Platform Mound at Miller Hill - Holliston, MA

On first approach from below, the platform looms to the left:
I made a video:

Saw some views of the platform:I like this thing:And of course this picture:Downhill to the northeast was another outcrop with a very damaged pile along it:
And the view from the mound towards the west:At least one of these was natural outcrop, the others were completely man made.Look at that wedge shape, that "ski jump" profile:It is like an early form of marker piles visible from a central platform. Is this not the very basic model of most of the sites around here? A viewing position (in this case a central platform) with slight geometrically placed 'marker' piles oriented in some way perpendicular to the line of sight from the platform? Frankly I cannot see how this would be for anything other than the shadows these piles would cast under various seasonally adjusted lightings, because the well defined faces of the piles are not even visible from the platform. Of course a simpler explanation would be that the whole theory is barren. Also it is possible these piles have been damaged beyond the point where there appearance is meaningful. Still, there is some sort of arrangement here.

At the top of the traprock (basalt) quarry - Miller Hill

A small 'U' ?

Center part 2

center part 2

Miller Hill - Holliston, MA (Preamble and Overview)

A couple of weeks ago I reported on a mega rock pile on a golf course in Holliston, which reminded me of something I read. James Gage pointed me to the article by James Mavor in the NEARA "Across Before Columbus?" entitled: Earth Stones and Sky: Universality and Continuity in American Cosmology. Re-reading, I found this reference to a nearby hilltop:

"...About a mile away there is a traprock quarry on a hilltop which fills with water in the spring. It overflows through a massive earthwork funnel to pour down the hillside and collect in a dammed up pond. It then seeps underground to emerge around the great mound on the golf course. All about the quarry there are stone platforms, mounds, and stone rows that seemed related to the quarry...." (from p64)

When I posted earlier, I commented that there were about 5 hilltops about a mile from this mega pile (the red dot on the map above shows the mega pile, the blue outline is a rock pile site). Then Bruce McAleer emailed me that I should consider Miller Hill (one of the 5) because he had seen rock piles up there. So I looked more carefully at the topo map. Mavor actually provides more than one clue and, significantly, implies that the mega pile and the quarry are in the same watershed. On the topo map you can see that three of the five nearby hilltops are actually separated from the golf course by a brook. So there were only two possibilities and Mill hill was the better of the two.

So, with Bruce's endorsement, I went to have a look last weekend. Not seeing much at first, I came across the quarry and then, poking around, came to a wonderful collection of large stone mounds, to either side of a very large platform mound which I showed yesterday (here) as an appetizer. But before finding the rock piles, I was starting to worry that Mavor was exaggerating. The whole area is massively damaged with earth moving and signs of more recent activity. I saw a number of piles of rock that seemed like discards rather than deliberate structure. Then later in the walk (after seeing the mounds) I found an old 'cellar hole' of a house foundation. In general, I saw every expected sign that this area was harshly, even industrially, used in an earlier time period. And yet, in the valley before seeing the mounds, I did see one obviously ceremonial rock pile right next to an old road, with lots of little rocks spilling off the sides of a boulder - what I think of as a donation pile.Later I found a second similar pile with small rocks spilling off the edge of a boulder. So I started thinking about this juxtaposition of recent harsh land use with a possible donation pile that maybe acknowledged something ceremonial in the vicinity. And I am trying to figure this out. Later after seeing the platform and nearby mounds, I was wondering why Mavor did not make more of a big deal about them and decided: maybe this ambiguity between the modern and the ancient put him off from a simple endorsement of the site.

Then, as I read a bit more in the Mavor article, I see that it was just this same topic that was puzzling him - at least with respect to the large pile at the golf course:

"...We came across some reasonable answers to the enigma posed by the mound rather quickly, to our surprise, that is, in a couple of years. We believe we now know how the mound was built, when it was built, and the names of some of the people involved. But most important of all, as it turned out, the investigation opened the door to 'invisible Indians', descendants of Native Americans, living among the general population, who prefer not to be recognized, but who carry on many of the old traditions...."

