Our Story
I came across this site a few years ago and started photographing it for the past year or two. It was at the bottom of a pond that dried up over the past few years due to the drought. The pond is not fed by streams or a spring. Only rain and snow fill the area with water. When there is water there, the pond is filled with turtles, frogs and lily pads. The edges of the wet area are mucky and when wet you can sink in a good eight inches.
When I first saw the site I thought I had some across a pile of stones left by a farmer in days gone past. I was crossing the dry pond looking for flowers and swamp plants to photograph and there it was. I sent several photos to a local paper of the plants and included this pile of rocks. No one ever said anything about the circle of rocks photo I sent to the local newspaper. I figured I had a nice private place to photograph plants that no one else had interest in.
We went out several times to walk our dogs and when I look back at the photos I can understand why this did not jump out at me as something other than a pile of rocks in the pond that maybe a farmer had put there. Grasses covered it and then flowers bloomed. The rocks were more of a backdrop to the flower photos.
Over the winter the snow crushed down most of the grasses and flower stems. We returned to the pond this winter as the snow melted and noticed the circle was much more pronounced without all the grasses and flowers. I took a few more photos but still did not think much more of it other than something a farmer left. Then I had a moment of clarity. It was nearing the equinox and I was out at the rocks around sunset. As I stood on the big rock and looked towards the sunset, I thought it would be interesting to check out the direction of the path with my compass. It pointed west which may have had no significance at all but it got my thoughts churning and I decided I better call someone else to look at it.
On May 5, 2017, experts in several areas came out to look at the rocks. The Masons said it was not the remains of a Masonic Temple. The Native Americans from one of the Wompanoag Tribes all agreed it was Native American. The believed it is a Women's Womb Circle. This is where women went once a month. It only took minutes for the identification to happen, but several members suggested this independently of hearing the other one saying this.
We are currently trying to get more information about sites like this and are hoping to get a photo of a similar structure in the area to help validate the conclusion for those who wish to see more proof. In the end, it was very exciting to accidently find something this special.
Since I wrote this story, I learned that there were many stone tools, beads, and pottery found at a wide brook nearby about 40 years ago. This all helps put together a bigger picture of the people who lived here a thousand years ago or more. Now when I think about standing near that circle I also imagine the women who went there centuries before and feel a connection to something very special.