From History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut by William Cothren. vol. II (1872)

Nonnewaug’s Grave

ARCHAEOLOGY: New England Region

[100] Frank Glynn, “Excavation of the Pilot’s Point Stone Heaps,” Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut No. 38 1973. pp. 77-89.

Excavation Summary: Between 1952-54, Frank Glynn excavated two stone heaps at Pilot’s Point on coast of Connecticut. Heap I, an oval shaped stone mound, measured 12 feet by 21 feet with a maximum elevation of 2 feet. Heap II, another oval shaped stone mound, measured 9 feet in diameter with maximum elevation over two feet. It was built against a large glacial boulder. A small shell heap abutted the heap. Both heaps had 19^th and 20^th century artifacts on their top surface. The presence of these artifacts had led to local speculation of their colonial or later origins. Heap I revealed upon subsequent excavation to contain 20 features (primarily hearths and fire pits) some superimposed on top of lower features. Artifacts recovered included “stemmed and barbed projectile points, a stemmed knife, a scraper and a chisel, suggestive of the Archaic-Woodland overlapping periods.” In addition, rim shards, a mortar and pestle, and hoes and spades described as “Adena-like” were recovered. Glynn noted that “The immediate sealing-off of fires either by covering them with stone or rolling a large stone into them was evident.” Heap II was a mix of burnt stone and shell and had strong evidence that the glacial boulder was used as a reflector oven for cooking clams. Artifacts recovered included “Quartz cores, flakes and chips …broken choppers and scrapers …”

[101] James Mavor & Byron Dix, Manitou: The Sacred Landscape of New England’s Native Civilization (Rochester, VT: Inner traditions Inc., 1989), pp 66, 82 .

Editorial Note: James Mavor Jr. and Byron Dix investigate a group of 110 stone mounds in Freetown, Massachusetts during the early 1980’s. The original excavation report was printed in the Early Sites Research Society Bulletin in 1983. A revised version of this report was included in Mavor and Dix’s book Manitou (1989) on pages 66 to 82. A single stone mound was selected for archaeological excavation. The excavation recovered charcoal from two features and was c-14 dated 875 +/- 160 years B.P. and 875 +/- 150 years B.P. In additional, the excavation found 120 pieces of red ochre, and possible stone tools (hammerstones, scrapers, and anvils).

“We [Mavor & Dix]  conclude from the excavation that the mound, and by implication many others, was built by pre-historic Native Americans for ceremonial use, and was certainly not the result of English colonial field clearing.”

[102] Salvatore M. Trento, “A Stone Cairn Excavation Masters Lake, N.Y.,” Early Sites Bulletin vol. 9 no. 1 (1981), pp. 16-17.

Editorial Note: This article was a preliminary report and drew no conclusions. The complexity of the cairn structure and scarcity of archaeological excavation reports on cairns warrants its inclusion. The structural complicity of the cairn and the recovery of “chips of lithic material” in the accumulated fill of pit depression “X” raises some significant issues with the traditional colonial field clearing theory used to explain such structures.

“…the structure was found to have a distinct, teardrop shape. Four circular depressions were found beneath loose foliage.

 The oval-shaped pile was constructed of local field slabs between 24-36 inches in length, primarily shist and weighing between 25 and 50 pounds. The slabs were not randomly thrown together in an assorted pile as was frequently done in field clearance. Rather, the Slabs had been carefully placed one on top of the other to form a crude but somewhat effective support structure – each stone was dependent upon one below for support. Movement of any slabs would results in partial collapse of the structure. This building construction was repeatedly brought to the attention of the field teams [Mid Atlantic Research Company (MARC)] during excavation. The long axis of the structure, running approximately east-west measured 31 feet, while the shorter axis, running approximately north-south measured 19 feet.

 The maximum height of the cairn gradually sloped from 4 feet above ground level at its western end to approximately 2 feet at the eastern end. …

 … Pit depression `X` yielded the most intriguing items. At a depth of 36 inches two round boulders were uncovered below a heavy concentration of roots from a nearby tree. Beneath these boulders team member, Mr. Pingotti uncovered a 10 inch layer of moist soil. Various chips of lithic material were found in the sifter.”

[103] Dennis E. Howe, “The Beaver Meadow Brook Site: Prehistory on the West Bank at Sewall’s Falls, Concord, New Hampshire”, New Hampshire Archaeologist Vol. 29 No. 1 (1988). pp. 59

Editorial Note: Feature 5 at the site was classified as a cairn and associated with feature 9 a cremation burial. Feature 9 had “A Radiocarbon date of 5155 +/- 190 years B.P. (GX-14009) was obtained from charcoal excavated from immediately below the feature.” (pp. 61)

“Feature 5 This feature, located in excavation units N0E0 and N1E0, consisted of stacked cobbles and stones … and has been identified as a cairn. The total weight of the stones and cobbles was 124.5 lbs (274.5 kg). It extended from a depth of 48 cm to 83 cm. It is likely that it was associated with the cremated human remains, Feature 9, and Feature 4. No other features like this were found on either bank of the river in the Sewall’s Falls area.”

[104] Edmund Swigart, Prehistory of the Indians of Western Connecticut: Part 1, 9,000-1000 BC, (American Indian archaeological Institute, 1974) pp. 32

“Four additional firepits were in a cloverleaf arrangement and were ringed with stones. An additional pile of river cobbles, presumably for cooking purposes, was four feet northeast of these hearths. Two additional pits did not have a large number of stones directly associated with them when they were exposed. Both, however, had piles of river cobbles appromixately seven feet away. While these hearths could conceivably have been roasting fires, the absence of preserved bone and plant remains would suggest that these, in conjunction with the neighboring stones, were used in preparation of boiled food. They might also have been used for a purpose other than cooking, however. One of these two pits was excavated by Stephen Post and Douglas Jarvis, Gunnery School students. It has returned the oldest C-14 date so far recorded for the State of Connecticut, 2515 B.C. +/- 240 years.
...
In addition to the seven firepits and the acorn pit, 11 other features were recorded. Three of these were piles of river cobbles 24 to 36 inches in diameter and up to 12 inches deep.  One of these had an unusual concentration 9cache) of tools next to it. Two of the five pitted stones, three anvil stones, three hammerstones, quartz cores, one quartz knife, and three crude quartz toolswere in a 12 inch area north of the stone pile. Moderately heavy concetrations of debitage were in the immediate vicinity, indicating that this might have been a work area as well.

Three other features were obvious work areas. One was an 18 inch-diamter circle, edged with larger stones and containing occasional charcoal fragments, 12 crude quartz tools, and 451 pieces of debitage per inche of soil depth. It was located threefeet north of a firepit. According to Ritchie, becuase of the stone circle there may have been a significance, possibly religious, greater than that of a normal work area connected with this feature. ...” pp. 32

[105] Dean R. Snow, A Summary of Excavations at the Hathaway Site in Passadumkeag, Maine, 1912, 1947, and 1968, (Department of Anthropology, University of Maine, 1969)

Editorial Note: This site is include becuase of its striking similarities to Feature 5 at Beaver Meadow Brook Site (#104). Three C-14 dates were obtained from different components of the burial and feature. 3050 +/- 140 BC, 1320 +/- 100 AD, 1750 +/- 80 AD. Snow argues that the 5,000 year old date represents re-interred charcoal and the other two dates are more representative of the features age. Snow’s interpretation / reconstruction of the feature indicates the stone concentration was an intentional feature of the burial ceremony.

“A concentration of boulders was discovered just to the northeast of the burial [#28] under the fill shown in the upper left hand corner of plate 11.” pp. 39

ARCHAEOLOGY: Non New England States, Canada, Sub-Artic, Central & South America

[200] Letter from Mr. J.F. Aiton to Rev. E.D. Neil in St. Paul, MN, January 17, 1852 (Institute for Minnesota Archaeology, From Site to Story website)

http://www.fromsitetostory.org/rwl/stonecairns/stonecairnsaiton.asp

"Dear Sir: -- Your letter of the third instant, relating to the stone heaps near Red Wing [Minnesota], was duly received. I am happy to comply with your request, hoping that it may lead to an accurate survey of these mounds.

