Each has a view of the front or side and one of the tumbled down section follows. There are similarities to the way the break down of the pile looks.
(First example)
(next example)
(last example)
Monday, June 14, 2010
More on the large oval piles from N. Stonington CT with similar damage
With reference to here. Ted Hendrickson comments on how these three examples of piles are all damaged in the same way. Is it from vandalism, from an internal hollow, just a coincidence? He writes:
Each has a view of the front or side and one of the tumbled down section follows. There are similarities to the way the break down of the pile looks.
(First example)
(next example)
(last example)
Each has a view of the front or side and one of the tumbled down section follows. There are similarities to the way the break down of the pile looks.
(First example)
(next example)(last example)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Billerica Town Forest
Some wedged rocks from west of Rt 3 and north of Rangeway Rd. Think this is natural?
Look closer:
What I particularly like about split-wedged rocks is how implausible it would be to try to put them into an agrarian practical narrative.
Here is another.
Say, do they have these in West Virginia?
Look closer:
What I particularly like about split-wedged rocks is how implausible it would be to try to put them into an agrarian practical narrative.Here is another.
Say, do they have these in West Virginia?
More on the oval mound from N. Stonington CT
Expanding on the pile described here, Ted writes:
Here are more some shots of the oval pile. The last one shows the broken end.
Here are more some shots of the oval pile. The last one shows the broken end.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Land Trust site in North Stonington, CT.
From Ted Hendrickson:
We went along with a Land Preservation group from North Stonington saturday, for the opening of a new trail through some of their property . I thought I would send some pictures of interesting features we saw and let the photos do most of the talking. Some distance in we came to a cool split boulder with wedged rocks, only one visible in this shot, but there were two nicely placed pink granite stones in the opening.
A large glacial erratic was positioned on a rise. Facing it was a small structure, some 20 yds. off but with a clear view of the stone. A seat? a niche without its top? Stones were clearly shaped and set up, they topped a small low rock pile, the larger flat stones may be part of it. Perplexing.
Definitely a serpent place!
Further along the trail, this perplexing little chamber's opening was 2 ft. by 1 ft high and it went back about 10 ft. A large tree had found it an inviting target. It was along a stream, a nearby ruined dam and mill dated from the 19th century. Sorry for the blurry shot.
A nice rock pile built on ledge! We were now on private property, the landowner, who was with us, did not know what to make of it.
A hot steamy walk, but worth it.
We went along with a Land Preservation group from North Stonington saturday, for the opening of a new trail through some of their property . I thought I would send some pictures of interesting features we saw and let the photos do most of the talking. Some distance in we came to a cool split boulder with wedged rocks, only one visible in this shot, but there were two nicely placed pink granite stones in the opening.
A large glacial erratic was positioned on a rise. Facing it was a small structure, some 20 yds. off but with a clear view of the stone. A seat? a niche without its top? Stones were clearly shaped and set up, they topped a small low rock pile, the larger flat stones may be part of it. Perplexing.
Definitely a serpent place!
Further along the trail, this perplexing little chamber's opening was 2 ft. by 1 ft high and it went back about 10 ft. A large tree had found it an inviting target. It was along a stream, a nearby ruined dam and mill dated from the 19th century. Sorry for the blurry shot.
A nice rock pile built on ledge! We were now on private property, the landowner, who was with us, did not know what to make of it.
A hot steamy walk, but worth it.
Light posting for the next week or so
Only one report plus a wedged rock or two to post and then next weekend, no explorations.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Larkin Hill - Boylston MA
There are still a few hills looking west over Wachusett Reservoir that I have not climbed, so I thought to explore Larkin Hill a bit. I already knew there were some rock piles there visible from the road (from the main road left of the hill). The interesting looking deep valley on the northeast side of the hill was, in fact, an old quarry. The whole hill is covered with broken rocks and, after a few minutes walking, I concluded that this was a badly ravished hill and not likely to have much of interest. Somewhat similar to Miller's Hill in Holliston, there were a few traces near the quarry. Just at the northern end of the hill's shoulder there was quite a lot of broken rock, there were also some subtle clusters that might be piles. It turned out they were upslope from a small spring. Then a similar little wet place south of the quarry also had a few rock piles. Heading north towards that quarry, came to an area with broken rocks and some clustering. Were these rock piles?
