Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Return to the Corner

I was so embarrassed by the washed-out photo of a propped boulder that I posted 3/26/2014, I went back and took some more.  This is a large propped boulder on an outcrop, and with two other propped boulders it comprises  a "corner" .  It has some very interesting details, such as  four small rocks wedged in a small space underneath.


It also has an oddly mouth-like gash. The other end of the boulder has a tail-like protrusion resting on a large stone.


The sharp edges and planes in this boulder suggest it was  deliberately shaped this way.  The boulder looks like a tadpole.  Maybe it was once an effigy or totem. There are a few other boulders on this outcrop, but none  are propped.


Further along on  the hill stands an interesting structure consisting of two large vertical boulders, and a flat one, which is seen to the right.




The flat one is propped.


This is reminiscent of the site shown 1/15/2014.  It is about 15 miles away and also has a flat, propped boulder surrounded by  taller boulders  at the crest of a hill.


These hilltops both  have propped boulders and grinding slicks, and were  probably once  Native campsites.  These structures may have once been  work sites or meeting places. One thing that both these hilltop sites lack is cairns.


There are some neatly organized cairns in a level area 700 feet away and downhill from the strange, tadpole-shaped propped boulder.  If these were also built by the Natives, they were placed well away from living and work areas on the hill. On my way back to the road, I saw a ray of afternoon sun light a large chunk of quartz on a low cairn . This makes it easy to imagine a memorial on a long-forgotten grave.








1 comment:

  1. Have you ever seen Jeff's photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sgobbare/with/8575113255 ?

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