Above is a Matt H photo of a
Below is a photo from a 2011 Rock Piles post:
Norman Muller: "I found an engraving of a stone hut/chamber in the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of Ethnology Annual Report #12 from 1890-91 (see attached) and sent an image of it to Native American Research and Preservation in Colorado (see attached). The resemblance is striking, even though the engraving is of a structure that was found in Fayette Co., WVA, probably a thousand miles east of Colorado. The caption under the engraving said the feature was probably built as a burial chamber."
Maybe this is another example of a similar stone structure:
Maybe...
Very interesting post, Tim. Interesting to hear that the Smithsonian remarks that the West Virginia Chamber/Shrine (from the illustration) may have functioned as a burial chamber. Talking to Peter Anick I realize that this structure I found is quite unique to anything else (so far known about/ or which has survived) to the New England area. I think the examples you posted here (from other parts of the country) could very well be closely related structures.
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure about a turtle motif for this structure, but hey, who knows. To me the stone in the top center seems to function as a center weight, and possibly even looks like it could (in my amateur opinion) be symbolic of a bird's head, which symbolically is seen on the head-dresses of priests/ learned men in other parts of the country- also the stone is facing upwards, as if in prayer. (birds such as Eagle's were mediums between the Earth and the Creator.)
Also the stone to the left of the entrance looked to me like it was not fallen over, rather is a Standing Stone to the left of the entrance.
I take a lot of your turtle/ animal symbolism seriously, but I get the feeling from your post you were just sort of playing around with the pic on this one. Than again, maybe there is a dual turtle/ bird symbolism here, who really knows! Take care and thank you,
-Matt Howes.
Tim- I found another similar stone mound structure. Check out my latest posts on my blog- this one also closely resembles the CO. & WV stone mounds!
ReplyDelete-Matt Howes.