It’s not uncommon to discover old stone cairns and cairns when hiking through local conservation lands, urban forests, and state parks in the northeastern United States. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 in New England alone. Who built them, when and why?
The short answer is that cairns have been built over the last 5,000 years in New England by Native Americans for ceremonial purposes, and stone piles they have been built over the last 400 years by farmers clearing fields and building stone walls. How do you notice the difference?
stone burial mounds they are compact mounds of stone built by carefully placing one stone at a time. Each cairn was made for a specific purpose, such as a Native American cairn or ritual cairn. Unlike, stone piles they are loose piles of stone created as a result of being thrown from a wagon. They generally exhibit stones scattered around their edges. These piles are a by-product of field clearing activities or stone wall construction.
Removing rocks from a field is a very labor-intensive process. Farmers only cleared fields that they intended to plow or cut for hay. Fields for grazing cattle were generally not cleared of stones. The rocks that were cleaned were thrown onto a cart or heavy sledge and hauled to the edge of the field or to a non-arable spot in the middle of the field and dumped unceremoniously. Loose rock piles with rim-strewn stones found along the edges of old farm fields are almost always field clearing stone piles.
Occasionally you will find a series of stone piles placed 10 to 25 feet apart in a straight line. If you follow this line of pilings many times you will come to the end of a stone wall. What he has discovered is a stone wall under construction but never finished. Stone piles placed in a line along a collapsed stone wall usually signify that the wall was in the process of being repaired.
If you find a single stone barrow about 2 to 3 feet in diameter with a metal tube inside or marked with surveyors orange paint, then you have found an old property cairn.
If you find some cairns close together in an irregular design, you have found Native American cairns. Barrows can be placed on the ground, on top of or against a rock, or even wedged into a rock crevice. The barrow can be just a few stones placed on a rock, a small pile on the ground, or a huge barrow with thousands of stones. Stop and look around you. Usually you will find more of them. What he has found is a Native American ceremonial site. A place where Native Americans came to pray, celebrate ceremonies and practice their religion. Think of it like a church or outdoor sanctuary. We know this because early Christian missionaries and travelers mention in their journals and letters that their Indian guides would stop and solemnly add a stone to these burial mounds as a religious observance. Additionally, in recent years, the Narragansett and Wampanoag Tribes have publicly stated that these cairn sites were built by their ancestors.
Native Americans still consider these places sacred for their spiritual beliefs. Be respectful when exploring cairn sites by not digging, removing, or adding stones or artifacts. Instead, take pictures and leave everything as you found it. Photos are great because you can easily share them with friends and family.
Most of New England, with the exception of rocky, sandy, and swampy lands, was farmed at one time or another in the last 400 years. Therefore, it is not unusual to find a Native American cairn site on former farmland. If the barrows weren’t in their path, most farmers left them untouched out of superstition, curiosity, or even respect. In many cases, it was simply easier to graze the cows between the burial mounds than to drive them out. Some of these farm cairn sites were built during the 1700s and 1800s. These farms were owned by Native Americans who quietly continued to practice their traditional beliefs out of sight of their Christian neighbors.
basic security
(1) When exploring old farm sites, be sure to locate all wells first and make sure everyone knows where they are, especially children.
(2) Take proper precautions against poison ivy and ticks. Both are commonly found when walking through the woods.
(3) Do not climb or enter unstable stone structures.
(4) Do not put your hand into any dark space or enter a cave without first checking it with a flash light. Snakes, porcupines, and other creatures like to use them for their dens. If you hear a high pitched hiss of steam, then you have gotten too close to a timber rattlesnake.