Talking Walls
by Matt Bua

This work of fresh research by Catskill artist Matt Bua lies at the crossroads of archeology and regional history. Talking Walls scrutinizes the oft-repeated story of the origins of the Northeast's famed stone walls. Were 252,000 miles of stone walls—enough to reach the far side of the moon—in fact built by European colonists in a period of roughly 100 years, or are they perhaps much older? Employing a mountain of testimony from archaeological sources, popular history and hands-on investigation, Bua's imaginative book draws closer to a profound new reading of our shared landscape and its ancient past. Talking Walls includes a case study of a stone wall complex in Kiskatom, on the western edge of the town of Catskill.