So being puzzled by this is natural. There are however, two things I want to postulate, that Mavor might have been more cautious about: first that large platform mound on Miller Hill looks old, and reminiscent of 'Mound Builder' structures. It is like mounds from the Oley Hills site (see here) and others with similar large well-surfaced mounds. Old, as I believe they are, these mounds on Miller Hill would have sat there throughout the time frame of the harsh land use of recent centuries. I would also postulate that the donation piles were in reference to the mounds. In other words - there were lots of people in and about there, and they have been and continue to be well aware of those mounds. They have always been regarded as ceremonial and worth revering. Another view of the platform:After this, I exchanged emails with Bruce, who pointed me to photos he had taken at Miller Hill. He found things I missed. Then re-reading the Mavor article, I noticed the phrase: "All about the quarry there are stone platforms, mounds, ..." and I start thinking I should have explored much more carefully around the quarry. In any case, it seems I missed quite a lot and that more exploration of the hill would be worthwhile. Of course there are still those other 5 summits nearby and it is easy to believe there is more material to be seen on those hilltops as well.

I'll post more details of the mounds later.

A visit to Dr. John Champlin Glacial Park, Westerly, RI

Reader Ted writes:

A visit to Dr. John Champlin Glacial Park, Westerly, RI

Sunday was a nice day to get out so we set off to a new (to us) spot. The Glacial Park had intrigued me for a year or two but somehow I had never gotten around to explore it. We had no expectations, going on intuition and the notion that at the very least there might be some nice glacial erratics to photograph. Lovely paths wind through a hilly landscape with kettle ponds and stone walls made from the round rocks that abound. Looked like field boundary walls to me. At the top of a hill was an opening into a boulder field that contained a split boulder with rocks tucked into the split.Wandering a little further along another trail flanking the southwestern side of a small hill. A small rock pile came into view, but being near a wall, maybe it was a building pile?
We decided to keep our eyes open for others. But further we only saw one more pile, looked kind of disturbed. Not sure what we were seeing. Returned on the same trail and approached the area where the first pile was, but now looking from the other direction, spotted a covered boulder!
Then another and another! Cool.

Lots of leaf litter, but we did not want to disturb anything. These were at the border of the park, just at the edge of a new development, an empty "active adult" community of super-sized houses and condos. Had to wonder if there were even more of these that were destroyed. We found 10 of these in various states in this small area. Great surprise!

Miller Hill Holliston, MA (preview)

I have a platform mound to show, more about it later.

At the Center of the Universe

A small detail from a big-picture - photo #07599 - may actually be the center of the universe.

Stone Platform Mounds - Brooklyn CT

Norman Muller writes:

I am attaching a half dozen images of three large platform mounds on private property in Brooklyn, CT, that I photographed on a hot April day in 2005. One (004 and 007) is beside a small stream. A hundred yards or so away is a huge platform mound (013), which measures more than forty feet along one side and is seven feet high (note the metric stick leaning against the well preserved side). Other shots of this mound (011, 012, 015) show that it has deteriorated significantly on the other sides. Perhaps stones were taken from it to construct nearby colonial walls. A third platform mound (022) is on the same stream as the first one (004), but it is pretty much gone except for the general outline.

View of Spencer Brook...

...over a stone wall with a dead Juniper bush:

Magnificent Platform Pile from Larry Harrop

Just browsing, I had forgotten this one he posted.

Intro to Hopkinton State Forest (last post)

Rock pile video:

(Sorry about some of that voice over.)

Goodbye to Hopkinton State Forest

Rock Piles in Hopkinton State Forest

Reader Nick H emailed a couple of years ago about a rock pile site in Hopkinton State Forest

"Spent most of the day at Hopkinton. There are 70 large piles running from the top of the hill to the bottom, with crude stone lines on either side. Many of the rock piles have niches built in. Have photos and GPS points of all.
Note that there was a "Praying Indian" village only 3 miles away in the late 1600s. "

So last weekend we drove down to Hopkinton to have a look. I hope it is OK to mention that the hill is the one north of the reservoir, mostly inside of the loop road. The site is in plain view from the road and people are aware of it. It consists of numerous shallow ridges of bedrock running across and down the hill and forming sort of scalloped topography; with rock pile placed along and down these the outcrops. The piles mostly had well defined vertical faces but they were not so much laid out in rows as they were evenly spaced down along the outcrops. Have a look:
A closer look:Other "flat faced" examples:andThese piles look pretty undisturbed to me. I guess they have always been out in the open and not subject to falling trees.

