This boulder is in West Greenwich, Rhode Island and is similar to symbol rock and millenium rock at Camp Yawgoog in Rockville, Rhode Island and the rock on the Miners Farm in Hopkinton, Rhode Island.

The question is, are these real petroglyphs , a natural occurrence that was enhanced by man, or all natural?

I have a hard time believing that these are in fact petroglyphs. Why should we assume that the native people in this area only drew these variations of circles?

Natural but enhanced by man, maybe, but I'm going with natural.

Three years ago, there was a breif but interesting discussion on Peter's Rock Piles Blog. http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/search?q=yawgoog+petroglyphs

Check it out and come to your own conclusions. Be sure to read the comments.

 A lot of imagery in this unusual boulder. On top there seems to be a bird's head. Also a human face straight on and a head  in profile on the right.

The boulder is on the side of a hill . I'm sure the boulder influenced the placement of this site. At the base of the hill, Catherine found this small enclosure built on the side of an outcrop.This is becoming a common type of structure here in Rhode Island.

Below is what I would call the highlight of the site. I've seen a lot of split boulders in Rhode Island, but this is the first I've seen with only pieces of quartz placed in the split.

Below are some pictures of other structures found in the area.

 Below is a nice little boulder cairn.

Catherine from Johnston, RI sent in these pictures of a drilled boulder that she found in the Johnston Town Forest. Typically, there would only be one or two holes drilled for blasting. This boulder has four holes. The five pointed star drill holes are three inches in diameter and were drilled for blasting.

The five pointed star hole is rare. It is also rare to find a boulder with more then two blast holes in it.

After all the work that went into drilling the boulder, and yet it wasn't blown up. You have to wonder why.

 You'll need Adobe Reader to view these files.

The Narragansett Dawn

A newsletter edited by Princess Redwing and Ernest Hazard and published by the Narragansett Tribe of Indians in 1935 and 1936. It includes short articles by a variety of writers on the culture, history, and politics of the Narragansett Indians. It also includes religious and poetic writing, lessons in the Narragansett language, advice from community leaders, and a "milestones" section documenting births, deaths, and other life transitions.  Look under additional files for a list of all newsletters.

Indian Names of Places in Rhode Island

Pamphlet documenting Indian place names of Rhode Island compiled by Usher Parsons, M.D. for the Rhode Island Historical Society; Providence: Knowles, Anthony & Co., Printers, 1861.

Historical Collection of the Indians in New England.

An account of the Indians of New England by Daniel Gookin, a magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Published in 1792.

 This has to be the most spectacular pedistalled boulder I've see in my area of exploration.

The boulder is located on an outcrop overlooking a vernal pool. It's being supported at three points.

The light colored boulder on the left ( not quartz) and the small rock under it is supporting . The long flat faced stone next to it to the right is not supporting.

You can see one stone supporting the right side. There is a pair of support stones on the left side in back.( see image below)

Double support stones

The following images were taken while moving left to right around the boulder.

Also on the outcrop, there are two boulders each propped up with single stones.

Fifty feet south of the pedistalled boulder and still on the outcrop, there's this small structure.

Heading north and off of the outcrop, there's a huge propped boulder on bedrock.

Below is a close up