Mystery Of The Giant Boulder In North Salem
Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - There are many balancing rocks across the world. It's not always easy to determine whether an ancient structure is a natural or man-made formation. The giant boulder in North Salem has been discussed for years.
Some are convinced this is a dolmen created by an unknown ancient civilization, while others simply credit Mother Nature for the construction.
Balanced Rock, North Salem. Credit: Daniel Case, Public Domain
Is there an anomaly in the Hudson Valley, New York, or is the boulder no dolmen despite its striking appearance?
The ninety-ton granite boulder is balancing on five smaller stones that are driven deep down to earth. The boulder gives the impression it may fall any minute, but make no mistake about it – the rock is very stable and cannot easily be pushed over.
Is The North Salem Boulder A Glacial Erratic?
Most geologists explain this unusual formation due to the earth's changes during the last Ice Age. Massive continental glaciers transported giant stones. Later, when the glaciers melted the vast rocks were dropped out and are known as glacial erratics. Many peculiar structures were left by the last receding glacier about 10,000 years ago.
The huge rock is also interesting and spectacular to watch. For example, in Finland, we find a giant balancing rock known as Kummakivi, which means "strange rock" in Finnish. Some Finnish folklore explains the odd locations of these giant stones by saying that trolls or giants carried, threw or rolled them there, but it's most likely just an unusual geological formation.
Kummakivi in Ruokolahti, southeastern Finland. Credit: Kotivalo, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Devil's Marbles found in the Northern Territory of Australia are equally remarkable natural formations. The Devil's Marbles are sacred to the Aborigines, and these rocks are of great cultural and spiritual significance. Some of the stones have been split in half due to very deep cracks caused by weathering.
Karlu Karlu' – Spectacular Sacred Stones Of Aboriginal People In Australia. Credit: Adobe Stock - Claudio
It looks like they were cut in half with a laser capable of slicing stones, but they are Mother Nature's wonderful products.
Why Is The Site Called The North Salem Dolmen?
Many people don't think the North Salem rock is a natural formation. The site is referred to as the North Salem dolmen because people believe this is the work of ancient Native Americans who used the place for ritual gatherings or astronomical observations.
It is a natural formation or a man-made structure? Credit: Arthur M Webber, Public Domain
According to another theory, the North Salem dolmen was built by Druids, who visited North America in the distant past. Some people think the site was an ancient altar.
The possibility that Druids once made a long journey to New York remains controversial. Still, some researchers are convinced there is evidence of ancient European explorers, possibly Celts, who sailed to New York.
There are more than 200 stone chambers scattered over Putnam Valley. The chambers are some temples constructed as far back as 4,000 years ago.
Who were the true builders of the stone chambers? Did the Vikings or the Druids - whose true origin is shrouded in mystery - create them to mark special sites of natural power?
Mr. Brech, the Hudson Valley coordinator for the New England Antiquities Research Association, is convinced that ancient European explorers, possibly Celts, who sailed to the New World centuries before Columbus, built stone structures like this one.
So, this is also why some consider the North Salem boulder to be a dolmen raised by ancient European explorers.
Updated on January 17, 2024
Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com
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