This evening I'll take a flyer at this blog business. READERS, be aware that I'm a Newbie and no doubt will stumble for a while.
The topic here will be the rock cairns on my rural property which were first noticed in 2004, after we were here for about three years. They are located in an area slightly more than three acres on a rock fall that terminates on the bank of a perennial stream. The area is forested with mixed hardwoods and invasive cedars. The crest of the rockfall is about 35' above the creek level.
All of the cairns are constructed with sandstone cobbles from the rockfall. The larger examples often have a base of 2-3 large stones already embedded and/or transported. The heights range from about 1 to 5 feet. Four have been disturbed to or below grade level. Another ten show slight or moderate disturbance.
There is some evidence that these features may be associated with similar cairns in the Fristoe and Bolivar burial complexes, reported by Wood, W. Raymond in numerous documents. However, there are several differences. Most notable, the quantity and density of our cairns, the construction being devoid of any soil content, and the generally more conical shape suggest a temporal, if not cultural difference in our site with those reported by Wood.
A sample of the cairns is below, after most of the cedars have been removed and several eons of leaf litter moved.
A click on each image will produce a full screen view.  |
| Four cairns shown and the general nature of the terrain. The most prominent cairn #6, is in the middle right |
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| 180° View of ten cairns. Zoomed, the cairns are identified in red. Center view is South. |
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| Cairn #6 w/ carefully stacked base of six courses |
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| Close-up of #6 and base layering |
