Last week I took a ride to visit an old friend. I went to a conservation area that was one of the first I ever visited. This was one of the two that sparked my interest in Native American stone structures. There are many interesting structures here and I wanted to plot them on a map, take some measurements, and take some pictures.
It's funny how when you haven't been someplace in a while some of it remains the same, other parts seem different. I was unable to locate some of the structures I saw on my first few visits but I also found some new ones, or some I don't remember seeing. Let me share some of the pictures I took.
This niche is in a stone row that runs in a north/south direction. It is 200 feet long, varies in height, and has no connecting walls. Both ends are rather plain with nothing resembling an effigy. This niche is open all the way through the wall. There are several niches along the row. There are no connecting walls or rows to this one.
This is a picture of the stone row from the north end looking south. As you can see this area is extremely rocky and does not appear to have ever been improved. The wall is not high enough to impede livestock from stepping over it.
This picture is at the north end of the wall. Just about the halfway mark of the wall, there is an interesting, well I don't know what to call it.
This picture was taken on my first visit several years ago. It has changed since then. Some of the items are no longer there (the pink flamingo and the small houses) although they could be under the leaves.
I don't know what the purpose of this is. Some of the items appear to be newer and some seem as if they have been there for some time. There is a house about 100 yards to the east of this but it doesn't seem people have come from there to this spot. Is this some kind of Native American offering? I believe there are still sites still being used by Native Americans today, could this be one?
This picture shows what the area to the west of this stone row looks like. I will be heading back there soon to document the possible structures I have found there. There are split stones with small rocks placed in the splits. There were several triangular standing stones (one pictured above). There is a stone "C" shaped circle and niches. The first few times I came to this area, this section was very wet with a small stream (probably from the spring snowmelt) going through it.
Along the west side of this boulder field is another stone row that I will write more about in a future post. There are some interesting things in that stone row as well, including a piece of quartz placed in an open break in the wall.
I need to go back and do some more exploring. While this is the best time to find things in the woods, it is also the coldest. My plan is to map the area and then see if I can get some of my fellow NEARA members to come take a look and give me their take.
Who knows, maybe I have found a not-so-ancient Native American Stone Landscape?
