Snowbound but...

I have one site in reserve.

Indian Names of Places in Worcester County

[click here]

Stonehenge in Lake Michigan?

From NBC Chicago News [click here]

Check out the links in the article. For example: "SSome people believe there are other landscape artifacts nearby which are more likely to be authenticated, such as an arc-shaped stone pile matching a placement found near Alpena, and the a smaller rock circle. It is logical to assume that Beaver Island wasome people believe there are other landscape artifacts nearby which are more likely to be authenticated, such as an arc-shaped stone pile matching a placement found near Alpena, and the "Circle of Chiefs," a smaller rock circle. It is logical to assume that Beaver Island was..."

Snowfall Turtle

Some blog posts

Link to earlier [click here] So much stuff going on then.

Dis-assembling and re-assembling a rock pile - Can it be done?

For the most part this community does not discuss taking rock piles apart. There might be plenty to be learned but the thought is that (a) if you found ceremonial remains, then your discovery would itself be a violation; and (b) we should be able to find useful things to study without going to the ends of actually destroying the subject matter. Still, in spite of these reservations, there are times when a rock pile will probably get destroyed anyway and, conceivably, there are situations where someone might go ahead and pull apart a rock pile and later wish they could put it back together the way it was before they pulled it apart.

Has anybody thought of a way to re-assemble the rock pile as it was - each rock back in its original position? It is an interesting engineering problem. I had some thoughts on the subject and it would be fun to hear any other suggestions in Comments.

So, I had a thought about this after looking at the "Rollstone Boulder" from Fitchburg [click here for a web page]. The story is that there was a very prominent boulder on a hill overlooking Fitchburg. When Fitchburg became an industrial center, or thereabouts, people worried the boulder would roll downhill into the town and hurt somebody. So they chopped the boulder into pieces like a jig-saw puzzle, brought them down to the center of town, and re-assembled the puzzle in a public square, where it was glued in place. I have driven by once and said to myself: "you really need to photo that rock and tell the story". For today though, the lesson is that if the puzzle pieces fit together exactly there is only one way to re-assemble them. Can we apply that to rock piles somehow?

Here is an approach: cover the rock pile with a material like styrofoam that fills in all the spaces: break it up into uniquely fitted together pieces - to take apart the rock pile. Then fit them back together later and remove the styrofoam somehow. That sort of thing might work but getting rid of the styrofoam would be problematic and at best would leave a nasty chemical smear. What about other materials? Frozen water? Etc?

Algonquin Legends of New England - Leland, Charles Godfrey 1824-1903

(via FFC, who says it is full of interesting stuff)
[Click here]

Airport Expansion at Turner's Falls Defeated.

Recall this airport expansion would have destroyed a small rock pile site. I wish we could get a proportional effort on some of the other sites of importance.

