The Mysterious Stone Chambers of New England and the Search for Lost America Part 2

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      Rising above the southern Illinois plain, just across from the modern city of St. Louis, sits the most spectacular of all the ancient human-engineered sacred centers in North America called Cahokia (Figure 1). This earthen step pyramid consists of four gigantic terraces comprising 22 million cubic feet of soil. Its base in excess of 14 acres is larger than that of Egypt's Great Pyramid. In mass it is exceeded only by the Mexican Pyramids of Teotihinican and Choula. It is the largest prehistoric structure north of the Rio Grand. One function of this structure was to act as an astronomical observatory built to chart significant celestial events, such as the winter solstice sunrise, the positions of the Pleiades and other constellations. Just like Khufu's pyramid, it is aligned to true north and was not built by slaves but by inspired laborers and artisans who felt a spiritual purpose in their enormous effort. When European colonists arrived in North America they were astonished to discover over one million earthen mounds and pyramids mostly throughout the middle of the country. Recent carbon dating has revealed the mound construction began at least 5700 years ago at Poverty Point Louisiana. These structures were often massive geometrical shapes connected by wide roads up to 50 miles long that joined them in an elaborate network. In Ohio, the largest animal effigy mound in the world is located on the spot of one of the earth's largest magnetic anomalies. It is called the great serpent mound, is one quarter of a mile long and can only be made out from the air. (Figure 2). When I learned about the massive scope of building and complexity of the civilization that built these structures, I was mystified why none of this was taught in our schools. This civilization was called the mound builders and their available building material was earth. So what did the colonists find in the northeast? They found the remnants of the mysterious stone builder culture of New England. Bizarre, impractical, improbable and complex stoneworks litter the landscape such as the car-sized turtle effigy of Ashfield (Figure 3), balanced on the chin and fin with quartz teeth, and the oracle chamber at America's Stonehenge (Figure 4). Also there are hundreds of stone chambers, miles upon miles of serpent walls and over a million effigy mounds and cairns. Requiring skill and technology not commensurate with archaeologist's assessment of the native population, the stone structures have a spiritual purpose that alludes the closed mind. As reported in 2002 in the NY Times, a high resolution sonar survey of New York's Hudson River revealed ancient stone walls 60 feet under water that are at least 3000 years old. This was the last time that water levels were low enough to allow construction on dry land. However researchers believe they are more likely seven or eight thousand years old. What do the New England stone sites, earthen pyramids and worldwide sacred centers all have in common? They are built along a worldwide energetic grid, a universal network that is essentially the nervous system of the earth. This may all sound very mysterious and esoteric, but this is the same energetic system found in humans that allows acupuncture to be such an effective form of medicine. Along this grid flows electro-magnetic energy that ancient cultures who blended science and spirituality understood. Whether Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, Easter Island or the New England stone chambers, sacred structures were built along this worldwide grid. Areas chosen to build were high in specific mineralogical compositions such as gold, copper, iron and quartz that attracted EM energy. The act of using specific geometry and aligning them to astronomical events also allows the sites to be energy transducers. When you see a picture of Stonehenge do you see an ancient spiritual technology at work or superstitious barbarians dragging massive stones 200 miles from the quarry and incomprehensibly placing them on top of each other 20 feet in the air. All beings are electro-magnetic representations of consciousness so are thus affected by these particular influences. When you examine these “hot spots” you find that bizarre phenomena are reported there from modern times back through Native American history. Researcher Philip Imbrogno who has advanced degrees in astronomy, earth science and chemistry has recorded significant magnetic anomalies at stone chamber sites throughout New England. He had a rare opportunity to spend three weeks with and interview the last living shaman of the Wappinger tribe of New York. His name was “Onawan Tu” which in English translates to “He who walks with the spirits”. Onawan Tu recounted the following tale of who built the stone chambers. “Long, long ago my people lived in peace and prosperity. One day strange beings came from the direction of the rising sun (east). These beings were much taller than my people and had fair skin and flowing hair. My people greeted them as friends and they began to build the stone huts you call chambers. They would have huge fires around them and would be able to commune with “spirits” because these chambers stored energy and acted as doorways to the spirit world. It is said that the giant stones were moved by spirit power with a great wind. These beings were considered by my tribe to be messengers of the great spirit, they lived with my ancestors for a very long time. There was a great exchange of ideas and knowledge not only with our tribe but also with the Delaware, Algonkin and Huron people.” This same ancient legend is repeated worldwide by native populations. Tall strange beings from a mysterious ocean continent, who taught a blend of science and spirituality. These beings were considered sorcerers and magicians who would use sound technology or a form of acoustic levitation to build worldwide sacred stone structures. Gravity after all is just a frequency (1012 Hertz), part of Einstein's unified field. Could this technology explain many of the unexplainable feats of antiquity such as elevating three, two million pound stones 40 feet off the ground on a retaining wall with such precision that you can't slip a piece of paper between them. This structure is called the Trilithon in Baalbek Lebanon (Figure 5)(note the man in foreground). Another example of unexplained stonework from antiquity are the virtually perfect polished granodiorite spheres found in Costa Rica which weigh up to 16 tons. The earth is littered with similar examples of stonework that defy explanation. Could a highly advanced technological society have existed over 10,000 years ago? If so, where is the evidence? How could archeology lose an entire continent? Actually, its rather easy. When you are not looking for something you will never find it. Everything that doesn't fit your paradigm you bend, twist or ignore. However the evidence of it's existence is to be found on virtually every corner of the planet. Next- Plato, Edgar Cayce and the lost continent of Atlantis.

The Mysterious Stone Chambers of New England and the Search for Lost America Part 1

                   

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     Scattered throughout New England stand enigmatic stone chambers that defy conventional explanation. What are they, who built them and why the enormous skill, precision and effort to create them? The first place to start is to state what they are not. Modern archaeologists claim that they are colonial root cellars. This position does not make sense when all the evidence is examined. After years of study by Dr. Salvatore Trento, a geologist and professor at Lesley college and one of the pioneers in chamber research, he concluded the chambers were not built by colonial farmers. For starters he found when you put vegetables in them they quickly rot. He was dismayed that no one was studying them because they are such an archaeological enigma. A letter from a John Pynchon dated November 30, 1654 talks about the strange walls and stone chamber found at the Gungywamp complex in Groton Conneticut that the settlers had just discovered. He reported that there were many strange accounts associated with it and claims the settlers had no idea who built it. Local stone chambers can be found in Goshen (Figures 1 and 2), Leyden, Shuttesbury, Wendell, Pelham, Montague, New Salem, Russell, Palmer and South Hadley. The construction techniques used are the first indication of their antiquity. When you examine any of these chambers you will see that they were not easy to construct, their design is quite complex. The walls are built using a technique called corbeling. This sophisticated architectural design is used to support arches, parapets and floors and in this case the walls which are made up of piles of stones arched inward to support the ceiling lintel stones. This corbeling technique was used in Bronze age Europe as far back as 4500 years ago. The chamber ceiling stones are huge flat slabs of rock that are chiseled out from nearby bedrock. From their design, the weight of the ceiling pressing down on top of the walls gives them enormous stability. They are also extremely waterproof. In one Vermont chamber known as Calendar Two the roof slabs are 10 feet wide, weigh more than 3 tons apiece and are expertly joined together.(Figure 3) At the New Salem chamber, the roof is one stone slab which is 10 ft. x 5 ft, several feet thick and weighs over fifteen thousand pounds. As a stone mason I am qualified to weigh in on this. The heavier the stone you are working with, the exponentially more unruly it becomes. In Upton, Mass. there is an enormous chamber which was built completely underground and carved into the side of a hill. A 6 foot high 14 foot long tunnel leads into a 12 foot diameter 11 foot high chamber. The irregular stones were fitted by expert artisans and the roof stone is an oval weighing several tons. This chamber also possesses many precise astronomical alignments. The engineering feats encountered at these chambers are complex and mystifying. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the chambers are their astronomical orientations and geometric patterns. At the Vermont Calendar Two stone observatory, the stone chamber is built with the exact 2 to 1 ratio found at the Kings chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza as well as the legendary Temple of Solomon and many other sacred sites. But even more sophisticated, the size of the doorway entrance is such that it's limits mark the declination angles 18.5 and 28.5 of the moons major and minor standstills, thus providing a means of accurately predicting eclipses just like megalithic man in Europe. Down the road at Vermont's Calendar One site there are 34 astronomical alignments from one single location at the complex. An example of some of the events accurately recorded at the site are the acronomical rising of Sirius at the winter solstice in 3150 B.C. and a heliacal rising of Rigel in the constellation of Orion at the summer solstice in 2424 B.C. Phi, the golden ratio and divine geometric proportion that is also seen as a sacred measure is 1.618 to 1. When this formula is applied to Calendar One's interior dimensions the ratio is 1.617 to 1, astounding. These two Vermont sites are 14 miles apart but they exist on a perfect north/south alignment accurate to within 200 feet. How is this done without a GPS? There is also a 4x5 plinth grid carved into the chamber wall that researcher Byron Dix believes was used to geometrically calculate astronomical events. Not only are there astronomical and geometric characteristics associated with chambers but standing stones, stone animal effigies, sacred wells and stone cairns are also consistent features from site to site. Archaeological excavations in the 1980's at one of the stone chambers in Goshen revealed that part of the complex was dug while soil deposits from melting glaciers were still being laid. This occurred about ten thousand years ago. The same stratigraphic soil anomaly occurred at Calendar One, where just like in Goshen, researchers excavated a stone sun disc. Five such discs from the late archaic period have been found throughout New England. This disc, along with other stone artifacts, are located at the Goshen Historical Museum. Finally, many chambers have ancient carved script in or near them. Celtic Ogam, Phoenician, Carthaginian and Iberian writing and symbols throughout New England are abundant, perplexing and may date back thousands of years. Massive stones fit by expert artisans, ecliptic architecture, astronomical orientations, pre-colonial artifacts, precise geometric calculations, bronze age building techniques and ancient languages, this doesn't sound like root cellars to me. This is not an isolated example of archeology missing the mark, the closer you look the more you see a long standing pattern of incorrect or erroneous conclusions drawn by archaeologists. Anything that does not fit the old paradigm is mocked, attacked or ignored. Of particular relevance here is the misunderstanding by archaeologists of the meaning and purpose of sacred sites and unexplained stone structures worldwide. In part 2, I will delve into theories of who built the chambers and explore the emerging movement to rethink Americas mysterious past.

More Mysterious Stone Structures of New England

                                          

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     I am often asked where the enigmatic stone structures I speak about are located. The reality is that many are found on private land and I have agreements with landowners to be able to study and research these sites in exchange for keeping their location concealed for obvious reasons. There are however, sites that are open to the public. America's Stonehenge in North Salem New Hampshire is open daily and is probably the most elaborate and controversial site in New England. It has been described by Dr. Edward J. Kealy, professor of history at Holy Cross University as “potentially the most important place in the Northern Hemisphere and the oldest large stone structure in North or South America”. Featured on the History Channel and other programs, this 30 acre complex is a mixture of stone chambers, stone solstice and equinox markers, cairns, chimneys, fireplaces and carvings. Some stones here weigh between 15 and 20 tons. It is carbon dated to at least 2000 B.C., half a millennium before the final phase of Stonehenge and like Stonehenge it possesses many precise astronomical alignments. Another public site is Gungywamp in Groton, Conn. Also featured recently on the History Channel in the special “Who really discovered America”, it is believed to be a Celtic monastery built by the Irish explorer St. Brendan and his men. The 600 A.D. carbon dating helps to verify this theory. Gungywamp which means church of the people in Celtic has stone chambers, petroglyphs and at it's center lies a double circle of 21 large quarried stones. The main stone chamber has a light shaft in which the equinox sun has shone through precisely on March 22nd and September 21^st for centuries just like similar chambers in Ireland and Scotland. Finally, there is Celtic Ogam script carved into the stone at this mysterious site.

     There are many dolmens and balanced rocks located throughout New England. The word dolmen originates from the expression taol maen which means stone table in Breton. A dolmen usually consists of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal cap stone. Dolmens are found in large numbers on every continent except Antartica. In North Salem, New York there is an 80 ton dolmen that some researchers believe is a stone effigy of a particular bear which has been extinct for over 10,000 years, (Figure 1). There is also a stone chamber located there. In Goshen there is a large balanced rock in the DAR forest that is set upright with another stone. There is a trail right to it and I recommend a visit. In Lanesboro, at Balanced Rock State Park there stands a car sized boulder balanced on one small point completely off the ground. In the Savoy state forest there is a balanced rock that weighs over a 100 tons and there is also a named trail right to it. In Pittsfield, at another Balanced Rock State Park, there stands a house sized boulder balanced on a point that until a few years ago could be rocked back and forth. On Bear Swamp Road there is a large perched boulder that is also impressively balanced. I believe many of these stones were intelligently placed and are not just glacial erratics. I have found dozens more in the area by exploring the woods especially the tops of hills. A factor to consider is that many of these balanced and perched stones have precise astronomical alignments which would strongly imply that they are man made monuments. Finally, at the Hawley Bog, if you take the trail on the right about 100 yards down on your left is a stone snake effigy. The last 7 or 8 stones weigh several thousand pounds a piece, are fitted carefully to one another and are stood up and balanced with smaller stones. The last stone which is the snakes head has a carved eye and iris (Figure 2). This is a fraction of the work of what I believe was an organized and complex pre-columbian civilization. Next month I will discuss perhaps the most interesting stone structures in the area, stone chambers.

