Prayer Seat or Fire Pit?

I recently came across an interesting stone structure during a hike, and I'm trying to determine whether it is a U-shaped stone structure (prayer seat) or a fire pit. This post is an example of how I make a determination of what I find in the woods. 

Above is the picture I took of the structure located in the Douglas State Forest in Massachusetts. It is alongside one of the many trails throughout this forest. The area is known to have other Native American stone structures located within it, including a stone chamber. 

I start by looking at the area, trying to determine what may have been here in the past, what the land was used for, and if there are any other structures. 

Let’s first look at the area the structure is in. It is within ten feet of the trail on top of a slight rise. The area is lightly wooded with young trees. Although it is not entirely covered with brush and rocks, I wouldn't consider it a prime camping ground. I do not believe that wilderness camping is allowed in the park. There is nothing about camping on the official website. This helps rule out a campfire ring. There is no evidence of fire in the structure. IN the 1930's, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did have a camp in this forest and did work on making trails, huts, and some buildings, but this just doesn't have the CCC look to it. 

As seen in the photo above, the structure is U-shaped and built in a crown-like shape, with the tallest section directly opposite the open end. It reminds me of the Pope’s mitre. The structure is about four and a half feet high at its highest point, although I did not get an exact measurement. The opening is on the east side. This would mean if someone was standing or sitting with their back to the high wall, they would be facing east. 

There is a triangular-shaped stone lying on the ground in the center of the semicircle with the apex pointing towards the west. The structure is large enough for a person to stand or sit in. I have never seen a campfire ring built like this. I cannot think of a reason one would be built like this. 

There is a similar structure in the NEARA database with information locating it in the Douglas State 

Forest. While similar, the top is level all the way around. 

Could this be a Native American prayer seat? I will be doing a more detailed exploration soon. I would like to see if there are other possible stone structures in the immediate area. 

In Search of the Stone Chamber- Episode Four

I was ready. I had a plan. I had a camera. I had a LIDAR image. I was ready!

My plan was simple. Well almost. It all was contingent upon a tree, which may or may not be there, and if it was a Native American marker tree. If I found the tree using one of my mapping apps, I would draw a line from the tree to infinity in the direction the tree pointed me. Well, maybe not to infinity, but as far as I could walk without going through a swamp, unscalable stone outcrops, deep ravines, or private property. 

Indian Marker Tree

If I couldn’t find the tree, plan B was to perform a grid search. I learned that stone chambers were likely to be facing either east or west to align with various astronomical events. They were also likely to be on a slope, although not a steep one. From the picture, I knew it was on a slight slope. It also looks like there is a small mound over it. In other words, it wasn’t level with the surrounding landscape. You can also see it had a continuous slab for the roof.

Chamber from Transit picture

I also learned from the above-mentioned Transit article that the author followed an old trail that took him by the chamber. From my previous visit, I did recall one well-defined road going through the property, and possibly a second, less-used road. I couldn’t recall seeing any other trails in the area, but the article was written over 20 years ago, so it might only be a trace of what it was. 

View headed west from the marker tree.

I arrived at the site. The first thing was to find the marker tree. I knew from the picture it wasn’t far from the road. It also appeared to be on top of a small hill. I entered the site between two stone foundations on what was an old road. I climbed up the hill, looked around, and there was the marker tree. I looked at the picture, compared it to the real thing, and it was a perfect match. This was going to be easy. 

The cairn

The tree was pointed to the west. Along the line, I could see the cairn I had seen before. Using a compass, the cairn aligned with the tree. All I would need to do now was follow this line to the west, and I would run right into the chamber. 

Stone prayer

Nope. I walked to the cairn, but it wasn’t between it and the tree. I continued west. There was a stone wall at the bottom of the hill. On the other side of the wall was a wetland. I went about 100 feet, and it then became impassable. Mud and thorns were the order of the day. I knew from the picture I had of the chamber that it was on dry and relatively clean land. 

Stone row effigy?

Turning around, I headed back east, sure I must have missed it. I hadn’t, it wasn’t there. I began walking in a zigzag pattern, but to no avail. Back at the tree, I did notice what might have been a faint trail. This trail also went in a westerly direction, although not along a direct line from the tree. This trail ended at the paved road next to the wall where I had been earlier. There was no sign of a chamber. 

Collapsed chamber?

