Stone Chamber of Old Warren Rd.
New England Stone Chambers...
The New England area of the United States is home to a very large number of mysterious and controversial stone structures, including chambers, standing stones, platforms, and what look like cairns. They are mysterious and controversial because no one really knows who built them or why, yet strong opinions about their origin range from colonial root cellars, to Indian shelters, to Norse settlers, to very ancient "ibero-celtic" temples. As yet, no hard evidence is available to support any of the current theories.
A stone chamber is defined as a Native temple covered with a stone slab roof, in which the stones were quarried without the use of metal drills. There are around 500 of these structures extant in the Northeast. Their distribution is largely confined to southern New England and the southeastern portion of New York state. To the north, chambers occur into central Vermont and New Hampshire. There is perhaps one example in the state of Maine. They extend into Westchester County in southeastern New York. There are rumors of several examples west of the Hudson River and into eastern Pennsylvania, but with a few scattered exceptions, these are unconfirmed. The densest concentration is found in Putnam County, NY, on the east bank of the Hudson, just north of Westchester, where around 200 examples occur within that county or immediately outside its borders. The second-densest concentration occurs in New London County in southeastern Connecticut, with probably around 50 extant chambers. Windsor County in central Vermont probably has somewhat less than New London County. Together, these three counties account for the majority of stone chambers in America. These are not designed as root cellars, which are found in the cellars of Colonial homes. Some chambers are entirely or partially out of the ground, precluding their use for food storage. These range from tiny examples of perhaps a foot or two of cubic volume on up to massive structures of over 300 square feet in floor plan. There are many more Native foundations which were never roofed with stone slabs, and which apparently were covered with timber. Both the chambers and foundations serve as entrances into the Earth Mother, and frequently are designed to be illuminated by the sun or moon on key calendrical events.
A stone chamber is defined as a Native temple covered with a stone slab roof, in which the stones were quarried without the use of metal drills. There are around 500 of these structures extant in the Northeast. Their distribution is largely confined to southern New England and the southeastern portion of New York state. To the north, chambers occur into central Vermont and New Hampshire. There is perhaps one example in the state of Maine. They extend into Westchester County in southeastern New York. There are rumors of several examples west of the Hudson River and into eastern Pennsylvania, but with a few scattered exceptions, these are unconfirmed. The densest concentration is found in Putnam County, NY, on the east bank of the Hudson, just north of Westchester, where around 200 examples occur within that county or immediately outside its borders. The second-densest concentration occurs in New London County in southeastern Connecticut, with probably around 50 extant chambers. Windsor County in central Vermont probably has somewhat less than New London County. Together, these three counties account for the majority of stone chambers in America. These are not designed as root cellars, which are found in the cellars of Colonial homes. Some chambers are entirely or partially out of the ground, precluding their use for food storage. These range from tiny examples of perhaps a foot or two of cubic volume on up to massive structures of over 300 square feet in floor plan. There are many more Native foundations which were never roofed with stone slabs, and which apparently were covered with timber. Both the chambers and foundations serve as entrances into the Earth Mother, and frequently are designed to be illuminated by the sun or moon on key calendrical events.
The table of contents for an article I had written in "Ancient American" Magazine concerning the stone chambers,
including the one in Warren, Ma. The cover for that issue is shown below...
Volume 5, Issue 33:
Burrow's Cave Find of the Century!
- Burrows Cave, Find of the Century!.............by John J. White, III and Beverley H. Moseley, Jr.
- Wisconsin's Silver Mound...................................................................Robert F. Boszhardt
- Wisconsin's Underwater "Pyramids" and the Outside World in Prehistory............Kenneth Caroli
- Pre-columbian Contact between Native Americans and Norsemen............................Rob Krott
- Pre-Columbian Crucible: the Birthplace of American Civilization...............Dr. Cyclone Covey
- The Mysterious Stone Structures of New England........................................Scott A. Browne
- Burrows Cave is Opened!.........................................................................Russell Burrows
- Ancient Oil Lamps in New York
- America's Ancient History "For Sale" in Nevada...............................R. Victor Markham, Jr.A
- Earth Changes-2000 Conference
- Canada's Sacred Petroglyphs "Cannot be Photographed".......................................Bob Harvey
- Viking "Mooring Stones" found in Minnesota..............................................Leland Pedersen
- Book Review: Dragon Bones, The Story of Peking Man..........................Penny van Oosterzee
- Letters to the Editor
- ACPAC: Lithic Technology
The Palmer/Warren Stone Chamber
Located on Old Warren Road just over the Palmer line heading into Warren, Massachusetts is a stone structure that was once completely covered. According to local lore, it had been dug out over 20 years ago by local authorities, in search of a missing teenage couple. This once-underground structure was nicknamed "Slave Hole". According to another local legend, Slave Hole was presumed to be a hideout for slaves during the time of the Underground Railroad. The structure bordered a farm, and was built by a farmer's wife and freed slaves who worked the farm. We have never been able to find documentation of Slave Hole in local historical records. Built from fieldstone, there is one small entrance into the structure, which contains what used to be a single room. This room had been approximately 7 x 7 feet, surrounded by thick fieldstone walls. The outside of the structure (as of 2001) is surrounded by a six foot high chain link fence with no access gate.
