Cairns and Effigy in the South Area

Two new cairns today: Above: a cairn with effigy stone. The "eye" has been pecked out.
The effigy "faces" due north, towards what I've termed "the "main ceremonial" site.

Sacred Water in Southern Section

This spring is covered by a large rock. A row of stones leads us to the spot. 

Cairn and Stepping Stones

The Grinding Stone located on the top of a knoll suggests there must have been a water source nearby.  A hollow, or swale to the east  is moist, and does have  clumps of ferns , suggesting  a source existed at one point.  However, the stream bed appears to have been totally dry for many years.  Perhaps the construction of a nearby, parallel gravel road for horse and wagon caused a diversion of this source. The road is known to follow roughly the "old Indian path" heading north.

Old stream bed  in the Central Section, with row of stepping stones,  crossing from the down-hill on one side to  the up-hill," east to west.  This area of Massachusetts was settled  about 1767. At some point an early farmer constructed a raised causeway just behind where I am standing to take the photo. 

A Cairn...at the Northern end of the Historic Landscape area; four boulders lined up on their sides, with bits and pieces of various rocks, including quartz, filling the gaps, and spanning the top. 

The Enigma

Today I followed deer tracks along a stream bed, and came back upon this  Group of Rocks which I'd "flagged" last month. (To alert the Forrester that this is a special  construction and please don't relocate it, as he has done with some boulders he didn't want to maneuver around. )

An unusual grouping  of stones in the southern section, beside a brook at the South end of Historic Landscape,  with effigy stone on right. 

The effigy overlooks rocks placed in the crevices. The stones tucked into the  rear space are very dense and weight a great deal more than one might expect for their size.It appears that they came from a single larger stone, shaped like a Gouda cheese round, then sliced into several pie shaped pieces, and of A pudding stone composition.  

In the Central Area,  a Standing Stone on a knoll between two dry stream beds, on the east side of  what I've termed the  "ceremonial" area.  One of the  stream beds still carries the spring run-off, but is not spring-fed. 

Foot Traffic: A video from a couple of weeks ago.

The twin fawns no longer have their spots.
I have moved the camera  further east, trying to stay ahead of The Forrester.
The deer have done likewise.

Autumnal Equinox

This evening I walked  the "long trail" which runs the length of the plateau.  The trail's beginning and ending are far beyond this particular plateau.  Portions of it, lying both to the north and to the south, have already been obliterated by time, development and logging,  and after hundred's of years of foot traffic, this portion will soon suffer the same fate.  Daily, The  Forrester cuts closer and closer to the top of this hill.  It is, of course, the terrain and it's features which will be forever damaged by his modern, heavy logging equipment.

Traveling north along the "long trail." 

On the north end of the plateau the sun struck a large circular cairn which appears to have been knocked about many years ago. 

In the central area of the plateau, the sun struck most directly a cairn situated in the grove where my trail camera has been located for 4 years.  Curiously it is the one that many of the animals stood upon to survey the surrounding area.
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A Walk in the Woods

Effigy

This "effigy" cairn is located on the north end of the plateau,  facing west towards The Lake, about 1/3 of a mile from  what appears to have been the main Native American ceremonial site.  What is noticeable is that the cairn clusters here do not have additional bits and bobs of "donation" rocks,  as appear to have been added over time to those in the southern end of this location. 

Large "Corn Grinding"  Boulder

This boulder is about 3 1/2 feet tall and about 5 feet in diameter. It is located on the highest spot at the northern end of  the "long trail" which  can be seen behind the boulder.  The animals  (Moose, Deer, Bear, Fox, CoyDogs) use  the trail  regularly.  From the trail, one can see the remnant of a small spring in the   swale below. 

Is this a perched boulder or a balanced rock?  A curiosity which faces west towards The Lake. There is evidence
of some pecking. A lot of rocks around the base are studded with garnets and there is a large split boulder loaded with quartz and lots of other shiny bits nearby. 

Almost overlooked; this is a small "v" shaped bit of quartz about 8 inches long set carefully into a slanted pile. It's the small cairns like this that will be  destroyed  by the brutal logging equipment. 

Small cairn

Winterberries

Up through the depths of woodland debris...

Circle of Stones with Quartz in Center

Marked Cairns

I've marked about 18 cairns and effigies so that the logger can spot and hopefully avoid them with the heavy equipment. 

Lakeside Cairn

A large  boulder with quartz seams. The boulder is split, and filled with smaller bits and "offerings..."  There is even a tiny bit of quartz balanced with another tiny pebble,  on a small  rock just to the left of the "nose"....about 11:30 of the clock.
 

Cairn discovered on Friday

East view of cairnThis is an interesting cairn. Is this also an effigy?  It is in the deep woods, alongside a spring fed stream...

