Humbugs!
Our road trip continues. We've seen a lot of sights, including two notable humbugs.
First, at the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown, New York, we saw the Cardiff Giant!
From Road Trip
Said giant was dug up in a farmer's field back in the 1830's. People were already amazed by fossil fish and the like. The Bible said that in ancient days, giants walked the earth. Surely this was a petrified giant.
It was, in fact, a fake, carved from gypsum rock and buried in the field a few months before it was "discovered". Nonetheless, it was a woner of the day. When the owners wouldn't sell it to P.T. Barnum, Barnum had another fake carved for his show. Humbug.
Today, we visited "America's Stonehenge" a.k.a. "Mystery Hill" in Salem NH.
From Road Trip
This is probably not total humbug, radiocarbon dating shows that charcoal found on the site may be as much as 4000 years old. The stone walls, chambers, and standing stones . . . it's hard to say. It's known that there was a farm on the site in the early nineteenth century. Many of the stones and wells appear to date to that time.
When it was first opened as an attraction back in the 1930's, a lot of the stones were moved around. Some of the stones show holes made by a steel drill. The archaeologists say the site has been so disturbed, that we may never know what, if anything, is real pre-Columbian work.
As they say, "Decide for yourself"
We've been having a fine time. In addition to the sites mentioned above, we've seen Saratoga Springs, Warner Castle, Canturbury Shaker Village, the Floating Bridge in Brookfield, NH, the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory, and the Quechee gorge. Tomorrow, we're off to the White Mountains and Mount Washington.
First, at the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown, New York, we saw the Cardiff Giant!
From Road Trip
Said giant was dug up in a farmer's field back in the 1830's. People were already amazed by fossil fish and the like. The Bible said that in ancient days, giants walked the earth. Surely this was a petrified giant.
It was, in fact, a fake, carved from gypsum rock and buried in the field a few months before it was "discovered". Nonetheless, it was a woner of the day. When the owners wouldn't sell it to P.T. Barnum, Barnum had another fake carved for his show. Humbug.
Today, we visited "America's Stonehenge" a.k.a. "Mystery Hill" in Salem NH.
From Road Trip
This is probably not total humbug, radiocarbon dating shows that charcoal found on the site may be as much as 4000 years old. The stone walls, chambers, and standing stones . . . it's hard to say. It's known that there was a farm on the site in the early nineteenth century. Many of the stones and wells appear to date to that time.
When it was first opened as an attraction back in the 1930's, a lot of the stones were moved around. Some of the stones show holes made by a steel drill. The archaeologists say the site has been so disturbed, that we may never know what, if anything, is real pre-Columbian work.
As they say, "Decide for yourself"
We've been having a fine time. In addition to the sites mentioned above, we've seen Saratoga Springs, Warner Castle, Canturbury Shaker Village, the Floating Bridge in Brookfield, NH, the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory, and the Quechee gorge. Tomorrow, we're off to the White Mountains and Mount Washington.