Perch lake mounds, with notes on other New York mounds...

Click on the title of this post for a link to the book that contains this text. The text quoted below starts on the very bottom of page 31 and continues on page 32. Plate 12 is on page 99.

"A curious spot 1 1/2 miles west-southwest of Unadilla may be described here, having never been mentioned before. For the account and chart, thanks are due to Mr Harry B. Cecil of that place. It is on the farm of Enoch H. Copley and in a woodland of about 33 acres, the whole of which is a series of moraines and kettle-shaped hollows. In the largest of these hollows is a shallow pond, marked A in the diagram, plate 12, figure 1. The shaded part B has been partly filled in for the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. The pond is surrounded by moraines, C C C, about 100 feet high, and a road D, follows the north and east margins. At E, F, G, are rude stone walls from 2 to 4 feet high. Mr Cecil said:

At one time I supposed these had been constructed to get rid of the rocks that were in the way, but this could not be the case, as the stones could have been dumped into the pond very much more easily, and it would have materially helped to widen the road D. The oldest residents say that these piles and walls have always been there. At IT, until a short time ago, were two circles made of rocks loosely thrown together. They measured 10 feet across and were contiguous, having openings at the remote parts of their circumferences. I turned these over carefully, but failed to find anything of Indian workmanship and the soil beneath was apparently undisturbed. At I was another stone wall. At J is a heap of undisturbed rocks. At K is a carefully made road, about 8 feet wide and extending about 300 feet in a westerly direction, gradually ascending to 50 feet above the pond level. No explanation can be given of this unless it was part of a trail. Below this road and above the wall at E, is a stone heap, and above the road is a large hollow filled up with stones of all descriptions. I am positive that these heaps are not natural. All these remains are included in about half an acre.

This account is free from extravagance and suggests the use of the spot as a pound for deer, terminating a driveway. These and other animals would naturally resort there to drink. With or without contracting hedges they would follow their own paths, and the roadway would turn them toward the double walls, I, F, when driven. Some would escape only to encounter other hunters at the wall G. In the press others might turn back and meet hunters at the wall E. The circles may have been the foundations of hunting lodges, and the season of wild fowl would afford a secondary use. The usual course was to make a pound of stakes and branches, but the primitive hunter was quick to avail himself of natural advantages, and was not sparing of work."

...

Plate 12.

Downsville rock shelter - part 2

This is a short video of a portion of rock wall along an outcrop above the rock shelter. At 19 seconds into the video is a split and pulled forward slab boulder (other examples are here, here and here) but this one has an obvious wedge between the slab and boulder below, which is something that isn't present in the other examples.

Some still shots of the stone wall. The first one is looking over that split-and-pulled-forward slab, in the direction of the rock shelter.Then, looking in the opposite direction, it looks like the wall ends there.But later, you can see it continuing on top of this outcrop in the distance.Here you can see some rocks on a boulder with a portion of the stone wall in the background.This definitely adds to the mystique of the rock shelter.

Downsville rock shelter - part 1

This is right along a well used trail, so there's no doubt about the fact that this is a frequently visited hang out. It is complete with a modern day fire pit inside.

First, the outside of the rock shelter from the side where you can walk in:Once you walk in, there is a natural window through the rock, looking out:A view of the outside from the opposite end of the window:Looking through the window from the outside, into the shelter:If you click on any of the images above, you might be able to see scratches and initials in the rock from one of the recent visitors (or vandals, as the case may be). But, what about these deeper, older scratches right at the entrance? I don't know if they man made (possibly ancient?) or natural, but they piqued my interest enough to take a close up:Here are the same marks from another angle (looking into the shelter).Even more exciting than this rock shelter is the stone wall above it. I'll have more about that in part 2.

Some turtles

One I've posted before...well, actually two, but the first video is edited to stop at the turtle because I hadn't noticed it the first time I posted the video.

The turtle in the end of the stone wall in the video above faces down toward a creek. It bears a resemblance to this turtle, which is right next to a swamp. Notice how both turtles are near (but not on) the bottom of the wall?

Then, this turtle is at the top of the wall between the two rooms in the chamber.
Or maybe they are shim rocks. I could see why you might want the two shims on the bottom, but what's that little shim at the top doing to stop that giant slab from rocking? Incidentally, when I took that picture, I wasn't looking at the turtle, I was looking at the small amount of surface area of rock which was holding that giant slab up off my head!

West Trout Brook Rd

Here is a little site next to a spring that I found while riding down West Trout Brook Road. The rock piles are visible from the road.


If my memory serves me correctly, there were 7 little rock piles in all, just off to the northwest of a spring.

More from Google Earth

I've been going around Google Earth, zooming down to eye level where sites are located and then switching on the "show sunlight across landscape" feature.

Here is a site I've been keeping an eye on for a while. This image is a satellite view from Google Earth. The circular things in the field are rock piles, overgrown with brush.Here is the same satellite view, but I've added a color code:
-Red: Summer solstice sunset
-Blue: Winter solstice sunset
-Purple: Spring and fall equinox sunsets
I also put a green circle around the rock pile in the far northeastern corner. It lines up with the winter solstice line of rock piles, but it's not in any of my photos here.I should also add that I have not yet investigated the line that juts out into the field, highlighted in purple. From a better (birds eye) view, it looks like two rock piles and then a depression, but it's safe to say that whatever is there is not tillable, hence the tree. Also, of the piles I looked at, I did not notice any stacking, but it is hard to see with all the brush.

There are better rock piles in the northeast corner of the field, in the woods. When I first found this site, I posted pictures of those rock piles and also of the stone row along the eastern end of the field at the Rock Piles blog, link here.

This past fall, I took some photos in the field. This view is standing next to the rock pile in the satellite view that has all 3 color circles around it, red, blue and purple:Zooming down with Google Earth, a similar angle with the June 21st sunset on the horizon:Standing at the same rock pile in the first photo, but looking to the southwest (blue line of piles):Eye level with Google Earth on the 12-21 sunset:This last one is hard to see on Google Earth because the pine tree doesn't show up. I do think there is some relationship with the equinoxes here. First, the same photo as above, but with a red arrow drawn from the top rock pile to the pine tree that is at the end of the untillable row:The Google Earth view on March 21st and September 21st (using the horizon as more of a guide than the pine tree):So, here it is again:While you may not agree with the way I'm presenting this (it's definitely unscientific), just looking at the evidence (photos and images) sets up a better argument for alignments rather than "coincidental field clearing piles". There are stone walls around the north and east ends of the field, so why would a farmer align rock piles in the middle of his field this way?

Playing with Google Earth

It lets you show sunlight across the landscape, for any day you choose. So, going to June 21, 2010 at one of my favorite sites, looking at the sunrise over Steam Mill State Forest looks something like this: