Ancient stone chambers in New England?

Explore the mysterious Stone Chambers, hidden throughout New England. These structures, shrouded in legend and history, have puzzled historians and archaeologists for centuries. Are they remnants of Native American rituals, colonial-era root cellars, or something even older? Watch to uncover the secrets of one of New England's most intriguing landmarks.

[DemeriseJones]

I live in West Springfield, MA and recently we found out that our entire neighborhood was built over ancient caverns that run right under our homes. Unfortunately for those of us living here, we discovered these because so many of us have been finding huge cracks throughout our homes and streets. Great video. I'm happy that I found your channel.

[shawnfromportland]

thank you for having a normal real life chill voice and not some yelling influencer voice. rare! and cool caves

[GadgetNerdvana]

A very well-spoken young man. Sticks to the details with no fluff. Great video!

[phillipyannone]

Having lived in New England over 60 years I have explored many. Truly fascinating. I personally believe they are ancient but have been used by other people over the years. Good video.😊

[TeacherMom]

P.S. Its refreshing to see a young man speak so intelligently and enthusiastically about out local area!

[JamesWilliams-gpek]

A very clear and professional narration.

[dorinori]

I never knew about these in all my years of living in New England. This is super cool!

[sg]

I don't know how I got here, but this was a very interesting and enjoyable presentation. Never heard of these. Thank you.

[thelateraledge]

We also have "sweat houses" here in Ireland which are kind of similar too. They would burn turf inside to heat up the rocks, then they would clear out the ash and line the floor with fresh plant matter. People who were sick would be sealed inside for a period of time and it was supposed to help cure different ailments, pretty much like an ancient sauna.

[bellowphone]

Great video. I was shown one of these chambers many years ago, by a friend who had built a cabin out that way, west of the Quabbin; I think it was in Wendell. The chamber looked like, and may well have been that same one that you showed in your first example. It was built into a hillside, had a small opening, and was tall enough for me to just stand up inside. The packed dirt floor was circular and maybe 10 feet in diameter. The thing I found very strange was that none of the locals had the slightest idea about who built it or what it was for, but they all knew it was there. The popular notion was that it was a colonial root cellar, but I very much doubt that. It was bigger than a common root cellar would've been, and more elaborately built.

[Longbow-jtjp]

Very well written, presented, and edited. Earned you a sub! Thanks!

[TheRealWulfderay]

They do look amazingly like the structures in Ireland, especially newgrange, though considerably smaller. The "beehive" construction style reminds me very strongly of those sorts of places. That being said, there aren't that many ways to construct a self-supporting structure out of stone and dirt, so it may just be coincidence.

[craigsurette]

i live in this area, and have been in several of these chambers, and much larger ones in VT We had one just off the property line of the house I grew up in in Lunenburg MA which i would play in as a teenager.<when it wasnt flooded>
I went to school for Anthropology at UMASS Amherst. I was told by one of our Archaeology professors, who specialized in local Cultural Resource Management work, that there had been a survey of many of these stone chambers and other New England Archaeomysteriae done by UMASS fieldwork teams back in the 1980s i believe, which determined that at least many/most of them were almost certainly early Colonial rootcellars/ice houses. The operative, and important word is "most"
Some, like the stone circle on Burnt Hill in Heath is at least as old as the town, as it is mentioned in the earliest records.

I would love to see another research team revisit some of the sites which were the most likely to not be Colonial, and try to get a proper radiocarbon date etc, or at least a proper survey done to try and narrow in on what is going on with them.

[richardross]

Very good video. To research the property look in the land records and the probate records. When doing a title search on my land 38 years ago, I found interesting details in the probate records of the 1700s and 1800s. Good Luck, Rick

[drhominidae]

Awesome job presenting the information. I applaud you professionalism and attention to detail.

[bravoyab]

Calming, informative, unique topic, and entertaining. Thx for posting!

[kevingirard]

I absolutely love this series Josh. Great work.

[arbel]

I ran into one in the mountains of NH a couple of years ago. I couldn't really understand why it was contracted the way it was. A relatively square underground structure with multiple rooms, only tall enough to crouch in and with one wall fully exposed. It was a magical find though and I spent a little time checking it out.

[chiefofsages]

Thanks for showing love to my area! I lived in Franklin County for most of my life and still work there!

[fessendenful]

I visited one of these sites years ago. Close to Williamstown, MA. Thanks for sharing this.