I'm having a lot of trouble getting my posts accepted but DogTTH has posted some real good information and pictures and I wanted him to know how much I appreciate him sharing this information. The Tanit symbol is outstanding as well as the other things he's photographed at his sites.
Although his site was probably a religious shrine, it could have been put there as one of many shrines along an ancient trade route. Trade has created and destroyed empires and shaped lives for as long as it took somebody to figure out that he could swap something he had in exchange for an object he desired. Trade trails can link communities or continents and they are fascinating to study. In the eastern half of the United States, the Mound Builder cultures had huge trading networks that spread west to the obsidian deposits in the Yellowstone region, north into Canada and south to the Gulf of Mexico and maybe even into Mexico.
Some people of religion would avoid a site like Dog's because of the signs of pagan worship, but those signs are only one prehistoric layer of the history of the trail. His site might have started out as a campsite close to water or some source of food. Close examination of the site could reveal arrowheads or other artifacts from the Paleo or Archaic periods. If the campsite was located along a trail that went from one area of economic importance to another, the trail would continue to be used and the campsites would become larger and spiritual shrines or monuments would be constructed so that the traders could worship while they were on the trail. The artifacts and structures left behind can help date a trail and reveal the cultures that used it. So, more likely than not, the pagan shrines were put there because of the trail and the location of the campsite. If the pagan stuff bothers you, look for the other layers of history.
I have found the study of the trade trails, and the products that were moved along them, to be very interesting and I hope those of you who enjoy historical research, will give this area of study a try.
so if you download these photos,make sure you run them thru some type of scan.
