Quote Originally Posted by mickey View Post
Greetings MarathonTmatt

It took a WHILE to see the bird!

With the u shaped ring: Did you notice how the stones appear to extend from and return back to the dark stone at the top. as if sitting at that top position was not just for prayer but for the receiving of assistance, answers, even knowledge; a real connection to the Ancestors and the Cosmos. There is also a yin and yang configuration going on there, with the darker half unexpressed, with the exception of the dark stone at the top; it's polar counterpart being the large white stone at the far-thest part of the loop.

Just a couple of observations,

mickey
Very good observations! The dark stone at the top was definitley a focus point in the configuration and is also propped up (small standing stone.) As a matter of fact you could analyze the shape of this top standing stone and say it is "receptive" like this:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jGi6JUJnI2...600/Marks2.jpg

Different types of stones as well as shapes and sizes were all taken into consideration with the building of all these structures, including the first post I made here of the shrine, and no 2 are alike which makes it fascinating. I know in other cultures around the world such as the Roman Empire that at one time or another they started producing same-size bricks for instance to make everything uniform. Although there are bountiful production sites in the ancient America's including my region they never made things uniformly the same which I guess is another classification for saying its indigenous.

Also with the U-Shape structure it is along a hill-side. It is basically at the base of a small knoll that is the highest point in that immediate area. Places where earth, sky and water meet, especially water flowing in 2 or more directions (such as the Echo Lake site I posted- headwaters of the Charles, Blackstone & Sudbury rivers) was important. Like you were getting at spirits were important, the cosmos, ancestors, all those elements. Here is another distinct U-Shape stone ring/ prayer seat at another site also by a hill-side:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BU8rIrhvRM...600/zain16.jpg

And a nearby cairn:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9tmFwxtZp0...600/zain25.jpg

As for the birds- yeah, I wish I could get better pictures of those. It is more apparent when looking at the sites in real life, although one still needs some schooling the way I did to start seeing how these sites turn up everywhere/ the different features. Here are some more smaller birds propped onto boulder platforms only about 20 yards apart:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YDRPltJkvr.../wonder28A.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JqXoMwE6Db...0/wonder16.jpg

Thanks for taking an interest! I will post more here and there- thank you for realizing that these structures are more than just piles of stones!