Via reader Joe:
This event at Greenfield College on October 29.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Mound Builder version of Coffee
From "Pre-Columbian Cahokia Mound Builders Consumed "Black Drink", Say Researchers" in Popular Archaeology [click here]
Monday, August 06, 2012
Summer Doldrums...
will continue. Until about the second weekend of September, when I resume exploring. I'll pass along anything of interest that comes up in the meantime.
Geofact or Geofiction?
+054.jpg)
+054+as+turtle+head.JPG)
Same photo in Turtle Vision (there is no cure).
I just happen to look for these "beaks" in boulders:
And even outcrops Larry Harrop photographs like this:
Of course they are all geofacts, stranger than geofictions, as I have heard said...
Sunday, August 05, 2012
Moosup,CT-Porter Pond Rd.-(Cairns)
More from Steve:
This is the second area where we located numerous cairns of considerable expertise in the way in which they were made or constructed. Again, no field clearing here, I suspect???
This is the second area where we located numerous cairns of considerable expertise in the way in which they were made or constructed. Again, no field clearing here, I suspect???
In pics 042-046, we see this cairn at the bottom of this small ravine pointing upward towards the main body of cairns and other stones on the hill above.
In pics 047-053, we see a large cairn about 10 feet long and 6 feet wide, using an oval stone as a base with smaller stones on top and many other smaller stones pointing downward.
A very interesting cairn. However between these 2 cairns is the main work of art in cairns, which will be shown [next]
In pics 047-053, we see a large cairn about 10 feet long and 6 feet wide, using an oval stone as a base with smaller stones on top and many other smaller stones pointing downward.
A very interesting cairn. However between these 2 cairns is the main work of art in cairns, which will be shown [next]This stone is resting upon another stone and is facing 303* True 
and next to it is another flat stone that appears to be resting on another stone, too. 
In pics 054, 055, 064, 065, 071 and 072, we can see both stones from differing angles and how they are within this zone of importance.
and next to it is another flat stone that appears to be resting on another stone, too. 
In pics 054, 055, 064, 065, 071 and 072, we can see both stones from differing angles and how they are within this zone of importance.Pics 056, 057, 058, 060, 063, 067, 068, 069 and 070 are of this beautifully formed or constructed cairn that just seems to grab one's imagination as to having a definite purpose!! 
What is it??? Again, this is part of the second area within which we located cairns and stones in close proximity to one another.
[Steve also writes]
Here is the last one for you!! [3 cairns]
which are very close to one another, probably within 50 feet of one another, you have 3 very defined and constructed cairns of medium size. I hope from these pics you may see something that strikes your eye as to who may have constructed them and for what reason!!! 
This is still part of that second area of discovery for us.
What is it??? Again, this is part of the second area within which we located cairns and stones in close proximity to one another.[Steve also writes]
Here is the last one for you!! [3 cairns]
which are very close to one another, probably within 50 feet of one another, you have 3 very defined and constructed cairns of medium size. I hope from these pics you may see something that strikes your eye as to who may have constructed them and for what reason!!! 
This is still part of that second area of discovery for us. Saturday, August 04, 2012
Fire Pit and another Interestingly Shaped Cairn - Moosup CT
More from Steve (lucky for me I have some content to put online):
In pics 029-033, we see this apparent fire pit. 
Now, it appears to have been altered or modified by humans recently, but the basic structure seems to have been already there for quite a long time.
Now, it appears to have been altered or modified by humans recently, but the basic structure seems to have been already there for quite a long time.Right next to this fire pit was this other unusual cairn that had a triangular stone that seemed just out of place, but it faced true North (0*). Coincidence??? 
So, in pics 034-041, you are shown all sides of this cairn so that you can inspect just what it might have been used for.
So, in pics 034-041, you are shown all sides of this cairn so that you can inspect just what it might have been used for.
Friday, August 03, 2012
All we found today were cairns....Moosup,CT-Porter Pond Rd - Large cairn with circular depression
More from reader Steve:
My brother and I had another good [walk] in CT. We were on Porter Pond Road in Moosup, CT. on the pond side. We covered about 1/2 of that area on the pond side. We went in on the Porter Pond Rd. side and ended up coming out on Great Swamp Rd. We found very few stone walls of any size and even the ones we found we small ones less than 200 feet long and usually much smaller. However, we only located a few of them at the onset right off the road.