(via Norman Muller).
Indian stones to be protected at Turners Falls airport
By ARN ALBERTINI Recorder StaffPublished:
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
TURNERS FALLS -- The federal government has ruled a group of stones discoveredin the path of the planned runway expansion at the Turners Falls MunicipalAirport is a ''sacred ceremonial hill'' and eligible for inclusion on theNational Register of Historic Places.An archaeologist hired by the Federal Aviation Administration had said thestones were rocks left over from a stone wall built in the 19th century.But, American Indians from the Narragansett, Aquinnah-Wampanoag and Mashpee-Wampanoag tribes said the site was a collection of sacred stones.The state's historic preservation officer said she did not think the propertywas eligible for a spot on the National Register.The issue was sent to keeper of the National Register for a final determination.''The site is central to the cosmology of the combined tribes and thetraditions that have marked Native American sacred and ceremonial practices fornumerous generations,'' according to a ruling from the keeper.''Located in the middle of the Connecticut River region of New England, thissite also possesses the potential to yield important information abouttraditional Native American practices, beliefs and sacred rituals.''Reacting to the ruling from the National Register, John Brown, tribal historicpreservation officer for the Narragansett Indian Tribe, said, ''From our pointof view, we simply used modern science to confirm things we already knew fromour own history about our own science. The technology of today confirmed thesame technology from hundreds and thousands of years ago. The observations oftoday were no different than the ones we had then. We are not the simple folksthat many people think tribes were.''Now we need to sit down with the FAA and the Turners Falls Airport Commissionand determine the next steps.''Plans to expand the Turners Falls Municipal Airport have been on hold since2007, awaiting a ruling on the status of the stones. The FAA and theMassachusetts Aeronautical Commission are paying all costs of the project,estimated at $5 million.The airport still plans to expand its runway, but the project will now be splitinto phases, Airport Manager Michael Sweeney.This summer, work will begin to replace the existing runway, built in 1960, andadd 200 feet to the Connecticut River side of the airport, he said.Plans to add 1,000 feet of runway to the Millers Falls side of the airport willbe re-designed so the expansion doesn't disturb the stones, said Sweeney,adding that he hopes this work will begin in 2011.The FAA will work with environmental agencies and American Indian groups onthis redesign to ensure their concerns are addressed, he said. ''In the end,it's a balancing act of all the parties' interests.''Because the current runway is in such poor condition, the MAC and FAA decidedto break the project into phases so the current sections can be fixed rightaway, he said. ''We're very grateful.''The replacement of the taxiway, originally scheduled for this year, will bepostponed until the other two phases are complete, said Sweeney. The cost ofthat project hasn't yet been determined, he said.Beyond the hill itself, the whole airport as well as much of the surroundingarea, down to the Connecticut River, the islands in the Connecticut River, theconfluences of the Millers and Deerfield rivers and parts of the MontaguePlains, are among the areas that should also be considered as part of aNational Register-eligible historic/archeological district, known as a TurnersFalls Cultural Landscape, the ruling said.The stones at the airport are the central component of a ceremonial landscape,which stretches out in a 16-mile radius from the hill, the ruling said.To help make its determination, staff from the National Register of HistoricPlaces visited the site, interviewed representatives of the Narragansett,Aquinnah-Wampanoag and Mashpee-Wampanoag American Indian tribes, reviewed datafrom those tribes and reviewed data from the FAA.It's important for everybody to work together on deciding the next steps, saidBrown. ''I think that being gracious is the only way to go. It's time toeducate rather than expatriate or excommunicate.''Depending on how you look at this, it could be a very positive thing,'' saidBrown, adding that the region's American Indian heritage holds the potentialfor a tourist attraction. ''I'm sure there are those that could find somethingnegative with it, but if everybody sits down and discusses the matter, I thinkcooler heads will prevail.

''You can reach Arn Albertini at: aalberti@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 264Talkback: NewsIndian stones to be protected at Turners Falls airport
By ARN ALBERTINI Recorder StaffPublished on January 06, 2009
TURNERS FALLS -- The federal government has ruled a group of stones discoveredin the path of the planned runway expansion at the Turners Falls MunicipalAirport is a ''sacred ceremonial hill'' and eligible for inclusion on theNational Register of Historic Places.

Reader comments:
Hello blue. If you expand the runway you allow for larger jets to land. Theymay not pay a fee if they do not stay over night which is correct. However, youwould have to a new business there to take care of those jets. To fix themclean them refuel then. Guess where all that tax money goes? To the towns.
By PR Report Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 05:01 PM

So...I went to the meetings about this airport expansion. What you probablydont know is ..That the tax payers and going to pay for part of this and not get any money inreturn. Why ..Because they cant charge if an airplane lands at the air port only if theystays over night.Which means you can have coporate jets landing there and taking off and you getnothing.. but, more noise pollution, more air pollution and more waterpollution. And no revenue.So basically its going to be nothing more than a playground for people thathave toys and money to play with.I can see resurfacing the run way ..but there is only one reason they want tomake it longer ..so larger planes will be able to land.They said at the meeting that large air craft wont be able to land. Well no,not 727's but right now you have planes that cary 6-8 people.When they expand you will be getting larger ones that hold 18-20 people.The voters of Turners and Montague had the oppertunity to stop this expansion.What were they thinking.If I could have voted..my vote would have been "NO" without a doubt.But not only does this affect the villages of Turners, Montague, Lake Pleasant,Millers and Gill, but all these planes coming and going will Affect Ervingside.I for one dont want more planes flying over my house but because I live on theother side of the river and could not vote..I have no choice.I say..close the place down..and put in a multi cultural center. Some thingthat will bring in tax dollars and revenue instead of spending it. Glad I donthave to pay taxes in that town.Mr. Metrowest....BOONDOGGLE is putting it mildly...pulling the wool over youreyes..might sum it up.
By blue Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 11:38 AM