It consists of 8 large boulders leaning upon one another...a small quartz rock is tucked in-between a gap on the south side; there is a two piece slab,  placed on the north side. The gaps are "chinked" with small pieces of slate.

Close up of "effigy" 

Rear view of cairn showing slabs of rock leaning upon one another. 

Bit of white quartz (partially hidden by leaves) tucked in a space between leaning boulders.

June Fawn on September 1.

Quartz Boulder, Flaked

On the forest floor..a large boulder, dripping wet while the rest of woods is dry. Leaning closer, I saw that one side of it had   been chipped away. (pecked?) ..bits at a time..The woodland debris surrounding the boulder is a foot deep. I pulled some away from the cut face. 

Massachusetts Cairns

A couple more Cairns from the woods...outside, over there....

Article:

Effigy

A small collection of rocks. about 12x12x12,  arranged into an effigy.....almost overlooked as a "cairn."
I haven't been able to find it again; it's probably under piles of brush left by the Logger. 

Very Large Cairn

Giant Glacial Boulder serves as the base for this Cairn. This could not be a "field clearing" cairn because the builder had to climb down a steep rock strewn slope,  bordering a vernal brook, to place the stone.  

A cairn in the path of the forrester

The Two Does

There were two does that had fawns in the nearby woods  this year. One was older, had a lot of scars and injuries, including the loss of vision in one eye.  Date and time stamps indicate that they are traveling together.

Massachusetts Cairns 4 & the Perseid Meteorite Shower

The 2015 Perseid meteor shower peaked on August 11, 12 and 13. 

August 13th: The Green Corn Festival.

Coincidentally, it was on August 14th, on an evening walk through the woodland trail near my home, that the angle of the setting sun illuminated the stone piles and cairns in a most curious way. 

(From D. Harris, 2008: The Great Falls 2008). 
"Celestial observations made by tribal members, tribal representatives, scientific analysts, and field researchers in August 2007 revealed that the observation point marked by the stone features was aligned with the setting sun during the HEIGHT OF THE PERSEID METEORITE SHOWER. 
The passage of the meteorite shower from northeast to southwest during this astronomical event is of great importance in the cosmology of Eastern tribes. (Scope of Work 2008: The great Falls 2008). (Turners Falls Ceremonial Hill Site.) "

Bird Effigy on Cairn view from the west. The "body" of this cairn has many "offering" stone. 

Close up of the Bird Effigy, above, straight on; note how the position of the head is supported with bits of rock and quartz. 

Effigy on boulder

Side view of a "seat." 

Turtle effigy.: nose facing left; .and 1/4 of the entire body"

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Massachusetts Cairns 3

This wonderful Native American Site is located in Western Massachusetts. It is on private property, not my own...and therefore I cannot share anything more than photos of the site. It is remarkably similar to other "rock pile" sites described on various internet sites.

It’s the spiritual implications that haunt me; is a site, once it's been used for religious or ceremonial purposes, always "spiritual," or  does it  cease to be a hallowed place once it no longer serves the function for which it was intended?   Is a place "special in the spiritual sense" only when man designates it as such?   I'm reminded of  the current practice of discontinuing and selling Church buildings:  No longer considered "hallowed walls" but just a building;  something to put back on the tax rolls, or to tear down. Redundant.  The Man who builds-or owns,  can therefore ignore, or destroy. 

 What is it about  Stonehenge , the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, or Easter Island that draws us?  

Are we mystified by the Men who built them? The HOW of them?  The WHY of them? 

Are the  Native American cairn fields then,  just "piles of stones"? Why do we relegate them to "field clearing" by New England farmers of the 18th century? Are they too ubiquitous? Too Abstract?  

What is the WHY and HOW of this particular collection of Cairns? Why this place?  What I  do know, from watching the animals via a trail camera,  that it is a place of peace and sanctuary for the animals that pass through, and have done, year in and year out, time out of mind. 

This appears to be a ceremonial site. All the components are there. South facing slope near a Great Pond, bordered by brooks formed by spring run-offs.  The large Split Boulder. Curved rows of stones, facing the split boulder. Nearby  another Split Rock", "plugged."   A Stone Wall with no logic to it's beginning or ending,  bordering the run-off of a spring.   At least three complete circles of stones of different sizes, with a corresponding sized  quartz rock in the center.    There are at least  5 turtle effigies on cairns, a couple of frog effigies, a snake, and the  single large Bird effigy. In an almost direct line, approximately 300 feet apart and heading north, are piles of stones. There is no known property line in the oldest deeds to correspond with the placement of these piles.  

Split Rock filled with stones. 

Frog Effigy on Cairn

Large split boulder.. face on;  it's middle is covered with woodland debris but it extends about 15 feet,. 

Ring of Stones surrounding the large Split Boulder, above. 

Row of stones on ground facing the large split boulder, above. 

Turtle Effigy on Cairn

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