Q: I cut down a big red oak tree and found rocks in the hollow center. How did they get there? Possibilities include: long ago damage to tree and rocks were dumped in via the top (but there are no visible openings); perhaps it was an old well and the tree grew around it; maybe it is/was a Cherokee ceremonial altar. There is still fresh water in the trunk.

A: I like your guesses. I’ll add my own: perhaps there is/was a spring in the ground. A hundred years ago people put rocks on the spring to keep the water clear. An acorn fell one day and took root and grew for many years into a stately oak tree. As the tree grew, it emcompassed and incorporated the rocks.

Don’t you wish we had a time machine?

Email me if you have a better answer!

Randy S. adds:

Old timers used to put a circle of rocks around newly planted trees or just a small “sprung up” tree they found in their yard.  On our 1920’s city of Atl. property I continue to come across rock circles way in the back of the property around trees.  Most are buried under years of mulch and dirt.  Little trees just grow over them.