Some clusters were more distinct than others,
and I concluded this was a site made from quarry fragments: 
A faint sense of three-in-a-line at a couple of places, suggested it was a standard type of site: 
You can see this rock-on-rock higher up in the last photo and it is featured in this video below also.
Here is a more substantial pile that was certainly not just a coincidental clustering: 
A bit of video: 
Here is something from the second "site" south of the quarry: This shim of the upper rock, and the shape of that rock with a sharp point on it are both significant. I think exact positioning of that upper rock was important. Why would anyone care? In general, the answer has to be because of a visual property of the pile or its shadow. 
Mmm...now the mountain laurels are flowering:
One last pile: 
This was off a bit by itself. Its position with respect to the ledge is typical of many of the faint traces there on the west side of the hill. Looking back over my pictures, I see that there were actually several scattered rock piles along similar ledges, all along that western side. Probably worth exploring more lower down too, I did not.Update: Here is another picture of the shimmed pointer rock on a ledge. See how it's shadow might project on that flat surface?
A walk in Estabrook Woods - flowers and split-wedged rocks
Took a walk in Concord with my wife and saw flowers and split-wedged rocks.
According to my Dad, this is a member of the poppy family:
Note the four petals, and the pod-like growths in the lower left. And compare with this buttercup with 5 petals:
Funny how flowers of the same color seem to come out at around the same time, or am I imagining that? And roses:
Getting deeper into the woods, what have we here?
And here we follow the west edge of Yellow Birch Swamp, going north with the swamp to the right, something on the swamp side of the wall:
Ah, it is another split-wedged rock, a little bit more reversible (as in removing the wedge) than the previous example:
And here is another, made from a feldspar conglomerate:
Funny how the Indian ceremonial presence can still be seen here in Concord along these well trodden paths.
According to my Dad, this is a member of the poppy family:
Note the four petals, and the pod-like growths in the lower left. And compare with this buttercup with 5 petals:
Funny how flowers of the same color seem to come out at around the same time, or am I imagining that? And roses:
Getting deeper into the woods, what have we here?
And here we follow the west edge of Yellow Birch Swamp, going north with the swamp to the right, something on the swamp side of the wall:
Ah, it is another split-wedged rock, a little bit more reversible (as in removing the wedge) than the previous example:
And here is another, made from a feldspar conglomerate:
Funny how the Indian ceremonial presence can still be seen here in Concord along these well trodden paths.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ETHNOHISTORICAL APPRAISAL OF A PILED STONE FEATURE COMPLEX IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH GEORGIA
Excerpts from an article by Johannes (Jannie) Loubser (Stratum Unlimited, LLC) and Douglas Frink (Worcester State College). From Early Georgia, Vol 38 (1), 2010. Thanks to Norman Muller for finding this.
Here is a picture from Norman of one of the piles.
"A complex of piled stone mounds and walls, labeled site 9UN367, is located on a mountain slope 500 m southeast of the well-known Track Rock Gap petroglyph boulder complex (9UN3) in Union County of far northern Georgia (Figure 1). Both the stone feature complex and the petroglyph boulder complex are on land administered by the United States of America Department of Agriculture Forest Service. During an initial mapping of site 9UN367, Carey Waldrip and Jack Wynn (then of the Forest Service) identified a Lower and an Upper Concentration of stone features, although terraced walls link the two concentrations (Figure 2). Even though some of the stone walls and stone piles at 9UN367 resemble known historic period agricultural field clearing and terracing activities (see thorough overviews in Gresham [1990] and Ledbetter et al. [2006]), other stone features have no obvious analog in the historic record...."