I wondered if the chamber had collapsed or been covered by debris. I found one small pile of rocks, interestingly enough, between the tree and the cairn. There was an opening facing west, but it wasn’t very big. It didn’t look like the picture. I shined a light into it (congratulating myself on remembering to bring it), but the inside did not look like a chamber. I didn’t move the stones or disturb them in any way, but I weighed the pros and cons as to whether this could be it. As I write this, I don’t believe it is. 

Inside the collapsed chamber

I spent the next several hours exploring more of the area. I found at least thirty different stone structures. There is also a network of stone walls/rows, several with niches in them, and some with architectural elements. Some of the rows could have been effigies as well. 

Possible niche in stone row

Although I was unable to find the stone chamber, I found plenty of other stone structures, which led me to believe this is a Native American Ceremonial Stone Landscape. I will follow up with more posts on some of the over thirty stone structures I have found. And, who knows, maybe someone who reads this will know where this stone chamber is, and I will document that as well.

Feel free to comment or email me at thewaywardwalker@gmail.com.

In Search of the Stone Chamber- Episode Three

 I have to think that people who investigate things for a living, whether it be crimes, causes of pandemics, or possible CSL’s start the process by learning all they can about the subject of the investigation. This way, when they arrive at a crime scene, a laboratory, or a place in the woods, they have some idea of what they’re looking for. Then there are those of us who just dive right into the deep end with very little, if any, information. 

After my second trip, I returned home to spend some quality time with my computer. I started by looking through websites that were full of information and pictures of cairns, stone walls, stone prayers, and stone chambers. After this, I was convinced that I had found a CSL.

I then went to the NEARA database and looked for any additional information they might have. After searching, I found some more information. Not much, but more than I had. I came across two pictures.

NEARA Transit

One was a picture of the chamber, the second was a picture of a possible Native American marker tree. I also came across an article in an old issue of the “Transit”. This article featured the same two pictures, along with a brief description of the location. 

NEARA Transit

Looking at the pictures, I thought, “How hard can it be to find these things?” I had some doubts about the tree, since I had no information on the date they were taken. There was a good possibility the tree had fallen or been cut down. I also am not a strong believer in marker trees. If this stone chamber was pre-colonial or even post-contact, the Native Americans would have had to have groomed this tree centuries ago. Would it really be possible for a tree to survive that long? 

NEARA Report

I couldn’t gather much information from the tree picture, other than I could see a paved road in the background. That was more than I could get from the picture of the stone chamber. It appeared to have been dug into the side of a hill. The area around it was bare of any trees or ground cover; however, there wasn’t much area to see. It also appeared to be on the smaller side. 

Stone Prayer

From information I had gathered about stone chambers I was able to make some assumptions as to where this one might be. Although not always, many chambers seem to be orientated to either the east or the west. This is because it is believed they may have been aligned with the solstices. They are also mainly on slopes. I would begin my search by hiking along the slopes facing east and west. 

Enclosure?

Of course, if I found the marker tree, I would then draw a line from it to the direction it was pointing. (I thought that was a stroke of genius) I have recently acquired an app on my phone called CalTopo that has all kinds of useful information, especially for some one who has lived under a rock most of my life. This app will allow me to mark the location of the tree and then draw a line along the axis it was pointing to. Using the lidar feature will also allow me to see interesting structures on the ground I might not otherwise see.

Armed with this information, and a plan, it was time to head back to the location.  

In search of the Stone Chamber - Episode Two

I have to admit something, I’m not much of a scientist. As much as I try to stay focused and follow some kind of scientific approach, I’m much like a dog who tries to follow a scent, and a squirrel runs by. Off he goes after the squirrel until the next thing grabs his attention. 

Going into my second visit to the site, my intention was to begin at the cairn and proceed along an east-west axis, documenting as I went. I would travel about 500 feet before moving 30 or so feet north and then heading back. This would keep me on a grid-like pattern. 

Cairn

I arrived at the cairn and noticed the first stone prayer about 10 feet to the east. Off in the distance, maybe 50 feet to the southeast, I spotted another stone prayer and another to the north. From there, I had to check out the glacial erratic over to the left, and before I knew it, my grid was more like a plate of spaghetti. 

First Trip

I did have a productive day, however. I counted approximately 15 to 25 stone prayers. I say approximately because some of them were covered with debris, some may have been knocked down if they were stone prayers, and some may have been field clearing piles. I knew I would be coming back to explore more. 

