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A New York State Non-Profit 501(C)3 Educational Corporation 
Researching Archaeoastronomy and Landscape Archaeology in Northeast America and Beyond
Preserving and Protecting   
Environment – Culture – Community

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Identifying, documenting and protecting Native American Ceremonial Stone Landscapes (CSL) as Importnat Resources of Cultural Significance.

“Let the Landscape Speak”    ~Doug Harris Dep. Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island (Retired) & OMC Board Member

 

Research & Documentation

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 Since 2012 Overlook Mountain Center (OMC) has endeavored to identify, protect, research and document the historic and prehistoric resources of cultural significance present at the Lewis Hollow Site on Overlook Mountain in Woodstock, NY. 

As an identified ceremonial stone landscape (CSL), we believe the site meets the criteria set by The United South and Eastern Tribes (USET), based on resolution no. 2007-037, regarding sacred ceremonial landscapes found in ancestral territories of United South and Eastern Tribes, member tribes.
Below is a chronological list of the evidential reports and documents, as well as a brief description of each item and a link to it. Also, find links below to press accounts of OMC activities related to the protecting and preserving Lewis Hollow site.
1) 2006 letter from NYS archeologist Beth Wellman (deceased) attesting to Native American excavations in proximity to the Lewis Hollow site.

 

 

 

2) 2007 letter from Sherry White, (THPO for the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, at that time), to NYS SHPO, regarding the stone mounds in Lewis Hollow. LINK

4) 2009 NYS Museum archaeologist and GIS specialist Susan Winchell Sweeney’s GPS/GIS feature location survey map of the stone mounds, walls and springs identified at the Lewis Hollow site.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
5) 2010 Acedemia.com paper by Glenn Kreisberg https://www.academia.edu/9145220/Serpent_of_the_North_The_Overlook_Mountain_Draco_Correlation                                                                                                                                                                              
7) 2016 Lewis Hollow Field Survey Report of researcher David Johnson. (National Geographic grant recipient) Report filed with Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, Papers on Ceremonial Landscapes, National Anthropological Archives No. 2018-14. 2016_Dave Johnson-Report
8) 2019 Letter from Doug Harris, retired Deputy Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) for the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island, and cultural landscape  preservation consultant, attesting to the Lewis Hollow site, as a Manitou Hassannash (spirit stone) CSL,. 2019_DougHarris_SignedLetter    
9) 2019 Photo documentation of Ramapough Lenape Nation tribal members performing the winter solstice sunrise ceremony at the Lewis Hollow site Dec. 20th 2019. (10°F, ceremonial fire started in the traditional manner). 2019_Lenape Solstice Ceremony
10) 2021 Report from Dr. James Feathers of the University of Washington, providing results of the  soil samples collected at the Lewis Hollow site, for analysis and dating, using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) methodology.  The results indicated a construction date of 1550 AD, for Great Cairn #4, at the Lewis Hollow site. (3 files) 2021_lum-rock-structures-led, 2021_lum-rock-structures-led-supplemental (1), 2020_Lewis Hollow OSL Pics                                               
11) 2022 OMC RESEARCH UPDATE
Peer reviewed paper published in the journal Quaternary Geochronology. “Luminescence dating of Enigmatic rock structures in New England, USA”, by Dr. James Feathers of the University of Washington. Includes dating of the Lewis Hollow site in Woodstock New York to 1550AD, making the dated features the oldest man-made stone constructions found in Ulster County. Additional OSL dating results for Lewis Hollow will be available later this fall.
A personalized URL providing 50 days’ free access to the article. Anyone clicking on this link before October 29, 2022 will be taken directly to the final version of the article on ScienceDirect, which they are welcome to read or download. No sign up, registration or fees are required.

Luminescence dating of Enigmatic rock structures in New England, USA

SCIENCEDIRECT.COM
Luminescence dating of Enigmatic rock structures in New England, USA
Enigmatic rock structures in the form of walls, chambers, tunnels, and cairns are common archaeological features in northeastern United States

Contact OMC: 845-417-8384 | P.O. Box 1278, Woodstock, NY 12498

 

Find Out More!

Press Links associated with OMC
The OMC Store - A portion of your purchase is donated to help support Overlook Mountain Center
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OMC Chairperson Glenn Kreisberg has recently published a book about his 10 year quest to understand the lithic constructions found in the backwoods of the northeast, including the Lewis Hollow site on Overlook Mountain. When you purchase a copy of Spirits in Stone from the OMC website, you receive a 10% discount PLUS 10% of the proceeds are donated to Overlook Mountain Center.

My new book, Spirits in Stone, will be out April 10th, from Bear & Co. In it I document over a decade of research into man-made stone constructions in the backwoods of the northeast, with a focus on the Catskill and Shawangunk mountains of New York. I examine the potential origins and purposes for a myriad of different types of old stone structures found on the land, including walls, cairns, perched boulders, effigies and more. I also examine important sites around the world for insights into ancient megalithic culture. In the northeast U.S., as elsewhere, the patterns revealed through the eye of landscape archaeology and archaeoastronomy speak to the sophisticated belief system of an ancient population that understood the complex movements of the night sky and integrated those beliefs into their lives and world view. I believe they accomplished this through the cultural practice of celestial observation, landscape manipulation and monument construction, as well their travels and contacts with peoples from other regions and parts of the world. This is controversial information, as generally for our region, this is not accepted to be true by conventional historians. I hope this book helps change that view.

Buy Spirits in Stone

 

 

 Original 2013 Crowdsourcing Video 

 

Contact OMC: 845-417-8384 | P.O. Box 1278, Woodstock, NY 12498

Administrator: Glenn Kreisberg

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