The Bluff Point Stoneworks
Encyclopedia
The Bluff Point Stoneworks are a prehistoric structure located in the town of Jerusalem, New York
, at the crux of Keuka Lake
in the Finger Lakes Region of western New York
State. Though they were studied many times throughout the 20th century, the structure has been mostly destroyed, and it is still uncertain as to who built the structure.
Unfortunately, most who researched the Stoneworks were amateurs, not professional archaeologists. As a result, their conclusions led to an even greater uncertainty as to the nature of the structure.
" - included in the 35th Annual Report of the New York State Museum of Natural History - described the Stoneworks as he saw them in 1879 and 1880.
They were located on 7 acres (28,328 m²) of land, he said, from the top of the bluff point ridge westward. Wright described "Graded Ways", three to eight feet wide and one foot high. He went on to state that the "rectilineal divisions...are made with almost mathematical accuracy, and indicate a skill we can hardly attribute to the red man." He later admitted that the structure "may belong to the age of the mound-builders." Summing up, S. Hart Wright stated that the stoneworks were "one of the strangest structures in the state. I find nothing similar to it figured in any work on archaeology
."
article on Sunday, 31 July 1966, written by Daniel C. Riker, was titled "Did Norse
Explore Lakes Before Columbus?" Riker tells of an Indian
legend of a "great canoe, manned by men with flowing hair, and carrying shining shields on its side." Indeed, the Seneca
Indians who lived on the land had many legends, such as "stone men" and "dark people", but Riker claims that their legend of these Norse-sounding men is evidence that the stoneworks were built by these Nordic visitors.
Another newspaper article, "Sees Norsemen Early Dwellers In This Country", states that Norse records indicate that in 1347 there were several expeditions to a new land in the West.
Yet another article claims that the engravings at the Stoneworks of "human and animal heads are arranged in amazing patterns" that were similar to those made by the Etruscans. A different article indicated that an engraving of the face of a veiled woman, like Isis
, may have appeared on the rocks.
In The Crooked Lake Review # 68, November 1993, David D. Robinson argues that the Hopewells who used to live in Western New York were too primitive to build a structure like the stoneworks.
Eric Buetens wrote an article in the Summer of 1980 which claimed that the Celts built similar structures that were used for archeo-astronomy or as a signal beacon.
A. Glen Rogers wrote a book titled Forgotten Stories of the Finger Lakes
in which he added that the layout of the stoneworks were not suitable for a fort. He suggests that Jesuits might have built the stoneworks, but admits that this is inconsistent with the fact that the Jesuits tended to keep very detailed written records.
He described that in 1876, Howland Hemphill owned a farm upon which the Stoneworks were later discovered. John Finch had originally purchased the main lot (lot 6) in 1813, and sold it to Hemphill in 1830. Hemphill removed many of the stones in order to build his own home, as well as "the Wagener house at the end of the Point."
Though most of the structure had disappeared by 1980, Christopher Wright illustrated that "some of the excavation pits [from the 1940 dig by Gilbert Brewer] are still visible from Skyline Drive, in a thicket of deer brush and poplar."
By 1985, the remnants of the Stoneworks were obliterated by "vineyards, drainage ditches, hay fields, farm work roads, and a pine plantation."(David D. Robinson, The Crooked Lake Review, #68, Nov. 1993, 17.) The remnants of the stoneworks, some of which may exist underground, are located about four miles (6 km) south of Keuka Park
, just off Route 54-A.
in Linguistics
, teamed up with Gibbs, the Yates County
historian
, to write "Ancient Earth & Stone Ruins in Yates County, New York", published in Hamatsu, Japan on 9 April 1991.
Though they described other stone ruins around the county - in Jerusalem
, Middlesex
, Milo
, and Italy
- their main focus was on the stoneworks at Bluff Point. Because the stoneworks were almost entirely vanished by the 1990s Kelley and Gibbs summarized the work of other scholars. Quoting S. Hart Wright's 1879-80 work, they, too, described "graded ways...bordered by large flat stones edgeways leaning toward the center of the ways; compartments or rooms which varied in dimensions; rectilinear division of structure into units, some of which exceeses 500 feet (152.4 m) in length; upright stone slabs arranged in circles, squares, and arcs; and eight-foot-high monolith
; depressions which indicated possible roofport holes."
Berlin Hart Wright, writing in 1938, complained, "We surveyed the ruin and, at that time, an earnest plea was made to State authorities for the preservation of this unique remnant of a great aboriginal structure. However, nothing came of it and today all is gone."
Jerusalem, New York
Jerusalem is a town in Yates County, New York in the United States. The population was 4,525 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the ancient city of Jerusalem in the Middle East....
, at the crux of Keuka Lake
Keuka Lake
Keuka Lake is an unusual member of New York's Finger Lakes because it is Y-shaped, instead of long and narrow. Because of its shape, it was referred to in the past as Crooked Lake...
in the Finger Lakes Region of western New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
State. Though they were studied many times throughout the 20th century, the structure has been mostly destroyed, and it is still uncertain as to who built the structure.
Unfortunately, most who researched the Stoneworks were amateurs, not professional archaeologists. As a result, their conclusions led to an even greater uncertainty as to the nature of the structure.
S. Hart Wright
S. Hart Wright, in "The Aboriginal work on Bluff Point, Yates County, N.Y.Yates County, New York
Yates County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,348. The county seat is Penn Yan. The name is in honor of Joseph C. Yates, who as Governor of New York signed the act establishing the county....
" - included in the 35th Annual Report of the New York State Museum of Natural History - described the Stoneworks as he saw them in 1879 and 1880.