The stone chamber in Warren has been enclosed with a chain link fence by the town historian. When I called and spoke with her for my article she explained that there was never a house or settlement there, but she felt that the site held some significance and should be protected. It is still unknown as to who built it or why...
Below are some videos about other strange stone structures in New England...
A few of my photos were used for the making of Part 2 "Secrets of the Stones"...
Druid Stone Chambers of New York State
Strong magnetic anomalies occur at the entrance to each one measured
byBruce Cornet, Ph.D.
Introduction
When the first English settlers came to New England they discovered numerous well-made stone cellars or chambers in Putnam and Dutchess counties. The builders of these chambers are unknown, although some archaeologists suspect the Druids. Only recently was a hand knife found under a rock in one of the chambers. It had a shape and designs on the handle that implicate the Druids. At last word, Phil Imbrogno has possession of that artifact.
On 2 August 1992 Imbrogno took a group of a dozen people on a field trip to see some of the stone chambers. Cornet was among them. He took along a Precession Proton Magnetometer, because of reported magnetic anomalies associated with some of the chambers. He wanted to map the anomalies, if possible, to determine the cause. What he did not expect was to find the answer so easily. And yet, because he did not have official sanction from the landowners or local archaeologists, he could not dig to confirm his suspicions. This web page presents the data he collected in the form of maps, which show the anomalies as clearly residing at the entrance way to three chambers he measured. In addition, he measured a magnetic anomaly at the Balancing Rock in North Salem, New York. Pictures from a video taken during the field trip are provided below.
Two stone chambers were investigated in detail, while the third was not due to lack of time. A Precession Proton Magnetometer was used to measure natural magnetic fields and induced artificial magnetic fields around the chambers. Measurements were in gammas, not gauss (i.e. one Maxwell per square centimeter). Normal background magnetism is usually between 54,800 gammas and 55,000 gammas.
Cornet describes gamma fluctuation close to the double stone chamber (247K).
At the Meads Corners chamber and the Putnam Valley chamber significant magnetic anomalies were discovered at their entrances. In the study of the Putnam Valley chamber and the Balancing Rock, the anomalies were so strong (320 and 400 gammas below background, respectively) that they reversed the needle on a compass. In other words, it was strong enough to counter the local Earth's magnetic field when the compass was held directly over the center of the anomaly.
The magnetic anomaly at the Meads Corners chamber was not as strong. It was slightly less than 100 gammas below background. Map No. 1 does not show intense magnetic-line closure around the center of the anomaly. Instead, after two rings the magnetic lines become open to the northeast. The road shoulder comes right up to the entrance of the chamber, and there is no stone slab located there as is the case at the other chambers studied. It is possible that during road construction or widening, the top of whatever is causing the anomaly was sheared off and deposited across the road. That might account for the lack of magnetic line closure and the direction of opening to the mapped anomaly.
The magnetic anomalies are probably caused by a piece of carved loadstone, which was buried at the entrance to each chamber (or between the chambers when two of them were present side by side). Excavation would have to be conducted to determine the actual cause of the anomalies, but that would require landowner permission, and possibly a permit from any state or county organization entrusted with protecting the stone chambers. It should be noted that the region contains a number of localities where iron-rich loadstone can be mined.
Conclusion
Someone or some peoples went to a lot of effort to build so many stone chambers and to place a strong natural magnet at the entrance of perhaps most of them (not yet confirmed). The reason for putting a magnet there could be related to ancient religious or pagan rituals, which required the use of magic. A strong magnet buried at the entrance to a stone chamber could have been placed there to ward off evil spirits, or to trick unsuspecting members of a tribe into believing that their shaman or priest had supernatural and/or godly powers. Powerful magnets may also have been placed there to help locate chambers in the forest or at night. The same reasons might apply to the Balancing Rock.
This study has confirmed that the stone chambers of Putnam and Dutchess counties do have unusual magnetic properties. The discovery of a center (source) for anomalous magnetism at the entrances of three chambers will hopefully create interest by other professionals to continue this research. By discovering the actual cause of the anomalies through excavation, additional artifacts might be found. Archaeologists, take notice.
LINKS TO OTHER MEGALITHIC SITES IN NEW ENGLAND
http://www.stonehengeusa.com/index.html
http://www.neara.org/
