Stone Chambers of New England

New England is famous for its stone structures. In fact, in the 1930s, it was estimated that New England had 250,000 miles of stone walls. That number has since been doubled, but walls are not the only stone structures in New England. Since the 193s, people began to wonder about the region’s hundreds of stone chambers. Of course, many people thought they might have some cultish or mysterious uses, and I suppose they might have been used for those things at one point or another, but that was really never their initial planned usage. The stone structures were also called huts, caves, beehives, dolmens, and root cellars. They have long provoked questions about their age and cultural origins.

Unlike the stone walls of New England, there are only about 800 stone–built chambers scattered across the New England States. These chambers are so unique, that their design and form have been found nowhere else in North America. The chambers are generally circular and rectangular forms that range from 15-30 feet long, are about 10 feet wide, and have a 10 feet tall central chamber. The “beehive” is the most elaborate of the structures. They were built in a conical shape and sometimes feature smoke holes for ventilation, as well as shelves and benches incorporated into the walls. The chambers that have bees stood the test of time, were built into hillsides, while others were built freestanding. Amazingly, the chambers are expertly constructed with fitted masonry stone and capped with megalithic slabs. Some of the chambers are surrounded by cairns, standing stones, enclosures, ceremonial walls, pedestal boulders, and balanced rocks, which could suggest either a lodging or some ceremonial place.

Although the structures do exhibit some common features, their construction details, nevertheless vary widely. They also differ from other colonial structures including stone burial vaults, charcoal and lime kilns, potash burners, and iron furnaces. These chambers have been found in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. While some people like to think that the chambers were built for some sinister use, many historians and archeologists believe these structures were built by early colonists as root cellars, or perhaps by Native Americans before them, others believe that some of these chambers are ancient, built by European travelers during the Bronze Age. Most people believe that the structures were built by early colonists for use as root cellars, settlers’ quarters, smokehouses, shepherds’ shelters, animal pens, whiskey storage facilities, and hunting or trapping enclosures.

The only part that doesn’t fit that train of thought is that early records of New England colonists make mention of stone chambers preexisting the settlement the land and they were also described in colonial writings as the existence of strange “Indian forts.” Nor does it explain that sometimes the age of the chamber could be authenticated by trees that predated settlement, that passageways were often too low and narrow to wheel a cart into, and the chambers’ having soil floors that would rot vegetables. Logically, it didn’t make sense that the practical-minded colonial farmers would create such complex and well-crafted megalithic “root cellars” for simple use of their fruits and vegetables. Especially ones like these. Also, while the colonial homes and other buildings have long since vanished, these stone chambers still exist, suggesting that they were far more elaborately built. Other researchers have presented the facts that the chambers were far too large for use for food storage and most of the colonists had built root cellars underneath or near their homes instead of in the upland areas where most of them are found. In addition, why would these people have spent so much time and effort quarrying great amounts of stones and hauling them to these sites, when trees were abundant? So, the mystery remains, and speculation continues regarding the mysterious stone structures.