Cover image for Smithsonian Magazine referred to below. Credit Ken Canning / Getty Images.
I think nearly every Connecticut resident would agree that the stone feature shown above meets the definition of a stone wall. Smithsonian Magazine certainly thought so, when it chose this to be the cover photo of an extended essay I published on November 14, 2023. And it certainly meets the scientific definition I published in the peer-reviewed mini-monograph for the scholarly journal Historic Archaeology. My definition requires that a stone object be a linear, continuous, granular feature made of stones that either rest one above another or reach knee high.
Alas, the feature above, and millions of others like it, may not meet the official Connecticut state definition of a stone wall, which I only recently stumbled across. This definition is part of new law to prohibit the destruction and theft of stone wall, a laudable goal that I support. Specifically, I refer to Section 3 of Substitute House Bill No. 5400 (File No.708) of the House of Representatives passed unanimously on March 10,2023 by Environment Committee (33 Yea, 0 Nay), and passed unanimously by the Judiciary Committee (36 Yea, 0 Nay) on November 19, 2023. I quote lines 8-11 of Section 3 in full below:
(3) For purposes of this section, “stone wall” means a vertical structure of aligned natural stone customarily arranged with a stone coursing pattern that is marked by the utilization of consistent stone type, joint width, construction and the distribution of stones by size.
The language of the summary of the bill sHB5400 is slightly different. “The bill defines a “stone wall” as a vertical structure of aligned natural stone typically arranged with a stone coursing pattern that uses consistent stone type, joint width, construction, and distribution of stones by size.” From this, it’s clear that official language of section 3 is a definition (“The bill defines…”) , and that the summary phrase “customarily arranged” from Section 3 is equivalent to the phrase “typically arranged” in the summary.
Where to begin? I’ll start by saying that if I were on one of those committees, I would have voted no, listing my reasons below. Imagining myself as a lawyer or a technical copy-editor, I’m going to be very persnickety, quibbling with each term as they occur in sequence.
MAIN DEFINITION
“Stone Wall” – The object being defined, a “stone wall,” is placed in quotes. Why? Perhaps this is legal custom. But what if it means that the term “stone wall” as used indeterminately, the notion that one person’s wall another’s non-wall? As with the term “xerox” for every copy machine.
“Vertical “- What does this mean? Let X be the line of the wall, Y be across the wall, and Z be the height of the wall. On a sloping hillside, the case for most of Connecticut, a perfectly built wall can be vertical in cross section (YZ), meaning it’s perpendicular to grade. But it is not vertical in the line of the wall (XZ) when viewed from either side. In this case the wall is perpendicular (normal) to the slope, rather than the vertical vector of gravity. Does the law require that a wall be vertical in both directions? Or just one? Which one? Additionally, I’ve seen many free-standing (has two sides, or faces), if not a majority, of walls that are tipped or angled downslope. Walls can lean up to ~20 degrees before they collapse. Finally, retaining walls are abundant, and none are vertical. Rather, they are built with a facing slope of about 8 degrees. These are not walls by the state definition.
“Aligned” – I think this is the wrong word because it lacks a frame of reference. Aligned with what? The stars? A fenceline? Itself? A better term is “elongated.” Stone walls are definitely elongated. But so are ellipsoidal piles, regardless of their alignment direction. And what about curved walls? By definition, they are not aligned. Only their tangents are aligned. I’ve seen plenty of broadly curved walls and many stone cisterns measuring meters across that are circular, rather than aligned.
“Natural”– Though this word is deeply embedded in our language, its highly contentious. There’s plenty of nature in human nature, for example our bodies. A human damming a stream and a beaver damming a stream are fundamentally the same action. I have long argued that the typical crude stone wall is an expression of pre-petroleum human ecology. There are plenty of conglomerates out there that resemble concrete, and plenty of stones that resemble brick. To suggest that a stone wall built of created stone is not a stone wall begs the question of how accurate a replica must be.
By Connecticut state law, this is unusual stone wall in Tyringham, Massachusetts probably not a stone wall because it is not “customarily” or “typically” arranged.” Credit: Bess Dilman.
DEFINING CLAUSE
At this point, there are two ways of looking at the grammar of the definition. After the word “stone” comes a single long clause beginning with “typically” and ending with “size.” The first part of the definition “a vertical structure of aligned natural stone” could be taken as the whole definition. But if so, steep cobble beach ridge and a weathered volcanic dike would meet this restricted definition. Thus, I think the second clause is also essential, meaning that it word-paints the object being defined so that we would never mistake a farmstead wall for other geological features. The main idea is that, if it doesn’t look “typical,” it isn’t a wall.
“Customarily arranged” – By whose custom? This is undefined. The bill summary indicates that “customarily” is a synonym for “typical,” but these words mean something quite different. The former refers to a cultural practice. The latter is a statistical. In either case, if a wall is atypical, such as the one above, or if doesn’t follow the some local convention, it’s not a wall. This is absurd.
This wall in Monterey, MA is not “customarily arranged,” does not have a “stone coursing pattern,” there is no “consistent stone type, joint width, construction and the distribution of stones by size,” all features within the definition. Credit Sam Wadswworth.
“Stone coursing pattern” – Most of New England walls are either not coursed, as with the photo above, or the coursing is only weakly and locally expressed.
“Consistent stone type” – This is not defined. Type usually refers to material composition (lithology), as with granite vs. limestone. Since “size” is later specified in the definition, perhaps “type” refers to shape, as with slab vs. boulder.
“Distribution of stones by size” – This works locally because in most settings, there is a common range of sizes.” It can’t work extra-locally because the geology changes and that’s the main determinant for particle size distribution.
I’m hoping that this blog post, eventually finds its way inside the halls of the Connecticut State House, or those of other state houses, so that we may eventually improve the legal definition of a stone wall. I’m glad to help. Please feel free to contact me in this regard.