At the side of the logging road, there was one of those cement blocks with an iron loop in the top that I've seen in several places and never understood the use of. They sit there for years, developing rust and a thick moss coating. I went over to look at the rust.
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| Slab cemented to a sloped base, about waist height. (Cropped from the corner of large photo.) |
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| Rusty handle. The moss is a couple of inches deep. |
Moving around the slab, looking for an angle on the moss, I noticed a few ends of bones sticking out.
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| Four bones, buried in the moss. |
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| One is a piece of spine. |
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| The others look like ribs. The longest was eight inches long. |
It looks to me like the bones of a small deer, carried up to the slab by an eagle, maybe. I looked around; a few metres away, on the ground, I found a half a leg bone, badly gnawed. It looks like several predators or scavengers had a feast, one on the slab, others dragging their find off to eat in bits.
I like bones. I did taphonomy for years both in archaeology, and forensics;
ReplyDeletehttps://photos.google.com/u/0/photo/AF1QipPva-OvPNQiiVvN02O30fsiXVupzhYgMckEYqKC
The link takes me to a dead end.
DeleteNot sure what the block is for, but the metal loop I believe is used for lifting either by a crane or even possibly by a helicopter. I see then around here, often used for anchors for log booms around cabins. They are barged up and sometimes sit on the shore for a long time before placement. - Margy
ReplyDeleteThat would make sense. I don't know what they would be "anchoring" up on the hillside. Guy lines, maybe?
DeleteIf there was a similar block on the other side of the road, they could have been used to anchor a cable across to baracade the road before the gate was put in.
ReplyDeleteWas there a steep mountain near the logging road? They could possibly be used as anchor points for winches. It's not so useful at road level, but it could've either tumbled down from higher up the mountain, or just was left at the bottom of the hill if they had enough of them higher up the mountain.
ReplyDeleteIt was beside the road, but the road was already halfway up the mountain, and very steep.
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