Hit while the kettles hot... Time for an Indian run Casino on that land. Massnever stops amazing me.By Mike from Waldorf Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 10:42 AMMontague should grab the opportunity being presented by the Native Americangroups and the National Register by shutting down Taxpayers Memorial Airport.The Airport is a boondoggle that only exists due to massive subsidy fromfederal, state and local taxpayers. Given the nation's current financialstraits, shutting down the airport would free up funds much better usedelsewhere.Protecting the area as a region of cultural, historical and environmentalsignificance is a brilliant and timely idea. It would likely convince the FAAto walk away from whatever investment it has sunk into the airport, and relievethe town from supporting a perennial money loser. Turning the Airport into adestination for groups interested in the area's significant cultural valuewould have an impact on tourism that could be significant.Maybe time to think outside the box - and do something right for a change.By mrmetrowest Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009 at 09:04 AM

Articles by Norman Muller - Oley Hills, PA, Hopkinton Outcrop

Via Larry Harrop:

I just finished putting 2 new articles written by Norm online for him.
I'm sure your readers will like reading them.

Accenting the Landscape: Interpreting the Oley Hills Site -- http://rock-piles.com/oleyhill.pdf

An Unusual Ledge Outcrop in Hopkinton, RI ----- http://rock-piles.com/Hopkinton/index.html

More articles are here ------ http://www.rock-piles.com/muller.html

A structured site in southern Callahan State Forest - Framingham, MA

Although I explored here in the past, I realized there was quite a lot of "green" on the map that I had not yet visited. I drove over, parked and went south into the woods, but stayed to the right and got across the small hill side (just like at Mt Pisgah reported). After only a minute or two in the woods, I noticed a small ground pile and spotted several more as I looked around:
This one looked more elangated than round:
I noticed that several piles were along the line of the long axis of this pile:Getting a flavor of the layout it seemed there were two short parallel lines of three piles each. But as I was looking at these things I became aware of a large chunk of stone wall, downhill nearer the edges of the wetland there,and glancing in that direction it looked like there might be some more piles down nearer this wall. In the end, there was quite a lot of interesting structure to the site. The wall turned out to be a short stretch that snakes upwards from the wetland. Also there were a couple of larger stone mounds down next to it (you can just make out one to the left in the above picture), in addition to some large rock-on-rocks. Here is the approximate layout, as best I could make out:
At the bottom of the picture is a bit of lowland and the site is on the slopes of a hill at the edge of this lowland. There are at least six smaller piles at the top in two parallel lines, there is a central "stone wall" feature with several large rock-on-rocks to one side and two larger mounds to the other side. The line of the stone wall is roughly parallel with the lines of the smaller piles uphill.

Here are some of the large rock-on-rocks:I was quite taken with this "stone wall". Here is are other views.

From the lower end:
From the side:
Also from the lower end:
With the large rock at the upper end and the slight winding back and forth of the wall, it is easy to imagine it as a kind of snake. If you look to the far right in the last picture you can see a larger rock pile over there. Here is one closeup:
It was really three different piles with different sized rocks. That gave me a pause because this is a typical field clearing pattern: different rocks dumps of different sizes. But I did not pause for too long over that, the rest of the site is not at all like a field clearing rock dump.

Here is the further of the two larger rock piles, which I am calling "mounds" to distinguish from the smaller piles uphill. The view back towards the "wall":
A side view:The pattern of damage here is very characteristic. To my eyes this was a mound that contained two inner chambers, that has been vandalized. It is a smaller scale version of what we see throughout the Manoosnocs in Leominster.

Unlike many sites which are a collection of the same types of piles in a more or less orderly layout, this site has different parts: the lines of smaller piles, the snaking wall, the large burial mounds. To me it is something different, rarer.

Roadside Attraction: Wayside Inn Rd - Framingham, MA

I saw something to the left as I drove south on Wayside Inn Rd, leaving Sudbury and entering Framingham. In more detail:A line of rock piles across the slope of the hill. The last pile in the line, only a smear of large rocks today, looks out over the valley of a small brook.
The placement reminds me somewhat of the top of Long Hill in Bolton.

Rock pile sites northeast of Mt Pisgah - Berlin, MA

I see from previous postings about Mt Pisgah [click here] that it is a place I published maps for, so here is a new map showing new locations at A and E. A few weeks ago I decided to explore a new area east of Mt Pisgah because it seemed likely I would find some new rock piles near where I found them in the past. There are two main entrances to the conservation land: one in Northborough on Ball's Hill Rd (lower left of the map fragment above) and the other on Linden Street in Berlin, where the road goes around a bend. I wanted to go in via the Linden Street entrance and explore some of the lower reaches of the brooks draining the "mountain".

