New England
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David Barron measures a very unusual (for New England) stone row here at Gungywamp Swamp. But it would be typical if found in Olde Englande in that there are two veins of water that crisscross like braids under each stone. David was the founder of the Gungywamp Society, and an early contributor to our knowledge of New England's enigmatic lithic material.
Here David points up hill on a perfectly straight stone wall. Usually one thinks of stone walls as enclosing something. This one starts down in a swamp and runs straight up hill. Many times walls like this were built to point to a significant astronomical event like the Summer Solstice Sunset.
Other Lithic Material in New England
There are many other kinds of stone constructions in New England and Hudson River Valley that continue to mystify many. Here are a few:
The sign says that it is a glacial erratic boulder. Not everyone agrees. Some call this the "North Salem Dolmen." This balanced rock resides in North Salem, New York (almost on the Connecticut border). Calling it a "dolmen" implies that it was constructed by foreigners. ("Dolmen" is a Celtic word to describe similar structures found on the west coast of Europe, but they were actually built long before the Celtic culture arrived on the scene, and the space under them was usually much much bigger - at one, a man could ride under it on his horse!) There are numerous similar "perched rocks" through out New England. Some are on bedrock, and their huge mass is held in to the air by relatively tiny cabbage-sized rocks - way too confined a space to be able to crawl under.
This is an incredibly neatly build cairn or stone pile on top of a much bigger boulder in central Vermont. Some farmers say today that rocks are Vermont's biggest product. Colonial European settlers had too many other things to do to take the time to make artistic piles like this. I think it is safe to say that there are hundreds of these tightly constructed piles sprinkled throughout Vermont and New England.
Archaeo-astronomers Byon Dix (with his back to us) and his partner, James Mavor (taking notes) did an enormous amount of field work all over New England (here,in the area of the Summer Solstice Sunrise notched stone (seen earlier in this section) at Calendar I in Vermont. In their book, "Manitou," they come to the conclusion that these structures were built by Native Americans - many after the arrival of the White colonists. Byron passed on unexpectedly. He was a teacher of many (MAG owes its awareness of Orthographic Projection to him). He was a good friend.
Conclusion
The Indian Stone near Montpelier, Vermont. This enormous stone, shaped like a slice of bread planted in the ground, leans toward the three intrepid Earth Mystery explorers standing behind it. It is called the Indian Stone because is is within sight of the Native American Council Tree in the next image. This stone is on an energy ley that runs to the Council Tree.
Council Trees, usually the biggest monarch in that area, are found throughout New England. The are characterized by many of their branches going out parallel to the ground, and then suddenly turning ninety degrees and going straight upwards - usually over a vein of underground primary water. These trees were used similarly to Moots or Tings in Britain - where different tribes could gather on neutral turf, hold council and resolve "moot points."
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Regardless of what culture left us these stone remains, from comparing their interest in astronomy, the use of sacred geometry , and the Earth energy power centers that are found at these New England sites, we can be sure that these people were involved with what have become known as the Earth Mysteries. The female and the male. The circular stone on the left is in Lancaster, New Hampshire, and the somewhat phallic standing stone on the right is in Vermont near Calendar I.
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America's Stonehenge (a.k.a. Mystery Hill) in North Salem, New Hampshire is one of the few places with stone chambers that are open to the public. Like England's Stonehenge, There's nothing like it. There are more stone chambers closely clustered together here than anywhere else in New England. In colonial times, this site was owned by Jonathan Pattee, a farmer who lived there from 1826 to 1848. Certainly at least some of the remains date from that time, but other parts may be a bit earlier.
The Sacrifice Stone. Some say this was the floor of a wine-type press, and the groove around the base gathered the juice. Behind this stone is an impressive ""shaped chamber. At the bottom of the , there is a eight inch wide hole that exits under the Sacrificial stone. Some, with a more jaundiced view, say it was used to speak through - a voice from the other side. It is actually very difficult to determine just how old and just who built this stone complex.
Over the years, a great deal of work has gone on at this site in an attempt to figure out who built it. As its older name, Mystery Hill, implies, it has been quite difficult to determine just who built what at this most unusual site.
There is an irregular ring of stones that go around the complex of stone structures. This one marks the Winter Solstice sunset notice the notch in the background.
This is one of the few chambered sites in New England that is open to the public, so while it is not typical of many of the other sites, it does seem to exhibit the characteristics of sacred space.
Other New England Chambers
There are chambers like the ones in Vermont throughout most of New England and the Hudson River Valley of New York state. Hut C in western Massachusetts. Notice the roots of the trees around the mouth of the chamber. These Tolkinesque root structures are found frequently with the Earth energies. Many chambers drop down to the floor which is below ground level.
This chamber is also in western Massachusetts. The red and white stick is for scale, and is a meter long. The flat land and fence in the background is a cemetery, but unlike the receiving vaults, this one clearly would not hold a body, so must have been used for something else.
This slab constructed chamber is in Putnam County New York (North of New York City) in the Hudson River Valley. All of chambers in this section have veins if primary underground water running underneath them.
This one is in New Hampshire. Colgate Gilbert has been active in NEARA (the New England Antiquities Research Association) for over thirty years. NEARA was one of the early organizations set up to investigate these lithic sites. It is still active today.
Gungywamp Swamp, Groton, Connecticut
Just behind the Groton naval yard is a unique collection of lithic material in a place called Gungywamp Swamp.
