Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Clark Gulley

A discussion of stone piles in the Hi-Tor area has to include the the area around Clark Gulley. The Native American history in this area is rich and mysterious. The "oldest" Seneca village Nundawao was located at he mouth of this gulley. Years ago my old friend David Robinson told me that he had found stone piles like ones on his property in the Southern tier near Clark Gulley. After a good deal of searching I found the stone piles that he reported. They are located in an area that David called the council bowl. There nineteen stone piles in a line that follows the base of a steep bank. Three of the piles are large. The rest are small and get smaller as the the line goes to the back of the bowl. The first stone pile is still fairly well structured. It has a round end, a rectangular center section, and a rectangular tail at the other end. I will try to post a link to a video clip that documents this stone pile as it exist today (8/2/07 to be specific).



I haven't ask the readers of this blog for feedback to date but I am interested in hearing from other that have something to add to the discussion.

1 comment:

trout on a fly said...

I was in what I think was Clark Gully yesterday, at any rate it was the southernmost gully on South Hill. I was with my 2 young boys and we went on form the top and eventually wound our way below a steep ledge and found two stone piles. We spent some time speculating on their origins, in particular the possibility of early Native American construction. It was exciting and educating for them, and it just really felt like a special place. We all agreed it didn't seem like something early farmers would do. It's pretty awe inspiring to read your posts and learn what others think, as well as that there are many more to find. I am curious to hear your thinking on what supports that they were not created by farmers. We concluded they were some kind of sacred spaces, but wonder about other possibilities such as trail markers or spring markers, or farmers?