The authors then go on to discuss all aspects of the history of the area, of the Cherokee, of the actual excavations. Accounts of the stone piles predate European occupation of the area.
"...For example, in 1834, a Doctor Stevenson observed “large and extensive heaps of loose rocks” (White 1854:658) near the petroglyph boulders. Some 37 years later, a Matthew Stephenson (1871:200) mentioned “extensive piles of rocks” near the same petroglyph complex. An 1832 land lottery survey map of Indian land in what was then Cherokee County, Section 1, District 17 (Torrence 1832) shows the Choestoe Indian trail running through the narrow gap, between the petroglyph boulders and the stone feature complex. Today the asphalted Track Rock Gap Road runs more-or-less along the same alignment as the ancient Indian trail..."
I think each dot on this map represent a sparate stone pile or short wall, but it is not clearly labeled. The similarity to some of our New England sites is clear.
"Traditions relate the stone feature near Yahula Creek to a Cherokee stock trader named Yahula, who conversed with the Immortal spirit beings from his isolated stone-walled enclosure. In both stories, the stone walls were places where these seers could view and even interact with spirit beings. The observation that these locales are located near creek heads conforms to the Cherokee conception of “the streams that come down from the mountains are the trails by which we reach this underworld [of the spirit beings], and the springs at their heads are the doorways by which we enter it” (Mooney 1900:240)."
"Even if the locale did not mark a battle site in one form or another, Cherokees nonetheless viewed stone pile concentrations of this nature with respect and trepidation. In a sense, ethnohistorically documented stone features are associated with the world of the dead below the ground."
The authors excavated in and around one of the stone walls and excavated a single rock pile. They were careful to keep track of how the rocks were removed and were able to replace them afterwards. They did dating:
"the wall was constructed during the latter part of the Etowah cultural phase (dating to between 1100 and 800 BP in the tentative chronology outlined by Cable and Gard 2000)."
Since some of the stone piles may be newer than others the picture above may not show a pile which is quite that old but still...
What struck me as the most interesting was the rock pile excavation. Here was what gets me going:
"Whereas the slabs along the edge of the pile mostly face up towards the center of the pile, those slabs closer to the center tend to face down. The downward facing slabs closer to the center of the pile create the impression of collapse or disturbance."
In other words they found what I call a "hollow". And what do you think they found inside?
"Excavation of Feature 1 and Stone Pile 1 was terminated as soon as prehistoric ceramics and lithics were recovered from the feature fill. The shape and dark coloring of the central Feature 1, together with a ceramic pipe bowl fragment recovered from within, strongly suggested that the feature represented a prehistoric Native American Indian grave. In compliance with NAGPRA and Georgia State laws concerning cemeteries, all work was terminated and the Forest Service was notified..."
During various excavations they found prehistoric stone flakes and ceramics as well as 1930 era ceramics. People from different time periods had interacted with the piles. The authors postulated picnickers.
Finally
"From the available evidence it appears that Stone Wall 13 probably dates to the Early Mississippian period and Stone Pile 1 probably dates to the Middle Woodland or Late Woodland/Early Mississippian periods. The proposed dates for these stone features are significantly younger than the so called “Hopewellian Period” (200 B.C. – A.D. 400)..."
The article includes many details, tables, and references. They mention other excavated stone mounds from Georgia and there being a mixture of modern and ancient, some containing human remains, others nothing. All in all it sounds just like up here in New England with the notable and exceptional difference: up here (with a few exceptions) the archaeologists do not have their eyes open.
Here is a picture from Norman of one of the piles.
"A complex of piled stone mounds and walls, labeled site 9UN367, is located on a mountain slope 500 m southeast of the well-known Track Rock Gap petroglyph boulder complex (9UN3) in Union County of far northern Georgia (Figure 1). Both the stone feature complex and the petroglyph boulder complex are on land administered by the United States of America Department of Agriculture Forest Service. During an initial mapping of site 9UN367, Carey Waldrip and Jack Wynn (then of the Forest Service) identified a Lower and an Upper Concentration of stone features, although terraced walls link the two concentrations (Figure 2). Even though some of the stone walls and stone piles at 9UN367 resemble known historic period agricultural field clearing and terracing activities (see thorough overviews in Gresham [1990] and Ledbetter et al. [2006]), other stone features have no obvious analog in the historic record...."The authors then go on to discuss all aspects of the history of the area, of the Cherokee, of the actual excavations. Accounts of the stone piles predate European occupation of the area.
"...For example, in 1834, a Doctor Stevenson observed “large and extensive heaps of loose rocks” (White 1854:658) near the petroglyph boulders. Some 37 years later, a Matthew Stephenson (1871:200) mentioned “extensive piles of rocks” near the same petroglyph complex. An 1832 land lottery survey map of Indian land in what was then Cherokee County, Section 1, District 17 (Torrence 1832) shows the Choestoe Indian trail running through the narrow gap, between the petroglyph boulders and the stone feature complex. Today the asphalted Track Rock Gap Road runs more-or-less along the same alignment as the ancient Indian trail..."
I think each dot on this map represent a sparate stone pile or short wall, but it is not clearly labeled. The similarity to some of our New England sites is clear."Traditions relate the stone feature near Yahula Creek to a Cherokee stock trader named Yahula, who conversed with the Immortal spirit beings from his isolated stone-walled enclosure. In both stories, the stone walls were places where these seers could view and even interact with spirit beings. The observation that these locales are located near creek heads conforms to the Cherokee conception of “the streams that come down from the mountains are the trails by which we reach this underworld [of the spirit beings], and the springs at their heads are the doorways by which we enter it” (Mooney 1900:240)."
"Even if the locale did not mark a battle site in one form or another, Cherokees nonetheless viewed stone pile concentrations of this nature with respect and trepidation. In a sense, ethnohistorically documented stone features are associated with the world of the dead below the ground."
The authors excavated in and around one of the stone walls and excavated a single rock pile. They were careful to keep track of how the rocks were removed and were able to replace them afterwards. They did dating:
"the wall was constructed during the latter part of the Etowah cultural phase (dating to between 1100 and 800 BP in the tentative chronology outlined by Cable and Gard 2000)."
Since some of the stone piles may be newer than others the picture above may not show a pile which is quite that old but still...
What struck me as the most interesting was the rock pile excavation. Here was what gets me going:
"Whereas the slabs along the edge of the pile mostly face up towards the center of the pile, those slabs closer to the center tend to face down. The downward facing slabs closer to the center of the pile create the impression of collapse or disturbance."
In other words they found what I call a "hollow". And what do you think they found inside?
"Excavation of Feature 1 and Stone Pile 1 was terminated as soon as prehistoric ceramics and lithics were recovered from the feature fill. The shape and dark coloring of the central Feature 1, together with a ceramic pipe bowl fragment recovered from within, strongly suggested that the feature represented a prehistoric Native American Indian grave. In compliance with NAGPRA and Georgia State laws concerning cemeteries, all work was terminated and the Forest Service was notified..."
During various excavations they found prehistoric stone flakes and ceramics as well as 1930 era ceramics. People from different time periods had interacted with the piles. The authors postulated picnickers.
Finally
"From the available evidence it appears that Stone Wall 13 probably dates to the Early Mississippian period and Stone Pile 1 probably dates to the Middle Woodland or Late Woodland/Early Mississippian periods. The proposed dates for these stone features are significantly younger than the so called “Hopewellian Period” (200 B.C. – A.D. 400)..."
The article includes many details, tables, and references. They mention other excavated stone mounds from Georgia and there being a mixture of modern and ancient, some containing human remains, others nothing. All in all it sounds just like up here in New England with the notable and exceptional difference: up here (with a few exceptions) the archaeologists do not have their eyes open.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Where did the Moosehorn site go?
