Monday, January 31, 2011

YouTube videos

(scraping the internet bucket)
rock pile: click here.

stone head click here [reminds me of the ones we were seeing a couple of years ago showing up in various places in New England] click here.

NW CT

Entrance of a "Leatherman Cave" near Prospect Mtn. in Litchfield County CT. The Leatherman in later years did not regularly visit this cave, my sister explains, but in the early days a photo was taken of him here. The Leatherman used rockshelter sites about a days walk from each other as he walked from the Hudson River to the Connecticut River...

Friday, January 28, 2011

One Way Split Wedged Boulders Happen

Ted Hendrickson writes:
We were walking in the Groton, CT woods last month and came upon a interesting phenomenon. I saw a large erratic that had a split, so went to investigate for any wedged rocks. I was surprised to capture this natural process.
A small sapling had started growing in a crack on the right boulder, very near the split. The root system had recently gotten big enough to split away a chunk of rock into the opening, probably with the help of the recent freezing temperatures. The rock's natural faults are vertical, a you can see.From above you can see the root mat that forced the opening and allowed the water penetration and freeze expansion to take place.
This certainly does not explain many other examples that clearly look intentional, but it was interesting to see this very clear evidence of a natural mechanism at work.

Stone Rows in CT Record Snow

Morning sun and a record amount of snow on the ground...


Boulders along side of the row...

...it looks like this under the snow.



Mound works in Syria


Dave C writes: "Tim,
I ran across this complex of mound works in Syria while Google Earthing. Thought you might be interested."
Link: http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=f&ecpose=32.66661072,36.10349654,1872.19,6.251,0,0&ll=32.666611,36.103497&spn=0.0042,0.012757&z=17


I find it most interesting, looking down on another Ancient Sacred Landscape being covered over by the modern cultural landscape. I see no turtles, but as I widen the view, I see smudges that were also more mounds, more pieces of the picture brushed away, and wonder what was there where the houses are, much like I do in my own neighborhood...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Poll

"For a few weeks until July 24, 2010, the poll question on RockArtBlog was Do You Believe That Secrecy Protects Rock Art Sites, Or Is The Broadest Transparency And Education Possible More Effective? The answer choices are listed below along with their votes.


Open and effective education and site stewardship provide the best protection. 4 votes, 44.44%

Plant poison ivy and fertilize regularly. 3 votes, 33.33%
Controlled access limited to acknowledged researchers and scholars. 1 vote, 11.11%
Keep it totally secret - do not let anyone (including vandals) know where it is. 1 vote, 11.11%..."
Peter Faris, RockArtBlog

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

More snow....more no rock piles

I cannot figure out what drives readership up and down here. I think it is mostly what traffic Google sends my way and think it might be a function of how much new material gets posted here. But that cannot be it. For some reason I have lots of readers at the moment (based on the SiteMeter logs accessible at the bottom of the page) but not much has gotten posted.

Lost my old computer with lots of unpublished photos, so that is out. Also this is a good time for me to be snowed in, because the new job is getting a lot of mind share.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Tales of the Colorado pioneers

by theseventhgeneration
Tales of the Colorado pioneers, By Alice Polk Hill (1884). The author writes, in the Preface, "I solemnly avow that the tales herein related are - 'told as they were told to me!' If I have succeeded in reviving some pleasant recollection for the 'old timer,' beguiling the weary traveler or interesting the general reader, my aspirations have, in a measure, been reached. If I have betrayed confidence or told anything that I ought not to have told - I will graciously accept all apologies ."

Starting half way down page 276:
"The greatest evidence of the former Indian occupants was in the lower part of the country, through which the deer in great numbers pass every spring and fall. There was a V-shaped fence of stone, each arm of the V being a stone fence fully fifteen miles long; the V opening towards the mountains from which the deer came, and the point of the V, instead of being closed, was open for the deer to pass, and in cunningly dug holes would be seated the Indians to kill them. The fence, which had been built entirely by the squaws, was to turn the deer all to this one point, and though it was merely a succession of stone piles, anything that has the appearance of having been made by man is as effectual a barrier to deer as the tallest fence.

Another cunning device of the Indians is seen wherever there are rocks; when they see a rock about the size of a man's body, they place another about the size of a man's head on top. It is done to accustom the deer to such objects, so that an Indian sitting behind a stone with his head in full view, is not likely to frighten them."

The story immediately following (about a "bear") is funny, but not quite as riveting as the Poplar Science article about humans with tails!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

More web surfing: Georgia Outdoor News members discuss rock piles

A long comment thread with some photos, this is worth a read.

searching the web so you don't have to

This is interesting...weird mounds near Mt Shasta [click here] from author Brad Olsen.

Susan Creek Indian Mounds

Did you ever hear of these? They are in Oregon. I was reading this and then searched on "Susan Creek Indian Mounds" and found a photo here and here.

Cochegan Rock video

"Rock man?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Y9NhS4Y0E

Monday, January 17, 2011

Popular Science

by theseventhgeneration
One hundred twenty years ago they were just as interested in glacial erratics as we are today.

The first is Popular Science Monthly, Volume 37. The article, entitled "Evidences of Glacial Action in Southeastern Connecticut" By Hon David A. Wells, starts on page 196.

The second article is Popular Science, January, 1892. The article, "Remarkable Bowlders" by David A. Wells is on page 340.

Both articles contain excellent photos.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Snow no rock piles

You know the drill. With the heavy snowfall it will be several weeks before rocks start to poke through. Until then, we'll have to read archives.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Fifth birthday of this blog

I never realized, when I started this, that there would be such a continuous stream of information about rock piles. Here's to the new year and hoping its as revealing as the last.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Geopsych - Nature Photos from Geophile

Not rock pile related but some beautiful photos here.