Stacked Boulder/Dolmen Cave Complex, 'Serpent' Effigy, Cairns, Prayer Seat & More- Fertility Site, Holliston MA. Pt. 1
I came across a site of what I can only describe as a place of strong spiritual energy in the woods of Holliston, MA. The largest feature of this site is a Dolmen/ Stacked Boulder with an overhang, with space to go under the structure. The dolmen itself almost appears to look like a small stone chamber structure. As we will see, I got the impression that this whole area around the site has to do with fertility rites.
The Dolmen Structure:
A shelf-space inside the structure:
The end of the structure, from the back side. Under the over-hang are three stones. These are "Magic Stones", as researchers call them, so it is the term I will use. In the book Manitou- The Sacred Landscape of New England's Native Civilization, authors Mavor and Dix, on page 21, report finding what they believed were Native Magic Stones in their excavations of the Stone Chamber at the Calendar Bowl 1 site. Through-out the First Nations these stones have associated with them, having been in use for women's fertility rites, and probably broader fertility rites in general:
Outside the Dolmen Structure is this split and worked-out rock, in the shape of an animal effigy, what looked to me as a serpent effigy. The mouth slit is the prominent split feature, but also notice how the rock was worked out where the eye would be. In the same town, I have seen this exact same workmanship before here- http://nativenewenglandstones.blogspot.com/2014/12/more-stoneworks-holliston-ma-pt-7.html . Note the striking similarity in style & workmanship which could not be coincidence, although here, the feature is a smaller scale-size. In back of this rock feature are the remains of a cairn structure- this is right outside the Dolmen Structure, giving the whole site the feeling of a Complex (which is obviously what this site used to be.):
A couple more of the surrounding cairns (more cairns will be shown in Pt 2 of this site):
This stone structure had the look of a small U-shaped enclosure/ Prayer Seat:
An interesting rock placed in the stone wall with obvious shaped-out features:
A rock stack placed in the wall by somebody, at some point in time, looking like a mini replica of the dolmen:
The Smiling Stone Face Spirit (the rock in the middle):
Close-up of the Smiling Stone Face:
Part 2 will include a large split boulder with inserted wedge, more cairns and boulders, and even possibly a Native Well found in the Stone Wall (a stronger indication of fertility), showing off more features relating to this Complex. Part 3 will show what archaeologists call a "Quarry Boulder" meaning a large rock that has been picked/ worked out and used for resource, as well as a nicely made bird effigy made from the material of the Quarry Boulder.
I just returned from a drive by through holliston. Took pictures of the the house i lived in until i was almost 6 years old, in 1976. Really not much development in the area. I have a memory of a boulder stack that could be seen from the road, maybe on a golf course. There is a bad picture of it in the manitou book, a bought a copy at the "mystery hill, Americas stonhenge" site in NH. I took pictures of similar sites in Ireland. Any clues for me?
ReplyDeleteHey Matt! Wondering if you still check this blog. Was the last photo taken near Idylbrook field in Medway? I believe that smiling stone used to be apart of a wall belonging to a circular stone building commissioned by Kate Sanborn, who had lived on that property in the early 1900s.
ReplyDeleteIf we are not talking about the same stone, then I believe we have found a matching pair. Exciting.
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