Copper

One particular woods in Middlesex County, MA which I hike regularly seems to have a high concentration of copper in the soil.  Downed branches and logs often have a green tint to them.

 

I’ve wondered if Native People of this area mined copper here for tools or ornamentation.  

 

In looking for copper mines on old maps of Middlesex County, I’ve often found them located near places called “Indian Hill” or “Heathen Meadow”, indicating to me these were places of Native People’s presence well into the late 1800s.

Hopkinton/Upton MA Mound

Came across this mound on a long hike in Hopkinton/Upton, MA.  It is at least 8 feet tall and 20 feet in diameter. 

Stone row, terminating at a swamp and a “hook”.

I’ve seen stone rows like this written up in other blogs. 

This runs North/South, one end meets a swamp and the other end makes a tight turn to the west.  The “hook” is at the south end. No other stone rows intersect it.

Looking South:

Looking North:

  

Again Looking North:

Cross-referencing Native People’s placenames with today’s placenames

I’m always forgetting what today’s names are for the Native People’s placenames  I come across in older texts, so I built a spreadsheet to keep track of them.

Today I converted that spreadsheet to a database, and put a front end on it so others can use it, and hopefully add their knowledge:

http://menotomymaps.com/ancientplacenames.asp

The Turtle’s head

I took a couple more shots of the head of the turtle mentioned in a previous post.

I cannot seem to edit that post to add these photos, so I’ll do it here.

The first picture shows the ‘bowl’ indentation on the turtle’s head.

The second shows the stone ‘tongue’.

In the third photo I attempt to show a small sapling which has been cut in order to clear the turtle’s view.  Someone did that about five years ago.  This is in the woods, about ¼ mile from a country road which was for thousands of years a major path between known villages.

The area continues to give off a powerful vibe today.

 

Documentary film on “Praying Indians” of the 1600s

March 14^th.  Details at: http://www.ironworkfarm.org/

I’m not familiar with the maker of the film, but it could be interesting.

Here’s a link to some interactive maps I made a few years ago of some of the “Praying Villages”:

http://menotomymaps.com/praying_villages.asp

Turtle

This well-preserved turtle faces the southwest.

I’ll have to go back and get a better close-up picture which shows a small stone ‘tongue’.