Stonework at Manitou Hassanash Preserve in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. Photo by Mike Luoma.

“False-Front” or “Spilling” Cairn-like Stone Structures in Rhode Island

Large Number of “False-Front” or “Open-End/Closed-End” Stone Structures at Manitou Hassanash Preserve in Hopkinton

Thanks to an invitation from Researcher Harvey Buford, I saw several intriguing stone structures down in Rhode Island in early March, and paid my first visit to Manitou Hassanash Preserve in Hopkinton, RI.

To a stone site enthusiast like me, Manitou Hassanash Preserve was, in a word, Overwhelming. As Harvey and I only had about and hour-and-a-half to work with, I couldn’t see it all. What I was able to see and take in I found impressive on several levels.

Sign Upon Entering Manitou Hassanash Preserve in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. Photo by Mike Luoma.

My first overall impression of the space is that it is indeed a remarkable and ancient Ceremonial Stone Landscape. There are over a thousand Cairn-like Stone Assemblages around the preserve.

Some dismiss these as field clearing platforms or similar farmer’s stonework. But even if there are additions from later farmers, they strike me as just that, later additions to a much older landscape, whether those additions were made by Indigenous…