In 1848 I first heard of stone heaps, on the hill tops, back from Red Wing. But business, and the natural suspicion of the Indian prevented me from exploring. The treaty of Mendota emboldened me to visit the hills, and try to find the stone heaps. Accordingly, late last autumn, I started on foot and alone from Red Wing, following the path marked P on the map, which i herewith transmit. I left the path after crossing the second stream, and turning to the left, I ascended the first hill that I reached. This is about a mile distant from the path that leads from Fort Snelling to Lake Pepin. There, on the brow of the hill, which was about 200 feet high, was a heap of stones. It is about twelve feet in diameter and six in height. The perfect confusion of the stones, and yet the entireness of the heap, and the denuded rocks all around, convinced me that the heap had been formed from stones lying around, picked up by the hand of man.

But why, and when it had been done were questions not so easily decided. For solving these, I resolved to seek internal evidence. Prompted by the spirit of a first explorer, I soon ascended the heap; and the coldness of the day, and the proximity of my gun, tended to suppress my dread of rattlesnakes. The stones were such that I could lift, or roll them, and I soon reached a stick about two feet from the top of the heap. After descending about a foot farther I pulled the post out; and about the same place found a shank bone, about five inches long. The post was red cedar, half decayed, i.e. one side, and rotted to a point in the ground; hence I could not tell whether it grew there or not. The bone is similar to the two which you have. I left it and the post on the heap, hoping that some one better skilled in osteology might visit the heap. The stones of the heap are magnesium limestone, which forms the upper stratum of the hills about Red Wing.

Much pleased, I started south over the hill top, and was soon greeted by another silent monument of art. This heap is marked B on the map. It is similar to the first which is marked A, only it is larger and was so covered with a vine that I had not success in opening it. From this point, there is a fine view southward. The valleys and hills are delightful. Such hills and vales, such cairns and bushy glens, would, in my father's land, have been the thrones and play grounds of fairies. But I must stick to facts. I now started eastward to visit a conical appearing hill, distant about a mile and a half. I easily descended the hill, but to cross the plain and ascend another hill "hic labor est." But I was amply repaid. The hill proved to be a ridge, with several stone heaps on the summit. Near one heap there is a beautiful little tree, with a top like "Tam O'Shanter's" bonnet.

I then descended northward about 200 feet, crossed a valley, past some earth mounds, and ascended another hill, and there found several more stone heaps similar to the others. In them I found nothing else worthy of particular notice at present.

If these few facts, should, in any measure, help to preserve correct information concerning any part of this new country, I shall be amply rewarded for writing.

Your obedient servant,

J.F. AITON”

[201] I.A. Lapham, The Antiquities of Wisconsin as Survey and Describe…, (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1855) Chap. 4.

http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/Antiquities/antiqC04.html

“ The eastern extremity of Doty’s island has long been occupied by Indians, as is evinced by the regular cornhills covering nearly the whole surface, as well as by a new feature, not before observed, or supposed to be within the pale of Indian customs. The ground was originally covered with loose stones, fragments of the solid limestone rock that exists everywhere not far beneath the surface. These stones had been carefully collected into little heaps and ridges, to make room for the culture of the Native crops. The stone heaps are six or eight feet in diameter, and from one to two feet in height. The interstices are now filled with soil, and partially covered with grass and weeds.”

[202] Dr. W. M. Sweney, 1869 Address given before the Old Settlers Association, (Institute for Minnesota Archaeology, From Site to Story website)

http://www.fromsitetostory.org/rwl/stonecairns/stonecairnsweney.asp

Editorial Note: According the Institute for Minnesota Archaeology, From Site to Story website, “By the time the next traveller, Dr. W.M. Sweney, recorded these cairns, many had been destroyed. Today, the cairns of Red Wing have completely disappeared, the stone used for building or removed prior to plowing the fields. Our only record of these important Native American structures remains in the words of 19th century visitors to the area.”

" Evidences of occupation of the country [Red Wing, MN] by a race of people whose habits in some respects differed from those of the Dakota's of the more recent period, were numerous. On the sharp hill points in the vicinity of Cannon River and Spring Creek, were a number of cairns or stone mounds. These were on the highest points, where shelly rock outcropped, and always overlooked the lower plateaus or valleys on which were situated large groups of earthen tumult. The cairns were of various sizes, ranging from six feet in diameter to twelve at the base. Their shape was conical, and some in the best state of preservation had an elevation of from eight to ten feet. The base was on the bed rock and all the loose stones in the vicinity had evidently been gathered to aid to the completion of the structure. The first layer was in the form of a circle, and by in lapping toward the centre in every succeeding layer, an apex was finally reached. A majority of these structures had fallen in, leaving a circle of rude masonry from three to four feet high while the remains of the upper portion laid in a mass inside the wall, not filling the cavity, showing very conclusively that they had been built hollow. Being very desirous of ascertaining the purposes for which they were erected, I selected two of the most perfect, which were situated on an isolated hill in the valley leading from the little brook near Hawley's mill to Spring Creek. This hill is very sharp and narrow barely affording level base enough for the foundation of the large mound which was at least twelve feet in diameter and nine feet high. It had settled considerably pressing on the cavity. After an hour's hard work we were in a situation to observe the condition at its foundation. A few handsful of black mould was scattered over the bare base rock, a mussel shell nearly in powder and two remnants of wood, distant from each other about six feet in an east and west direction, was all it contained. When we found the wooded fragments they were standing upright, as stakes, supported in that position by rock, and were dry-rotted to points. With a knife I cut off all the decayed wood, the centre being a mere splinter, but enough to clearly distinguish it as that kind of oak known as swamp or blue oak. The other mound did not yield the same amount of discoveries; a little mould, and traces of what we supposed to be decayed bones or shells was all that repaid our labor.

As I observed, I think these cairns were designed as burial places, and for distinguished personages. The material of which they were composed secured them against the depredations of wild animals. Their number, however, would lead to the conclusion that it was not the common mode of sepulchre. The groups of earthen mounds in the valleys overlooked by these cairns, were counted by hundreds, and I think were once human habitations; and if my conjectures be in the right direction, these isolated cemeteries would not alone contain the mortuary remains of as numerous a people as the evidences then to be observed indicated.

These rock structures appear to be peculiar to that portion of our county lying between Hay Creek and Cannon River, and distant but two or three miles from the Mississippi River. In no other portion of our county or state have I observed remains of a similar character . . ."

[203] George P. Morehouse, “Kansas Archaeology”, in William E. Connelley, A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, (1918), Vol. 2 pp. 960-969.

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1918ks/v2/960.html

“ In Marion County, a large heap or mound of shells was found years ago; and on bluffs of Wolf Creek in Coffey County, numerous stone heaps have been found in which shellsof muscles are mixed, such as are found so numerous in the Neosho River a mile away and which yield so many fine pearls even to this day. These heaps were possibly once covered with earth, which the elements have washed away. At the foot of the bluff, a probable crematory and many flint arrow points were found, - some of which with fragments of pottery were several feet below the surface where large oak trees 4 feet in diameter had grown.”

[204] Clemens de Baillou, “Archeological Salvage in the Morgan Falls Basin”, University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology Series Report No. 4, (Athens, Georgia: Laboratory of Archaeology, University of Georgia, 1962), pp. 16.

Full Text Available Online http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/archaeology/pdfs/lab%20series%2004.pdf

Editorial Note: Baillou’s team was investigating Rock Shelter IV (9Co21) when the property owner informed them of some unusual nearby stone mounds. These mounds were also investigated and a report issued on their findings. The archaeologist determined that the mounds were man-made. Due to a total lack of artifacts in the mound excavations, they refrained from interpreting the mounds or attributing them to any particular culture. Mound I’s (9Co22) construction was sufficiently unusual for the archaeologist to state, “We should not ignore the possibility that this structure was designed as anthropomorphic effigy.” (pp. 16) What follows is a description of this cairn like structure.

“After removal of the leaves and humus, it measured 16 feet in length. At is widest part, about 5 feet from the North West end, it measured about 6 ½ feet. In the center it is about 30 inches high. This [stone] mound was surrounded by an oval ring which measured about 20 feet across its length and 13 feet across its width; there was a space about two feet wide between the ring and the central stone pile. … the South West and South portions of the circle are formed by slabs standing upright. … On the upper end of the central rock pile was a strikingly large round stone. Two lines of stone branched out from it so that the design is V-shaped – it gives the impression of a head and arms. The `arms’ are laid out with smaller stones…”

[205] Richard F Pourade (editor), Ancient Hunters of the Far West, (San Diego, CA: The Union-Tribune Publishing Co., 1966), pp.49.

Editorial Note: This book has fairly extensive details on various stone structures in southern California. These structures include sleep circles, linear stone alignments and cairns. The structures were found rocky desert environments. Based on archaeological investigations, they were attributed to the Yuman I & II and San Dieguito I cultural phases.

“… The early shrines are barren of offertory material, except for an occasional man-made flake. The shrines unfortunately contain no identifiable intermediate cultural deposits, such as Amargoss artifacts, lying between the San Dieguito and Yuman periods. If any intermediate people indulged in the practice, they merely added more stones to the cairn. Those which are adjacent to Yuman trails contain a capping of material characteristic of the period. The San Dieguito I type of shrine is most often found on the summit of a divide or in a mountain pass, as are the later Yuman shrines. There are, however, sporadic occurrences of this type which are not on summits and have no discernible trails leading to them or near them. A common variety has a large boulder as a nucleus, around and over which the cobbles were deposited. …

With the beginning of the Yuman period, wayfarers turned to a sacrificial debauch of personal property. Men deposited their tobacco pipes and women deliberately smashed whole ceramic vessels on the shrines. Shell jewelry and food offerings were also made. The trait continued throughout the Yuman period down into historic times, until even the American prospector, perhaps in a facetious mood, added contributions to the cairn in the way of a mule shoe or whiskey bottle.

At the end of Yuman I period … travelers ceased to deposit and destroy intact property and became content to pick a trail sherd or a stone while en route, for deposition in the nearest shrine.”

[206] William C. Noble, “Vision Pits, Cairns, and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake, Algonguin Provincial Park, Ontario,” Ontario Archaeology 11 (1968), pp 47-64.

Editorial Note: Noble investigated a series of 31 stone lined pits on Rock Lake. A survey of the surrounding area also revealed a cluster of 42 cairns, and several petroglyphs. The pits were interpreted as Native American vision quest pits. The petroglyphs were also classified as being of Native American origin. Noble’s conclusions are conservative, however, he does not rule out the possibility that cairns were connected to other Native American religious / ceremonial sites at the lake.

“… a distinctive cluster of low rock cairns was found. They sat openly exposed beneath the forest canopy of maple tress on the first major plateau above the lake front flat. Subsequent mapping of this cairn group indicated that there were a total of 42 structures within a radius of 160 feet: outside this radius no cairns occurred. The cairns lay between the 84 and 108 foot level of elevation above Rock Lake. All appeared to have been purposely piled and are not the result of natural phenomena.” Pp. 58

“ The rock cairns behind and above the rock-lined pits at Rock Lake cannot definitely be demonstrated to be associated with the latter structures. However, it does seem possible that such a connection did exist. The 42 cairns approximate the number of pits recorded, and they too suggest a socio-religious theme of interpretation. Could the cairns not be `tobacco-drops` or dedication cairns erected to a guardian spirit after a successful vision? Three somewhat similar cairns were found at Red Sucker Point, Lake Superior (Emerson: personal communication), one of which was seen by the author during a visit to that site in 1960. Perhaps `vision pits’ and cairns are combined in an integrated pattern.” pp. 63

[207] George C. Frison, “Linear Arrangements of Cairns in Wyoming and Montana”, Megaliths to Medicine Wheels: boulder Structures in Archaeology, Proceedings of the Eleventh annual Chacmool Conference (Calgary, Albert: Archaeological Association, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 1981), pp. 145-147.

“ Direction of the cairn lines seems to have been determined largely by topography. Of six discrete lines in the southern Big Horns four generally trend east-west while two trend north-south. One is definitely in a mountain pass, but only extends partially toward the actual pass. Two were located on ridge-tops that extend from close to the bottom of the mountain slope a good distance up slope. The other three cairns lines align themselves parallel to the base of the mountain slopes, usually cross one or more arroyos, and in doing so, follow natural trails. In one instance, the beginning of the line is a single cairn while the first 2 to 6 six cairns are doubled or form a zig-zag pattern. In another instance one end is an amorphous pattern of 4 cairns. Two of the lines demonstrated two cairns side by side at the edge of deep arroyos; and in another instance, three cairns form a triangle at the edge of arroyo bank. Two lines simply begin and end with no discernible terminal pattern.” pp. 146

“ Dating of the cairns has not been satisfactory … On the other hand, Loendorf (personal communication) did find ceramics in at least one cairn in the Big Horn Canyon group, and Mulloy (1958) found Late Prehistoric period evidence in the case of the Pryor Gap cairns. The evidence argues for a Late Prehistoric and possibly also Late Archaic date for the cairns.” pp. 145-146

“Loendorf (personal communication) spent considerable time in the Pryor Mountain area and claims that a Crow Indian today will not travel Pryor Gap without making an offering of a stone to the large cairn present there. Joe Medicine Crow, the Crow Indian ethnologist, claims (personal communication 1979) his people add stones to cairns as offerings. If these accounts are accurate it would help to explain the cairn-line phenomenon.” pp. 147 Editorial Note: This claim also appears in a primary source account which specifically mentions the Crow (see Bradly, 1961 i.e. custer account). A similar claim has also been made by the Blackfoot Tribe, see source #601.

[208] Larry D. Agenbroad, “Boulder Structures in Bison Drives, Owyhee County, Idaho”, Megaliths to Medicine Wheels: boulder Structures in Archaeology, Proceedings of the Eleventh annual Chacmool Conference (Calgary, Albert: Archaeological Association, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 1981), pp. 151.

Editorial Note: Agenbroad documented seven drive line jumps in Idaho used for hunting bison. The study documented several types of stone structures (stone piles, breastworks, fences, and stone circles). Based upon projectile points recovered from these sites, Agenbroad argues that these sites were used, repaired, and modified over a 7,000 year period (7800 B.P. – 125 B.P.).

“ The most common boulder features of the complexes, or any single drive, are the stone piles. Totaling 1262 in the mapped area, these piles vary in size from one stone set upon another to piles that still stand as high as four feet (1.2 m) above the surface of the drive lane. Stone piles served the purpose of drive lane markers, and in the map configuration they outline drive lanes diverging to the west and converging toward the eastern terminus of the drive.”

[209] David Morrison, “Chipewyan Drift Fences and Shooting-Blinds in the Central Barren Grounds,” Megaliths to Medicine Wheels: boulder Structures in Archaeology, Proceedings of the Eleventh annual Chacmool Conference (Calgary, Albert: Archaeological Association, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 1981), pp. 176.

Editorial Note: A 1976 archaeological survey of the Elk and Thelon Rivers (Eastern District of Mackenzie) identified a number of caribou hunting drive lines refer to as “Drift Fences Sites”.

“ A drift fence (= caribou fence) is a row of stone cairns, usually a meter or less in height and spaced five or six meters apart. Individual cairns are usually of very simple construction; a few piled stones or a single upturned slab. In order to increase their visibility, they were, whenever possible, constructed along a ridge top, so as to be silhouetted along the skyline. Drift fences were used to channel caribou toward a killing place in the form of a water crossing ambush or strategically placed shooting blinds.

 It has long been recognized that the Inuit used lines of cairns which they call inukshuit (sing. Inukshuk: “like a man”) for caribou hunting …The Chipewyan use of stone inukshuit rows to hunt caribou north of tree-line seems to have gone almost entirely unnoticed.”

[210] Patrick H. Carmichael, “The Thunderbird Site and the Thunderbird Nest Phenomenon in Southeastern Manitoba,” Megaliths to Medicine Wheels: boulder Structures in Archaeology, Proceedings of the Eleventh annual Chacmool Conference (Calgary, Albert: Archaeological Association, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 1981), pp. 282, 289, 290.

Editorial Note: The “Thunderbird Nest” stone cairns described in this article are relative rare in New England. Examples of these cairns have been found in Connecticut and southern New Hampshire. The article discusses three “Thunderbird Nest” cairns. The cairn labeled “Nest #2” from site EgKx-15 is the only such cairn found in direct association with a habitation site. The cairn was tentatively dated to 1700 – 1500 B.P. and Carmichael does not rule out the possibility that structure began construction in the Archaic period. The other two cairns were found in more isolated locations. Carmichael discusses five hypothesis for interpreting the structures, all center around Native American religious practice, but he draws no conclusions.

“ The Thunderbird Nest [#2] is a large circular pile of boulders with a central depression or hollow; in effect a huge stone nest. The boulders vary in size and shape, but are estimated to average between 20 and 50 kg in weight. They are primarily of granite, although the local `greenstone’ bedrock is also well represented. The Nest measures 6.5 to 7 meters north-south and 6 m east-west; and the central hollow is approximately 1.5 m in diameter. … Excavation units placed around the Nest’s perimeter yielded two end scrapers, a biface, a large corner-notched projectile point, and assorted quartz debitage. No Post-molds, ash, or charcoal were found.” pp. 282.

