a little gully and wetland. I do not think these are the piles my colleague told me about and I did fail to find some nice site he talked about. Anyway, I was walking along feeling lost and saw this:
Quite a nice pile. Usually at a rock pile site in a break-out zone like this, the piles are not so substantial, usually I expect just a handful of rocks on a support boulder.
Here is a picture of the slope with a more typical smaller pile. The view here is roughly southeast.
Here is a view of the same slope, facing more southwest:
A closeup of that pile:
(It is nice also to have such good light under the trees along with the color of the leaves. The light is never too good in the woods in summer).
So I walked down the slope, towards the north, following the faint gully that was forming there. Snapping pictures of most of the piles. Walking through the thick barberry bushes, getting a few scratches but, look at this:
Worth the wait, in my opinion. Here are a couple more from in there:
A few feet further down hill I hit the trail and, looking back I could see this last pile, clearly visible from the trail about forty feet away. I had passed the site on my way in.
There is not a great deal I can conclude from this site - a small collection of rock piles along a faint gully, forming on the northern side of a hill. The piles are all supported on boulders and seem to be made from the rocks that were lying around on the hillside - some rounded, some sharp edged. No one ever tried to farm this rocky slope. At a glance I would have thought there were only two or three piles in there but poking through the bushes carefully turned up about eight different rock piles.
Quite a nice pile. Usually at a rock pile site in a break-out zone like this, the piles are not so substantial, usually I expect just a handful of rocks on a support boulder.Here is a picture of the slope with a more typical smaller pile. The view here is roughly southeast.
Here is a view of the same slope, facing more southwest:
A closeup of that pile:
(It is nice also to have such good light under the trees along with the color of the leaves. The light is never too good in the woods in summer).So I walked down the slope, towards the north, following the faint gully that was forming there. Snapping pictures of most of the piles. Walking through the thick barberry bushes, getting a few scratches but, look at this:
Worth the wait, in my opinion. Here are a couple more from in there:
A few feet further down hill I hit the trail and, looking back I could see this last pile, clearly visible from the trail about forty feet away. I had passed the site on my way in.There is not a great deal I can conclude from this site - a small collection of rock piles along a faint gully, forming on the northern side of a hill. The piles are all supported on boulders and seem to be made from the rocks that were lying around on the hillside - some rounded, some sharp edged. No one ever tried to farm this rocky slope. At a glance I would have thought there were only two or three piles in there but poking through the bushes carefully turned up about eight different rock piles.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Couldn't blog
The blogger software/server was not working this evening and I couldn't upload photos.
Monday, October 15, 2007
An embarrassing moment
I got a call from an old acquaintance and we were talking about rock piles when he mentioned there being some on a hill nearby that I explored at least once in the past, without finding anything. How many times have my eyes passed across that same hill on the topo map and discounted it because I had "already explored it." And what about those low areas between the hill and the nearby brook! I discounted them for some other reason. And now to have him tell me about the piles that are in there too is embarrassing.
Bayberry Hill Leominster
Two weekends ago, having failed to find anything during my Sunday morning exploration, I stopped on the way home on Elm Str. and took a trail across the dam of Haynes Reservoir, and then up a hill. The trail passed near a small pre-summit of the larger hill (which I now see is called Bayberry Hill), so I dutifully went to explore its western slope, hoping for rock piles, expecting there to be rock piles, intending for there to be rock piles. It barely worked but there were the faintest traces of a rock piles site.
Two almost inconsequential piles, each visible in the same way against a near horizon.
Pennsylvania: Interesting Stone Sites on the Net
By Geophile
A few links. The first is to a picture of a rock pile in the area of Pennsylvania where I grew up. The Pinnacle is a spot along the Kittatinny Ridge of the Appalachians where the ridge doubles back on itself. At the end of the kink is a rock outcropping that forms a lookout. It is a tradition among at least some hikers to bring a stone to add to a large rock pile there. Here's a picture with hikers. And here is what the Pinnacle itself looks like, speaking of rock piles. The landscape in the far background there is where I grew up.
Also, my brother Andy sent me a link to pictures of a site in Schuylkill County, called Boxcar Rocks or the Chinese Wall. It's hard to tell in the pictures but at places it is as much as 60 feet high. Some good pictures of it are here and here, and if you use the links in the top box at the right, you can see more. Note the boulder that looks like a standing female figure in the second photo.
A few links. The first is to a picture of a rock pile in the area of Pennsylvania where I grew up. The Pinnacle is a spot along the Kittatinny Ridge of the Appalachians where the ridge doubles back on itself. At the end of the kink is a rock outcropping that forms a lookout. It is a tradition among at least some hikers to bring a stone to add to a large rock pile there. Here's a picture with hikers. And here is what the Pinnacle itself looks like, speaking of rock piles. The landscape in the far background there is where I grew up.
Also, my brother Andy sent me a link to pictures of a site in Schuylkill County, called Boxcar Rocks or the Chinese Wall. It's hard to tell in the pictures but at places it is as much as 60 feet high. Some good pictures of it are here and here, and if you use the links in the top box at the right, you can see more. Note the boulder that looks like a standing female figure in the second photo.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Speaking of pile-gap-pile...
The pictures don't do this justice but there was a sense that this pile was built in relation to a couple of boulders nearby. You see one in the background of each picture but no good view of the whole group. 
