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Laurel Hill Walks

The boulder wall.

The wall runs East/West over an outcrop. The photo below is a section at the beginning of the wall on the East end.

In the picture below, the large boulder in the center, the flat boulder to the left and the big boulder on the left side of the picture are propped as well as the big boulder seen in the picture above thats off by itself. 

This possible manitou stone is towards the West end of the wall.

Below is a video of the wall. (in spite of the gun shots, no stone pile investigators were injured in the making of this video)

 Norman Muller was viewing this site using Bing Maps and discovered an outcrop just south of the wall with a big boulder on it and nearby stone walls. 

One wall curved and ended at the outcrop.  Click on the image below to enlarge it.

 Bob Miner and myself set out to find the outcrop. We followed the wall coming off of the boulder wall that goes south and connects to the wall that curves back to the outcrop.

The picture below shows the wall directly behind the outcrop. 

Section that curves into the outcrop.

 From here, we climbed on top. Besides the big boulder that you can see on the map, there are 4 smaller boulders. The picture below shows the three small boulders. The fourth small boulder is to the left and out of the picture.

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that all four small boulders are propped. The largest boulder isn't propped. 

Below is the forth boulder that is out of the picture above but is still on the outcrop.

Below is a picture of the 3 supporting stones under the boulder above.

And the three other propped boulders.

This is a fairly large unexplored area. Last year we found this balanced and propped boulder located about 2 miles from the boulder wall.

Who knows what else is waiting to be discovered. 

The serpent wall

This rock pile and manitou stone is located on the  side of one of three hills in the area of the serpent wall,that are covered with hundreds of rock piles. 

The manitou stone is facing east.

Below is a video of the manitou stone.

The serpent wall is located one hundred yards west of the manitou stone.

No other stone walls were found in the area.

Below is a video of the wall.

On another visit to the site, more stone work was found consisting of 2 propped slabs on the boulders, a rock pile at the base of the boulder on the right, rocks placed on the boulder on the left and a split and filled boulder in back. The two boulders  are split horizontally and the top portions are propped up.

The large boulder on the right (C) is propped by a single stone and has a non supporting stone wedged deep inside. The smaller boulder (B) is propped up with a long flat rock making a leg. The top part of the boulder was slid over to the left about 2 feet. 

Click on this image below to open an interactive image map. Click on the lettered feature to open a larger picture of that feature.

Use your browser back button to return to the image map.

On another return rtip with Bob, we continued north and while walking through a large cairn field Bob noticed this stone construction that looks like a turtle. It's a pretty convincing turtle, but was this the builder's intent?

After making 3 trips to this area, I haven't found any indications that this area was ever farmed. No walls or foundations.

I think it was Norman who said that Rhode Island is like an outdoor museum of native stone work. This is so true.

This is a photo gallery/website of stone structures on the North Shore area of Mass.

A lot of nice photos and interesting sites. Check it out.

http://www.mysticus.org/

Catherine from Johnston, RI sent in these pictures of some aligned boulders.  Below is a site map. The numbers correspond with the numbers under the pictures of the boulders. Click to enlarge.

Site Map

Below is number 13 which consists of three boulders on a small outcrop. The two bigger boulders are propped.

Number 13

This picture (#2) was taken with her back to the outcrop. You can see a line of four boulders. The fourth one at the far end is at the intersection of the "T" and is propped.

Number 2

Below is a close up of the propped boulder. (#3)

Number 3

The next pictures show the boulders at the top of the "T" (#5)

(note the rock pile.)

Number 5

number 5

All pictures in this post and the site map are by Catherine of Johnston, RI.

Norman Muller sent in this picture of a possible serpent wall.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see a serpent. 

From Bob Miner.

This small chamber is built into the south side of a hill in North Stonington, CT.

The close-ups below show the interior. Part of the roof has collapsed and is under the leaf litter.

There's a stream in front and more stone work off to the side. 

This is on private property. Once permission is gained, the site will be investigated further. 

Here's another wall serving no agricultural purpose.

Looking at it from this view, it looks like a hill with a bunch of rocks.

On closer inspection you see a row of stacked stones skirting the base of the hill.

 Some would say that it was formed by the rocks sliding down the hill.

But looking down from on top of the hill, it becomes clear that this is an intentioally built row of stones.

These are  the boulder rows that are in the book Manitou by Mavor and Dix on pages 85 and 109.