“ It has been suggested that these Nests are simply glacial boulder dumps. In the cases of Nests #1 and #2, the writer does not discount the possibility that the boulders were originally deposited in piles by glacial action. However, their shared traits, regular circular outline, very similar dimensions, and the presence of a central hollow are unquestionably of cultural origin.” pp. 289
 

“[Hypotheses]

(a) the Nests were built as monuments to important personages or events;

(b) they are grave markers of important personages;

(c) they were constructed for vision quests;

(d) they were built to assist in divination of the future; or

(e) they were built by individuals or groups and dedicated to supernatural powers in (1) gratitude, (2) appeasement, or (3) praise, in order gain favor.” pp. 290

[211] Kenneth C. A. Dawson, “Prehistoric Stone Features on the Relict North Shore Cobble Beaches of Lake Superior,” Megaliths to Medicine Wheels: boulder Structures in Archaeology, Proceedings of the Eleventh annual Chacmool Conference (Calgary, Albert: Archaeological Association, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 1981), pp. 304,

Editorial Note: Based on limited artifact recoveries the various sites reviewed in this article were dated to 1150 B.P. to 350 B.P. and attributed Algonkian peoples. Between 65 and 70% of features surveyed were associated religious activities including the Medewin Society ceremonies. Given the isolated locations, temporary nature of the camps, and other evidence, Dawson concluded the “sites are considered to be primarily ceremonial.” pp 304.

“ Dedication structures (type C) are associated with gift-giving to the spirits. They are divided into cairns and mounds. Only one large mound structure with a depressed interior was located; it was on a lower beach. The 34 cairns are divided into two varieties: beach (cc-1; N=18) and house (cc-2; N=16). The house variety occurs inside conical lodges. The beach variety is about the size of the house variety. Beach cairns occur in isolation, usually in prominent locations. Some smaller beach cairns were associated with vision-quest pits, and occasionally occurred in pairs.” pp 304.

[212] Joseph L. Chartkoff, “A Rock Feature Complex from Northwestern California”, American Antiquity 48 (4) 1983 pp. 745-759.

Editorial Note: This article documented and analyzed six different stone structure features associated with Native American ritual activities in northern California. Chartkoff attributes these features to the Yurok, who speak an Algonkian language. Only a few short lines relevant to the subject of this paper are quoted below. However, the complete article should be required reading for researchers investigating cairns, rock stacks, stone circles, and other similar structures.

“…We recorded 63 cairns in our survey: 28 on peaks, 32 along trails, and three obvious modern  ones  with iron pipes in the center to mark points, boundaries, or mine claims.

 The peak-top cairns are not to be confused with constructed surveyors’ monuments, which were identified and recorded separately. The 28 peak-top cairns were found principally in association with [Native America] prayer-seat features. Some may be former prayer seats that had been torn down by their builders/users at the end of ritual careers …Others may serve ritual functions apart from those performed at prayer seats and rock stacks. …” pp. 751

[213] Harry O. Holstein et al, “The Morgan Mountain Stone Mound Complex, Site 1Ca32, Calhoun County, Alabama”, Journal of Alabama Archaeology, Vol. 35, No. 1 (1989). pp.36 – 59.

Editorial Note: Five stone mounds arranged in linear north-south arrangement were found on top of Morgan Mountain. The southern half of mound 2 was excavating into the subsoils. With the exception of a few historical artifacts (shotgun shells) and limited organics (nutshell fragments), the excavation provided no archaeologically significant data useful in identifying its age, purpose, or builders. The historical artifacts were determined to have been deposited on the mound after its construction. A visual inspection of mound 3 located six greenstone slabs on the surface of the mound and large pot hunter’s hole in the mound. Research revealed that the nearest possible source of the greenstone was four miles away. Two of the slabs weighed 90 and 110 lbs respectively. It was concluded that the greenstone slabs were intentionally brought to the site with considerable effort.

“ The greenstone slabs, however, are the key shred of evidence as to the purpose and builders of these mounds. Archaeologically, the use of greenstone by human populations has regionally been equated with aboriginal pursuits. Greenstone does not outcrop on Morgan Mountain. The use of slab-like rocks in association with aboriginal burials has been demonstrated archaeologically. It is suggested that the greenstone slabs recovered from mound 3 were originally in association with one or more aboriginal burials subsequently disturbed by treasure hunters. Based on excavation data, regional archaeological surveys, nearby excavation data, and common sense, the five stone mounds atop Morgan Mountain are the result of prehistoric aboriginal activity.” Pp. 56

“It has frequently been suggested that EuroAmericans may have constructed northeastern Alabama stone mounds as part of land clearing operations such as logging or agricultural field preparation … The agricultural value of Morgan Mountain, however, is almost nil. The Calhoun County soil survey indicates all of the slopes and summit of Morgan Mountain are classified as stony rough land, sandstone, a soil type which is low in natural fertility, possesses shallow topsoil and is general[ly] rocky …This coupled with the steepness of the slopes and the total lack of level land, would make this locale extremely marginal for agricultural pursuits, particularly during the 19^th century with primitive agricultural technology.” Pp. 51

[214] Gerard LeDuc Ph.D., “No! Gladden and Royer Didn’t Build These Stone Mounds in Potten,” NEARA Journal, Vol. 25 Nos. 3 & 4 (Winter/spring 1991), pp 50-60.

Editorial Note: This is one of the few professional excavations of stone cairns reported. LeDuc and another professional archaeologist who participated in excavations subjected their investigations and subsequent analysis to high standards of scientific research. This article would serve well as a standard by which future cairn excavations should be measured against. LeDuc conclusions are conservative. However, he does firmly conclude that the cairns excavated predated the settlement of the area by Canadians / European immigrants. He considered the hypothesis that the cairns were built by Native Americans but felt further research was necessary to explore the issue in greater depth. The abstract of the article is reprinted below.

“[Abstract] The case is made that early settlers did not build the numerous stone mounds on the forested hillsides of Potton Township located in Quebec, just north of the Vermont border. This conclusion arises from archaeological study of two stone mound sites which revealed that the mounds had been carefully built and were not stone heaps [field clearings]. No recognizable artifacts were found but two cists were observed, as well as petroglyphs on the stones of one mound. Charcoal discovered under the three mounds excavated produced 14C dates of 1800 and 1500 BP, and 560 BP at the other. The research was further carried out with an ethno-historical survey of land titles from the early days to the present, supplemented with dendrochronological data and the examination of old aerial photographs.

 At one site, the only known early settler appears to have been a squatter who later moved his house to the village. The other settler was very poor and abandoned the land after thirteen years to move to the USA. Under the circumstances, it appears that, in both cases, it was not possible for these early settlers to have carried out all of the work required to produce the extensive stoneworks present, and that these structures predate the arrival of settlers at the sites.”

[215] James D. Keyser, Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau, (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1992), pp. 34

“ Both men and women sought guardian spirit helpers through the vision quest. Initially, this ritual came at puberty as part of the rites of passage that marked the transition from childhood to adulthood. … To obtain a guardian spirit, the supplicant would go to a secluded place, often where such spirits were known to reside. There the person contacted the spirits by keeping a vigil of one to three days, during which time he or she fasted, prayed, and performed a variety of tasks designed to demonstrate worthiness. …Often a supplicant built a small circular stone structure or cairn at the vision quest site.”

[216] Bureau of Land Management, Final Statewide Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Amendment of the Powder River and Billings resource Management Plans: Northern Cheyenne Narrative Report. pp. 7-18 to 7-19.

http://www.mt.blm.gov/mcfo/cbm/eis/NCheyenneNarrativeReport/index.html

“ The vast majority of the cultural resources recorded on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation are made up of either stone tools and tool making debris (lithic scatters) or stone piles generally referred to as cairns.

Lithic scatters are by far the most common site type on the reservation. Four hundred twenty-four (424) have been recorded as of February 2002. At least 12 are associated with springs. Most only contain stone tool making debris, a few contain fire broken rock and still fewer include non-human bone fragments. Most of the stone material used by the prehistoric and historic inhabitants of the area was porcellanite that commonly outcrops in the area. Consequently, many lithic scatters include evidence of quarrying and the initial processing of porcellanite.

Most of these sites are only known from survey data and consequently it is difficult to say during which era(s) they were used. Thirty arrow/spearheads that can be used to estimate the dates of occupation have been reported from the surface of these sites. The area has been inhabited since the Paleo-Indian Period (circa 12,000 years ago) through the Middle Period and the Late Prehistoric (ending approximately at 1750 AD).

Some cairn sites contain only one stone pile while others contain many. Cairns co-occur with tipi rings and lithic scatters. They vary widely in size and have many different functions. Cairns may mark trails or locations where specific events took place. They may be trash or site clearing piles; they may result from the building of tipi rings or sweat lodges. They can also have ceremonial functions when they are the result of people leaving offerings. Cairns sometimes mark human remains. Generally, the larger the cairn and the higher its profile (its height as measure from ground surface) the more likely it is to represent ceremonial activities or cover human remains. When cairns form linear arrangements they are called alignments. Alignment cairns are most often small and have a low profile. Generally alignments are directional markers/prayer lines associated with major ceremonial sites such as the Big Horn Medicine Wheel or drive lines, lines of stone used by groups of hunters to mark the routes on the prairie where they wanted to channel their prey (deer, antelope and bison). One alignment has been recorded on the reservation.

Fifty-four (54) sites containing cairns that are not associated with tipi rings or alignments have been recorded on the reservation. About 30% of these have associated stone tool making debris. One is associated with a location that has both prehistoric and historic rock art. On most site forms, the size of the cairns and their profile is not described therefore it is impossible to state how many have ceremonial functions. One exception to this is the very large cairn at 24RB1789.

Since cairns may mark human remains or memorialize spiritual/ceremonial activities, the Northern Cheyenne routinely avoid these sites.”

[217] Richard W. Jeffries and Paul R. fish, “Investigations of Two Stone Mound Localities, Monroe County, Georgia”, University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology Series Report No. 4, (Athens, Georgia: Laboratory of Archaeology, University of Georgia, 1962).

Editorial Note: Site 9Mo152 contained 3 large stone cairns and 52 small cairns. Site 9Mo153 contained one large cairn and 91 small cairns. Excavations of the large cairns produced Native American artifacts dating to the woodland period. “The excavation of small stone mounds at the two sites did not disclose data useful in suggesting their function or cultural affiliation. It would be expected, however, because of their proximity to the large mounds at their respective sites, that construction of these small mounds dates to the same general timer peiord. While no artifacts have been recovered from the small mounds, the spatial distribution of the mounds offers potentially significant information.” pp. 54

Full Text Available Online http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/archaeology/pdfs/lab%20series%2017.pdf

[218] U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, North Dakota Field Office, Coteau Properties Company Federal Coal Lease by Application (NDM 91535) for West Mine Area, Freedom Mine Mercer County, North Dakota Environmental Impact Statement, July 2005.

Editorial Note: An archaeological survey of the West Mine Area recorded 1,285 Stone Rings, 405, Stone Cairns, 21 Stone Alignments, 9 Stone Lined Depressions - all were classified as prehistoric features (see Table 3.7).Appendix A contains a detail list of excavation reports and other references. Appendix C & D & E contains a detail report on the prehistoric features.

Full Text Available Online www.mt.blm.gov/ndfo/coteau/coteaufeis/contents.htm

Appendix C, pp. 102

“At the Onion Ring site, four ring features and one cairn are associated with this complex. Besant projectile points were recovered from three of the rings, while a hearth dating to approximately 1950 BP and two Besant fragments were identified in the fourth (Deaver et al. 1989). Two ring features at 32ME220 yielded Besant projectile points (Deaver 1990). A number of rings, including 10-West, 14-West, 37, 52, 53, 54 and 56 at the Bees Nest site have been interpreted to be Besant occupations based on the recovery of this type of projectile point and associated radiocarbon dates (Peterson and Peterson 1995). Of the eight ring features excavated at 32ME254, seven are believed to be associated with this complex (Winzler et al. 1998).”

Appendix D, pp. 113

“Cairns represent the second most common type of feature observed in the Coteau Mining Region. Unfortunately, less is known about this feature type than about other stone features in the Plains. Occasionally, cairns are identified as caches or trash piles. Cairns larger than three meters in diameter, or that have high vertical profiles, represent a considerable amount of expended energy and may have played important roles, such as serving as burial markers and trailside offering piles. For this reason, larger cairns are often investigated more thoroughly than are smaller cairns. One hundred and eighty-seven sites in the Coteau Mining Region have cairns. Four hundred and five cairns have been recorded in the WMA. Some of these sites also contain rings and are labeled as ring sites. Others contain only cairns or are associated with stone features other than stone rings (e.g., alignments) and/or lithic debris and are identified as cairn sites. Excluding those sites that did not specify the number of cairns, 683 cairns have been identified in the Coteau Mining Region. The accretional construction of cairns over time has been observed at a number of sites in the Northern Plains. They include Bad Pass Trail, the Rosebud Battlefield, the O’Connelly cairn, Arrow Rock and the burial at Bees Nest (Loendorf and Brownell 1980; Medicine Crow 1992; Peterson and Peterson 1995). These features are associated with trail markers (Bad Pass Trail), event markers (Rosebud Battlefield), spiritual markers (Arrow Rock) and burials (Bees Nest). A number of the cairns examined in the West Mine Area yielded diagnostics that can be attributed to more than one cultural period. These include Feature 3C at 32ME144 (McKean and Plains Village), Feature 33C at 32ME232 and feature 9C at 32ME1589. These features also contain a number of unpatinated and heavily patinated Knife River flint flakes.”

Appendix D, pp. 114

“The second type of rock alignment is the most common in the Plains. Sets or groups of very small “cairns” or markers that form a line represent it. This type of alignment was observed at sites 32ME170, 32ME1294, 32ME1519, 32ME1520, 32ME1553, 32ME1560 and 32ME1568. In the new permit area, the markers are composed of 3 to 25 rocks. The overall length for this type of alignment ranges between 15 and 180 meters.

Rock alignments are often identified as drivelines; however, other interpretations, such as topographic markers (Frison 1991), prayer lines and medicine wheel remnants, have also been given (Peterson and Peterson 1995). Subsurface investigations are usually unproductive (K. Deaver 1983b:2-13), and the surface manifestation of these features often provides the only clue to their function. It is normally more productive to follow alignments and determine what other features (such as large burial cairns) or cultural materials (such as a bison bone bed) are associated than to excavate the alignment.

“Alignments, linear arrangements of cairns or single stones have traditional cultural value when they are prayer lines, demarcate the direction of a prominent individual’s war or ceremonial deeds or point to ceremonial structures such as medicine wheels” (Deaver and Fandrich 1999:2-5). Additionally, stone alignments may have been built as part of subsistence activities, used as drivelines by hunters to gauge how they wanted to move herd animals into traps. Other alignments may mark spirit trails or pilgrimage trails to sacred landforms.”

Appendix D, pp. 114

“The Crow and the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara) regard monumental stone structures, such as effigies and medicine wheels, as having sacred attributes. The Sioux and Assiniboines consider them wakan. Commonly, they have mythological associations with supernatural figures that make them appropriate places for fasting, prayer and making offerings. Cairns associated with these features commonly represent offerings.”

Appendix D, pp. 115

“Human remains do not need to be present for a location to be a final resting place. Cairns are sometimes made to ensure that a person returns. If that individual should die while away from his homeland, the cairn will ensure that the spirit will return to its home. Those markers without human remains are no less sacred than those that are associated with human remains.”

Appendix E, pp. 118

“Effigies found in the uplands also provide a material culture link between Hidatsa and Mandan theology and the landscape. Most effigies were boulder outlines of turtles and snakes. Generally, they are located on high bluffs along the Missouri River. The head of the turtle effigies point to the river. Historically, cairns associated with these effigy figures are related to individual offerings made to clear fogs so that buffalo herds could be found (Bowers 1965:337n)”

Appendix E, pp. 118

“Arikara ceremonial lodges are associated with large boulders. According to Howard (1972:299-300), the Yankton, other Dakota groups and the Arikara viewed large boulders as sacred/wakan, and the locales of these stones were regularly visited for prayer, prophecy and ceremonies. Two of the best-known examples of these sacred stones are the Tunkan or Oracle Stone [originally located near the mouth of the Turtle River near Redfield, South Dakota] and the revered Inyan bosdata or Standing Rock, now located at Fort Yates, North Dakota. According to Howard, both of these were originally Arikara monuments or shrines:

In each of the Arikara villages there was a sacred stone in front of the sacred or ceremonial lodge where the tribal bundles were kept. This stone represented Chief Above, the Creator. Beside it stood, during ceremonies, a cedar tree which represented Mother Corn, who had led the people from their original homeland underground. . . It would seem likely that these sacred stones, left behind by the departing Arikara, would be treated with veneration by the Dakota invaders . . . who would weave their own interpretations about them (1972:299-300).”

Appendix E, pp. 121

“Throughout their history, stones have been ceremonially important to all of the tribes involved in this project. Sacred stones recognized by the ancestors of the Three-Affiliated Tribes have been recognized, respected and honored by the later Siouian peoples as they moved in the area. Siouian peoples incorporated Arikara oracle stones into their belief systems because they had always-recognized Inyan (Stone), the Grandfather, and the first supernatural created by the Great Mystery. The sacredness or spiritual qualities of the stone features in the project area are part of the same tradition that recognized the sacred stones in Minnesota and eastern North Dakota.”

Appendix E, pp. 121

“Single stones, called glacial erratics by geologists, have long been recognized by the Sioux as having important spiritual attributes. They were used as a shrine where prayers and offerings were made.”

Appendix E, pp. 121

“Stone rings are powerful places. “When a person fasts in a circle [of stone], it is as if you are buried alive. You may not come out alive” (Tribal Consultation, Personal Communication 6/12/2000). Accordingly, rings provide a conduit from the person praying to the spirits above and there are potential spiritual consequences of going to the stone feature sites.

Stone features, described by archeologists as petroforms or effigies, are read as physical symbols of the continuing relationship between the spirit world and that of man. Effigies mark locations that have always been, and continue to be, appropriate places for fasting, prayer and making offerings, i.e. communicating with spiritual beings. The patterns made by the stones are recognized as representations of the spiritual qualities of the area. For generations people have visited these effigies and conducted ceremonies. They continue to use these places today. The tribal cultural representatives regard continued access to these sites as critical to their continuation as a people.

Cairns, stone piles created by men, may represent many different activities. They may be trail markers or contain burials. When grouped in lines they may be drive lines associated with hunting activity or prayer lines when associated with ceremonial activities. Cairns may be built all at one time or may be added to over the years by many different peoples. Cairns may hold offerings. Generally, the larger the cairn and the higher its profile the more likely it is to be associated with human remains or a particular ceremonial activity (Deaver 1986).”

[219] Jannie Loubser & Tommy Hudso, “The excavation and Dating of a Stone Pile, Walker County, Northwestern Georgia, The Profile (The Society for Georgia Archaeology), Summer 2005, pp. 8-10.

Editor Note: The site consists of 27 stone cairns and one stone wall located on a northeastern slope between two springs which drain down slope and merge into a single creek. The stone cairn was excavated and then carefully rebuilt. A charcoal sample from the base stone layer of the cairn was C-14 dated to AD 1660-1800.

“Introduction:
The current owner of a 700-acre ranch on Pigeon Mountain, Walker County, bought the property in 1948 from a Euro-American family that owned it since the late 1930’s. This family had a tradition that there were already stone piles on the land when their ancesttors first took possession of it. Taken at face value, this tradition implies that the Cherokee Indians that lived in the area prior to removal could have piled the stones.This short article presents ethno-historic eyewitness accounts and tentative archaeological evidence that historic period Cherokee Indians could indeed have piled these stones.” p. 8

“Although the intercept of the AMS [C-14 date] with the calibration curve is AD 1670, other possible dates with the 1 Sigma range are equally likely. Overall, however, given the evidence presented here, we propose that a pre-European American date is most likely (i.e. between AD 1660-1800). This would place the stone piles roughly within the time period that Adair [See 416] and Bartram saw similar piles during their travels through Georgia and neighboring states.” p. 10

[220] N.C. Nelson, “Contribution to Montana Archaeology,” American Antiquity, vol. 9 No. 2 (Oct. 1943) pp 162-169.

“Immediately below the mouth of the canyon, on the Pryor Valley floor proper, there is to be seen a series of artificial stone heaps or cairns, the function of which is problematic. Circumstances did not permit a detailed survey but most of those between the road and the creek apppearedto lie in a straight row while two, at least, lay outside, near the road. The upper and larger of these two, twelve meters in diameter and 150 centimeters in height, lies west of the creek, situated at the base of a steep promontory cliff known as Arrow Rock. It was reported to contain artifacts. To make certain of this a trench two meters wide was cut fully halfway through the mixed earth and boulder deposit. the results proved that at least the upper half of the accumulation was moderately rich in the usual stone objects, glass beads and animal bones.  More abundant were bone and shell ornamental items, cheifly heads and pendants. The surprise was the collection of some 200 potsherds. Why these things were present in the cairn is difficult to say, but presumably they must have been left as oferrings.” p. 166

[221] P. A. Brannon, “Aboriginal Remains in the Middle Chattahoochee Valley of Alabama Georgia”, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 11 No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1909) pp. 186-198.

“While potsherds and other debris are met with here, no flint chips are seen. Numerous small stone-heaps have been found scattered over the cemetery where it is not too deeply covered with sand, and throughout the wooded tract north of the [earthen] mound for a distance of 150 yards. The writer has opened numbers of these cairns, in some cases using a rod to the depth of two and half to three feet, but nothing was found except stones that had been exposed to fire, some charcoal, and occasional fragments of charred bones which are probably not human. Some very large stone beads have been taken from the cemetery, but no shell objects have been seen.” p. 189

ETHNOGRAPHY: New England Region

[300] Ezra Stiles, Extracts from the Itineries and Other Miscellanies of Erza Stiles, D.D., LL.D., 1755-1794, ed. Franklin B. Dexter, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1916). [Quoted in William S. Simmons, Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984, (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1986), pp 252]

Editorial Note: “Sacrifice Rock” is located at 394 Old Sandwich Road, Plymouth, MA. It isu crreuntly owned and maintained by Plymouth Antiquarian Society www.plymouthantiquariansociety,org

“ [1762] Mr. Williams told me that on the Road from Sandwich to Plymouth [Massachusetts] there is a large Stone or Rock in a place free of stones; and that the Indians immemorially have been used, whenever & as often as they pass this large Stone, to cast a stone or piece of wood upon it. That Stones not being plenty, pieces of Wood is most commonly used, & that there will once in a few years be a large Pile on the Stone, which is often consumed by the firing of the Woods for Deer. That the Ind.s continue the Custom to this day, tho’ they are a little ashamed the English should see them, & accordingly when walking with an Eng. They have made a path round at a quarter Mile’s Distance to avoid it. There is also at a little Distance another Stone which they also inject upon, but pass it with less scruple; but are so scrupulous that none was even known to omit casting Stone or Wood on the other … The Indians being asked the reason of their Custom & Practice, say they know nothing about it, only that their Fathers & their Grandfathers & Great Grandfathers did so, and charged all their Children to do so; and that if they did not cast a Stone or piece of Wood on the Stone as often as they pass by it, they would prosper, & particularly should not be lucky in hunting Deer. But if they duly observed this Custom, they should have success. The English call them the Sacrificing Rocks, tho’ the Indians don’t imagine it a Sacrifice – at least they Kill & offer no Animals there, & nothing but Wood & Stones.

 N.B. There is such a heap of Stones accumulated from such a Custom of passing Indians, between New Haven & Milford about three miles out of Milford upon the Road. Another Heap at Stockbridge by the Housatunnuck Indians.”

[301] Anon, “A Description of Mashpee”, Quoted in William S. Simmons, Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984, (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1986), pp 253.

“[1802] They still however preserve a regard for sacrifice rocks, on which they cast a stick or stone, when they pass by them. They themselves can hardly inform us why they do this, or when it began to be a custom among them. Perhaps it may be an acknowledgement of an invisible agent, a token of the gratitude of the passenger on his journey for the good hand of Providence over him thus far, and may imply a mental prayer for its continuance: or perhaps, as many of the vulgar among the English carry about them lucky bones, and make use of other charms to secure the smiles of fortune, so these sticks, which are heaped on the sacrifice rocks, may be nothing more than offerings made to good luck, a mysterious agent, which is scarcely considered as a deity, which is spoken of without reverence, and adored without devotion.”

[302] Edward Kendall, Travels Through the Northern Parts of the United States in the Years 1807 and 1808, (New York, NY: L. Riley) [Quoted in William S. Simmons, Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984, (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1986), pp 253-254]

“[1807] Two Sacrifce Rocks are on the side of the road leading from Plymouth to Sandwich. One of them may be six feet high, and the other four; and both are ten or twelve feet in length: and they differ in nothing, as to their figure, from masses of granite and other rock, which are scattered over the surface of all the adjacent country. All that distinguishes them is the crowns of oak and pine branches which they bear, irregularly heaped, and of which some are fresh, some fading, and some decayed. These branches the Indians place there, from motives which they but obscurely explain, and for doing which their white neighbours therefore generally suppose that they have no reason to give. When questioned, they rarely go further than say, that they do so because they have been taught that it is right to do it, or because their fathers did so before them: if they add any thing to this, it is, that they expect blessings from the observance of the practice, and evils from the neglect.

 But to whom is this worship offered? To a manito; and by manito, through the religious prejudices of the whites, is usually understood a devil. It was with great pleasure therefore that I heard, from the lips of the aged missionary of Mashpee, in this neighbourhood, the enlarged view he took of this matter: `One Day,’ said he, `as I was riding past a Sacrifice Rock, I saw two Indian women dragging a young pine-tree, and setting about to lay it on the rock. It was so large and heavy, that the undertaking almost exceeded their strength: however, they persevered. My approach a little disconcerted them, but I only smiled on them as I passed; for I considered the act as an acknowledgment of a providence, and therefore not be hastily rebuked.”

[303] Melissa J. Fawcett, Medicine Trail: The Life and Lessons of Gladys Tantaquidgeon, (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2000), pp. 21, 24.

Gladys Tantaquidgeon, Mohegan – “In the Mohegan language, the spirit of rocks is acknowledged in the names of our leaders: a male leader is called sachem (which means rock man) and a women leader is referred to as sunqsquaw (which translates as rock woman).” pp. 21

“ Not far from Moshup’s Rock, Mohegan Church sits atop Mohegan Hill beside a pile of rock rubble. This was a sacred site long before Mohegans built their Christian church and ages before the English introduced Christianity to the hill. Prior to building the church, the tribe held the Wigwam festival on that site at the end of each corn harvest, beneath a giant chestnut tree.” pp. 24

[304] Frank G. Speck, “The Memorial Brush Heap in Delaware and Elsewhere”, Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Delaware, vol. 4 pp. 17-23

“In the esteem of an archaeologist there would be a strong difference between a memorial heap formed of stones and a more superficial  one formed of twigs and branches of trees. The former is almost imperishable; the lattter decays in the course of a few years and leaves no signs to mark its location. Essentially, however, the two are identical in function in being built of material at hand by the trailside picked up and cast upon the mounded mass as a contribution to local superstitution with or without a knowledge of its source. The reason for differentiation in the materials of construction of the heaps lies in ecology. On the Coastal Plain from Cape Cod southward along the seaboard, stones being generally absent, the available material is only tree and shrub growths. In the glaciated terrian of New England rounded stones are everywhere within reach and these enter into the mass thrown together to form marker piles. In the southern Delaware peninsula the nature of the terrian dictates the use of brush or branches in making contributions to the heap.

The element of sacrifice previals in some areas where the Indians feel that they must make a gift to the spirit, often one of ghostly nature, whose phantom inhabits the baleful spot. I shall refer to one such in the Indian settlement of Mashpee, Mass., where I photographed a “brush heap” of pine branches, on which one of the tribesmen had cast an almost empty whiskey bottle, as an offering to the spirit confined to the ground beneath it. It was explained as a “payment” sacrifice to the victim of some tragedy enacted on the site to assure safe passage for some fearsome wander on a dark night. On the Scatticook Indian reservation near Kent, Connecticut, where a small band of descendants of the converted Mahican nation lived, was another heap of stones rising several feet above the ground, added to by the people who passed by casting another stone on the pile. Here, I was told certain of the credulous and timid Indians frequently poured out a swallow or two of the whiskey on their homeward way as a treat to the ghost of a murdered comrade whose shade abode there.” pp. 19

“Southern Massachusetts also has a memorial marker in the stone-heap category. On the main highway between Edgartown and Chilmark, on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard is a small pile of round cobbestones appropriately marked by a tablet enclosed with a fence - a conspicuous archaeo-historical site for the tourist. It marks the spot where missionary Thomas Mayhew, Jr. who converted the tribes on Martha’s Vineyard, bid farewell to the company of natives who accompanied him this far from their village when he took his departutre for England in 1657. It was on this voyager that he was lost. Says the historian Banks, “No Indian passed by it without casting a stone into the heap, that by their custom had grown like a cairn.” pp. 22

“The Mohegan Indians of central Connecticut, in the mid-seventeenth century, threw down the stones forming the lower level of a huge pile to mark the northern boundaries of the domain of Uncas, and added to the mound of stones whenever they passed the marker on their journeys to Harford on tribal business. This noteworthy accumaltion of rocks lies on a jutting ledge above the main road leading from Norwich (near where the Mohegan headquarters lay to Harford on the Connecticut River. I recall its impressive location and size equalling the dimensions of a modest mound construction. ...” pp. 22

“My latest notice of a memorial stone heap, located on eastern Long Island, N.Y., comes in a letter (1944) from Carlos Westez (Red Thunder Cloud), a Catawba who has spent some years among the Montauk and Shinnecock people there. He writes, Bob (butler) and I spent Fourth of July with Charles (Butler). We cycled down and resumed an old Montauk custom of piling stones at Poggatticut’s resting place every time we pass the spot. Wonder what the highway commissioner will think and do when he sees the stones.” Aside from the quaint sentiment of this letter its interest lies in its coincidence with the usual observations on brush and stone heaps made by others.” pp. 22-23

[305] Gideon Hawley, “A Letter from Rev. Gideon Hawley of Marshpee, Containing an account of his Services among the Indians of Massachusetts and New-York, and a Narrative of his Journey to Onohoghgwage, July 31, 1794 (Boston, MA: Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, ser. 1 [reprinted], vol. 4) pp. 50-67

Editorial Note: The quotation below was requoted in (1) E. M. Ruttenber, History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson River, (Albany, NY, 1872) pp. 373-4. (2) Frank G. Speck, “The Memorial Brush Heap in Delaware and Elsewhere”, Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Delaware, vol. 4 pp. 17-23

“We came to a resting place, and breathed our horses, and slaked our thirst in the stream, when we perceived our Indian looking for a stone, which having found he caste to a heap, which for ages had been accumulating by passengers like him who was our guide. We inquired why he observed that rite. He answered that his father practiced it and enjoy[n]ed it on him. But, he did not like to talk on the subject. I have observed in every part of the country, and among every tribe of Indians, and among those where I now am in a particular manner, such heaps of stones or sticks collected on the like occasion as the above. The largest heap I ever observed is that large collection of small stones on the mountain between Stockbridge and Great Barrington. We have a Sacrifice rock, as it is termed, between Plymouth and Sandwich, to which stones and sticks are always cast by Indians who pass it. This custom or rite is an acknowledgment of an invisible being. We may style him the unknown God, whom this people worship. This heap is his altar. The stone that is collected is the oblation of the traveler, if offered with a good mind, may be as acceptable as a consecrated animal. But perhaps these heaps of stones may be erected to a local deity, which most probably is the case.” pp. 59-60

“[Frank Speck comments] E. M. Ruttenber, from whose historical masterpiece, the above is quoted, thinks Hawley’s description is marred by a disposition to invest unexplained customs of the Indians with suppositions. He disagreed with the clergyman’s idea of worship in the act as a recognition of the “unkown God” or of a “local diety.” He personally knew of such a stone heap adjcaent to the Hudson river, on the Livingston Patent near the boundary between territories of the Wappinger, and the Mahican, called “Wawanaquassick, which term he gives as meaning “where the heaps of stone lie.” The said heaps of stones were those “upon which the Indians throw another as they pass by, from an ancient custom among them.” He thought that being near the side of a trail or regularly traveled path and usually at or near a stream of water, the heaps had no commemorative chracter beyond serving to indicate to subsequent travelers that a friend had lingered there to refresh himself at the same time throwing a stone or stick on the place. ...”

[306] Eva L. Butler, “The Bush or Stone Memorial Heaps of Southern New England”, Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut vol. 19 (April 1946), pp. 2-12.

Editorial Note: Butler’s article is an exhaustive analysis of historical accounts on stones heaps in Southern New England and should be required reading for any researcher involved cairn studies. Butler sorts fact from fiction and clarifies some important factual issues about several well known stone cairns.

“... In November1734, the Rev. John Sergeant, tutor at Yale, left New Haven and traveled north through the wilderness with the idea of starting a mission for the Indians. As Sargeant and his Indian guide and interpreter, Ebenezer Poo-poo-nuck, were wending their way over the trail between what was to become Great Barrington and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, they passed one of the memorials. Sergeant wrote in his journal, “There is a large heap of stones, I suppose ten cart loads, in the Way to Whan-tu-kook, which the Indians have thrown together, as they passed by the place; for it us’d to be their custom, everytime one passed by, to throw a stone on it.” “ pp. 3 [See #512 for full quotation and original citiation]

“In 1823, The Rev, Timothy Dwight wrote that this memorial [cairn mentioned by Rev. Hawley] was on Monument Mountain, a spur of the Great Green Mountain Range. The monument was then about six or eight feet high in the form of an obtuse cone, and had been formed by the “slow accumulation of rocks thrown upon it one at a time by passing Indians.” [See #507 for full quotation and citation]

Monument Mountain was destroyed in the 1840’s but there is a record that some time previous to its destruction, A Mr. Joseph K. Pelton may have seen what was the last Indian attempt to perpetuate it in its ancient form. Mr. Pelton a native of the place, met two descendents of the Stockbridge tribe at the tavern [cairn] on the Mountain.They had recently arrived from the “west” and, being familiar with the traditions of their tribe but not with the locality, they asked to be directed to the monument. Mr.Pelton accompanied them to the memorial and said that “after standing for some time thoughtfully and in silience about the pile, each cast a stone upon it and turned away.” “ pp. 4

[307] Patricia E. Ruberstone, Grave Undertakings: An Archaeology of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians, (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001)

Editorial Note: Ruberstone has a 2 page discussion of bush and stone heaps and their relationship Narragansett death & burial practices. The quotation below summs up her detailed discussion and interpretation of these features from Native American point of view.

“To most European Americans accustomed to the monotonous and labor-intensive task of field clearing in New England, piling stones may have been a familiar, everyday practice, not a behavior typically associated with ritual. Moreover, the stone heaps, which they sometimes referred to as “sacrifice rocks,” neither resembled altars nor exhibited traces of the blood and carcasses of sacrificial victims. If they were commemorative monuments, as some Natives claimed, the heaps certainly did not look like those built by Europeans and did not impose meaning in the form of sculpture or inscription. Instead, they required participation. Through simple ceremonial acts, the living made contact with ancestors, much as the stones they heaped on the pile touched and mixed with those placed there by earlier generations of Narragansetts. In the ongoing creation of these monuments, the living kept in touch with the dead and honored them by  impressing on the monuments their own meanings, histories, and memories.” pp. 167

[308] Ephrain G. Squier & Edwin H. Davis, “Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,” Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, vol. I (Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Institute, 1848 [1998 reprint])

“A few small mounds have been observed composed entirely of pebbles, of the average size of one’s fist, unmixed with earth, excepting what had gradually accumulated over them. Several of those surrounding the great [earth] work on Paint creek (Plate XXI, No. 2) are of this description, and are supposed, by the residents of the vicinity to be missiles of the ancient people, thus conviently deposited ofr use in case of attack upon the supposed fortress! Unfortunately for this hypothesis, the magazines are outside the walls.” pp. 181

[309] Reuben G. Thwaites (ed.), Travels and Exploration of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France 1610-1791. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. (Cleveland, OH: The Burrows Brothers Company, 1899), Vol. XLIV

Editorial Note: Father Chaumont spent time at the Saint Michel mission located in the Seneca village of Gandagon located in the present Ontario County in New York State.

“[1656-1657] He [Father Chaumont] had a fine opportunity, on the way, of ridiculing the superstitution of the Infidels. His guide offered him a piece of wood, to throw upon two round stones which, surrounded by evidences of the superstitution of these poor people, are encountered upon the road. It is the custom, in passing, to throw a small stick on the stones by way of homage, and add these words: Koue askennon eskatongot, - that is to say, ‘Here is something to pay my passage, that I may proceed in safety.’ ”pp. 26-27

ETHNOGRAPHY: Non-New England States, Canada, Sub-Artic, Central/South America

[400] James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokees, (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1900), pp. 380-381. http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/sc/catawba/hist3.txt

“ Preparations were under way to renew the fight when the Cherokee offered to recognize the river as the boundary, allowing the CATAWBA to settle anywhere to the east. The overture was accepted and an agreement was finally made by which the CATAWBA were to occupy the country east of the river and the Cherokee the country west of `Broad River’, with the region between the two streams to remain neutral territory. Stone piles were heaped up on the battlefield to commemorate the treaty, …The fact that one party had guns would bring this event within the early historic period.”

[401] Walter E. Roth, “An Inquiry into Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians [British Guiana]”, in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1908-1909, (Washington, D.C.: 1915), pp. 174

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/sa/aflg/index.htm

“ …Above the cataracts of the River Demerary are abundance of red and white agates, which remain untouched by the natives, who avoid them from a principle of superstitious veneration, as they are dedicated to the service of their magical invocations. Probably some idea of this nature may form the basis of the practice noted by Brown, in the Cotinga District, in connection with certain small artificial stone-heaps on the sides of the paths over the Savannah Mountains. These were 3 to 4 feet in height. The Indians with him, in passing, had added to the heaps by dropping on them stones picked up near by; he could never learn their object in so doing, for when questioned about it, they only laughed. (In the Gran Chaco, the Indians, on going over a pass, will place a stone on the ground, so that they will not get tired on the way.)”

[402] Tom Hill. (Warrior, Nez Perce War, 1877), “Stone Heaps of the Nche-wana” [July 5, 1911] The McWhorter Collection, Washington State University Libraries / MASC, Pullman, Washington State.

“ Those stone heaps you ask about: They were made this way. Years ago the old Indians would send their children, their little boys when about ten and twelve years old, to the mountains to stay seven days and nights. The boy made a pile of stones and then sat down. He must not eat; must not drink water. He must not sleep at night. But when May-wik [morning] comes, he can sleep sitting this way [assuming recumbent position]. The boy must think about the things that his father has told him. It will make him good. Then when he sees something out there in the night, that thing will talk to him. It will tell him what to do. The guidance is good. It makes the boy strong; It goes with him through life.

Some times there is an old man who has lost all his people. He feels lonely; he is sad. He goes up on the mountain some where. He builds up stones. He sits there and cries; for he is alone in the world. In this way were many of those stone-heaps made. The white man should not tear them down.”

[403] Joe Tuckaho (Nez Perce), “Stone Heaps of the Nche-wana” [July 5, 1922] The McWhorter Collection, Washington State University Libraries / MASC, Pullman, Washington State.

“ Long time ago Indian boys were sent to mountains by their father, or next kin. Maybe it is an old man; a good hunter, a great warrior or medicine man who sends the boy. That boy must stay two or three days and nights in a lonely place.  He must not drink water, he must not eat food. He must pray and call on the Ruling Spirit. He must not sleep; but after a time he will fall down and sleep. He then sees things; hears strange things. The boy piles up stones so that his people will know that he has been there. Perhaps such are the stone-heaps you saw on summit of the big boulders along the Nche-wana.”

[404] Alfonso Ortiz, The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being and Becoming in a Pueblo Society, (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1969), pp. 20.

“ The third tetrad represents the [village’s] principal shrines of the directions. First in the directional circuit is Than Powa, `Sun-water-wind,` represented by a pile of large stones at the northern edge of the village. At the western edge of the village is Awe Kwiyoh, or Spider Woman, represented by a single stone; to the south is Nu Enu or Ash youth, also represented by a single stone. Appromixately one mile east of the village is a low hill with a pile of stones on top; this is Ti Tan He I or `Large Marked Shield,` the shrine of the east. There are numerous other shrines dotting the landscape around each Tewa village, as abundantly clear from Harrington’s (1916) account. But these four are the principal ones of the directions, in the sense that regular, patterned usages and meanings attach to these, and not to the others. …

Three of the shrines are located in the middle of refuse dumps. This follows from the ancient Pueblo practice, as noted in the original myth, of burying the dead near the village, and then leaving a rock or pile of stones to mark the spot. Thus one informant told me: `Long ago we buried the dead there and left a pile of stones. Every pile of stones you see shows where the xayeh [souls or spirits] live, for the dead have become xayeh.’ ”

[405] Peter Nabokov, Two Leggings: The Making of a Crow Warrior, (Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1967), pp. 58-59, 62.

Editorial Note: These quotes refer to two separate vision quests that Two Leggings did.

“… My grandmother had loaned me a white-painted buffalo robe and had given me a stick with two eagle feathers and painted with white clay. After building my rock pile on the highest place I plan