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This is past American Society of Dowsers (ASD) Trustee Hugo Meyer at one of the chambers in Gungywamp. Hugo has traveled the world seeking ancient sacred sites, and has brought a lot to dowsing. |
There are several chambers at Gungywamp as well as a number of other very interesting lithic features. This chamber is quite close to the first chamber, and has an unusual "pocket chamber" to the right as you enter. |
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As we said above, there are over forty chambers in Vermont (that's just how many we measured). This one is one of the few circular chambers. Most are rectangular. A few are "L" shaped. In the nineteen-seventies, many people suspected that they were built by the Celts. This round chamber certainly is similar to so-called Celtic beehive huts found along the West coast of Ireland. But there really are not many different ways to construct a circular hut using stone without mortar or cement.
Here is a chamber that has a town road running over its roof! (Please notice that I am not saying specifically where these chambers are. This is an agreement I have had with the landowners since the 70's. Most are on private land. Some have code names like Calendar II.)
This chamber is code named "Eagle." It was the focus of an intensive dig in the early 80's by the National Geographic. The earliest material that Peter Reynolds, the archaeologist, found dated to about at the beginning of the 19th century, when white colonists first came in to that area.
This is a stone on the lintel above and just to the right of the front door of the above chamber. Note the straight horizontal line and one slash below and then two slashes below. This could be Celtic Ogham - the writing of the Celts.
Like Hebrew, Ogham has no vowels, so some say, here on a chamber in central Vermont is the name of one of the major Celtic Gods - BEL (in the Bible, he was called Baal). The Celtic Cross-Quarter Holiday Beltane (May Day) is named after him, so is "Belgium." You can learn more about Ogham here. In the nineteen seventies, due primarily to the work of Barry Fell and his book America B.C., it was felt that the Celts built these chambers. Some still feel that they did. I personally feel that it was the Native Americans who were here when the White Man arrived.
Not everyone (including myself) believes that the Celts built these chambers. While I have no doubt that the Celts were in the New World before Columbus, the evidence for their contact is to be found elsewhere in the United States.
This chamber in in central Vermont one field away from the birthplace of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). You can just make out their memorial in the right hand horizon as small patches of white. One of the things that sacred space can do is to assist in the having of visions, something Joseph Smith had a number of.
But, not all underground chambers in Vermont are sacred spaces.
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Vermont - Calendar II
Calendar II in central Vermont is perhaps the most famous of the Vermont chambers. Standing to the left of the mouth of Calendar II is Betty Sincerbeaux, perhaps more than anyone else, was responsible for waking the rest of us see the reality of this lithic culture in Vermont. Photo by Byron Dix.
The interior of the chamber. This is the biggest chamber in Vermont, and perhaps in all of New England, measuring ten feet by twenty feet (approximately three meters by six meters). This ratio of 20:10 / 2:1 is found in the King's chamber of the Great Pyramid. There are seven massive lintel stones that span this width. Notice the flue hole/opening in the ceiling at the back of the chamber. See the candle in the back? This is evidence of its use as a ceremonial centre.
Winter Solstice Sunrise as seen from the back of the chamber of Calendar II. Notice that the sun is rising through a notch in the hills. Many chambers in New England are oriented towards significant horizonal astronomical events. Sacred sites do not have the same degree of spiritual energy throughout the year. One of the best indicators of when a site is at its "hottest" is when the major axis aligns to a significant horizonal astronomical (in this case Solar) event. Photo by Byron Dix.
The ASD /NEARA Earth Energies Group measured forty different chambers in Vermont in the early nineteen-eighties. Here several of the members are working on Calendar 1 during the time of the excavation. They looked for three things:
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Is there evidence of archaeo-astronomical alignment of the chambers to the Sun or Moon on significant days of the year? (This is what they are looking for here.)
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Are significant sacred geometrical ratios found by taking three length measurements and three width measurements, dividing each by three, and then dividing the average width into the average depth? This yields a ratio of something to the number one. In the case of Calendar I, above, the ratio is 1.617 : 1. Phi (Ø) is a basic sacred geometrical ratio is 1.618 : 1.
- Were there common patterns of Earth energies in these chambers? We found this to be the case in many of them.
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One view of the Equinox Sunrise at Calendar I. The chamber faces a high ridge that runs North-South. There are peaks at both ends of the ridge, and a saddle, or dip, in the middle (where the Equinox sun rises somewhat south of East due to the angle of elevation to the horizon. Photo by Byron Dix. |
The Equinox sun rise from a lower angle, within the same chamber. As you can see from the picture to the left, there is a significant angle of elevation to the horizon, so while, given a level horizon, the Sun rises due East anywhere on Earth at both Equinoxes, the Calendar 1 chamber is oriented somewhat south of True East to make the alignment. Photo by Dorothy Todd. |
Archaeoastronomer Byron Dix at a stone he found central to the astronomy at Calendar I. Here he is demonstrating how he was kneeling when something like an enormous shock had literally thrown him off the stone!
It is standing with one's foot wedged against this stone that the Winter Solstice Sunrise can be seen (see next image).
A North/South ridge rises sharply to the East of Calendar 1. The angle of elevation to the horizon is significant; therefore, the Sun rises much further to the South than it would be with a level horizon. The Equinox Sunrise as seen from the Calendar 1 chamber occurs in a saddle in that ridge.
This stone is at the top of the southern end of that north-south ridge. When standing at that central stone, the first gleam of the rising Summer Solstice Sun can be seen through this notch!
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