Rock Piles and Field Clearing Practices on Historic Farms and Pastures in Northeastern United States

Book excerpt: It is hard to imagine that the most controversial subject in 21st century northeastern archaeology concerns rock piles found on historic farm lands. Yet, rock piles are at the heart of a contentious debate about their cultural affiliation, purpose, and age. Are they agricultural field clearing piles or Indigenous ceremonial features? The short answer is some are the byproduct agricultural activities while others were intentionally built as an expression of Indigenous spiritual beliefs. How do we distinguish between the two? In order to answer that question, it is necessary to have a solid historical and scientific understanding of field clearing practices in northeastern United States. Using farm manuals and 19th century agricultural journals, this book delves into the surprisingly complex topic of stone removal and disposal practices on farms in northeastern United States and beyond. It establishes some basic criteria for identifying clearing piles. Groups of Indigenous stone features including rock piles / cairns have survived on unfarmed lands and old pastures. They have largely been misidentified as field clearing piles and attributed to efforts to improve soil quality. However, new research shows that permanent pastures were rarely, if ever, cleared of stones. 19th century farmers had a solid understanding of why their pastures were being degraded and the solutions they needed to fix them. None of those solutions involved stone removal. This book draws together in a single volume over a decade of intensive research into an obscure but critically important topic in historic archaeology. Agricultural field clearing features are not considered archaeological significant. Ceremonial landscapes (traditional cultural properties) are considered culturally sensitive sites. Distinguishing between the two is an important task.