Stone Prayer

In addition to the stone prayers I also located three stone foundations in various states of disrepair. The largest I believe was a large “bank” barn. Farmers would often build barns into the side of a hill or bank. This would provide easy access to the second floor for wagons and other farm implements. 

The second foundation was smaller, and it was a small outbuilding. I could not determine what it may have been used for. 

Stone Prayer

The third foundation was for a fairly large house. I could see the remains of the chimney, which was in the middle of the basement. 

Stone Row

I also saw a series of stone walls. Some of these were very well made and several feet high. Others were much simpler in their design, two or three courses high. These walls were sometimes connected and had lengthy sections. Others were short, independent sections, not connected with the other sections. 

There were no trails or paths connecting them. 

Effigy?

Due to time constraints, I needed to end my exploration. Although it was a very productive day, I did not find a stone chamber or anything that even resembled one. 

Cairn Close-up

My next step would be more research. 

In Search of a Stone Chamber - Episode One

Some people may call me crazy, and others might say I’m just plain weird, but I have developed an obsession with walking through the woods looking at rocks. I’ve even been known to talk to them at times. Every rock has a story to tell.

My latest adventure led me to a place in the woods, where, according to the Northeast Antiquarian Research Society (NEARA) online database, a ceremonial stone landscape (CSL) and possibly a stone chamber are located. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information available about this place, except for a brief description of its location and what might be there. I knew what my next step would be - locate and document this site.

Cairn

The first step in this journey was to locate the site. The directions in the database were simple and easy to follow. They took me to a spot in the Yale-Myers Forest, a beautiful forest managed by Yale University that features many hiking trails and ruins. This site is off a marked trail, although the trail itself does not go through the CSL. It is also easily accessed from a local road.

On a chilly late-winter day, I traveled to the site, fully expecting not to find it easily. From past experiences, it usually takes me two or three trips to locate a place. I found it on the first trip. Well, some of it. There was a cairn, which was quite obvious, and several stone prayers. I had already been exploring that day, and I was pressed for time, so I only had time for a quick walk. It was enough to know that this was the place and I would have to come back.

Stone Prayer

Arriving home, I searched the New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA) online database for additional information on this site. I found two pieces of information. The first was a copy of a handwritten report on the site written in 2002. It included directions to the site, a brief description of what is there, and two pictures of a stone chamber and a Native American “marker” tree. How hard could that be to find?

This would mean another trip into the woods. I’ll talk about that trip in a later post. 

Side Bar

I want to address something I have been struggling with. That is the issue of divulging the location of the sites I find. There are two schools of thought on this matter. One is that they should be made public so that others can visit and study them. 

The other side is that they should remain hidden. There is a legitimate concern that if a site’s location is made public, it will be open to vandalism. Unfortunately, this is a very real concern. There are those outside the preservation community who would like nothing more than to topple a cairn or deface a stone chamber with spray paint. I am on the fence about this. 

I would love to be able to find these sites so I can document them with pictures, but there is so little information regarding their locations I spend hours trying to find information on them. 

I love walking through the woods, but I could see a lot more with the correct information. I have reviewed the NEARA online database (accessible only to members), but unless I’m missing something, there is very limited information. When I find something, I do send the information to the appropriate people, although I never hear back from them. Well, except for one time. 

For the time being, I will not disclose location information. If you are a skilled detective, you may be able to determine the location. And if you're really serious, you can email me, and we can discuss it further. 

More to come.

Stone Walls - An Investigation Part One

I love old walls. No matter where I see them, I always look at them and wonder who built them and why. I never thought there’d be so much controversy over them. 

When I first started studying them (very informally), it wasn’t long before I realized there are two schools of thought regarding their origins. The first group consists of scientists, archaeologists, historians, etc, who believe that all walls were built by European settlers who lived here post 1620, most of them being built in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They were built by farmers who used stones plowed out of the ground when fields were cultivated. Just be sure you don’t share any other theories about who or when they were built with this group. 

The other group consists of the rest of us who believe that not all walls were built by European farmers after they arrived. We keep an open mind about the walls, their origins, purpose, and builders. We like to think out of the box. Many of us are amateurs who do this because we love the outdoors, history, and learning. We also believe science is all about learning and proving or disproving theories, not just dismissing alternative theories because they don’t fit the official narrative. 

When I first started exploring in the woods, I didn’t know a lot about walls and other stone structures, so I decided to educate myself. The first thing I learned was that for many years (about 300), we've been taught certain things about history that have been proven to be untrue. In the case of stone structures, it’s that Native Americans never built anything from stone. In addition, there are all the other lies we’ve been told about Native Americans that we won’t get into here. 