So I parked on Linden Str. then stayed to the right, getting over the edge of the small hill there and down to the side of the brook across from the open fields at A on the map. I saw an isolated pile or two on the hillside but started believing I was at a"site" when I came to a small pile across a stone wall from the brook.There was another structure against the wall which I thought was deliberate and not just a tumbled bit of wall:Then I came up to this collection of rocks looking out over the brook:Let's have another look from in front:Is it my imagination or, of the two rock-on-rocks, is one deliberately light colored and the other dark? Let's look through the gap from the other direction towards the brook:
I am convinced this is a deliberate "gap" or "gateway" structure opening to the brook. The idea that this is something specific is re-enforced by there being similar structures nearby. In fact, just up the brook on Mt Pisgah (see photos 2, 3, and 4 at this same link [click here]) and I believe this is a simple version of what I called "pile-gap-pile" (see examples here and here). By now I am ready to propose this is one specific type of pile and a type of site that usually occurs adjacent to a brook and that its purpose includes some kind of passageway between the water and a user or something at the site. This is a simple example of such a gateway. Can we call this a gateway site? Somehow a gateway through rock seems a dominant idea in (my idea of) Native American landscape use.

I continued upstream to a bend in the brook with one more rock pile at around B on the map.This might have been representative but is scrambled. Then I continued over to the mouth of the brook draining the central valley that divides Mt Pisgah along a North/South line. There, at the foot of the hill, I saw some of the large rock-on-rocks I had seen before:I also noticed this provocative little structure:A very deliberately propped up slab of rock.

From there I went across the hill to the east, combing a bit, and worked my way over towards the little lake you see in the map fragment to the upper right near E. Now it is a fact that over in this "part of town" that almost every small lake seems to have rock piles along its eastern edge (for example Rocky Pond in Boylston). So I figured it was worth making my way over there to have a look. Granted it is a man-made lake and probably not that old but it was worth a shot and it payed off. As soon as I got over there I found a collection of badly smeared out rock piles. All we can really say about them is where they are located.
If you were not looking for these things you just would not notice them:It is good knowing where to look but it is too bad so little information is available about this type of place. If the lake was absent earlier when the piles were built, then they would have simply been at the foot of a ridge, a bit like the site from Sudbury the other day [click here].

Talk about inconspicuous:I was well pleased with my exploration, and was back at my car a few minutes later.

Rock piles near the Montville Souterrain

Chris writes:

Today I uploaded some new stone pile photos to my gallery. The piles are very close to the "Souterrain" stone chamber in Montville, CT. The stone wall that Norman Muller wrote about in his article on the "souterrain" is in the immediate vicinity of the piles as well. The piles are on a slope and there is a massive pedestaled boulder at the top of the hill. I had read that the piles were there but had not bothered to look for them until my third visit to the chamber site and I was surprised to find that some of the piles are quite large and well-built. I had expected them to be smaller and less impressive. Here is the link to the pile photos:

http://stoneruins.cellarwalls.com/#17.0

Minor Roadside Attraction - Rt 62 Berlin MA

On my way back from seeing some new things at Mt Pisgah, I looked carefully into the woods downhill from Rt 62 just west of Sawyer Hill Rd. The leaves are off the trees so visibility into the woods is good and I thought I spotted a couple of rock piles on the slope on the other side of the little wetland. So I stopped and stepped down in there and across.

Sure enough there were faint traces of a site.
To me this looks like a remnant marker pile site - because it is on a slope.

STN Preservation Committee Requests Your Assistance

Dear friends and family

We need your help in gathering as many signatures (out of state included) as possible to stop the destruction to the Schaghticoke Reservation and your participation in the protest in Hartford on January 29th, rain or shine. Your support is needed. Please let me know if you can make it. Rost has threatened Tribal members and has desecrated almost 10 acres of land, including burial sites, habitats, streams, wetlands, and indiscriminately carving his way towards the top of the Schaghticoke Mountain . These hate crimes MUST STOP.

Just an FYI--Rost was arrested in 2004 for the same destruction, criminal mischief, threatening, and a cease and desist was issued by the State of Connecticut to stop his destruction then.
Why not now?

Every signature and any amount of time at the protest will be greatly appreciated. Please mail, fax, or scan all petitions to me by January 22, 2008 and bring the rest to the protest. Your family, friends or supportive organizations are welcome.

