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May 15, 2022 photo-visit update to Minnesota's "NORSE CODE-STONE" site

 


A beautiful noon Sunday in May at a secluded ridgeline south of Appleton, Minnesota.  Gusty winds and about 74 degrees.  I haven't visited the site for a few years...since Peter Stormare and his film crew came to the site back in 2018.  I came today a bit anxious that all would be okay, and it was.  I noticed that a lot of invading buckthorn had recently been cut out of the area, and invading prairie gophers hadn't upheaved the topsoil too badly.. 


Here I am with a happy smile on my face and a fancy stonehole at my hand, one of my favorites at the site.  By common medieval Norse standards, this kind of large stonehole was unknown.  I believe there are both Norse and late 1800's stoneholes at this same remote spot on the ridgeline.  I will show you fine examples of both in this photo-trip.  Your understanding will be increased by first seeing my blog entry for the "Norse Code-stone." 



It doesn't look like it, but this is the beginnings of a freshwater spring just a stone-throw away from all the stoneholes on the ridge.  One of the reasons for my trip on this day was to check out the drinking water supply each party had available to them.  Let's follow the spring water down to the nearby pond....
 

Hhmmm...many small but deep pools on the way down to the pond.  Some of these little pools are a foot deep and have clean, gravelly bottoms. 



This is more like it.


I'm looking west, back up at the ridgeline with all the stonehole rocks.  Patiently waiting for me is my trusty helpmate of over 40 years.  I pause to look all around, and up:



Uh...okay...windy I guess so...back to stoneholes!



Here is a new close-up of the "Code-stone," which has three small stoneholes hand-chiseled into it.  The first question for a returning Norseman would be:  why is there no hole in long blank space?  Why are there two holes, a blank space, and then another stonehole?  This automatically brings curiosity and attention to the space.  We will eventually see that several stonehole rocks are positioned along the ridgeline, about 50 feet away, in this same manner of "positioning along a line."  By the way, the stoneholes in this "Norse Code-stone" rock are pointing east if one considers that the three stoneholes get progressively deeper going east.  In other words, the line of stoneholes is pointing east, like a compass on the prairie. 

Now here's something new and up-to-date!  Within the past several days a violence of heavy rain visited the stonehole ridgeline and exposed this stonehole rock with a single hole in it.  (The other dark spot is not a hole.)  The hole had obviously been concealed by dirt and possibly grass, something I have seen before.  I want to note that this hole is very similar to the slightly triangular shape and size of the typical Norse stoneholes found in the region.  Anyway, the fresh excitement for me is that this rock is positioned about eight feet directly north of the Code-stone itself, which by interpretation means that it is pointing north off the Code-stone, which is pointing directly east.  Yes, I believe we are now seeing a "compass on the prairie."

Keep in mind, also, that the Pomme de Terre River discharges into the beginnings of the Minnesota River (Marsh Lake) just a few miles directly north of the Code-stone site--and the Pomme de Terre River reaches the farthest north of any tributaries entering the Minnesota River.  For this reason, I believe whatever may be buried on the ridgeline may have something to do with a medieval land claim attempt.  I don't know why the late 1800s grouping of stoneholes are also in the same spot, but I think it is fair to say that they are likely associated with railroad surveying.



This "double stonehole" rock, above, and the three below, represent the rest of the small-diameter hand-chiseled stoneholes that go with the two previously shown (the Code-stone and the new,single-hole rock).  With study, it becomes clear that the small stoneholes are hand-chiseled and quite aged, when compared with the several large stoneholes likely made in the late 1800s.







Again, this stonehole seen above and those several that follow, are likely leftovers from the early railroad surveying days.  I can say this because of the old black and white 1869 photo (seen at the end of this essay) showing a stonehole rock being used as a tent support on a windy ridgeline.  So, I believe these large, sometime fancy stoneholes seen here represent a surveying camp, and the stoneholes appear to be machine-made, not hand-chiseled like the small-diameter stoneholes.  (I double-checked to see that stonehole drilling inventions did come about in the 1800s.)

In conclusion, when studied closely, it becomes obvious even to the naked eye that these larger stoneholes are not as aged as the small-diameter ones.  This observation amounts to empirical evidence...which is both factual and verifiable.










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