Around 4000 b.c., a fractured family constructed a physical boundary line across a desolate mountain ridge. Seth piled jagged granite to form a raised hearth. The high elevation dragged harsh winds across the exposed skin of the mourners. They suffered from severe oxygen deprivation and frost. Their bodies craved the warmth of the lower valleys. A constant fear of the hostile tribes below forced them to remain in the freezing rock fields. The fire on the stone hearth provided their only heat and physical consolation.
Seth directed his descendants to maintain an absolute quarantine against the lineage of Cain. They established their permanent camp on the upper slopes. Down below, the exiled factions multiplied and forged crude brass tools. The mountain dwellers recognized the danger of assimilation. They enforced a strict tribal law forbidding any travel into the valley. Survival required complete isolation. The steep rock walls functioned as a natural fortress against the superior weapons manufactured below.
The granite altar served as a geographical warning marker. It functioned as more than a simple slaughter site for livestock. Ancient highland tribes utilized large stone cairns to claim territorial water rights. A single foundation stone for the marker weighed over 200 pounds. Moving these rocks required massive caloric expenditure. This physical display warned trespassers about the strength of the mountain camp. The boundary stones proved the highlanders possessed the stamina to defend their ridge.
A fence built from heavy rocks protects a camp far better than a warning spoken into the wind.
The separation of the two early human factions established a permanent geographic divide. The mountain weather eventually eroded the primitive rock altars into unrecognizable gravel.