Kathy Velky
Home--203-263-0439 Fax--203-263-3584
626 Washington Rd.
Woodbury , CT 06798

From: semideyke@msn.comTo: semideyke@msn.comSent: 12/27/2008 10:00:08 P.M. Eastern Standard TimeSubj: STN Preservation Committee Requests Your Assistance

Dear Tribal Members;

This letter is to inform you of our progress since our Annual Tribal Meeting this past October. As you may recall, we formed a Tribal Committee to look into destruction that was occurring on our reservation. Predominantly, this destruction was being done by an invited guest of Gale Harrison and June Hatstat, a non-Schaghticoke Tribal Member, Michael Rost, since November of 2007. The purpose of the Committee was to find out why our state officials have not listened to our request being made by Council Member Joe Velky and complaints by others to the Governor, Department of Environmental Protection, Attorney General, and the Department of Public Safety, State Police. After the preceding two months of the Committee working the concerns and falling on deaf ears, we have determined the damage to our land can only be considered as hate crimes. Not only by Michael Rost, but also the State of Connecticut. This desecration, destruction, threatening of Tribal members with a rifle, despoliation of our sacred lands and the disturbance of burial remains and documented archaeological sensitive sites must be STOPPED.

What is happening at our Reservation today can accurately be called a hate crime, an unmistakably violation of our sacred land. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will not issue a cease and desist order against this volatile intruder. In 2004, he committed the same crime and was prosecuted. The CT General Assembly State Statutes are clearly defined, but our state officials refuse to adhere to their fiduciary duties and laws. Instead, they allow non-Schaghticoke people to indiscriminately damage our Ancestral land by digging in documented sensitive sacred sites and by removing and damaging artifacts, your artifacts.

Despite constant opposition from now many Schaghticoke members, the State of Connecticut chooses to close their eyes to justice and allow these hate crimes to continue. This desecration does not end; our sister, daughter, mother, cousin, aunt, grandmother, friend and respected deceased Elder Paulette Crone-Morange’s sacred burial site has also been desecrated by Michael Rost.

Now, as Schaghticoke Tribal Members, it is your turn to support the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation Preservation Committee, and to protect our Ancestral land. We are requesting your presence, your friends and neighbors to help at a protest scheduled for January 29, 2009 starting at 10 am at the State Capitol building and Legislative Office Building located at 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT. (I’m sure you all remember January the 29th 2004 is when we received our recognition and for that purpose this date was selected.) What your Committee needs now, is for you to participate for a minimum of 2 hours during our protest times of 10-3 pm.

In order for this protest to be a success we are asking that you please contact Linda Gray at the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation Office at (203)-736-0782 or by email: http://us.mc343.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=lindag@schaghticoke.com or Katherine Saunders at http://us.mc343.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=semideyke@sbcglobal.net to confirm your support. Kindly supply a time and how many will be in attendance including you, your friends and family. We hope to have 250 in attendance to help send a message, loud and clear to the state of Connecticut, that this will not be tolerated.

Additionally, please find attached a petition addressed to Governor Rell. Your support in gathering signatures is needed. At the end of our protest we intend to hand deliver these petitions to her, so please get as many as you can to help make this understood, that we will not stand by and allow our land, our history, and our culture, be destroyed.

Thank you,
Schaghticoke Tribal Nation
Preservation Committee
Members

FINALPetition.doc (47KB)

Rock piles at the foot of a ridge - Wolbach Farm Sudbury, MA

I wandered off the trail and got to the location of the smaller blue outline when I found rock piles on the side of the slope. Here is the slope looking southwest, there are several piles visible in the picture:For example:andThese are pretty smeared out. Here are two others:There were four to six piles in all. There was a stone wall a few yards to the northeast with a rock pile touching the wall:Here is a view back down the valley with the site to the right in juxtaposition with suburbia.
A last look at a smeared out pile:

Owl Rock at Spring Lot - from FFC

FFC writes:
the water is high for this time of year. this break out zone is particularly fraught with ceremonial activity possibly because of the dramatic hydrology relativly close to the top of the hill. evidence of unusually numerous lightning strikes related to the high water table close to the top of the hill seem to have created a reverence for the nature of the location judging by the oral traditions and physical remenants of ceremonial activity in the area. ffc

Happy Holidays!

A lovely photo of a frozen cairn on Mt. Kinsman.