All we found today were cairns; one large one which you can see in pic 001 as being 24 X 22 X 5( in some places), but the average height was about 3 feet, I guess. 
Not sure what the circular depression in this large stone pile means nor what that indentation that faces True North is all about either. 
However, this began an area loaded with beautifully formed cairns There had to be a minimum of 8-10 in the immediate area of this large cairn and a maximum of 15-20 that were a little spread out mainly to the East and South of this large one.
Not sure what the circular depression in this large stone pile means nor what that indentation that faces True North is all about either. 
However, this began an area loaded with beautifully formed cairns There had to be a minimum of 8-10 in the immediate area of this large cairn and a maximum of 15-20 that were a little spread out mainly to the East and South of this large one.This first email is of this large cairn only with 5 more emails of the other cairns to follow. Please forgive me for the number of pics which I will send to you. I only send this many because it is important for you to see all sides of any item that we may send to you so that you can get the absolute picture of what is being shown to you, thereby allowing both you and Mary to make the best possible judgment of what it is you are viewing here!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Last finds in July
Indian artifacts can be found in many contexts. On rare occasions I have found isolated stone tools in places that appear to be otherwise void of any other artifact of any type. I imagine that these might possibly be objects lost during a hunt, though that is only speculation. Far more often, arrowheads and other tools are found at sites where Indians actually lived, right where their dwellings were erected at one time. In these places they cooked and ate and slept, they worked and played games, raised their children, and they also made and maintained stone tools. This created a lot of debitage in the form of chips and flakes of toolmaking stone. Today, these chips and flakes are, in most places, the most obvious signs of prehistoric occupation. When I am in a new spot I look not for tools but for these broken flakes. When I find chips and flakes, I know there are likely to be tools there as well, and that is when I start looking most thoroughly and carefully.
To identify debitage it is helpful to know how stones are broken by nature and how that is different from rocks broken by a person. I am going to make some general comments, please note that there are exceptions to every rule and different settings and circumstances can produce different results. I am not a geologist and base this on my study of archaeological site reports and also my experience looking at thousands of rocks in places where I find artifacts and also in places where I don't find anything. Some types of rock are soft and frangible and these could perhaps be broken by frost or other natural processes but the types of stone used by Indians for tools were generally hard and not likely to be easily broken. Quartz is a type of stone that is very hard and was generally widely used by prehistoric people in what is now Massachusetts. In some places it was used more than in others, and some cultures had a strong preference for other materials, but quartz tools are found at nearly all sites in southern New England where Indian artifacts have been recovered, and some archaeological reports go as far as calling quartz debitage "ubiquitous" at these sites. Quartz breaks unpredictably and I believe that attempting to make quartz tools produces a lot of debitage for every finished point so there is a lot of it around. In dirt and gravel, and in and around waterways, quartz is usually found in the form of round pebbles and cobbles. These pebbles can be broken by glacial action and sometimes by moving around in water. When this happens, usually the pebble is broken, it tumbles around and the broken piece becomes more or less worn, and then it is broken again, and so on, producing a rock with breaks showing varying degrees of wear. If you find quartz pieces on the ground that have multiple broken faces all of which show no appreciable wear, especially when no part of the original smooth outer surface of the pebble remains, you are probably looking at something broken by a person. Quartz often does not break conchoidally and it generally does not show flaking so looking for a bulb of percussion or concave flaking is not really helpful when evaluating broken pieces of this material. In my experience if you find an area with multiple small broken quartz pieces that include flat sharp flakes and jagged broken chunks, and you can rule out crushed stone/gravel laid down in recent times and rocks broken by vehicles, you have found a prehistoric site.
When I find a site I will pick up the debitage and take it home. I do this to keep the entire artifact assemblage intact for possible future archaeologists who may want to study these sites. I also like to study the flaking and materials. Sometimes I go through my piles of debitage sorted by site and I find broken tools I did not recognize at first. Also, I don't want other arrowhead hunters to come by and see this stuff and find my spots. Last night I spent a little while in a sandy place, here are the flakes I brought home.
In the top row there is an argillite flake and two gray rhyolite or felsite flakes. The one in the middle shows a few clear flaking scars on the side visible in the photo, the other side is smooth. It is a percussion flake resulting from thinning a form during tool manufacture. The quartz pieces in the bottom two rows are typical flakes and pieces, some are thin, others more chunky. Some archaeologists speculate that stone flakes were the most common everyday tools used for some tasks in some cultures. If you want to find arrowheads you need to start by finding stuff like this.
Last week on Wednesday I searched a spot where I have had some luck this summer. I found a lot of chips and flakes before I ever found a tool in this place. I was pleased to spot this sticking out of the dirt:
I expected this to be a rougly equilateral triangle and hoped the tip would not be broken. I was surprised when I picked it up to find it to be longer than average, and fairly narrow. The tip is perfect, very sharp. I am very happy with this find. Sorry for the poor photo.
Here it is with some other tools and tool fragments I have found lately in two different places. In the top row are three pieces from last night: the corner of a quartz triangle, a rhyolite stem or base fragment, and a badly broken quartz base fragment. In the bottom row are a quartz stemmed point missing the tip, the nice point from the photos above, a mystery tool, and the base of a triangular point. The mystery tool is thick and is like a knife but it has really really heavy wear all along the curved bottom edge. It is almost polished, smooth. In my opinion it is not like basal grinding but more like heavy use wear. I wonder if this was a woodworking tool, maybe a chisel or adze bit, with the point originally being set into a wood handle? I don't have anything else just like this.
To identify debitage it is helpful to know how stones are broken by nature and how that is different from rocks broken by a person. I am going to make some general comments, please note that there are exceptions to every rule and different settings and circumstances can produce different results. I am not a geologist and base this on my study of archaeological site reports and also my experience looking at thousands of rocks in places where I find artifacts and also in places where I don't find anything. Some types of rock are soft and frangible and these could perhaps be broken by frost or other natural processes but the types of stone used by Indians for tools were generally hard and not likely to be easily broken. Quartz is a type of stone that is very hard and was generally widely used by prehistoric people in what is now Massachusetts. In some places it was used more than in others, and some cultures had a strong preference for other materials, but quartz tools are found at nearly all sites in southern New England where Indian artifacts have been recovered, and some archaeological reports go as far as calling quartz debitage "ubiquitous" at these sites. Quartz breaks unpredictably and I believe that attempting to make quartz tools produces a lot of debitage for every finished point so there is a lot of it around. In dirt and gravel, and in and around waterways, quartz is usually found in the form of round pebbles and cobbles. These pebbles can be broken by glacial action and sometimes by moving around in water. When this happens, usually the pebble is broken, it tumbles around and the broken piece becomes more or less worn, and then it is broken again, and so on, producing a rock with breaks showing varying degrees of wear. If you find quartz pieces on the ground that have multiple broken faces all of which show no appreciable wear, especially when no part of the original smooth outer surface of the pebble remains, you are probably looking at something broken by a person. Quartz often does not break conchoidally and it generally does not show flaking so looking for a bulb of percussion or concave flaking is not really helpful when evaluating broken pieces of this material. In my experience if you find an area with multiple small broken quartz pieces that include flat sharp flakes and jagged broken chunks, and you can rule out crushed stone/gravel laid down in recent times and rocks broken by vehicles, you have found a prehistoric site.
When I find a site I will pick up the debitage and take it home. I do this to keep the entire artifact assemblage intact for possible future archaeologists who may want to study these sites. I also like to study the flaking and materials. Sometimes I go through my piles of debitage sorted by site and I find broken tools I did not recognize at first. Also, I don't want other arrowhead hunters to come by and see this stuff and find my spots. Last night I spent a little while in a sandy place, here are the flakes I brought home.
Last week on Wednesday I searched a spot where I have had some luck this summer. I found a lot of chips and flakes before I ever found a tool in this place. I was pleased to spot this sticking out of the dirt:
Small Stone Wall and Numerous Cairns - Moosup CT
From reader Steve:
Pics 013-015 are of the first cairn that looked like a work of art. 
Pics 020-024 are of another cairn very close by that also seemed deliberately made for a reason. On pic 027, you can see 3 cairns forming a triangle 
and in pics 026 and 028, you can see the other 2 cairns that make up this triangle with the cairns shown in pics 020-024.
