America's Stonehenge

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Some of the rocks at America's Stonehenge Coordinates: 4 !"#$%"&' ()!) $ "&W America's Stonehenge is an archaeological site consisting of a num*er of large rocks and stone structures scattered around roughly %# acres +) #,### m , -ithin the to-n of Salem, 'e- .ampshire in the northeast /nited States0 1he origin and purpose of the structures is usually attri*uted to a mi2ture of land3 use practices of local farmers in the )4th and )5th centuries, as -ell as construction of structures *y o-ner William 6ood-in in the )5%#s0 A num*er of other hypotheses e2ist0 Although the area is named after the archaeological site of Stonehenge in 7ngland, there is no cultural connection *et-een the t-o0 America's Stonehenge is open to the pu*lic for a fee0 8t is part of a recreational area that includes sno-shoe trails and an alpaca farm0 8t is a popular tourist attraction, -ith particular appeal to *elievers in 'e- Age systems0 Among several theories put for-ard concerning the site's origins are claims that it could *e an astronomical o*servatory *uilt *y some unkno-n pre3Colum*ian civili9ation0 1he site -as first du**ed Mystery Hill:); *y William 6ood-in, an insurance agent -ho purchased the area in )5%<0 1his -as the official name of the site until )54 0 1he site -as renamed "America's Stonehenge" +a term coined in a ne-s article in the early )5<#s,0 8t -as an effort to separate it from roadside oddity sites and reinforce the idea that it is an ancient archaeological site0

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[edit] Origin
1he site's history is muddled partly *ecause of the activities of William 6ood-in, -ho *ecame convinced that his ?ystery .ill -as proof that 8rish monks +the Culdees, had lived there long *efore the time of Christopher Colum*us0 .e sought to pu*lici9e this theory0 .e moved many of the stones from their former positions to *etter support his idea, thus o*literating a good deal of the archaeological record0 1he site's current o-ners, the private company America's Stonehenge Foundation, say his activities are @one of the reasons the enigma of ?ystery .ill is so deep@0:citation needed; Aroponents of a pre3Colum*ian, yet non3'ative American, origin for the site argue that some stones are encased in trees that may have sprouted *efore the arrival of the first colonists0 1hey claim that there are similarities *et-een the ruins and Ahoenician architecture, and say that marks on some stones resem*le some ancient -riting systems of the =ld World0 1he late >arry Fell, a marine *iologist from .arvard /niversity and amateur epigrapher, claimed that inscriptions at the site represented markings in =gham, Ahoenician and 8*erian scripts +also referred to as 8*erian3Aunic,0 .e detailed his claims in his *ook America B.C. Artifacts found on the site lead archaeologists to the conclusion that the stones -ere assem*led for a variety of reasons *y local farmers in the )4th and )5th centuries0 For e2ample, a much3discussed @sacrificial stone@, -hich contains grooves that some say channeled *lood, closely resem*les @lye3leaching stones@ found on many old farms0 1hey -ere used to e2tract lye from -ood ashes, the first step in the manufacture of soap0 Car*on dating of charcoal pits at the site provided dates from ### >C to )(% >C, -hen the area -as populated *y ancestors of current 'ative Americans0 8n archaeological chronology, this places indigenous use of the site into either the Bate Archaic or the 7arly Woodland time periods0 8n )54 , Cavid Ste-art3Smith, director of restoration at ?ystery .ill, conducted an e2cavation of a megalith found in situ in a stone Duarry to the north of the main site0 .is research team, under the supervision of the 'e- .ampshire state archaeologist, e2cavated the Duarry site0 1hey discovered hundreds of chips and flakes from the stone0 >oth the state archaeologist and Cr0 Ste-art3Smith concurred that this -as evidence of indigenous tool manufacture, consistent -ith 'ative American lithic techniDues, although no date could *e ascertained0 8t is possi*le that in its original form, the site may have *een one of the ceremonial stone landscapes descri*ed *y /S71, /nited South and 7astern 1ri*es, 8nc0, in their resolution on sacred landscapes