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QuicksearchRecommended ReadingManitou: The Sacred Landscape of New England's Native Civilization by James W. Mavor & Byron E. Dix Ceremonial Time: Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile by John Hanson Mitchell |
Wednesday, August 5. 2009New site at Canonchet, Rhode Island.Bob Miner and I were given a tour of this site by the land owner. The first thing that we were shown was this odd artifact found on the property. It appears to be made of pottery and was glazed on the face. It's approximately one inch thick and six inches long.
We were taken through some beautifully restored gardens and stone walls past the house which was built in the 1740's, and has also been meticulously restored ,and into the woods. Right away we notices groups of rock piles typical of Canonchet. Many had a single piece of quartz. The cairn pictured below was built on a split boulder and resembles a turtle. There is a manitou stone wedged between what could be interpreted as the head and shell.
 Close-up of the manitou stone.
In a wet area with a small stream there are 3 propped stone slabs. The one pictured below is supported by three stones. two of which are stacked one on top of the other.
We continued along past more stone piles and split wedged boulders until we came to this magnificent platform cairn.
It's approximately six feet tall, 20 feet long and eight to 10 feet wide.
One side has been damaged by what could have been a tree falling on it.
The rest of the cairn is in excellent condition.
 end view
Below is a video of the cairn.
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Very interesting sites and great pictures as usual. You capture the mystery very well and it is making me more and more aware of manitou stones.
Hi Larry
Your photos are great. The Canonchet R.I. hand held stone is very much like the ones found at Spanish Hill, Penn. and mound sites in Ohio, Kentucky and Ill.
The Native Americans may have used these as a compass and lunar calendar. The three large holes would have small same length sticks placed in them with the single hole in the southern direction. When the three shadows were at their shortest length it was mid-day. The south stick shadow would be centered between the north two shadows pointing north.
The five small holes around a center hole was for moon phase tracking in six day increments for a total of 30 days in the lunar month. Each of these five phases would be no moon, 2 full moons and 2 partial moon cycles.
William
Is there anything you could do to get the artifact written up in a newspaper? What a find!
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