Here are views from either end of a group of structures that are almost in a line. But I don't know if what might be more important is the angle they face on the hillside.
The site is on the southern and southwestern side of the hill with a bit spilling onto the top. The seventy piles seem clustered into groups of from five to ten. The site looks out over the Hopkinton Reservoir to the south. Whatever is going on at these sites, is hovering at the edge of consciousness. Again, notice that the uphill side of this pile runs smoothly into the slope. The largest rock in the pile, placed where it is, results in exactly that effect: both a vertical face and a continuation of the uphill slope. I think this should be related to its function. This site will make a nice study example someday.

On the other side of the street, downhill:

Latest news about the Oxford Mound

Norman Muller writes:

There should be a test to determine if archaeologists can see and think clearly. If they fail, they should look for other work.

http://www.whnt.com/news/sns-ap-al--indianmounddispute,0,7500104.story

A visit to Queen's Fort in Exeter, RI

Reader Ted writes:

Visit to the Queen's Fort, Exeter, RI

I am very new to this subject, so please forgive any gaffs or naive mistakes. I have been researching the usual sources. I stumbled (sorry) on the rock pile blog recently and have enjoyed reading the posts. My wife and I have been looking around as time permits, and visited the Queen's Fort in Exeter, RI this past weekend.

Our GPS got us there alright, following coordinates from Fredrick Meli's article posted on the NEARA website. I have to admit we passed it the first time, distracted by the mega-mansion across the street, but we backtracked and found a pull off. Walking up the hill and orienting ourselves, we found the spiral enclosure. We could not help but notice the difference between the appearance of the structure compared to the photo in Mavor and Dix.[here is a scan from p98 of Manitou - PWAX]
The terminus of the foreground wall seems to be missing. We also noticed the recent construction of a fire pit/grill made from stones similar in size and shape to the ones used to construct the spiral structure.Hmmm... Perhaps this is old news, but the recent scattered beer cans and relatively fresh ash and smoke coating inside made us think that might be a recent repurposing of the stones originally in the spiral. Might I ask for some advice from this experienced group? Should the Rhode Island Historical Society, owners of the property, be contacted? Or is the risk tat they might close access too great if that is done? I honesty don't know.

Overall, I had to agree with the idea put forth in the Meli article that this is unlikely to be a defensive fort as the boulder field on the top of the hill makes an impossible area for settlement or occupation. As we explored the walls and nooks we saw something along the east side that looked like a Manitou stone sticking up from a wall. Anyone have an opinion about this:
It was very thin, about 24-26 inches above the rest of the wall. I am beginning to realize we should carry a tape measure and be more careful about taking notes of our visits.

I took some black and white large format panoramic negatives of some of the same views and will be printing them soon.

North Salem NY Historical Society presentation on Corbelled Stone Chambers

Stolen shamelessly from the Polly Midgely's NEARA bulletin board message:

THE NORTH SALEM HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE TOWN HISTORIAN
Invite you to THE CORBELLED STONE CHAMBERS OF KENT, PUTNAM COUNTY, NEW YORK THOMAS MAXSON, CHAIRMAN OF HIGHLANDS PRESERVATION INC.

Learn about the efforts to survey, map, register and protect some 53 corbelled stone chambers in Kent -- and how we might do the same with over 15 priceless chambers (including the one in the photo) right here in North Salem Consider the enigmatic questions of who built these extraordinary structures -- and how, when and why.

The Ruth Keeler Memorial LibraryJanuary 31, 20103 p.m.(Snow date: February 7. If the weather is iffy, please visit the library website www.keelerlibrary. org for information)

The Most Photo

My entry for the "most rockpiles in a photo contest."  Click here for further details:  The Most Photo

Appetizer - Hopkinton State Forest

Interesting how the upper surfaces of these piles match the angle of the uphill slope.

Montville, CT Rock Piles

Photographs by Ted Hendrickson, including some of Montville rock piles (see "My Albums"):
http://web.me.com/tedhendrickson

Deer Hunters have their "10 Point Bucks"; Rock Pile Hunters have their....

...little competition to see who can get the most rock piles into a single picture. I think I had a 13 pile picture back when [that would be in the series on "Gilmore Rd"] and recall Larry Harrop pointing out it was not fair because my panorama shot, combining several single photos, was being compared to his single photos. I have always thought Larry takes the best rock pile pictures so, where is that panorama of his? Meanwhile, I counted 11 piles in the view I was photoing here, although they may be hard to make out in the final panorama:
Rules of the competition:

• Separate categories for panorama or single shot photos
• Annual entries - enter as often as you like.
• Photographer can move up to 5 feet while taking the photos.

Consider the above my panorama entry for 2010.

Large Stone Mound - Mill Street Holliston MA

Saw this on a drive:
Tried to zoom the camera a bit (clicking on the photo):It goes without saying that this is in pretty good repair and looks recent. It reminded me of something I read in Mavor and Dix about a modern rock pile built at a spring on a golf-course. Was that Holliston or Hopkinton? I couldn't find it in Manitou when I got home.

The stone mound is roughly here:Update: I just noticed this is a Golf Course. Must be the one mentioned in Mavor and Dix. Cool huh?

Destruction of the Oxford Indian Stone Mound

From the Alabama Archaeological Society. [Click here]

Also see here for an article by Harry Holstein who was the archeologist that surveyed the Oxford Stone Mound recently.

"Mystery of the Stone Mounds"

I never saw this before. Wonder if the author ever did a search with the word "Stone" replaced with "Rock" and the word "Mound" replaced with "Pile"?

He mentions a "Great Stone Serpent" near the Big Sandy found by someone named Brisbin. Anyone have any information about that? Here is a little.

Stone Mounds of Hampshire County, W. Va.

[Click here]

"Boston Hikes"

A blog about hiking around the Boston area, with some photos of the conservation lands I haven't been to.

Rock pile pic from Flikr

Looking for a place to walk, Mt Wilson is a rocky place you pass on the highway. Found this while poking around.

Illegal Bulldozing and the Oxford Mound(s)

Norman Muller sends this link to an article in the Anniston Star. Apparently the Oxford hilltop stone mound may have been related to a earthen mound in the flatlands below. Someone bulldozed it for no apparent reason: maybe spite, maybe because of the rich artifact haul, or maybe because it was a different source of fill. Any hypotheses?

An expert analyzes archeologists' incompetence

Norman Muller pointed me to this about Cupules By Robert G Bednarik. I think I can use the quote as part of "fair use".

"...In fact Clegg explicitly discounts the capacity of ‘experts’ to solve such matters, stating that ‘[t]hese respondent experts clearly knew much less than I remembered from physical geography courses in the 1950s’. I concur, and I would add that much the same applies throughout archaeology. I have noted before that ‘archaeologically untutored observers with a good understanding of natural processes, such as foresters, naturalists, indigenes leading traditional lives and peasants in remote regions’ are often much better qualified than formally educated archaeologists in discriminating between rock art and natural rock markings, or between stone artefacts and similar geofacts. It is well known that many graduate archaeologists are incapable of recognising stone tools effectively (and most archaeologists cannot fully master this in their entire lives), yet I have observed a four-year-old girl who made this distinction without hesitation, recognising stone tools on the ground up to several metres away with unfailing accuracy. I have made many such observations and have come to the conclusion that it is paradoxically a formal archaeological training that inhibits such abilities, and it is also this training that predisposes practitioners to searching for patterns and, having found them, interpreting them as signs of intentionality (Bednarik 1994a). Long-time collectors of stone tools, who typically lack formal archaeological training, are often much better judges of stone artefacts than are university-trained lithics experts and I have observed incredible discriminatory abilities in illiterate autodidacts. ..."

Western view over the pond at Middlesex School

A short stretch of wall: Just a few feet away, a smeared out rock pile: Here is a view in the opposite direction: