Stone Mysteries of the Shawangunk Mountains - Glenn Kreisberg

This talk will focus on the standing lithic structures found scattered among the summits and ridgelines of the Shawangunk Mountains in southeastern New York. Often dismissed as colonial era stone walls and field clearing piles, the vast majority have mostly been ignored by conventional archaeologists. Yet, these formations are increasingly emerging as part of a Native American tradition of ritual building practices that reflect a sophisticated three-dimensional worldview and cultural belief system. By mapping locational data of potential Native American sacred sites within the region, patterns can be discerned in their environmental positioning, construction techniques and event-specific alignments related to skyscapes. Utilizing GIS software, hundreds of sites and structures in the region have been documented, providing a basis for understanding these sites in their proper cultural context. Glenn Kreisberg is an author, outdoor guide and radio engineer in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains of New York. His books include Spirits in Stone, Mysteries of the Ancient Past and Lost Knowledge of the Ancients. Glenn served two terms as Vice President of NEARA and studied archaeoastronomy at SUNY and archaeoacoustics in Malta. He is cofounder of the nonprofit Overlook Mountain Center in Woodstock, New York, where he lives with his wife and two children.