Bear Swamp Cairn

     My brother Bill and I recently built a stone structure on Bear Swamp road that has generated a lot of interest.  It is a modern version of a Native American ceremonial stone cairn.  Its purpose is to mark celestial events and take advantage of pre-existing earth energy in a particular area.  All ancient cultures had an understanding that the earth possesses energy pathways that create balance and order in the natural world. An example of this would be the Chinese practice of Feng Shui which has experienced a renaissance recently.  Obviously indigenous cultures were more dependent on the natural world for their survival and had to harness the forces of nature for their benefit.  Energy pathways are sometimes called “Ley Lines”. The term Ley Line was coined by the pioneering researcher Alford Watkins who identified their presence throughout Europe at the turn of the century. Ley Lines run directly through many of the earth’s sacred sites such as Stonehenge, Avebury, the Great pyramid at Giza, Machu Picchu, Easter Island, Glastonbury Tor, Sedona and so on, connecting them in straight lines.  Where we live is just such an area.  Two powerful Ley Lines intersect and run through Shelburne Falls, which is an area of peace treaties and unique geological phenomena.  One line runs east /west, the other north/south right through the towns of Buckland, Ashfield and Goshen.  All along this geomantic corridor are sacred sites, megalithic stone chambers, sophisticated astronomical complexes, anthropomorphic stone animal effigies, dolmens, standing stones, prehistoric petroglyphs, stone ceremonial cairns and many other enigmatic structures.  One such site that has been thoroughly excavated and researched has revealed startling astronomical alignments and dates of use.  This complex is called Calendar One and lies on the northern section of the ley line in South Royalston Vermont.  Soil stratigraphy has dated Calendar One to as early as 10,000 BC.  At other surrounding sites carbon dating has revealed dates from between 4000 BC to 700 AD. After some eight years of archeoastronomical investigations at the Calendar One site, Byron Dix and James Mavor of Woods Hole Associated Scientists revealed thirty-two astronomical alignments to solar events from one single observation point.  “Of these alignments,” say Mavor and Dix on their progress report on New England Archeoastronomy, “twelve correlate with major calendrical solar events, two with lunar events and one north and one south within one degree declination”. It also has been determined that this site recorded the acronomical rising of Sirius in 3150 BC, the acronomical rising of Rigel in the constellation Orion in 2424 BC, several heliacal risings of similar dates and every winter solstice the morning sun shines directly down the center line of the megalithic stone chamber that exists at this particular site. Forty percent of the roughly 250 stone chambers that exist in New England are aligned to the Winter solstice while several others are aligned to the Summer solstice, obviously no accident.  One of these stone chambers exists locally in Goshen. I have not determined if it possesses this alignment but I plan to find out this December 21^st     

The energetic quality of the area we live in is one of the reasons people and organizations of artistic, creative, spiritual and progressive thought are attracted here.  The settlers who first moved out here were told that these sacred stone sites were evil, places where the devil enters this world and they were instructed to destroy or avoid them.  This is one of the reasons there has not been sufficient interest in or research done at these sites.  Fortunately there are organizations that rediscover, catalog and preserve this lost history.  I belong to the Northeast Antiquities Research Association, the leader in this field of study.  I have made several interesting discoveries in the area, just recently finding over 1,000 turtle stone effigy mounds on a mountain in Buckland, some as big as 30 feet long. 

              The site I chose to build the cairn on Bear Swamp road has several interesting stone creations in close proximity consistent with pre-colonial structures found throughout New England. On the top of the cairn we left several slots so it could be illuminated by candlelight.  We lit it for the first time last week then shortly thereafter a friend showed up at my house and said she saw a large moose walk across the road in front of her car and right up to the lighted cairn. I plan to write several follow up articles elaborating further on this subject matter.  In the meantime if anyone has a stone site on their property they want to have evaluated I would be happy to give my best assessment.  I would also suggest the NEARA website- www.NEARA.org.   Jim Vieira   jv1022jv@yahoo.com.