Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Marker Piles or Remnants of Terracing?

Took a quick look at a little stretch of woods along Iron Mine Brook in Lincoln, MA. There were some triangular rock piles in there on the slope, lying in lines and evenly spaced. There was also some terracing of the same slope and this led to the thought that perhaps these rock piles were just manifestations of an orchard or other agrarian use. The piles followed the same lines as the terraces. Of course rock piles under fruit trees is not a smart idea, as it would tend to bruise any fruit that falls from the tree. But it is bothersome that there is a spectrum from the clearly ceremonial to the clearly agrarians. This site was just shy of that. I deleted the pictures by mistake - no loss, the piles were low to the ground and as beaten down almost as piles can get. But it is disturbing to see how easy it might be to be mistaken.

No comments :