wierd circular stone fondations found

[6packor2]

Hi everyone,
Im pretty new to metal detecting and bought a cheap radio shack detector couple years ago. I just upgraded to a fisher f5. Im an avid outdoorsman and have came across 3 sites I deer hunt a couple miles in woods nearest road is about 2 miles lol. The sites Ive found have only a circular shape maybe 12 or 13 foot diameter with a 2 foot depresion in ground. center is stone free. these 3 sites are all within half mile of each other and located on the flattop of a hill. One has the remains of a stone well about 75 yards from one of the circular stone foundations Ive found. Im in madison county ny. I was at site by well couple years ago and found some old square nails. i also found what looked like a civil war stirup in a runoff area. I plan on hitting it hard with new detector. as my old one discouraged me because I wasnt sure how to use it to begin with. My question is have any of you come across these types of foundations or remnents of one that are roughly 12 or 13 foot diameter. kinda reminded me of a teepee setup but i dont think thats what they are. Im just guessing. Id like to know what they possibly are. Waiting for the thaw to hit but i may not wait. There in a heavily forested are mostly pine. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

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[JCPLTAB]

found something similar about fourty years ago outside of Fort Kent maine . Local Mic Mac indians said they believed it was used as a large sweat lodge or the Shaman used it to connect with earth spirits . Please be advised that both I and my Mic Mac friends had been in contact with distilled spirits ! I would check the very center of the circle dig down a bit and see if you find any chared wood or charcoal or pottery shards.
hope this helps
JC

 

[6packor2]

thanks for your info and taking the time to post a response. I apreciate your humor as well.

 

[Indian Steve]

Hi, It does sound like a sweat lodge. Check for fractured pieces of rock in the pit in the center. The rocks would be transfered from a fire outside to the pit in the center and then water was poured on them to make steam. The rock would fracture a lot of the time from the cold water hitting the glowing red rocks. I have been in sweat lodges and the rock almost always are much smaller coming out than when they went in. Usually there would also be a fire about 10 to 15 feet east of the lodge where the rocks were heated. Take some pics for us. steve

 

[6packor2]

will take pics when weather permits currently about a foot or more snow here. thanks for your help.

 

[kuger]

I have seen actual teepee rings ,can really see em from a plane but the Indians of NY didnt reside n Teepee's so not that.I have seen sweat lodges like mentioned as well....could be?If there are square nails though,likely not native Amer.I have also found Spanish horse Corrals that are round but the walls are a good 4' tall

 

[Indian Steve]

After rereading your post, i am thinking that maybe they are silo foundations. With a well nearby there was probably a house and barn. There are still a couple of old wooden silos near here on stone foundations.

 

[arnofarrell]

My first thought was a silo as well.

 

[clovis97]

My first thought was that you found a silo foundation.

 

[6packor2]

the square nails i found were right next to well so i thought of a shelter of some sort for the well. I was doing some snowmobiling today and was close so I had a run up the hill to see if I could make it there. If the small pine tree didnt jump out at me and ask me for a ride I may have made it.....but i didnt. prob to much snow up there anyway. although canapy is fairly tight. Remnent from a Silo could be. I just dont see anything in area that looks like a house or something may have been up there. Will take photos when I can get up there. Thanks for all your imput. Ive come across quite a few strange things while hunting. Thats what made me buy a metal detector to begin with. will deffinately do more scouting around for more remnents of previous use. Thanks again.

 

[6packor2]

stones used were all small flat stones.

 

[GrizLeeBear]

If the square nails are on the small size, say an inch to inch and a half, they could be from horse shoes. Is it possible any of these are grind stone bases? They might have used dray horses to roll one stone on another.

 

[6packor2]

the depresion looks like a bowl but 12 or so feet across. looks as if rocks fell inward. dont know what the are but have intregued me for some time.

 

[JOHUNT]

Hi fellow NY'er, hunter, outdoorsman,
Before the 1930's something like 65% of NY was farmland. The CCC was responsible for reforestation programs starting in the 30's. It is not uncommon to find remnants of farms in deep woods. Alot of times(in the woods) you can still see stonewalls and lines of old growth timber which used to be fencerows. Farmers back then didn't have big equipment to move things like hay and silage. I'm thinking you've found a storage silo, there may have been a livestock pasture nearby. I'm not certain of this so keep your imagination working and try to visualize what was once there. Are there very large trees closeby? If so, look them over. Obversly, is there an abnormal clearing nearby(possible cabin site)? Is the ground foliage different from the surrounding area? I recommend checking out some old maps and look for roads or trails. Your detector will give many more clues and you could find some neat stuff! Good luck!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

CCC also made cisterns for horse watering, fire prevention, make work for otherwise unemployed folks. There is a 30 ft x 3 ft deep stone ring near me that was part of a CCC camp. Now used by frogs. In Upstate NY.

Silo or corn crib foundation is another possibility. Photos?

 

[6packor2]

About a mile awy from the well theres an abnormal clearing that I though may have been a house site all forester planted pines surounding this30 y7ard diameter. I know back in the early day they used to buy high ground properties instead of valley land. really looking going back up there and exploring more with the metal detector. even if its to frozen to dig it would give some ideas of whats up there or not

 

[JOHUNT]

I was also thinking of the possibility of these being smokehouses. Not sure why they would be so spaced apart though. Maybe a hunting camp??