Cairn - Wikipedia
A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic : càrn [ˈkʰaːrˠn̪ˠ] (plural càirn [ˈkʰaːrˠɲ] ).
Stone Structures of Northeastern U.S. - Prehistoric - Cairns
Mar 22, 2022 · STONE PILE: A stone pile is a disorganized heap of stones created as the result of field clearing or for the purpose of stone wall building. A stone pile was never intended to be an intentionally built stone structure with a specific purpose.
Native American Stone Cairns - Heaps - Mounds
Webster's: "A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark." Stone piles, heaps or mounds are alternate names for cairns. Cairns have served to memorialize people, locations or events.
Please don't stack rocks on your next hike. Here's why.
Aug 9, 2024 · Hike far enough on just about any trail in the world, and you'll likely spot a collection of stones placed atop each other that form impromptu sculptures. Some call them cairns. Others favor more colorful terms like "stone balancing" or "prayer stone stacks."
Finding Meaning in Stone - Pennsylvania Historic Preservation
Jul 22, 2020 · The complex contains numerous constructed stone features such as platforms, cairns (cairn is defined by James and Mary Gage as “an intentionally constructed pile of stones”), curved stone rows, and row-linked boulders built on the top and eastward slope of a broad ridge.
Understanding Cairns: The Ancient Art of Stone Stacking
Sep 21, 2023 · Have you ever been hiking or exploring the great outdoors and stumbled upon a stack of stones? If so, you’ve encountered a cairn, a human-made pile of rocks that has been around for centuries. These fascinating stone stacks are more than just random rocks; they hold significant cultural, historical, and even spiritual value.
A single pile can appear to be consistent with multi- ple interpretations and each interpretation carries implications for how the rock pile is then rec- orded (or not recorded) and evaluated against the National Register of Historic Places criteria.
Some mysterious W.Va. rock features may have sacred origins
Feb 9, 2022 · Even old field-clearing piles are important because they provide a comparison to help identify the prehistoric ones. Look for clues about the feature’s origin, such as plow scars on stones, nearby fence lines, uniquely colored stones, …
Cairn - New World Encyclopedia
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn ). Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas.
Stone Piles, Stacks and Platforms - New England Antiquities …
They were often tossed in piles or built into the many stone walls we see scattered through the countryside. Some of the rock piles were used as boundary markers and recorded in early land records as “stake and stones” or heap of stones.