Native Insight: Ancient ceremonial complexes interesting
to the inquisitive mind
By GARY SANDERSON
For The Recorder
For The Recorder
Friday, July 21, 2017
A
great view of Pioneer Valley from Mount Sugarloaf in South Deerfield. RECORDER
STAFF
Ceremonial, spiritual and/or sacred landscape and peculiar
stone structures within — all of it buried under forested canopies — all of
them are concepts that have gained traction in contemporary anthropological
circles.
Such features can potentially mark ancient ceremonial
complexes where people gathered for annual open-air rituals, perhaps
celebrating the solstice or equinox, maybe spring or fall harvest of fish or
nuts or berries or you name it; maybe a burial or crevice from which
underground spirits or evil serpents emerge. All of it interesting. Yes,
interesting indeed to the inquisitive mind.
Even the likes of Tom Wessels, the well-known, respected
author/lecturer on New England stonewalls and forested landscapes, believes
that some stonewalls were here before Europeans settlers appeared to set their
stakes. Then again, talk to experienced archaeologists as I have, and you’ll
find that there are more hits than misses when it comes these curiosities,
things like beehives or stone piles or stone rows or rocking stones, buried in
the forest, often near the remains of 18th- and 19th-century buildings. Of
course, proximity to early dwellings and outbuildings doesn’t necessarily rule
out indigenous origin. Often the earliest hilltown farms were built on the
footprint of old, seasonal, hunting village sites that were easier to clear
than forest. But still, it’s a guessing game when it comes to stone structures,
which in no way detracts from the recent fascination among amateur and
professional investigators alike.
Which brings us to the fourth annual Pocumtuck Homelands
Festival, a Nolumbeka Project brainchild co-sponsored by Turners Falls
River Culture, on the shady banks of the Unity Park waterfront in Turners Falls.
Buried deep under the Turners Falls dam impoundment are what’s left of the
ancient, spiritual fishing falls between Unity Park and Riverside, Gill, just
above a radical left-hand turn in the river. There could be no more appropriate
Franklin County site for such an event, created to celebrate Native American
art, music and culture. This year’s festival is a scant two weeks away,
scheduled for Aug. 5 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The crowds for the family affair
have grown each year and that trend will likely continue again this year.
A main attraction this year will be Native stone structures
and archaeology scholar Tim MacSweeney, creator of the blog “Waking up on
Turtle Island,” devoted to Native American ceremonial stone landscapes features
and culture. He will be on hand to field questions, evaluate artifacts brought
by festival attendees or just to shoot the breeze about deep history of the
Northeast.
Last year, it was Mary and James Gage, also well-known,
published stone-structure experts. Now MacSweeney. Should be fun.
Bowser Road mastodon excavation
Digging much deeper into the well of time, Dr. Richard
Michael Gramly, a paleontologist associated with the Sugarloaf Site — a Paleo
archaeological site known in archaeological jargon as the DEDIC Site in Whately
— is accepting orders for his new book, “Archaeological Recovery of the Bowser
Road Mastodon, Orange County, New York.” It should be fascinating reading,
having dug the bones and ivory tools crafted from husks of previous kills at a
site in Middletown, N.Y., north and west of New York City.
“The Bowser Road mastodon excavation and subsequent research
represents a quantum leap forward and point the way to things to be looked for
at each new mastodon find. … It will help set the standard for information
possibilities that are new, perhaps even revolutionary,” praises Dr. Russell
Judkins in the forward.
With contributions from several experts, Gramly addresses
the first Clovis-age mastodon kill and ritual site to be reported for the
Americas, contrasting data about bone and ivory artifacts, etc. with records of
discovery from Eurasia.
The 365-page study includes nine appendages, nearly 200
color figures, plus tables. The cost is $45 for durable (heavy tab) softcover
or $70 for cloth hardcover with dust jacket, plus $8 shipping. All orders can
be prepaid to ASAA/Persimmon Press, 455 Stevens St., N. Andover, MA 01845.
Books will be shipped in a stout carton by U.S. Postal Service.
I myself have listened to Gramly’s description of what he
found at the Orange County, N.Y., site, then his tales over the winter of going
through a mass of bones and artifacts collected at the Hiscock Site in western
New York and stored in metal lockers at the Buffalo Museum. Mastodons, our
ancient elephants, have been extinct in the Americas for at least 12,000 years,
but are included in indigenous myth and the archaeological record. The site
addressed in the book was uncovered by a farmer digging a bog with a backhoe.
Unnerved by the unearthing large bones and later informed by experts that they
were those of a mastodon, he stopped digging and eventually put the site up for
public auction. Gramly raised the funds needed, became the high bidder and
excavated the important site.
Now you can read about the dig and his fascinating
observations and hypotheses. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Recorder Sports Editor Gary Sanderson is a senior-active
member of the outdoor-writers associations of America and New England. Send
your questions, stories about our area to him at: gsanderson@recorder.com.
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