Pics 020-024 are of another cairn very close by that also seemed deliberately made for a reason. On pic 027, you can see 3 cairns forming a triangle 
and in pics 026 and 028, you can see the other 2 cairns that make up this triangle with the cairns shown in pics 020-024.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Medicine Wheel - seen on Netflix
Seemed to be in use, not just a set:
Show seems to be filmed in Alberta CA.
Show seems to be filmed in Alberta CA.Pandorus Sphinxmoth - the grape hawkmoth
Oh my god!
Seen in Falmouth, MA. About 2 inches long. Never saw one before. What a thrill.
In motion:
Seen in Falmouth, MA. About 2 inches long. Never saw one before. What a thrill.In motion:
Rock pile site clearing continues in Acton
From Linda McElroy [referring to Nashoba Brook Conservation Land, in Acton MA - yellow trail]:
The date for this workday has been set for August 18 from 10:00 AM to 2 PM, or whenever we finish. (Shouldn't be more than 4 hours.) And we will take time out for lunch. (I am thinking picnic at the site around 12:30.) If the weather is non-cooperating, we will try again on Sunday.
Objectives are to finish clearing out brush, cut a few more saplings, undertake more detailed cleaning of duff around individual piles, and possibly cut a short trail that has been approved and flagged to the enigmatic foundation on the slight rise above the site. (Boy Scouts may do or have done.)
Sunset Cairn Photo
There's more cairns in there, some modern, some perhaps older, perhaps added to...
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Rhode Island Footprints
Reader Jeff R. writes:
Jeff from Rhode Island here, I just wanted to alert you and your readership at RockPiles about an incredible blog called rifootprints relating to prehistoric and colonial indian history and culture in Rhode Island , nearby CT and MA. A treasure trove, I would say.....
[PWAX: adding a permanent link to the right]
Jeff from Rhode Island here, I just wanted to alert you and your readership at RockPiles about an incredible blog called rifootprints relating to prehistoric and colonial indian history and culture in Rhode Island , nearby CT and MA. A treasure trove, I would say.....
[PWAX: adding a permanent link to the right]
Inscribed pebble and possible birdstone from CT
Reader Mellisa H. writes:
I live in Connecticut and just recently, while hiking with my children along the rivers, have been finding some interesting rocks. One of these rocks I am almost certain, is a bird stone. I am sending you two pictures, one of the six inch bird stone, and another of a three inch rock with markings. ... I was hoping for your opinion as to whether or not my artifacts may be of native American origin.
[PWAX: I am especially impressed with the inscribed pebble. Those are pretty rare in New England. Maybe a dozen exist? Not sure about the bird stone - other photos will be posted later...Here they are.]
I live in Connecticut and just recently, while hiking with my children along the rivers, have been finding some interesting rocks. One of these rocks I am almost certain, is a bird stone. I am sending you two pictures, one of the six inch bird stone, and another of a three inch rock with markings. ... I was hoping for your opinion as to whether or not my artifacts may be of native American origin.
[PWAX: I am especially impressed with the inscribed pebble. Those are pretty rare in New England. Maybe a dozen exist? Not sure about the bird stone - other photos will be posted later...Here they are.]
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Canada's Stonehenge
From dc:
Fascinating story on "Canada's Stonehenge" here, and the video is especially good. dc
Friday, July 27, 2012
Are there rock piles with hollows on Cape Cod?
The composition of sites is different down here in Falmouth, MA. Certainly there is nothing like the large rectangular "Wachusett Tradition" mounds but I speculate that a small rectangular pile with a hollow was an early form of the tradition. This is as close as I get to seeing something like that on Cape Cod (this is BB woods):
There is a slight rectangular form and a sense of a denser concentration of component rocks to one side.
There is a slight rectangular form and a sense of a denser concentration of component rocks to one side.
Voluntown CT Perched Boulders
From reader Steve:
These 2 large perched stones were just 100 feet from one another on this ridge line and when lined up were in a N/S True alignment.
These 2 large perched stones were just 100 feet from one another on this ridge line and when lined up were in a N/S True alignment.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Seen in Beebe Woods
Typical of what you see in these woods, near Upland Rd. 
Also disheveled rock piles and faint hints of alignments.
Also disheveled rock piles and faint hints of alignments.
Monday, July 23, 2012
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