A month or so back, a relative pointed me to a location out by Musketshot Springs, about halfway between Jensen, UT and Dinosaur, Co., where there were 4 holes that appear to have been dug into the rock there. Three of the holes are sort of grouped together, with the other hole being a hundred or so feet further to the West. The father of the relative, who was raised in the Jensen area (as Stewart Lake would indicate), referred to the holes as being for cooking. The idea was to heat up rocks and then drop them into the water-filled holes, thus making soup. The holes I saw were large enough that you could do something like this, but you'd think the soup would get gritty. Maybe that was okay. There is also a spring just below the holes, so water was readily available - something not obvious in this area.
The other thought about these type of holes is that they could have been used for grinding things. This doesn't seem likely, though, since the holes all appear to be quite round and aren't lopsided, as would happen if random pounding was going on. I guess it could occur if some mechanism was used to keep a pistle turning constantly.
Anyway, I picked up some archealogical papers at the library and, what do you know, they point out 4 more sets of holes in the area. Two appear to be near Jensen, one is up by Josie Morris' cabin, and the other is down by Red Wash. I'm going to try and track down some of them tomorrow, if the weather cooperates.
I had seen holes bored into rocks over South of Rangely, but those holes seemed to be obviously used for holding poles at lookouts. These holes in Utah seem to be too big for holding poles. Heck, they'd hold trees.
Just wondering if anyone else has seen similar holes. Or, for that matter, been to any of these locations. It is kind of an odd location to have an Indian camp, but there is evidence of that. What could be interesting is if the holes are not Fremont but are Ute. I guess that could be determined by any artifacts from campsites.
Anyway, this will keep me busy a little. I'm just trying to fit it into explorations in the Brush Creek and down the Yampa.
The other thought about these type of holes is that they could have been used for grinding things. This doesn't seem likely, though, since the holes all appear to be quite round and aren't lopsided, as would happen if random pounding was going on. I guess it could occur if some mechanism was used to keep a pistle turning constantly.
Anyway, I picked up some archealogical papers at the library and, what do you know, they point out 4 more sets of holes in the area. Two appear to be near Jensen, one is up by Josie Morris' cabin, and the other is down by Red Wash. I'm going to try and track down some of them tomorrow, if the weather cooperates.
I had seen holes bored into rocks over South of Rangely, but those holes seemed to be obviously used for holding poles at lookouts. These holes in Utah seem to be too big for holding poles. Heck, they'd hold trees.
Just wondering if anyone else has seen similar holes. Or, for that matter, been to any of these locations. It is kind of an odd location to have an Indian camp, but there is evidence of that. What could be interesting is if the holes are not Fremont but are Ute. I guess that could be determined by any artifacts from campsites.
Anyway, this will keep me busy a little. I'm just trying to fit it into explorations in the Brush Creek and down the Yampa.
