Section 2 (click pictures to enlarge)
There are many other interesting lithic features here besides those on the Sudbury Valley Trustee portion of the site. It is, however, important to respect the private ownership of the non-Trustee land.
Stone rows run along both sides of Littlefield Road. At the point directly behind Sunrise Rock is an excellent example of an embrasure in a row. It is unclear exactly what these embrasures are, other than the fact that they are a not uncommon feature of lithic sites. Some theories categorize them with Prayer Seats – partially enclosed u-shaped places to sit and contemplate – and attribute them to native culture and construction. This makes sense considering its location directly behind Sunrise Rock. There is also an embrasure in the wall directly across the road. This one is in poor shape and partially destroyed by construction. If nothing else, it seems significant that two such embrasures should be opposite each other with what was once an important Indian trail running between.
Embrasure
Recent work was conducted on u-shaped stone structures by Edwin C. Ballard and reported in the Winter 2000 issue of the NEARA Journal. In brief, it was determined that the azimuth of u-shaped structures face the sunrise or sunset of a particular solstice or equinox point. A second category of orientation is directed towards the sweep of the Big Dipper. Structures with this orientation were found to face up an inclined slope. Interestingly, the embrasure at Half Moon Meadow Brook is orientated towards the Big Dipper. It also faces up an inclined slope, the horizon defined by the rear brow of Sunrise Rock.
The embrasure is offset in the row, being more of an angular notch than a perfect u-shape. There are two approaches to its orientation. If the viewing direction is considered perpendicular to the line of the row, it would be viewing the most westerly sweep of the Big Dipper with an azimuth of 3300 true (N30W). The other approach would be an orientation in line with the offset. This is somewhere between 3550 true (N05W) and exact celestial north. Both fall within the sweep of the Big Dipper.
From each corner of the field a stone row extends either northeast or southwest, except in the south corner where a new house has been constructed. Each of these three rows has interesting lithic features worth investigation.
The row proceeding northeast from the east corner is the same row that contains the widened area that the summer sunrise line crosses. Along this row towards Route 2 there is the occasional rusty old pail or bucket. According to Mavor & Dix in Manitou, “… buckets and milk cans [are] documented as being ritual objects used in the Indian vision quest throughout America.” Their source for this rather odd assertion is T.E. Mails’ Sundancing at Rosebud and Pineridge. However they came to be there, I have noticed such items at other significant sites as well. There is also a small pile of them next to the summer solstice sunrise mound.
Buckets
Further along in the row is a low platform about 2 feet long and 1 foot wide. It is unclear whether this was made intentionally this way, or if some of the upper tier stones of the row fell out (or were removed) leaving this flat rock exposed, creating a platform. Investigation so far has not found its purpose, if any. This row also has a 40 foot section made out of an unusual type of rock, not found in any of the others rows in the area. There is also a large boulder incorporated into the row like a spur, the top of which has a short line of rocks extended onto it from the row. It produces an unusual visual effect. This row continues to a rock pile at an angled junction with three other rows. There are some earthworks here, but they could very well be from the construction of Route 2.
Spur in Stone Row
From the north corner of the meadow, and paralleling the eastern one, is another row. Interestingly, it does not join at the corner, but prefers to connect several feet up from it. (There is also a rusty bucket here at the exact corner of the meadow.) This row is more of a low line of stones than the more regularly seen waist-high ones. It peters out after about 40 feet at the brow of a ledge with a 5 foot section of more regular height. At its end on the precipice side is a flat rock propped up underneath by two other rocks forming a platform on the very lip of the ledge. (Be careful, it is very unstable.) Unlike the previous platform, this one can be confidently said to have been constructed. This row does not seem to serve any purpose other than to connect the rows bounding the meadow to the little platform on the ledge.
Platform
Following the ridge one picks up another row further on. This one snakes along the base of the ridge, rather than running at the top. It begins with a fine Manitou stone and ends with a beautiful 12 foot wide shallow embrasure banked up against the hillside.
