Rock Piles (Cairns)

[DreamcatcherNC]

Any of you folks had any experience with rock piles? Here's a pic of two (of four total) rock piles that are near the campsite I've been working. The land has never been farmed. A creek runs just to the left (south) of the piles shown.

 

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[WhiteCountyPaleo]

I have looked in woods that you could still see the rows from where it was once farmed. And it had the same size trees I see in your pic, some bigger.

 

[DreamcatcherNC]

dollarzero... Your point is?

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

They could be farm field rock piles...

The spot I go to now again was a farm field once and was left leaving trees to grow wild and other growth. There were trees growing like you see in the picture with rows like in a farm field. Rocks were found all over that were hit by farm machinery. You can tell by scars that have rust from iron rubbed off from the plow.

So in the spot in the picture I would first try to find plow scars on rocks. If you don't find any, the rock piles might be burials.

 

[DreamcatcherNC]

dollarzero,

I know the history of this land back to the original land grant. Timber has been cut off of the property several times and about the only thing left standing was Birch trees, but it has never been plowed. I've got adjacent property that has been plowed in the past and the rock piles made by the farmers still serve as a boundary.
Thanks for the info.

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

I remember reading about rock mound burials in one of the Central States Archaeological Society journals....forget which one...been a while.

 

[DreamcatcherNC]

Yeah, Chad. I read something a couple of months ago in one of the Archaeological mags that covered rock piles and burial cairns. I may look into this situation more but that's a ways down the road. That's one of the things you can't even do on private property - IF - human remains are involved. Thanks.

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

Did I tell you to dig? yeah don't do that! well you could start rolling rocks till a head rolls out. no don't do that eaither!

 

[GL]

I'd be all over a rockpile found randomly in the woods.
If I found bones I'd feel bad and cover it up and report it to the Rankin Indian folks.

 

[*Molly*]

If that was on my land I would dig around a little..

I've seen rock piles on the farmers land, where I hunt, but I don't mess, I would be distraught if the farmer put a stop to me hunting on his land. Still curious though.

Go for it Dream.

Molly.

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

From what you told me I think you got something here bigger than you think. My first thought when seeing this picture made me think what we dicussed it being in the private message. Because it looked like limestone which is where most chert comes from. If i found concrete in the mix than I'd be worried. But I would be excited! You'd find blanks like crazy!

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

Maybe not in the piles but close by.

 

[creekhunter]

Loggers would sometimes do that as well, was there any Civil War activity in that area?

 

[DreamcatcherNC]

No civil war activity in this are that I can trace. I don't think loggers, especially modern day loggers, would go to the trouble to make such an elaborate arrangement of the stones. They are actually layered in a circle in each of the four piles. I intend to look into these a little closer. I've already put up a hanging sifter and will probably do a little scratching around in a week or so. I'll take a few pics and keep y'all informed.

 

[GL]

Just don't be a grave robber! If you see bones leave it alone.

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

Have you tried using a metal detector around there?

 

[DreamcatcherNC]

Yep. The only thing I've found was a 30.06 round. This is deer country.

 

[kbrocks]

Hello there. Well I am very curious to know what you have found. Also, can I ask about where this is located? I ask because my family has about 22 acres of land outside of Pilot Mnt., NC. I have found easily 5 or 6 piles like this. One or two I could possibly blame on farmers, but there are a number of them that I would say are not. The land itself is fairly uneven and hilly, with 2 spring fed stream running through it. A few of the piles are within 30 yards of the streams, and are on hillsides. Not steep hills, but you would not be farming on these. Also, the land around most of the piles is all forest. Some young trees, and many stumps that were cut many, many, many years ago. Most of the trees are very old.

I have also found one bent tree on this land. Here is a thread I started a long time ago about it. http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,67262.0/topicseen.html
There are at least 2 piles within 50 or so yards of this tree.

As of now, none of the land is farmed. And just estimating, the areas that were farmed haven't been touched in 30 to 50 years at least. Only 1 of the piles I have found is near the old farmed area, and it's still 100 yards or so away. The rest are so far away from the old field, that I seriously doubt some farmer carried them that far.

Any info you find out, or findings, I would love to hear it.

Just as a side note. I have run the detector around the piles and not found anything. I've been using my detector in the streams and found random iron objects, and misc things, but nothing exciting. I did however find a nice sliver of flint in one of the streams. A nice dark brown, more like what I used to find in Central TX. Judging by the fact that I have never seen another piece of flint on this land, or in NC for that matter, I have a feeling it was carried to the area by someone. Also, from the front door of the house, I can see both Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock, which both have Native American history.

Sorry to be long winded, good luck and report your findings please.

 

[DreamcatcherNC]

Hi kbrocks.

These are located in Montgomery County - Uwharrie mountains. They are also about 30 or 40 yards from a stream. I'll get around to them one of these days and I'll post more. Thanks for the interest.

 

[Cannonman17]

Interesting for sure- but they might be "Indian rock piles" also. They lived and farmed the same areas and rocks must have been a big pain in the butt just the same. While some like to think that everything was ceremonial in nature I believe that often times the explanation lies in more utilitarian roots. *Last weekend my wife told me to A) Move the tent B) Get rid of the rock/root in the corner or C) Finish the camping trip solo.* Clearing an area for a group of people may have also produced piles like this.... or not... just a thought.