One time Bruce McAleer suggested a drive down Rt202 in New Salem, MA and we saw great rock pile sites all along there (see this and posts prior to it). Passing the spot on my way back from Amherst I looked in vain for those sites. All hidden behind the leaves now, I could not even remember where they were. My son did spot this out the window:
But it was beside some signs of quarrying and not connected to the massive piles we saw in the past. Back at the car I got chastised by a state policeman for parking on the side of the road. Wonder if we'll see those Moosehorn sites again?
But it was beside some signs of quarrying and not connected to the massive piles we saw in the past. Back at the car I got chastised by a state policeman for parking on the side of the road. Wonder if we'll see those Moosehorn sites again?
Wall corner pile from field clearing, but a little peculiar
Went back to the same place as last weekend, just a mile or so northwest of Mt Wachusett and went downhill from BoltonRd into the State Park to the south. Saw some pretty massive piles at the bottom of what were once fields and with retaining walls - something which should be assumed to be field clearing piles. Here was a big one in a wall corner:
Given that mundane pedigree it is tempting to ignore that flat vertical rock in the center of the picture. It does not look as if it fell from the pile but as if it was deliberately placed. Huh? A manitou stone on a field clearing pile? Then darned if there wasn't a hollow in the center of the top of the pile:
Let me try listing every way to get a hollow like that in the top of the pile. If you can think of others, please add a comment. So, a hollow could be because:
What does that leave? A manitou stone in front of a pile with a collapsed inner hollow. So what kind of field clearing is this? What about burials that are inside field clearing piles?
Here are some other large "field clearing" piles built into the walls (at the bottom of what was once fields):
There were lots of them.
A bit further down hill a rock-on-rock which I am pretty sure was not from field clearing. [So hard to walk through the woods these days - with all the blowdown trees - that I left it at that.] There certainly were some Indians around here sometime in the past, probably even after there were fields here.
Given that mundane pedigree it is tempting to ignore that flat vertical rock in the center of the picture. It does not look as if it fell from the pile but as if it was deliberately placed. Huh? A manitou stone on a field clearing pile? Then darned if there wasn't a hollow in the center of the top of the pile:
Let me try listing every way to get a hollow like that in the top of the pile. If you can think of others, please add a comment. So, a hollow could be because:- the pile was built with this dip in it
- someone removed material, creating that dip
- the pile was built with a hollow place inside the pile which has now collapsed to form this shape.
What does that leave? A manitou stone in front of a pile with a collapsed inner hollow. So what kind of field clearing is this? What about burials that are inside field clearing piles?
Here are some other large "field clearing" piles built into the walls (at the bottom of what was once fields):
There were lots of them.A bit further down hill a rock-on-rock which I am pretty sure was not from field clearing. [So hard to walk through the woods these days - with all the blowdown trees - that I left it at that.] There certainly were some Indians around here sometime in the past, probably even after there were fields here.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
V-Shaped Piles - Revisiting the grid at Patch Hill Boxborough
There are about thirty little rock piles on about 1/4 acre of land enclosed by stone walls. They give the impression of being in lines and evenly spaced:
Some of them are nicely built up like "biscuits":
Many of them have a "V" or triangular shape, as seen from above (including the "biscuit" above). Look carefully at the how each of these has two straight sides coming together in a corner:
And this nice one with a piece of quartz at the tip of the "V":
One more: 
A very deliberate shape.
I wanted to know if there was some viewing location for the "grid". Actually there seemed to be two distinct clusters of piles: one visible from a low knoll, the others visible from a messy central area:
One more look, re-enforces the "grid" idea:
Some of them are nicely built up like "biscuits":
Many of them have a "V" or triangular shape, as seen from above (including the "biscuit" above). Look carefully at the how each of these has two straight sides coming together in a corner:
And this nice one with a piece of quartz at the tip of the "V":
One more: 
A very deliberate shape.I wanted to know if there was some viewing location for the "grid". Actually there seemed to be two distinct clusters of piles: one visible from a low knoll, the others visible from a messy central area:
One more look, re-enforces the "grid" idea:
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