on 9/17/09 7:26 AM, Benjamin Carter at [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Histarchers,
>
> I have a question that I know at least some of you have had to deal with
> in the past and would like some advice.
>
> I have a private landowner who claims to have some stones with
> astronomical alignments. Some of the stones have makings on them, many
> of which are in the same general direction. My first impression is that
> these were damaged by a plow, but I do not have a great deal of
> experience with this. I have read/heard/seen somewhere that plow marks
> tend to be V-shaped in cross-section and not U-shaped. Is this correct
> or does it depend upon the type of stone?
>
> My main issue however, is that there is a stone wall involved in this
> arrangement. The owner has located all of the deeds back to the
> beginning of records in the area and these stone walls do not fall along
> property lines. It is quite wide, approximately 10 feet. In plan, it is
> in the shape of an L with the long side on the order of 100 feet long
> and the short about half that. The angle is close to 90 degrees. The
> 'wall' is disorganized does not appear to have been well-laid, although
> there was one spot that I could see well-laid stones beneath the tumble.
> My question is, what else might this wall be? My first impression is
> that it is merely a rock wall built from the removal of stones for a
> historic field. This is partially corroborated by reports as late as
> the 1950s that there was a corn field just to the northeast of the long
> wall. However, the L-shape doesn't seem to make sense. If a farmer was
> removing stone from the field, why would he make the L? The short side
> leads off into the woods to a point about half way between the right
> angle and a stream. To the northeast of the wall is the owners lawn and
> to the southwest is woods that leads to the stream- this area is very rocky.
>
> A couple of relevant notes to the puzzle:
> An elderly resident indicated that in his lifetime (nearly 100 years)
> there had not been a structure in the location of this wall.
> Local residents have collected prehistoric points in this general
> vicinity for many years.
>
> Can anyone think of references that I could look at to see some
> diagrams, photos, etc... of a variety historic stone walls- particularly
> of Eastern PA?
>
> Cheers,
> Ben Carter, PhD, RPA
Ben - I have no easy answer, just a couple of things to consider. First, I
don't think property lines are necessarily always the reason for stone
walls. I'm a caretaker for a property owned by Nature Conservancy near
where I live. It was formerly "Old Man Duckett's Farm." He built a stone
wall along one side and part of another side (L-shaped) of his orchard
bordering the path to his house. It seems to be an accretional wall, laid up
at various episodes as he cleared rocks (of which he had many) from his
fields. The point is it's not a property line, but probably was a landmark
for one of his most valuable resources. He died in early 1900s, but folks
still talk about his apples. And I don't think this particular non-property
line feature is all that unusual. Second, I would have a very hard time
seeing it as prehistoric, for obvious reasons. My last thought (again
grasping) might be to look into idea that it is elevated platform for some
sort of barn or granary - not a foundation but access ramp of sorts along
the facades. I've done some work for the Appalachian Trail Conference near
Skyline Drive in Virginia, and have seen such stone features near barns. I
hope I'm interpreting you correctly in that it is ten feet wide? Its 100
foot length on one axis is curious. Only German settlers would build such a
large barn in my area. Good luck. It's a very interesting mystery. Let us
know if you figure it out.
Joe Dent
American University
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