The Viking Altar Rock in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, is a glacial erratic [1] and a local landmark.
The boulder was found in 1943 and is roughly 8.2 m (27 ft) long by 5.2 m (17 ft) wide. [2] It has four roughly triangular holes about 1 meter above the base. [3] These holes are similar to those found throughout the area, chiseled into boulders by early farmers in the late 19th and early 20th century for the purpose of potentially blasting the rock. Not all were actually used, and there are many such examples, none of which have been shown to be of medieval or earlier Viking origin. [4]
The rock is promoted as an attraction as part of a "Trail of the Vikings" featuring supposed evidence of Norse exploration of Minnesota. [2] This is however conjecture, without support based on any actual archaeological or historical evidence that has been substantiated by research. [3]
The "altar" was rededicated in August 1975 with an ecumenical celebration of Mass. [2]
Madison is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,565 at the 2020 census. Madison includes the village of Silver Lake and the village district of Eidelweiss.
Skellig Michael, also called Great Skellig, is a twin-pinnacled crag 11.6 kilometres (7.2 mi) west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The island is named after the archangel Michael, with "Skellig" derived from the Irish language word sceilig, meaning a splinter of stone. Its twin island, Little Skellig, is smaller and inaccessible. The two islands rose c. 374–360 million years ago during a period of mountain formation, along with the MacGillycuddy's Reeks mountain range. Later, they were separated from the mainland by rising water levels.
Cahokia Mounds is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city directly across the Mississippi River from present-day St. Louis. The state archaeology park lies in south-western Illinois between East St. Louis and Collinsville. The park covers 2,200 acres (890 ha), or about 3.5 square miles (9 km2), and contains about 80 manmade mounds, but the ancient city was much larger. At its apex around 1100 CE, the city covered about 6 square miles (16 km2), included about 120 earthworks in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and functions, and had a population of between 15,000 and 20,000 people.
The Kensington Runestone is a slab of greywacke stone covered in runes that was discovered in central Minnesota, United States, in 1898. Olof Ohman, a Swedish immigrant, reported that he unearthed it from a field in the largely rural township of Solem in Douglas County. It was later named after the nearest settlement, Kensington.
A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word errare, are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres. Erratics can range in size from pebbles to large boulders such as Big Rock in Alberta.
Mogollon culture is an archaeological culture of Native American peoples from Southern New Mexico and Arizona, Northern Sonora and Chihuahua, and Western Texas. The northern part of this region is Oasisamerica, while the southern span of the Mogollon culture is known as Aridoamerica.
Okotoks Erratic is a 16,500-tonne (18,200-ton) boulder that lies on the otherwise flat, relatively featureless, surface of the Canadian Prairies in Alberta. It is part of the 930-kilometre-long (580 mi) Foothills Erratics Train of typically angular boulders of distinctive quartzite and pebbly quartzite.
Tres Zapotes is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the south-central Gulf Lowlands of Mexico in the Papaloapan River plain. Tres Zapotes is sometimes referred to as the third major Olmec capital, but the Olmec phase is only a portion of the site's history, which continued through the Epi-Olmec and Classic Veracruz cultural periods.
Tripod Rock is a glacial erratic, in this specific case a balancing rock, or perched boulder, located in Kinnelon, New Jersey in the Pyramid Mountain Natural Historic Area. This multi-ton Precambrian gneiss boulder, located near the edge of a long ridge, is balanced on three smaller boulders. Tripod Rock is roughly 6 m (20 ft) long, 3 m (9.8 ft) wide, and 2.5 m high, weighing approximately 127 tonnes (280,000 lb). A triangular crest runs the length of its top. The boulder is balanced on three smaller stones roughly 1 m in diameter that raise it above the bedrock by about 0.5 m at its lowest point. The point of contact between the boulder and its support stones forms an approximate 3-4-5 triangle.
Altar de Sacrificios is a ceremonial center and archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, situated near the confluence of the Pasión and Salinas Rivers, in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. Along with Seibal and Dos Pilas, Altar de Sacrificios is one of the better-known and most intensively-excavated sites in the region, although the site itself does not seem to have been a major political force in the Late Classic period.
The Leaf Hills Moraines, sometimes called the Leaf Mountains, are a range of hills in west-central Minnesota. The land does not exhibit many characteristics of mountains, but nevertheless rises typically to a height of 100 to 300 feet above the surrounding farmland, occasionally reaching higher than 350 feet (107 m). The name of this range of hills is translated from the Ojibwe Gaaskibag-wajiwan, which was interpreted by Gilfillan as “Rustling Leaf Mountains.” The name is also shared by Leaf Mountain Township, the two Leaf Lakes ("Gaaskibag-wajiwi-zaaga'iganan"), and the Leaf River ("Gaaskibag-wajiwi-ziibi"), all named for the hills. In turn, the hills in Ojibwe are named after Inspiration Peak ("Gaaskibag-wajiw"), a prominent hill in this area.
Alice Beck Kehoe is a feminist anthropologist and archaeologist. She has done considerable field research among Native American peoples in the upper plains of the US and Canada, and has authored research volumes on Native American archaeology and Native American history. She is also the author of several general anthropology and archaeology textbooks.
Fort Rock–Christmas Lake Valley is a basin of a former inland sea that existed in that region from Pliocene through late Pleistocene time.
Batadombalena is an archaeological site with evidence of habitation from 8,000 years BCE, Balangoda Man, located 85 km (52.8 mi) from Colombo in Sri Lanka, a two-hour drive from Colombo.
A balancing rock, also called a balanced rock or precarious boulder, is a naturally occurring geological formation featuring a large rock or boulder, sometimes of substantial size, resting on other rocks, bedrock, or on glacial till. Some formations known by this name only appear to be balancing, but are in fact firmly connected to a base rock by a pedestal or stem.
Gheo-shih, which translates to “River of the Gourd Trees” in the Zapotec language, is an open-air site found in the Oaxaca Valley that holds what is considered as the earliest representation of civic-ceremonial architecture. Within this site is a cleared area lined by boulders that is thought to have been used for rituals, dances or athletic competitions. This site could have held 25-30 people and is believed to be a congregation site for microbands during the rainy seasons of the Archaic period.
Hirebenakal or Hirébeṇakal or Hirébeṇakallu is a megalithic site in the state of Karnataka, India. It is among the few megalithic sites in India that can be dated to the 800 BCE to 200 BCE period. The site is located in the Koppal district, some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the town of Gangavati and some 35 kilometres (22 mi) from Hospet city. It contains roughly 400 megalithic funerary monuments, that have been dated to the transition period between Neolithic period and the Iron Age. Known locally as eḷu guḍḍagaḷu, their specific name is moryar guḍḍa. Hirebenakal is reported to be the largest necropolis among the 2000 odd megalithic sites found in South India, most of them in the state of Karnataka. Since 1955, it has been under the management of the Dharwad circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). On May 19, 2021, it was proposed that Hirebenakal be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Skystone is an andesite glacial erratic boulder in Bonney Lake, Washington. The boulder was deposited approximately 13,000 years ago. The stone's height and width are 4.5 by 12 feet.
Chutixtiox is an archaeological site of the ancient Maya civilization near Sacapulas, in the Quiché department of modern Guatemala. The site was excavated during the 20th century by A. Ledyard Smith. Ceramic evidence excavated at the site suggests a close relationship with the K'iche' capital of Q'umarkaj. Chutixtiox may have been a settlement in a polity that included the nearby sites of Chutinamit and Xolpacol.
The Mixon are a limestone outcrop in the English Channel about 1 mile (1,600 m) off Selsey Bill, West Sussex. It was formed during the Eocene period.