Embrasure
On either side of the embrasure, but up higher on the hillside, are two 6 foot large scallops. These, the embrasure and the little platform, seem to be viewing places of some sort. The view has a nice elevation and, were it not for the trees, would be looking out over a large heron nesting swamp. Due to the beavers in this area, this is a good sized lake and presents a fine sky-view and horizon. It has an azimuth of 3020 true (N58W), which is the exact direction of the midsummer sunset. However, if there are significant midsummer sunset alignments associated with these features, it will be difficult to easily test them due to the heavy foliage.
Pond
Behind the embrasure on the hill top is a serpentine ditch. This is filled in areas with small hand-sized stones and in one place, large chunks of broken white stone. The head of the ditch may well be associated with the small platform in the row that the summer sunrise crosses. I would conjecture that the ditch is man-made due to the fact that it is at the top of a small rounded hill where there is not enough runoff to create it naturally.
In the west corner at the sunrise viewing platform is another row. This row, like the one in the north corner, is a low line of stones and appears to be concerned with connecting and incorporating rather than enclosing or demarcating. Like the other one, it too does not connect at the corner, but several feet from it. It runs downhill to a swampy rocky area. Here it takes a turn and connects with the end of a raised ridge of stone. It reappears in a low spot in the ridge, connecting the two higher humps. At the ridge’s end, it reappears again and shoots off at an angle to terminate at a carefully constructed pile of stones that due to its flat top has the appearance of an altar. This row seems to serve the purpose of connecting the viewing platform on the hill with the stone formations in the lowland swamp and brook.
"Altar"
In their book Manitou, Mavor & Dix theorize that certain stone rows are of native construction. Particularly, rows that connect a feature of the landscape with another, like water and a hilltop. These can also connect a constructed lithic feature with a natural one like a ridge or a boulder. This connecting feature suggests - if Mavor and Dix are correct – that a Native American style of construction is present here at the Half Moon Meadow Brook site.
The swamp abuts the actual brook, and there are many interesting stone features to be found here: stone piles and mounds, stone rings, standing stones, and a dolman. These features, however, are much less dramatic then the images these terms conjure up.
Standing Stone
Also visible is a large pile of stones at the brook’s edge that Byron Dix considered to be an Indian vision quest site. This pile has constructed sides and a central depression.
Vision Quest Site
There are also effigy formations near the brook. Groundbreaking work on effigies is being done by Peter Waksman. He reports as follows:
"Effigy rock piles are piles containing (usually) fewer than 10 similar sized rocks lying on the flat surface of a support boulder, or occasionally placed directly on the ground. These piles have an axis of symmetry and a single prominent rock at one end of the axis which is like a "head" on a figure. The hypothesis is that they are representational of some type of figure. Several broad categories of figure occur repeatedly such as female, turtle, twins, and bird. These "effigy" rock piles occur frequently near springs, on low hills overlooking the source of water where there is a good view of the sky. They are common in Acton, Carlisle, and surrounding towns.”
An example of the effigies at Half Moon Meadow Brook include “twins”, of which there are two sets. (For further examples of effigies, see Peter’s reports and photos at Concord Lithics.)
"Twins" Effigy
Current investigation is focusing on other possible alignments as viewed from the sunrise viewing platform. A prayer seat and several large boulders may be part of these alignments. Interestingly, a local resident recalls that there were once carved stones in association with one of these boulders.
Conclusions:
It would seem, due to its features and location, that Half Moon Meadow Brook is a significant lithic site. When or by whom it was constructed has yet to be determined. At the least, the chain of title needs to be run on the property and the history of the site needs to be researched. Further field work also needs to be conducted regarding the north facing embrasure and westwards facing viewing areas. In addition, that fact that the apple trees line up on the summer solstice sightline is a mystery that needs attention. A core sample to determine the age of the trees would be a useful first step.
One wonders at the good fortune of the meadow (and thus winter sunrise alignment) having remained clear for all these years. It also makes one wonder how many such sites are hiding in the woods behind the regrowth of trees.
I invite questions and comments regarding this article and would be pleased to hear from anyone with further information about the Half Moon Meadow Brook site. Please email me at dvb@boudillion.com.
Special thanks to George Krusen for his technical support. However, all opinions expressed are the solely those of the author.
Back to Section 1.
Daniel V. Boudillion's Field Journal of New England Megaliths