Summer Solstice Viewing- Sacred Ledge In Sherborn, MA. W/ Manitou Over-hang, Stone Row, & Stone Row Terracing

Summer Solstice Viewing- Sacred Ledge In Sherborn, MA. W/ Manitou Over-hang, Stone Row, & Stone Row Terracing

Walking along these woods through the valley in a town called Sherborn I noticed that the ledge I encountered would probably be a good place to come back to for viewing a solstice as being along the ledge one would be facing west towards the setting sun.  So I came back.

There is alot of obvious stone features that jumped out at me right away when looking at this ledge.  First of all, there is an over-hang which is shaped out as a manitou, or god-stone, meaning an Algonkian deity or totem.  This totem resembles a turtle.  The ledge around the totem seems to be worked out so that the effigy stands out, and it does indeed "stick out".  The effigy itself is wedged and propped into place, and it looked like the effigy stone was not made from the same rock as the rest of the ledge, and if this is the case it means that the effigy/ stone carving/ totem (you get the idea) was moved into place here- quarried and worked out in deep antiquity and moved in place to this site location.

Second, there is a stone wall that runs up directly to the middle of the ledge.  The stone wall picks up again directly behind the ledge, continuing to meander up-hill.  There is also a semi-circle of boulders above the ledge, although my pictures of this was pretty well obscured by tree growth.  Third, there are stone row terraces at the foot of the ledge, which is a seperate feature from the stone wall (the terraced stone rows being above and to the right of the stone wall that terminates at the ledge).

Finally, when I came back to this site for solstice viewing there was a great view of the setting solstice, and the ledge was indeed lit and interacting with the setting sun.  However, there was modern tree growth partially obscuring this, and finally some clouds rolled in; otherwise the experience with the light show would have lasted longer.

Here are the pictures I took to record this event & the ledge itself:

Close-up of the Great Turtle:

One of my favorite pics of the turtle effigy:

Standing below the turtle:

The stone wall that runs directly up to the middle of this ledge. A:

B:

The stone row terracing at the foot of the ledge (seperate feature from the stone wall.) A:

B (there appeared to be more levels of terracing but were well-buried):

The stone wall continues going up directly above the ledge. A:

B:

Semi-circle of boulders above the ledge, view obstructed by forest growth: