oredigger62 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I am looking for ideas on this odd rock stack i found. A little history on the area. Maricopa county near Phoenix. Indian petroglyphs abundant in the area. There are 9 hard rock mining sites between 100 and 150 Yards from this but nothing appears closer. This stack appears to cover the face and top of the large rock formation that is visible from the pic from the top ( pic 1 & 2) . The top extends a couple feet above the Base rock , and is actually a circle shape about 3 feet around . Then the rock stack extends down the side about 25 feet... totally covering the face of the rock outcropping. (pic 3 ). What the heck is the importance of this. There was no visible traces of any mining activity at this site. These rocks appear to be picked up from the ground and not mined . Is it a burial site , does it cover a cave entrance ... or just what ? I have a couple more pics but these 2 seem to be the best. I am curious enough to start unstacking them but not if it might be a burial site ? HELP !!!!THANKS IN ADVANCE GUYS !!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Given the proximity to populous areas , i`d say it was just some modern people stacking rocks for fun ..... Probably on acid or shrooms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 My guess is that it is a burial site ... I've found a different one that looked like that between Wickenburg and Aguila near some ancient grinding holes in bedrock overlooking what probably was a flowing stream 8,000 years ago ... Cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimshot Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Nice pics OD! I'm wondering if it's hiding a mine shaft being that it's kinda on the side of a hill.Rim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoser John Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Looks like someone was starting to collect good sized rocks for a construction-be it cabin/arresta or whatever as no small ones hence construction would be my deduction?? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 My initial thoughts were along with Adams. Then with more research of the area i discovered these hardrock mining areas very close... and then the indian petroglyphs... then a 1933 federal survey marker... and a mapped indian burial grounds less than a mile away.. The closest houses were all built in the last 19 years. Gold was abundant in this mountain area as late as world war 2 . John , you could be right because we don't know for sure. I would think that if somebody was collecting rocks to build with that they would not stack them up a wall and then a few feet on top of it. I would think they might pile them up but not stack them up 25 feet . then with all this my imagination started running wild. Wht if it was hiding a stash of guns , or outlaw loot , or mayan treasures . or cave of gold , or ??? I would love to take it apart piece by piece if i knew it wasn't a burial site for some old miner. All i know is that i talked with an old timer who worked in that area and siad he saw it back in the sixties , so at least it is older than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 This may help you out a bit.Looks like a burial to me.7.APreliminaryReportofaRockFeature.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennM Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Doesn't look like a burial to me, but I've only seen ones from back in the SE, where they built dirt mounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 It didnt seem like a burial site to me either. Unless the poor old soul was tucked into a burro and covered over with rocks. I sure hope it wasn't because i think i am convinced i might have to take it apart just to see... and what if i find some bones ??? taking apart a historical site , dead body , a big risk but then i am always up for a good risk!!!! Maybe i would be better scrounging up a two box detector and going over the stack first... my fishers detector will never go deep enough to be any help. heres a pic from farther away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennM Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 You need someone like me with a Minelab PI and large coil to swing over it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulder dash Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Someone put those rocks there for a reason. It would take a long time to move one rock at a time. So at one point in history someone new what it was all about. I say dig the middle out and hand stack the rocks into a kick a fort or castle. That way if there is nothin under your cobble pile you will still have a nice rock fort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 The way they are stacked i have to start at the top and work down... Unless somebody convinces me otherwise i might start work at sunrise thursday morning. I see that the CCC was doing some work in the area in 1938 but can't imagine them working all day and stacking rocks all night. But i could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotsa luck Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 The location may help me give a better answer to your question but here's what I see in the pics.The rocks were not stacked there a long time ago at all, nor were they stacked as much as dumped. No lichens naturally dispersed let alone the mixed and jumbled desert patina showing and no plants growing through them nor pack rats nesting. They are not hand stacked, just tossed or dumped. They are somewhat screened to size though as if brought there in bulk for some type of construction that never happened and in the last 20 years or so in my opinion, likely less than 10 years old.BTW it looks just like a couple of spots on South Mtn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 LL ,speaking of south mountain we saw our first rattlesnake over there saturday while looking for Pima Falls. Pima Falls is fenced off and i was going to hike around the other side and backtrak to them in order to see the area better. That area being fenced off might be loaded full of buzztails so i changed my mind. Not to mention Polly was reading me the riot act about it since she saw the rattler before i did ...I honestly never thought i could find a buzztail at south mountain. Made me re-think my plans for the local mountains ...Now these rocks would have to have been brought in by helicopter since you can't get in there with motorized vehicles of any kind.... evil Kneivel maybe but not the rest of us. The top is a round circle , but it doesn't appear that way with my phone pics. the sun is always so bright i cant even see the screen , let alone the image... I had 19 pics in this sequence that didnt even show the rocks at all... before i go unstacking these i am going to attempt better pics. And i have an old timer who claims these were there when he worked nearby in the sixties... maybe his old feeble mind was mistaken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nugget Shooter Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Careful messing with it because you may end up in deep doo doo with local authorities as well depending on what your rock piles may be or may have been. If it is burial site and you disturb it you could be in a bit of trouble. I say markers of some sort, but who knows?The BLM and State folks can get all upset over the darnedest things in this state. Stuff like that I normally shrug my shoulders and go about my business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 I can rest assured it is not a cave lined with gold nuggets. The part i can't get out of my head is that this part of the estrella's supposedly has two stashes of Spanish treasure hidden in it... what better place to hide something than a place that looks like a burial site... With my luck i am sure there will be nothing there , but as they say " nothing ventured , nothing gained ". I am going to wait a week and see how i feel about it then . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Yep, this law has teeth.http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/anti1906.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimshot Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 OD,I would think if it's a burial site the BLM should have records of it being listed as such. And possibly an exact location.Rim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 If it is burial site and you disturb it you could be in a bit of trouble.Ya man, or it could be even worse.Didnt you see what happened to Jeremiah Johnsons family after he led the search party through the indian burial ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homefire Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Just last year a guy here in NM. Got a ticket for $740.00 for the 6 square nails he was cought with.God, I can't even pick stuff up that is younger then my self? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 The golf course in Awatukee at the end of South mountain is built on an Indian burial ground...I wonder how much they had to pay for those permits. If this were a burial site there wouldn't be any records Rim , it would be a case of a miner just burying another miner... Not too mention most were buried in the ground in holes dug , except the indian mounds... and this doesn't appear to be either of those. I'm gonna go crazy ... I'm not going to touch it until i find a 2 box detector and see if there is any metal within 10 feet then go from there. Thanks for your input here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~LARGO~ Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 This rock stack is interesting, as with the lower base of the stack appears to be randomly placed, or tossed, or as been suggested, even dumped to a point.Then above that point, there is an area where the stones appear to more thoughtfully, or more carefully placed, much like a mortar free wall. The stones in this area were placed on their wider or flat sides, then subsequent layers, or courses, were laid parallel to the above courses, end to end, again, much like courses of rock or brick in a more "modern" wall might be assembled This aspect tells me that there were more than one individual that had a hand in placing the stones where they are now found, since each participating individual may have his own reason for placing the stones in his/her own way. Perhaps even his own attempt being respectful, if it were a burial spot.That being said, the burials I have seen have not had obvious indicators that might draw attention to others as to the burial location, such as carefully placed stones might provide, as mentioned above.Long story short, until further exploration is done, it is anyones guess as to what the real purpose was to this big ole rockpile... Now, here in the deserts of southern Idaho, there can be found extensive low, hand laid loose rock walls, large enough in size, that it would take a person a very long time to assemble, given the time and distance it would take to transport and place those many thousands of chunks heavy rock to build such stone enclosures, say 3 feet high, by 2 feet in width. Some folk have speculated they were built by the Basque sheepherders to contain their sheep herds. The downside to that, it that is there is such limited natural feed available on the vast desert, that the building of these quite extensive stone walls would not make sense, so again, it is anyones guess just why they may have been erected.So there you have it, my dos centavos... :twocents: ~LARGO~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haderly Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Based on the apparent size you might have a horse burial site. We had a rock pile on one of our sites that an archeologist had to be paid to excavate. After a lot of money and carful work they uncover the skeleton of a dog. Someone had taken a lot of time to bury their beloved dog out in once was the middle of nowhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Alright guys ,i have the final answer...I talked to a guy off - forum who stated to me " the indians did it a couple hundred years ago.....to keep the aliens from flying out !!!! " As i struggled to keep the laughter in ( and some slipped out ) he got really angry... this goof actually believed this stuff ... so i guess that explains it all..... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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