STONE CHAMBERS New England Antiquities Research Association
(Under Construction)
Stone Chambers are important examples of antiquities in New England. They are conspicuous as constructions and yet little or nothing is known about their history. The chambers are widespread, occurring in densities from as many as 200 chambers in Putnam County New York, to as few as one or two in the state of Maine. As can be seen in the photos section, two or three architectural styles are quite common: flat fronted, corridor fronted, and underground. Other chambers may not fit any of these patterns.Some facts are:
Chambers are made from large stones, with both corbelled vaulting or post-and-lintel vaulting. They are usually built on bedrock.
Some are recent with regular, smoothly cut stones. Some have been modified recently including added brick and mortar.
Some chambers have been reported to be ancient, based on with carbon-14 dating of charcoal.
Some chambers allow viewing of specific horizon events, such as solstices, equinoxes, heliacal rising of the Pleiades, etc.
There are three extreme views as to the nature of Stone Chambers. One is the conventional view that they are just colonial period root cellars. A second is the speculative view that they were built as an extension of the same Neolithic culture that built passage tombs and "beehives" in Ireland. A third is that the chambers are part of Native American spirituality, a New England version of the Kiva. There is enough variety among the chambers to support any one or all of these views.
Stone chambers are fragile and are being destroyed at a steady rate.
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New England Antiquities Research Association