Stone fences are common place especially in areas such as western PA, WV, Western Va, and any rocky region. You can find sections or whole walls of these scattered all around the old farming areas. Using materials at hand. Keep critters in, keep critters out. Frequently found intermitting with sections of wooden fencing. Over time wood fence is gone, leaving curious small sections of these stone walls. Ditches commonly used for drainage, divert runoff to prevent same from taking out the fence line, retention to help prevent errosion, further thward ambitious farm animals from making their escape. Depending on the area and the habits of the locals, such stones were also frequently used to build home, shed, and outbuilding foundations with. Many usually pre-date the civil war era.

Those old ditch lines were also a natural favorite place on old farm estates to use as a trash dump. Have dug out some really old and good artifacts from those old ditches.

Frederick