Considerations on Peter's Petroglyphs

rerob1 (at) aol.com subject=considerations on peter's petroglyphs Ralph Robinson

Hi Pete from Ralph Robinson:

Yes, the marks are in a long line. I showed four groups because it was too large to fit on one line; rather had I shown it on one line, it would have been too small to show detail. I measured.

We lifted the sod and found more after you left.

Perhaps you can do it better and put it on the internet or something.

My description:

Considerations on Peter's Petroglyphs

Site visit July 17, 1998 by Peter Sjolander and Ralph Robinson Revisited July 27, 1998 by Clayton McLaughlin, Victor Biagotti, and Ralph Robinson

Found by Peter Sjolander (July 17th 1998) in St. Georges, Maine (exact position is withheld pending notification from land owner), are a curious sequence of marks in a light gray, fine-grained granite streak in a banded- gneiss. The exposed gneiss forms a knoll with pockets of shallow soil which supports short, thick ground juniper.

The marks cover the complete band--15 feet long and 13 inches high. The band points 40 degrees magnetic north and the marks are inclined about 75 degrees to the long axis. Although I know of no natural way the marks could have occurred, the most of them are certainly natural. They enter the ledge at an angle of about 60 degrees with horizontal. While many places on them have been broken away, no trace of the broken pieces are apparent.

The marks are nearly regular (about nine inches apart) and are in four bunches, separated from each other by a blank space. Many marks could have been enhanced, but we found only five which suggest tool marks. The other breaks are too precise for stone tools and not precise enough for sophisticated metal tools. Two marks abutting the band to the west of group III may be tool marks.

Sketches of them are below.

Note 1: While the marks may not convey a readable message, they might be artifacts, however. We must always keep in mind that writing was considered magic for millennia, and that those who wrote could communicate with only a few other individuals. The masses could not discriminate between sham and truth. Strangers believing the marks to be made by the occupant, would also believe that because he makes writing, he was magic and not to be trifled with. The marks may be natural cracks.

Note 2: The marks are close to a site which looks suspiciously like an Irish monk's bee hive. The site has been vandalized recently, and certainly needs study by a competent and accepted archeologist. Among the sites' characteristics are: three stone walls 20 inches thick and four feet high. They abut a cliff and form two, doored enclosures; one enclosure is about 10 ft by 10 ft, the other is smaller and has a ruined structure to the left of its door. The structure was, when first viewed thirty years ago, shaped like a cube with the top about one foot below the top of the walls--too high to be a hearth, too much in the way for animal pens. It might have been an altar. Logs when placed on the walls could have been covered with sod or boughs to form a snug abode. [I am not certain about dimensions]

Nearby is a hand-dug well and near that in the cliff is a smaller version of the marks above. In a strip of fine grained granite (about three inches wide by three feet long) are cracks which are certainly natural, but enigmatic enough to be considered either magic or divine. These cracks were also brought to our attention by Peter Sjolander.

Note 3: The "beehive" of Raymond, New Hampshire also has "mysterious" writing on its cliff.

Note 4: One of the Norse Sagas tells about two "skraeling" boys who were taken prisoners and who described, "In a land over beyond ours, live white men under ground who have long robes, and carry banners, chant, and march."
Group I (Northern)
GroupII
GroupIII
On west side of band III.
Group IV (Southern)

Later, Rob