Here is a pic of a lost site I stumbled onto ("found") the other month. It is a Native American stone shrine in Massachusetts. It is not located next to a trail, although the boulder it was worked into can be seen in a distance from a trail, but one has to walk up to it and go around it to tell what it is. It is on the side of a heavily-wooded hill (the "jungle" grew back) and to the other side is a swampy marsh/pond, and there is a housing development relatively nearby, but the swamp is between the site and the houses (thank god- better chance of preservation.) Here is the pic I took:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jPfLds2bxQ...7141845-00.jpg

There are also nearby Native American rock piles associated with this site as well. The other week I led a hike to the site, which included the Town Historian Joanne, Dr. Curtiss Hoffmann, professor of anthropology and archeology at Bridgewater State University, and several members of an organization called NEARA (New England Antiquities Research Association.) The NEARA members told me that they were going to run an article on the site in their next journal and that a pic of the shrine is going to be on the cover. They also told me that a couple of structures identical to this exist in a nearby town, except they are in a destroyed state, and it is only due to landowner's accounts that any integrity/ history of the other structures has survived at all.

Dr. Curtiss Hoffmann and others determined (with their fancy phones and gadgets) that there is a winter solstice alignment at the site, which was probably taken in to consideration when the structure was built. Other things I noticed were that there is room enough for 1 person to enter the shrine (probably the local Pawwow) and sit cross-legged or on their knees. Also, the stone on the top of the roof (center) is a bird-head effigy stone, looking up to the heavens. This is conducive with indigenous beliefs- when we pray we look up towards the sky, and the birds, especially the Eagle, are intermediaries between heaven and Earth, they carry our prayers to the Creator, they are the closest to heaven up in the sky. There are many First Nations tales that illustrate the interaction birds play between people and the Creator. There is also a Manitou stone to the left of the entrance of the structure. That is the stone that is standing up vertically. Manitou means "a spirit" so this stone would invite the friendly spirits to the site, or rather the spirits that were needed at that special place.

Although I know about many other significant sites in my area, and have even found some other things nobody knew about, this is my biggest "find" to date. I am stoked! Figured I would share. Education is good for all of us. It is good to think of where we come from, and where we live.