Hopkinton State Park (MA.) Stone Ruins Pt. 2

Hopkinton State Park (MA.) Stone Ruins Pt. 2

This well- put- together cairn obviously also represents an effigy, with a very well-placed and well-defined head-stone with eye socket and mouth slit having been worked out.  Perhaps turtle, fish, or bird-like, although it seems more turtle-like.  [Note: One might even go so far as to say that it looks "Sphinx-like" in which case we have what should be considered "national treasures" (or at least respected as such) right here in Massachusetts]:

Close-up of the head stone which was placed tilting upwards.  Very gentle and dignified:

View C:

Another similar cairn in slightly rougher shape with a similar head-stone, with the eye-socket and mouth slit worked out on the head stone.  This one is looking more straight-forward:

The head-stone of this cairn looks to be a human face profile wearing a head-dress:

More cairns:

Another cairn that looks very structural in it's design. A:

B:

C:

Large cairn/ stone ruins in the background:

Close-up of the large cairn:

Some of these reminded me of the same kinds of cairns found along the hill-side by Echo Lake that I covered the other month.  

Part 3 of Hopkinton State Park coming soon.

Hopkinton State Park (MA.) Stone Ruins Pt. 1

Hopkinton State Park (MA.) Stone Ruins Pt. 1

This site located in Hopkinton State Park in MA. goes above and beyond what people would describe as a cairn field.  True, what we are looking at in this site can be referred to as cairns, but more importantly, as far as this site goes, these cairns are also the stone remains/ ruins of enclosures and perhaps structures.  Since this site is large it will take a few posts to cover.

Pic #1 is a perfect example of what I mean when I say that these cairns are stone remains of enclosures.  This goes beyond a field of effigy cairns one might experience at another site.  These stone ruins in Hopkinton State Park were obviously originally built as enclosures/ structural support to what is going on at this site, with only the stone ruins visibal today:

The boulders, as can be seen in this pic; which in this case looks to be woked-out/ chipped/ modified, also play a role in the design of the enclosures:

Notice how all the stones in this cairn as well as others fit together like jigsaw pieces, but have come apart a bit due to time/ the elements.  Perhaps clay once held them together?:

Part of a stone row running the length of the hill:

The boulder that this stone wall terminates at can be seen in the background of pic #1:

Meandering/ unjulating down the hill:

There are many more great features at this site so stay tuned.  More to come in Part 2.

     

Holliston, MA. Site Pt. 3

Holliston, MA. Site Pt. 3

Around a series of ledges.  Near sites I covered on this blog before either Nov./Dec. 2014:

On top of a ledge.  What appears to be stone ruins (perhaps foundation stones) of possible structures: 

This was right on top of the ledge and looked like it could be foundation stones to some structure:

Looking up at the ledge:

Across from the ledge is this interesting pit.  It looks like an old Native food storage pit to my eyes, and these are known to exist in this area, with a couple massive food storage pits archaeologists excavated in the neighboring town of Hopkinton, MA.  As for this site in Holliston, there was nearby quarrying in the late 19th- early 20th century, but I have seen no indication that quarrying happened at this immediate spot:   

Another view of the pit.  I can't say it is an old food storage pit for sure at this point, but I'm taking note of it:

Cairn:

Close-up of one of the rocks on the cairn.  Although it looks like it may have formed naturally, I can't help but notice what looks like a petroglyphic image.  It looks like a man standing on a ledge or canoe holding either a bow or an atl-atl.  Also looks like there could be horned serpent imagery as well (the canoe he is standing on).  Wheteher natural or man-made this is an amazing feature on the rock:   

Some scenarey:

Unusually worked-out/ shaped boulder view A:

B:

Holliston, MA. Site Pt. 2

Holliston, MA. Site Pt. 2

A Large Stone Mound with a large Propped Boulder placed at the crest.  New-growth/ leaf litter has partially obscured the rock pile.  A:

B- a hollow in the rock pile, a design element seen in alot of the Native stone mounds:

C-

D- stacked stone against the boulder-

E- pink granite quartz stone, perhaps knapped out into a design-

F, a white quartz stone placement in the stone mound:

A second nearby stone mound also capped off with a boulder, smaller than the first:

A cairn nearby that seems to line up (at diagonal angle) with the other 2 cairns from the last post:

Boulder placement on a ledge:

Back to the stone wall/ retaining wall. A:

B- on the other side of the retaining wall is where the land drops off into the swamp on the right- 

C-