Mouthwatering smoking guns, for the NEARA community.

10 Ancient Structures in Newfoundland No One Can Explain

A quiet morning looking for Arrowheads

 

Arrowhead on Cape Cod Beach - Quivett Neck, E. Dennis

Powwow Invitation, Strawberry Moon: Nashobah Praying Indians

You are invited to the Strawberry Moon June Powwow: Nashobah Praying Indians

 

Dear Friends of the Nashobah Praying Indians,

 

Chief Eagle Medicine and Sagamore Strong Bear Medicine welcome you to the third annual Nashobah Strawberry Moon Celebration (Powwow).  This will be June 27, 2026, at Fay Park, Littleton MA, 12-5pm.  (Rain date 6-28)

 

Public is welcome!  Tell your friends, bring your family! 

Quartz Squibnocket Arrowhead

After several hours of walking in the hot sun:

Arrowhead from West Concord

Reader Steve S. writes:

After a few months of looking, I think I’ve found my first ever arrowhead in a farm field in west concord. Picture attached. 

Earthworks in Newark OH - Great Circle and Octagon

A couple of comments on how Illinois and Ohio seem a bit contemptuous of their major mound sites. In the case of Cahokia, the state of IL put a landfill mound just a few miles away, that is larger than "Monks Mound", the largest mound in America. In the case of the Newark Earthworks, there are NO SIGNS to help a traveler realize there is a site there; and the views of the Great Circle and Octagon are completely obstructed by unnecessary tree plantings. I mean.... really? Apparently the visitor center at Cahokia has been closed for 4 years - due to lack of initiative to finish the job.

A quick look at Cahokia

 

I was surprised to pass Cahokia on my drive home from Nevada.

Rock Piles, Wachusett Reservoir

Reader Larry J. writes:

Hello!

I stumbled across an interesting rock formation and was curious what your thoughts on it are! Ill attach a video of me walking around it. Also a couple photos, one of Lidar.

Thanks!

Larry .

Lidar:

Walk around [I rotated the video, and uploaded it to my YouTube channel]:

Tahattawan’s World

Thursday, May 14, 7 pm at Acton Memorial Library

Who were the Indians who lived in the Acton area before the English arrived? It is widely understood that this band, led by their sachem Tahattawan, transferred Musketaquid/Concord to the English in the 1630s, adopted Christianity, settled down nearby at Nashobah/Littleton, endured rough handling during King Philip’s War in the 1670s, and then merged into the general diaspora of Christian Indians in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Local historian Brent Ranalli has undertaken a fresh, close reading of the source documents from the seventeenth century for a new book project. This talk presents some of his findings, enhancing our understanding of the band and their story.
Please register at https://tinyurl.com/Ranalli-May14.

Friends of Pine Hawk

Remembering and Reconnecting: Day of Remembrance, Commemoration of 350 years after the Great Falls Massacre this Saturday, May 16

From the Nolumbeka Project:

Rocks that look like creatures

From here: Aphrodite and Eros Spotted in the Desert and Neither Fish Escaped Typhons Attack as you will See [A video I had a hard time following.]

The Seven Hills Serpent at an Entrance

 Shadow becomes an Eye On the Old Road to Woodbury CT

https://wakinguponturtleisland.blogspot.com/2026/05/shadow-becomes-eye-on-old-road-to.html

Clovis and Crystal Quartz

Some gorgeous photos:

 Why did Clovis toolmakers choose difficult quartz crystal? New study offers clues

NEARA fieldtrips

Worcester, MA - April 19

[?] CT - May 2

No doubt the details are available at www.neara.org

Found a Snappit Point, over in RI

A short video:

DNA population comparison is BALONEY

 According to my chatbot:

Percent of variable DNA examined

Humans have roughly 3–4 million common variable sites (SNPs and similar variants). Standard population‑genetics datasets examine 300,000 to 1,000,000 of those.

The proportion is:

$$\frac{3\times {10}^5\text{ to }{10}^6}{3\times {10}^6\text{ to }4\times {10}^6}\approx 10\mathrm{\%}\text{ to }30\mathrm{\%}$$

So population‑comparison studies typically use about 10–30% of the variable DNA.

That’s the number.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Got that? Between 1/10 and 1/3 of "important" dna is compared. A vast playground for cherry picking.

Also, do not wait around for them to perform any form of reasonable sampling. I read something about using "30" individuals. Are you kidding me? If a tree has 100 branch points, you will not deduce it from a sample size of 30.

Atherton Brook republishing

I was reading an old post. I am so pleased to have discovered places like this. Please someone, go have another look.

https://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2022/04/atherton-brook-quabbin-and-also-site.html?

From my Chatbot:

"Consumer ancestry tests do NOT analyze more DNA for Native American ancestry than for any other population.

They use the same SNP chip — typically 600,000 to 1,000,000 SNPs, which is about:

$$\frac{\mathrm{1,000,000}}{\mathrm{3,200,000,000}}\approx 0.03\mathrm{\%}$$

So, the amount of DNA examined is ~0.02–0.03% of the genome, regardless of whether the comparison is Native American, European, African, or anything else."

Next time you hear a genetic analysis, this is why it is bullshit.

Three Neanderthals Cartoon

(AI Cartoon...not rock pile related).

Preparing for the hunt:

A vigorous discussion of options:

Wiser heads prevail: