Deer Stone Effigy

Deer Stone Effigy

Located on one of the great hills of Milford, MA. is the following Deer Stone Effigy.  I only have this one picture of it at the moment.  Maybe in another post I will post more pics of this stone.  As we are now in the summer, the stone is overgrown with lush brush.  The stone is a boulder, worked out into the effigy statue of a deer in a sitting upright position.  (Much like how an Easter Island moai is a "statue", the stones in this area need to be recognized before it is too late).

I also give a picture or two of deers sitting down in similar positions for comparison to the Deer Stone effigy statue.  The Deer Stone, which sits in a prominent position upon a prominent hill-side:

Looking at the above stone, upon inspection of it's features, one can clearly see where the ears, nose, ridge of the back and hind legs are depicted in the stone statue.  Below are two pictures of deer in similar positions for comparison:

My intuition tells me that the stone is on prominent hillside and rock ledge, which is why it is discernable to the people of today.  If it was in some lowland, as many (some, but certainly not all) ceremonial stone features are, this stone may have been completely buried by forest/ swamp/ sediment.  To my intuition's discernment, this stone was probably placed on the hillside in present form some 1,000 to 7,000 years ago, or perhaps longer still.  Given the geographical upheavals in this region some 5,000 years ago (splitting of Martha's Vineyard from the mainland, rise of the Atlantic Ocean levels, etc.), the deer stone may be 4,000 or so years old; however, it is on a prominent hillside and may not have been affected by the upheavals of 5,000 years ago, so it could be older still.

Furthermore, I do not see this deer stone as being representative of a clan symbol, such as the symbol of the deer clan.  I agree 100% that these stone-works are Native in origin, from the ancestors of the Algonquian people.  But, stone-works such as this deer effigy may go back to a time where the people of today may not have such a good grasp on the knowledge base of these ancestor's.  For instance, in some cultural traditions the deer represents the First Man coming forth in primordial times.  I do not want to over-analyze this stone statue, but I would like to express this notion for people to think about- my gut tells me that this deer effigy represents an idea or a sacred notion which the people who put the stone into place thousands of years ago knew about and obviously felt they must express. 

That is it for this post and concludes my basic thoughts on the deer stone effigy.  Stay tuned for some exciting up-coming posts.