They were located on 7 acres (28,328 m²) of land, he said, from the top of the bluff point ridge westward. Wright described "Graded Ways", three to eight feet wide and one foot high. He went on to state that the "rectilineal divisions...are made with almost mathematical accuracy, and indicate a skill we can hardly attribute to the red man." He later admitted that the structure "may belong to the age of the mound-builders." Summing up, S. Hart Wright stated that the stoneworks were "one of the strangest structures in the state. I find nothing similar to it figured in any work on archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
."
Who Built the Stoneworks?
A Democrat and ChronicleDemocrat and Chronicle
The Democrat and Chronicle is the most widely circulated daily newspaper in the greater Rochester, New York area. Located at 55 Exchange Boulevard in downtown Rochester, the Democrat and Chronicle operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production facility is located in the town of...
article on Sunday, 31 July 1966, written by Daniel C. Riker, was titled "Did Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
Explore Lakes Before Columbus?" Riker tells of an Indian
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
legend of a "great canoe, manned by men with flowing hair, and carrying shining shields on its side." Indeed, the Seneca
Seneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
Indians who lived on the land had many legends, such as "stone men" and "dark people", but Riker claims that their legend of these Norse-sounding men is evidence that the stoneworks were built by these Nordic visitors.
Another newspaper article, "Sees Norsemen Early Dwellers In This Country", states that Norse records indicate that in 1347 there were several expeditions to a new land in the West.
Yet another article claims that the engravings at the Stoneworks of "human and animal heads are arranged in amazing patterns" that were similar to those made by the Etruscans. A different article indicated that an engraving of the face of a veiled woman, like Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
, may have appeared on the rocks.
In The Crooked Lake Review # 68, November 1993, David D. Robinson argues that the Hopewells who used to live in Western New York were too primitive to build a structure like the stoneworks.
Eric Buetens wrote an article in the Summer of 1980 which claimed that the Celts built similar structures that were used for archeo-astronomy or as a signal beacon.
A. Glen Rogers wrote a book titled Forgotten Stories of the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
in which he added that the layout of the stoneworks were not suitable for a fort. He suggests that Jesuits might have built the stoneworks, but admits that this is inconsistent with the fact that the Jesuits tended to keep very detailed written records.
Ownership of the Land
Christopher A. Wright wrote "The Bluff Point Stoneworks" for the Yates County Historical Society in April 1980.He described that in 1876, Howland Hemphill owned a farm upon which the Stoneworks were later discovered. John Finch had originally purchased the main lot (lot 6) in 1813, and sold it to Hemphill in 1830. Hemphill removed many of the stones in order to build his own home, as well as "the Wagener house at the end of the Point."
Though most of the structure had disappeared by 1980, Christopher Wright illustrated that "some of the excavation pits [from the 1940 dig by Gilbert Brewer] are still visible from Skyline Drive, in a thicket of deer brush and poplar."
By 1985, the remnants of the Stoneworks were obliterated by "vineyards, drainage ditches, hay fields, farm work roads, and a pine plantation."(David D. Robinson, The Crooked Lake Review, #68, Nov. 1993, 17.) The remnants of the stoneworks, some of which may exist underground, are located about four miles (6 km) south of Keuka Park
Keuka Park
Keuka Park is a hamlet in Yates County, New York, United States. The hamlet is on the shore of the east branch of Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region.Keuka College is located in Keuka Park next to the lake.- References :...
, just off Route 54-A.
David B. Kelley and Virginia Gibbs
Kelley, who held a Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, teamed up with Gibbs, the Yates County
Yates County, New York
Yates County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,348. The county seat is Penn Yan. The name is in honor of Joseph C. Yates, who as Governor of New York signed the act establishing the county....
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, to write "Ancient Earth & Stone Ruins in Yates County, New York", published in Hamatsu, Japan on 9 April 1991.
Though they described other stone ruins around the county - in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, New York
Jerusalem is a town in Yates County, New York in the United States. The population was 4,525 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the ancient city of Jerusalem in the Middle East....
, Middlesex
Middlesex, New York
Middlesex is a town in Yates County, New York, USA. The population was 1,345 at the 2000 census. The name comes from a location in England.The Town of Middlesex is on the northwest corner of the county and is south of Canandaigua, NY.- History :...
, Milo
Milo, New York
Milo is a town in Yates County, New York, USA. The population was 7,026 at the 2000 census.The Town of Milo is on the east border of the county and borders Penn Yan, New York.- History :...
, and Italy
Italy, New York
Italy is a town located in Yates County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,087. The town takes its name from the European country, Italy....
- their main focus was on the stoneworks at Bluff Point. Because the stoneworks were almost entirely vanished by the 1990s Kelley and Gibbs summarized the work of other scholars. Quoting S. Hart Wright's 1879-80 work, they, too, described "graded ways...bordered by large flat stones edgeways leaning toward the center of the ways; compartments or rooms which varied in dimensions; rectilinear division of structure into units, some of which exceeses 500 feet (152.4 m) in length; upright stone slabs arranged in circles, squares, and arcs; and eight-foot-high monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
; depressions which indicated possible roofport holes."
Attempts at Preservation
At present, the Stoneworks are, unfortunately, almost completely nonexsistent. Some claim that there are more ruins located underground, and every few years a group of amateur archaeologists travels to Bluff Point in order to attempt another excavation.Berlin Hart Wright, writing in 1938, complained, "We surveyed the ruin and, at that time, an earnest plea was made to State authorities for the preservation of this unique remnant of a great aboriginal structure. However, nothing came of it and today all is gone."
External links
- Mysterious Ruin on Bluff Point by David D. Robinson, Crooked Lake Review, November 1993
- More on the Bluff Point Ruin by David D. Robinson, Crooked Lake Review, May 1996
- http://bluffpointruins.blogspot.com/