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LiquidSillyness t1_itlrsd7 wrote

Reply to comment by Belisaurius555 in ELI5: How did early settlers know the boundaries of their land claims? by GreenKeel

My parents house has large rocks for 2 of the property lines, one crossing a hill and the second through a swamp/marsh wooded area. Probably about a dozen or so boulders, about the size of an 8 year old kid, probably 200lbs each. There are no obvious trails or paths to the rocks dropped in the swamp, would love to know how they got them there, lined up so perfectly.

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Belisaurius555 t1_itm7xmc wrote

It's possible that the rocks were there first and repurposed as boundary markers afterwards. You often see rivers and streams used this way.

That being said, it's entirely possible that someone deliberately used an oversized rock to mark the boundary because they didn't want something that could easily be moved. Using stones is an old method, though, dating back to antiquity.

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