So Many Rocks

So little time.

Once again in the course of my exploring adventures, I have come across some unknown rock structures in the woods of Massachusetts. Did I find Native American ceremonial sites? Prehistoric ruins? Or just random rock formations left when the glaciers retreated from the area?

As I have explained before, I am not any kind of scientist, just a curious, overweight, old guy who likes to walk in the woods taking pictures of interesting things. When I come across something I can't explain, I take a picture of it and try to figure out what it is.

Back in the old days, three years ago, I would only take pictures of foundations, walls, wells, and rusted relics, that was until I came across a stone chamber along a rail trail and a few weeks later a single standing stone in the middle of the woods. While researching these phenomena, I came across pictures of other stone structures one might find in the woods of New England. Now everything I see is a mystery.

One thing I have learned from this is that archeology (if I can call what I do archeology) is not an exact science. A lot of it is educated guessing at least when it comes to North America. There is not a lot of pre-Columbian written history. Most of it is oral, and even that is sparse because most of it was destroyed by the early European settlers. Even now there are some who dismiss any evidence that contradicts the preconceived notions of our early history. A case in point is it has always been generally believed that Native Americans were not very advanced and therefore would not have been able to construct things like stone chambers and ceremonial structures. 

Because of this many things found are dismissed as having been made by early white settlers, or are of natural origin. 

Let's look at this next picture.

I came across this semi-circle of rocks yesterday. They have been here a long time. Is it just a random act of nature? When the glacier retreated did it just leave these rocks here in an almost perfect semi-circle? Or could it have been a small one-person enclosure used in a Native American religious ceremony? 

The next picture is also interesting. It shows a split in a large boulder with a smaller stone placed in the crack.

This is another example of something Native Americans would do tied to spiritual ceremonies. I should have tried to move it to see if it was wedged in, but I did not. This could have been a spirit portal. Let me reiterate, I am only guessing, I am in no way qualified to make a definite statement as to its purpose or origin.

I also came across a line of stones, similar to a wall with only one course of stones. It was about 25 feet in length and you can see at the beginning there was a large boulder,

This is another picture of the same feature from another angle. Could this be natural? I suppose so but I think it is man-made.

Now I know what you're thinking, it must be a part of the farmer's walls. Yes, it could be except for a couple of things. First, there was only one set of walls on this property, which was not close to any of them. Second, the area was not in the improved section of the property. As a whole, this parcel of land was strewn with lots of large boulders and did not look like it had ever been tilled. As I mentioned there was only one section that was improved and only one set of walls. 

Native Americans are known to have built small sections of walls for ceremonial purposes. Unlike the area I was in with the standing stones a few posts ago, this section was loaded with possible structures. I will be posting a slide show on my YouTube channel and you can see them. There were circles, stone squares, split rocks, possible cairns, and a possible well. There were no foundations on this part of the property although I did find an old dam. Whether there was a mill there I was unable to determine.

Once again at this time, I won't disclose the location of this site. I will share the fact that there was a lot of Native American activity in the area. 

Was this a possible site where Native Americans gathered for ceremonies? Did it hold large gatherings for the region or a smaller ones for the local tribes? Could it have been a settlement of some kind? Or is it just a large collection of interesting rock formations? 

I am open to any suggestions.

Update: Since posting this I have returned to the site and have learned a lot more about it. Stay tuned.