The Old Hopkinton Beehive Stone Mound + More

The Old Hopkinton Beehive Stone Mound

Hopkinton and the surrounding area is a very rich area for stone-works.  And no wonder with the headwaters of Echo Lake in the area (the confluence headwaters of the Charles, Blackstone & Sudbury Rivers), as well as mineral springs and an abundance of "good land" that would have been workable planting fields, fishing sites and village sites over many thousands of years, as well as abundant natural resources.

Below I represent one of the more significant and mysterious stoneworks that was observed by researchers into modern times.  Sadly as you can see from the picture the structure is now destroyed, having been taken apart at some date.  Here is the old Hopkinton Beehive.  What is neat is that there was room for somebody to enter the structure, and perhaps meditate or used as a sweat lodge.  The way this structure accomodates somebody sitting down against the back boulders reminds me of the back of the Echo Lake Stone Lodge structure, also located in Hopkinton ( http://www.nativenewenglandstones.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-echo-lake-stone-lodge-chamber.html).  Although the structures appear to be different, with Echo Lake structure a more classic "Chamber" look, the way these structures accomodate someone sitting down in back of the structure against boulders seems similar.  Here is the Hopkinton Beehive in all it's glory-

Presented here is the modern re-production of the Hopkinton Beehive, at the incentive and foresight of the landowner, although this newer reproduction is not located on the same spot-

Some nearby cairns and stoneworks I noted near to the original Beehive Structure are here- ( http://www.nativenewenglandstones.blogspot.com/2014/12/cairns-stonework-near-lake-whitehall.html).  These stone-works, as well as the original Beehive and modern replica are located around the Lake Whitehall area of Hopkinton, MA.

In downtown Hopkinton by the town offices, what is today Rte. 135 is this sign, indicating that this road has it's pre-historic origins as an Native route.  In colonial times Native people used this trail to go between the Native Praying Villages, such as between Megunkoquag (located by what is now the Ashland train station) and Hassanamesitt in Grafton, MA.  This already existing Native route was used by later colonists heading west, as this trail, the Great Trail known in the Native way, is from Boston to Connecticut and who knows how far beyond, this wasn't just one single trail, but a network of many trails, such as the smaller Pout Lane branch of the trail, also Native in origin which goes through Holliston, Milford and Mendon to get to Grafton.  

Anyway, this sign begs the question.  What else is out there.  For that we should turn to the stone-works, capable in the natural sense of withstanding the test of time- 

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 4- Stone Mounds- Final

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 4- Stone Mounds- Final

Stone Mound #1, the largest stone mound of the site- (A-G)  View A-

View B-

C-

D-

E-

View F-

View G, a toppled over Standing Stone-

Stone mound #2-

Down the hillside on the upper banks of the brook was this cairn. A-

B-

Back up the hill, next to Stone Mounds 1 and 2 is Stone Mound #3 with a spectacular view. A-

B-

Stone Mound #4 with a rock placement (bear's head/ bobcat's head?)-A-

B-

C-

This concludes observations of "Upper Beaver Brook" & Beaver Brook in general.  An important area with stone-works along the brook and hillsides of Hopkinton/ Holliston MA., down the street from the Echo Lake Headwaters of the Charles, Blackstone and Sudbury Rivers. 

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 3 StoneWorks

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 3 StoneWorks

Propped boulder/ cairn placement on the hillside.  A good candidate for a worn-out glyph inscription-

Rock on rock placement, possible turtle effigy-

cairn-

View B of the cairn, revealing a turtle design (head-stone on the right)-

Another rock placement, possible serpent head effigy-

A notched out boulder on the hillside.  View A-

View B, revealing a upwards/downwards slash mark.  There is a mighty power in this symbolism, like a sudden flash of lightning.  There are historic accounts from the Great Lakes region that this symbol was used to express strength and power.  I have noticed this before on a standing stone in a site nearby to this one, here- (http://www.nativenewenglandstones.blogspot.com/2014/12/marked-standing-stone-other-works.html).  There could also be more worn-out gyphs on this boulder, and we also know from the last pic that it is notched-out- 

Stone placements, part of a larger stone enclosure-

Part of the larger stone enclosure, which was hard to get in a picture-

Okay.  This modern water drain that was placed here, with nearby development around this place.  Notice the top stone.  It does not appear to be blasted from a larger rock (the edges are too smooth) nor does it look to be quarried or drilled-out.  Could it be that this top stone was already lying around the area, and the developers conveniently used it because it fit their needs?  Obviously we are in an area of a high volume of pre-colonial stone-works.  There is the possibility this top stone belonged to some now decrepid stone structure- 

View B of the top stone-

A very energetic boulder at an over-look-

the over-look-

A piece of quartz tool still laying around, placed on the boulder-

Another "crude" stone tool on the boulder- 

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 2- Interesting Stone Wall Features

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 2- Interesting Stone Wall Features

  This section of stone wall ran along the base of a ledge.  Here is a interesting gap in the stone wall, a design element built into the stone wall on purpose-  

Next to the gap is this turtle effigy, carrying a stone slab on it's back.  I have seen this exact type of stone effigy in a stone walls before, featured several times already in this blog.  An example of one of many stone idols found in walls- 

View B of stone idol-

Snaking it's way around the ledge-

Running up the rocky ledge-

Looking down-

Vertically inserted stone slab in the wall-

An interesting stack of stones found on the rock ledge.  The remains of some kind of stone structure?-

The remains of a knocked over roof slab?  Here is another possible candidate for a ruined stone structure (this pic and the last pic)-

The other side of the brook.  Wall running up the hillside-

Lower level of the stone wall running horizontally, retaining water from the wet-land-

Development on the other side-

Interesting boulders and smaller rounded stones in this stone-wall section.  Newer house from the development in the background.  Almost looks like the rounded smaller stones are balancing on the bird's beak (boulder in wall)-

One of the several rock ledges along the brook-

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 1- Cairn Enclosures/ Terraces

Upper Beaver Brook Pt 1- Cairn Enclosures/ Terraces

This stone-work looked like a U-shaped terrace on the upper slopes of the Beaver Brook banks-

Obviously a rock placement.  Possibly an effigy stone, in older times, gaping mouth-  

A nice cairn/ stone mound enclosure.   On a lower level (perhaps a spiraling terrace would be more obviously revealed if archaeology were done) from the last pics.  View A-

B-

C-

D-

Close-up of boulder placement seen in the middle pathway of last pic-

E-

Oddly shaped stone, like a funnel-

Another enclosured level of stone-works yards away-