You don ’ t have to travel far in western Loudoun to find a dirt or paved road lined by an old dry-stack stone wall — they are as ubiquitous as horses , fox and , in late spring , daylilies . They quietly endow the countryside with a sense of place and identity more consistently perhaps than any other natural feature , offering up an extraordinary wealth of historical and cultural data . If you take a moment to pause , look carefully and hear what they have to say , you ’ ll find each stone and stone wall tells a story . At the most granular level , certain tool marks on the stones , or lack thereof , offer clues as to when a wall was built , as well as the socioeconomic status and skill of the property owner and stone mason .
Individual features of a stone wall provide detailed insight into the history of the locale ’ s landscape and inhabitants — the geology of the area , the settlement patterns and travel routes within a community , the original and evolving agricultural purposes of the land , as well as the ethnicity , religion , economic status and perspective of those who built the walls .
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