An Archaeological Enigma: Colonial Root Cellars, Native American Sweat Lodges, or Prehistoric European Structures?
Megalithic chambers at “America’s Stonehenge” in North Salem, New Hampshire.
Scattered across four New England states are approximately 800
stone–built chambers, possibly of an ancient origin. These remarkable
chambers, found nowhere else in North America, can be circular or
rectangular in form, up to 30 feet in length but usually half that,
occasionally 10 feet wide and up to 10 feet tall in the central chamber.
They are characteristically constructed of expertly–fitted dry masonry
stones capped by megalithic slabs. Most of the best preserved chambers
can be found sunken into the contours of the landscape. Although some
structures are freestanding, the most fascinating structures are
accessed by passageways driven into the hillside.
The most elaborate are described as “beehive” chambers, indicative of
the conical shape in the central room, supported by a large ceiling
capstone. These sophisticated structures sometimes feature “smoke holes”
to ventilate the chambers, as well as shelves, benches or recesses
incorporated into the walls. Some had blocked passageways and remained
intact underground only to be discovered years later when a roof caved
in, or a plow or pick–axe penetrated the chamber. It is unfortunate to
mention that a vast majority of these New England stone buildings have
been torn down for quarried stone, repeatedly vandalized, or otherwise
dismantled, destroyed, or abandoned by the landowner blocking the
entrance.
A Laundry List of Potential Builders Early records of the
New England colonists make mention of some of the chambers preexisting
before they settled the land. Assuming that the structures were built by
vanished Indian tribesmen and were free for the taking, New England
colonial farmers put them to use as extra storage space shelters.
Sometimes the age of the chamber could be authenticated by trees a
hundred years old growing into the unmortared walls. The conventional
wisdom at the time was that these enclosures were built as “colonial
root cellars,” or if an old tree dated their age then they were termed
“steam baths for Indians.” The root cellar and the Indian–built theories
are dismissive because they overlook basic facts, such as the
passageways being too low and narrow to wheel a cart into, most having
soil floors that would rot vegetables, or that nowhere else in North
America did Indians construct sweat lodges made of stone.
Let us use the logic test called Occam’s Razor to our laundry list of
potential builders. The test goes like this: when you have two or more
competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler
one is always better. If there is scant evidence for European colonials
or Native Americans building the chambers, then who else could be
responsible for their construction? Is it possible to contrast these
chambers against anything of a similar design? Where else in the world
are beehive enclosures located?
One possibility is the ancient Greek Mycenaeans who buried their nobles in beehive tombs called
tholoi,
large circular burial chambers with a high vaulted roof. This is a
possible influence, especially since the pre–classical Greeks were
contemporary with the Phoenicians who may have lived at America’s
Stonehenge, a location we will examine later. As for the beehive
chambers of New England, like nowhere else in the world, they closely
resemble smaller structures found around the islands of northern Europe.
The New England chambers are dead ringers for those built by the Culdee
Monks of Scotland, England, and Ireland who adopted the building style
from their Celtic ancestry.
If we are to follow the prehistoric European theory then identifying
the New England chambers’ proximity to river routes is another important
piece of the puzzle, because almost all of the sites are situated near a
natural waterway. The Merrimack River valley flowing south through New
Hampshire and into northeastern Massachusetts was a seemingly active
avenue for ancient voyagers, as was Connecticut’s Thames River drainage.
Because of its long length the Connecticut River was perhaps the most
important river route. The Connecticut originates far to the north in
Quebec, Canada. It then creates the entire boundary between Vermont and
New Hampshire until it passes through the middle of Massachusetts and
Connecticut, before emptying into the Long Island Sound. What follows is
a description of the four most prominent chamber sites and their
associated prehistoric access routes.
The entrance to the Equinox Calendar Chamber at Gungywamp, Connecticut
The Sprawling Gungywamp Complex Near the Thames River
mouth in eastern Connecticut is a wide assortment of stone chambers, the
most extensive being a complex called Gungywamp. This 100–acre site is
located in the wooded hills outside the town of Groton, Connecticut,
just off Gungywamp Road. A pair of enclosed structures and a dozen other
stone features are scattered around the eastern half of an old YMCA
camp. The complex is located high atop an imposing cliff, situated above
a swamp feeding a stream that connects to the Thames River.
Archaeological excavations at the site have confirmed the presence of
humans at the site over the past 4,000 years. It is known there was a
settlement by white farmers after 1780, and the site was also utilized
from time to time by Native Americans.
The word “Gungywamp” was originally thought to be an Indian word, but
has another translation in Gaelic meaning “Church of the People.”
Besides containing beehive chambers and a petroglyph image of a bird
with outstretched wings, Gungywamp has a double row of stones, just
north of two underground chambers. This double ring stone circle, no
longer standing, consists of 12 rectangular stones in the outside circle
measuring over 10 feet in diameter. The innermost ring is made up of
eight stones lying in a tight curved pattern. The complex also boasts a
number of megaliths, cairns, a row of standing stones and marked stones,
suggesting a possible double use as an astronomical observatory.
The largest underground monument at Gungywamp is called the “calendar
chamber” because it features an astronomical alignment. On the days
around the spring and autumnal equinoxes an inner alcove is illuminated
by an alignment through a hole in the west wall. On these auspicious
days the sun shines upon a lighter stone on the opposite side, radiating
an illumination within a smaller, interconnected beehive–shaped
chamber.
Ceremonial Stone Circle at Gungywamp, near Groton, Connecticut.
The Fascinating Upton Chamber In the hills surrounding
Boston, Massachusetts are a number of mysterious manmade chambers. The
most famous is the Upton Stone Chamber, one of the largest and most
precisely built beehive chambers in New England. A long passage leads
into a large underground chamber called “The Cave” by local kids. The
Upton internal chamber is one of the largest intact. The very size
belies an easy explanation. A 15–foot long entryway leads into an
11–foot diameter room over 10 feet tall in the central chamber. The
precisely fitted rocks of a dry stone masonry have held up well over the
years. Virtually no artifacts have been found inside Upton, or most of
the other stone chambers for that matter.
The floor of Upton is currently rotted wood planking covering
flagstones. An argument against colonial construction can be made that
no artifacts have been found, or that the long narrow passageway would
be impractical for carting in storage items.
Not only is Upton one of the finest examples of a beehive chamber,
but this chamber is aligned to observe the setting solstice sun and
stars of the Pleiades, as marked by large stone piles located on nearby
Pratt Hill. The Upton Stone Chamber is on private land just outside the
small village of Upton, in the backyard of a home on Elm Street, about
12 miles southeast of Worcester. Across the West River valley from the
chamber is Pratt Hill where several cairns are located n
America’s Stonehenge On a hilltop in New Hampshire near
the Massachusetts border are a series of low stone walls and cobbled
rock chambers called America’s Stonehenge. The entire complex covers
about 30 acres of hills and woodland, around which extends an apparently
haphazard collection of walls interspersed with tall, triangular–shaped
standing stones. The site’s central feature is “Mystery Hill,” situated
on a single acre, which contains 22 stone chambers which can be
characterized as dolmens, plus other megalithic features. Immediately
surrounding the central site are upright stone monoliths aligned to
predict prominent astronomical sightings.
The Sacrificial Table at America’s Stonehenge.
In the central section of Mystery Hill are several engaging features
of curiosity. The centerpiece is a T–shaped chamber with internal
structures similar to a chimney and hearth, as well as a “couch”
sculpted right into the living rock. From the couch, a pipe–like hole
called a “speaking tube” ascends to the surface and runs directly below
an enormous rock table weighing 4.5 tons. The tube may have been used
for some kind of spooky oracle because it distorts voices when heard
from below, and the table above may have served as a sacrificial altar
because of the carved gutters on top to funnel blood.
Surrounding the “Oracle Chamber” are more than 20 stone chambers of
various sizes, which may have been used as shelters for the presumed
Bronze Age inhabitants, or were utilized collectively as some kind of
religious ceremonial center. There is evidence that the entire complex
is built over a natural cave system, but no entrances have yet been
located. Instead, deep well shafts have been discovered, and the most
intriguing pit leads not to a cave, but to a natural fault where a
cluster of quartz crystals were recovered by archaeologists. The
crystals may have been mined nearby, or came from afar with the
inhabitants and were ritualistically placed into the well to indicate
the site as a power point. It is known that crystals were worshipped or
used for tools by ancient cultures.
The hilltop position of the megalithic beehive chambers suggests this
location was used primarily as a village, but the site also appears to
double as a celestial and astronomical observatory. The Summer Solstice
Sunrise Monolith is situated where the sun rises over this upright slab
of granite around the date of June 21st of each year. The top of the
stone is uniquely shaped to match the landscape on the horizon where the
sun rises. The place to make these sightings is in the middle of a
stone circle, where other astronomical computations can also be made.
Nearby the stone circle there is a tall rock called the True North
Stone, which was determined in 1975 to have lined up with the pole star
Thuban around 1750 BCE, and is on the main central axis from which other
alignments can be calculated. These alignments include the annual
summer and winter solstices (June 21 and Dec. 21) and seasonal equinoxes
(March 22 and Sept. 22), as well as specific solar and lunar events of
the year. Several of the low stonewalls also indicate true north–south
and east–west alignments.
It is interesting to note that all astronomical sightings at
America’s Stonehenge were in a position to accurately predict their
events around 1500 BCE. However, due to the earth’s changing tilt over
several thousand years, called the procession of the equinoxes, they can
no longer precisely predict astral movement events.
Located in North Salem, America’s Stonehenge is only about an hour’s
drive from Boston, and 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Boat captains
of antiquity would have reached the hilltop location by navigating up
the Merrimack River to a tributary that runs just below the site. Today
most visitors drive to America’s Stonehenge and take Exit 3 off the I–93
to Route 111. Motorists should follow the signs from North Salem.
View from the interior of a chamber at Mount Mineral, Massachusetts.
Mysteries in Western Massachusetts and Beyond There are
many other enigmatic stone structures to discover scattered across the
New England landscape. In Massachusetts, The Wendell Beehive Cave is
very similar in size and design to the nearby Pelam Chamber, being about
four feet tall in the main chamber, constructed of mortar–free masonry
in the shape of a beehive, and covered with earth. The Wendell “cave” is
located on a hillock known as Mount Mineral, about 12 miles north of
Pelham in Franklin County. Pelham Chamber is on private land, two miles
west of Quabbin Reservoir on Route 202 in Hampshire County.
In Vermont, the vast South Woodstock complex is on private land
surrounding the town of the same name. Nearby Elephant Valley in South
Royalton, Vermont is home to the famous “Calendar I site.” Another
prominent ancient observatory site is located in South Woodstock,
Vermont. The South Woodstock complex consists of stone chambers,
standing stones, and cairns in a natural bowl surrounded by hills and
ridges. Besides having close proximity to waterways connecting with the
Connecticut River, the beehive structures would have been interconnected
by an intricate network of footpaths.
Sometimes seeing is the only way to believe, at least that’s how I
felt before I had the opportunity to visit the locations outlined above.
Although some of the beehive chambers are on private land, there is a
good chance the owners will grant access, or at least they won’t
obstruct those who respectively come to visit. Only America’s Stonehenge
is a regularly operated tourism attraction. Try to time your visit
during the solstice or equinox dates. I think you will be pleasantly
surprised and agree with me that these stone chambers of New England are
indeed one of the great mysteries of North America!
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