I’ve been looking at these walls, and they are all quite interesting. Although similar, no two are exactly the same. In the next few posts, I’ll examine some of them in more detail and see what we can learn about them. 

Tri-town Forest-Explore Part 2

Two posts ago, I wrote about a possible Ceremonial Stone Landscape (CSL) in the Tri-town Forest Preserve. Yesterday, I made a second trip to continue exploring this area. 

During my last visit, I came across several piles of rocks that I believe were stone prayers. Stone Prayers are piles of stones placed on one or more boulders. They can consist of a few stones without any real design or can be quite elaborate with many stones. I found examples of both of these in this preserve. 

The first picture is of a simple stone prayer; this one was a small rectangle and on three base stones. I don’t disturb these stones so if there’s a lot of debris on or around the stones I have to guess on what the base is like. 

The second picture is another example of a stone prayer, this one rectangular.  If you watch my video on the first trip you will see a great example of one placed in the crotch of two boulders. When you come upon stone prayers, you can see the stones were intentionally placed as these were. 

In addition to the stone prayers, there were numerous stone piles. The difference between a stone pile and a stone prayer is that the stones in the stone pile are more random in their placement. They are also found on the ground and not on boulders. This picture is interesting as it may also be a stone enclosure. Notice the bottom right of the picture, and you will see a triangular enclosure. 

Although in my opinion, this was enough to confirm that this was a CSL, I did find more evidence.  I came across a stone cairn. A stone cairn is defined as a carefully constructed stone structure built directly on the ground. When you see these, there’s no doubt they are manmade. You can see the cairn in the video. 

Unfortunatel of y I did not take a still picture of it. It is about four feet high and rectangular in shape, about 4 feet long and three feet wide. This cairn is very similar to one I found at another location. This picture is of the one I found at another location. When I post the video for this explore, you can compare the two.

Throughout this area, there were many stone walls. These were very well built. They were between two and four feet tall, with some of them built in a serpentine shape. Sometimes walls are fallen down. For example, if hunters come through the area, they may knock them down. If this were the case the rocks would be on the ground near the wall. There are none here.

Some of these walls were quite lengthy and were connected to others. Some were very short with no connection to the rest of them. One of the characteristics of Native American stone rows is that they have certain architectural elements to them, such as a large stone surrounded by smaller stones, as in the picture below. This also is a short section with no connection to any other.

The ends of the walls tend not to be “finished”. This means they aren’t straight up and down; rather they have either a larger stone as the end or a length of smaller stones that resemble a tail. These stone rows are often effigies, serpents, turtles and snakes are the most common. 

I also came across two stone enclosures, one circular and one trapezoid-shaped. There was also one square made of stone walls that may have been used to hold livestock, however, there was no opening. I also found no evidence of any foundations except one possible house cellar that I will describe later. 

I also found some other interesting features in this location, neither of which I believe are Native American related. I came across four hand-dug holes, each about the same size. They were about four feet deep and about five feet long and three feet wide. The picture below is of one of these holes. The dirt pile is to the right.

They were not lined with stones, so I don’t believe they were foundations for any kind of building. The evidence leads me to conclude they were dug by hand. Each had a dirt pile next to them that was most likely the soil from the hole. I did not mark the locations of them, but they were not close to one another, leading me to believe they weren’t outbuildings of a farm. 

The final and most interesting find, although probably not Native American, was a large tree that had grown through a large flat rock. 

These two pictures show a tree growing through a flat rock, splitting the rock. You can see that before the tree grew, there was a square opening cut into the rock. The tree grew through this. I believe this is possibly an old well which had a well cap over it. I cannot see into the hole but there is a small cellar hole to the rear of the tree. I believe this is a foundation because the sides are lined with stones. This could have possibly been the well for the house. 

In researching this site I was only able to find two references stating there was a Native American presence here, One is on the sign at the entrance to the trail which makes mentions of some "possible" Native American stone structures. The other is in a history book. "Griswold - A History" by Daniel L Phillips published in 1929. The author mentions "two mortar-like cavities hollowed out of the living rock" at the top of Rixtown Mountain (now known as Lambert Mountain). He also states there were a lot of Native American artifacts found here, 

Is this a CSL? I believe so. It would require a lot more research of the area to be sure. But comparing it to other documented sites it seems like it is.