This seemed to be a solitary pile on a southwestern shoulder of a large hill - the one I have been writing about lately - but I don't trust solitary piles and looked around in all directions carefully. There was one more pile several yards uphill:
And another hint of a pile over a ways on the slope. 
[I did not notice what seems to be in the crack until I got home and looked at the picture. It looks like things jammed in there but I guess it is a quartz vein.]
Then up to a ridge with one more pile,
and climbing to the little summit (not the main one), where there was this at the highest point: 
Then I rested on that rock you see behind. Took my cellphone out and thought: well if I forget it here, at least I'll know where I lost it and be able to find it. Which is exactly what happened.
This seemed to be a solitary pile on a southwestern shoulder of a large hill - the one I have been writing about lately - but I don't trust solitary piles and looked around in all directions carefully. There was one more pile several yards uphill:
And another hint of a pile over a ways on the slope. 
[I did not notice what seems to be in the crack until I got home and looked at the picture. It looks like things jammed in there but I guess it is a quartz vein.]Then up to a ridge with one more pile,
and climbing to the little summit (not the main one), where there was this at the highest point: 
Then I rested on that rock you see behind. Took my cellphone out and thought: well if I forget it here, at least I'll know where I lost it and be able to find it. Which is exactly what happened.
The Persistence of the Mound Builder's Culture among Recent Indian Tribes
"Passing now to another form of interment, that of the cairn, we again find conclusive evidence. Indeed the practice continued until within the memory of persons now living. Yarrow speaks of them as having been erected in recent times by “tribes living in the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas.” (Mortuary Customs of North American Indians, p. 48). Cairns were often raised over communal burials. Col. C.W.Jenckes, who was among the Cherokees says: “We have Indians all around us, with traditions extending back for 500 years. In this time they have buried their dead under huge piles of stones. We have at one point the remains of 600 warriors under one pile.” (Poster,Prehistoric Races, p.149). Lafitua states positively that some tribes of the Iriquois raised cairns over single graves. (Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, vol.II, p.416) and Adair tells us that the Mohawkes were accustomed to honor their dead in this way. (N.American Indians, note to p.85). The tribes of the Muskogian stock certainly raised cairns over the temporary graves of their dead (See Lawson, History of Carolinas, p.22; Bartram, Travels, p.348, and Adair, History of N. American Indians, p.184). The same custom was prevalent among the tribes west of the Mississippi. Hunter says that the Osages “cover the grave with stones, and for years after resort to it.” (Captivity, p. 309). The Osages, if we are to believe his story, also used the so called “stone graves” for, speaking of burial in general, he says: “This ceremony was performed differently, not only by different tribes, but by individuals of the same tribe - - - the body being some times placed on the surface of the ground, between flat stones set edge upward, and then covered over, first by similar stones, and then by earth
13
brought a short distance.” (Captivity,p. 355) He also speaks of “elevatio - - - which were formerly and are at present exclusively devoted to burying their dead”, and which “are composed of stones and earth, place in such a manner as to cover the separate one dead body from another.” (Captivity,pp. 307 - 308). These stones graves are found over a large area, and many cases of mounds composed entirely of stone cists and earth have been reported. For instance Dr. Cyrus Thomas says: “It is not unusual to find a mound containing a number of these cists arranged in two, three or more tiers. As a general rule cists not in mounds are near the surface of the ground and in some instances even projecting above it.”(Shawnees in Pre-Columbian Times,American Anthro. Vol. IV, Nos. 2-3). Hunters account and the archaeological finds thus tally fairly well, but there is abundant evidence from other and perhaps more reliable historical sources. Thus Loskiel says of the Delawares: “They buried their dead by digging a grave of the required size and about one or two feet deep; they put flat stones at the bottom and set others at each end and each side, on the edge; then laid the body in, generally on the back, at full length; covered the grave with the same kind of stone, laid as closely together as practicable, without cement, sometimes laying smaller stones over the joints or cracks to keep the earth from falling into the grave. Then they covered the grave with earth, not generally more than two or three feet high.” (Hist. Miss. United Brethren, p.120). The practice continued among the middle western tribes until comparatively recent times, thus Thomas says: “An old lady of Jackson Co. (Illinois) personally known to the writer, informed one of the bureau assistants that she had seen a Kaskaskia Indian burried in a stone grave of the type under consideration, which she pointed out to him (Shawnee in Pre-Columbian Times, p. 47). Dr. Rau also says: “It is a fact well remembered by many persons in this
14
neighborhood (Monroe Co. Ill.) that the Indians who inhabited this region during the early part of the present century buried their dead in stone coffins.” (Jones. Antiq.So. Indians, p.220)."
Thursday, October 11, 2007
More to report but no energy for it
I still have two small sites from last weekend to report but 9-5 work is hard lately and I am burnt out.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A small wetland site
Behind the hill and before the houses, a number of piles consisting of a handfull of rocks on a support boulders, among the many boulders in a wet area.
Sometimes just one rock on a rock:
Sometimes pairs:
There seemed to be more than one of these pair piles - a feature of the place.
Another small subtle site. It is too bad it could easily disappear before being understood.
Sometimes just one rock on a rock:
Sometimes pairs:
There seemed to be more than one of these pair piles - a feature of the place.Another small subtle site. It is too bad it could easily disappear before being understood.
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