22 June 2009: Presidents Message

As I look forward to my tenure as President of NEARA, I find it useful to take a look back over the 30 years that I have been a member. From time to time board members and invited guests have gathered in a series of weekend retreats to reevaluate the goals and objectives of NEARA.

The mission of NEARA is to “promote disciplined research on the origin and function of American lithic structures and related landscape features”. This includes not only enigmatic stone chambers, but stone walls, mounds, standing stones, stone towers, petroglyphs and inscriptions, both historic and prehistoric in hopes of unraveling the mysteries of their origin.

Through our publications and meetings, we provide an “open forum for discussion and debate on the significance of such sites” in respectful and civil discourse.

NEARA also engages in advocacy for public awareness and the need to preserve these sites, both prehistoric and historic in origin.

In addition to our mission, we developed a set of “core values” as part of the Sunday morning wrap-up of the retreat at the Geneva Point Conference Center in Moultonboro, New Hampshire in September 1999. I’m happy to share these with you as they were defined then and have been reaffirmed in the subsequent retreat in March 2007.

These came in response to the often asked question, “what is NEARA, anyway?” and a challenge to define our personal belief about the peopling of America through the ages. Each participant made a statement and this was the compilation of the results:

That the peopling of the Americas occurred earlier than is currently `accepted' and derived from diverse places;

That immigrants came in waves, some in small groups, some with minimum contact, others with a more lasting impact;

That these early immigrants evolved into the various tribes and nations of Native Americans which continued to absorb cultural traits from new immigrations as well as through internal migration.

That European seafaring people impacted the Northeast to some extent and could have contributed to, or been responsible for, the construction of lithic sites; As these sites vary in age they were probably used by successive generations.

That Native Americans were constructing and using stone features for a variety of purposes during the Contact Period and probably into more recent times. Some continued contact with Northern Europe is likely between 1000 and 1500 AD.

That the Contact Period and Colonial immigrants also left a legacy of enigmatic stone features and artifacts.

We hope that you have enjoyed exploring our web site with its many resources and wish you happy surfing!

Sue Carlson

NEARA President