Curiously-Shaped Stones on the Browns River in Jericho, Vermont

My trip to Jericho’s Old Red Mill and its Park yesterday didn’t yield much in the way of stonework discoveries. Although, it did lead to a beautiful foliage video…

On The Browns River at The Old Mill in Jericho, Vermont

However, I did find ONE example of a sort of Speculative Stonework I’ve been finding along waterways in the Champlain Valley - a Stand-Alone Wing- or Fin-Shaped Stone, in a bit of an alcove.

Though this theoretically could be caused by water erosion and natural calving, the rocks around this feature involved with the water show much rounder edges resulting from those processes than what we see here. This Wing- or Fin-Shaped Stone displays a jagged edge, and could have been formed in part by percussive stone shaping techniques. The triangular stone in front of it also adds to the potential this is a constructed element.

The video gives us, perhaps, the best view of this feature. I have enhanced it somewhat to bring out the details, and slowed it down about 60%. Some still shots of the feature follow. All photos by yours truly, Mike Luoma.

Again, this is highly speculative, but this appears to be worked stone, and this Wing- or Fin-Shaped Stone in an Alcove is a consistent motif I’ve been finding examples of in this region. Could these be indicative of landings, of places to come ashore? Perhaps. That seems a logical guess. But it will likely be difficult to get mainstream acceptance for such an hypothesis, as currently the consensus leans toward natural geological processes over Indigenous modification when it comes to explaining shaped stones in the wild.