Forty miles north of Boston, in Salem, New Hampshire, is a place that has been baffling people for years. Named America’s Stonehenge, the site is a maze of man-made chambers, walls, and ceremonial spaces, marked with ancient Ogham, Phoenician and Iberian Punic scripts; it is believed to be 4,000 years old, which would make it the oldest man-made site in the United States. It also boasts a set of stones that have been found to be in a perfect formation of the astrological calendar, and can still be used to determine solar and lunar events during the year. Among the more unusual pieces at the site is a horizontal granite slab weighing nearly five tons with grooves cut into it; the piece has been called the Sacrificial Table, as it was originally believed that the grooves were for channeling blood from sacrifices made during ancient rites (though some historians now believe it was used by 18th-century farmers to leach lye from ashes). Investigators have also found high, pointed stones along the walls that seem to follow the alignment of the stones at England’s Stonehenge, though there is no cultural correlation between the two sites.
The origins and uses of the site are indeed still a mystery. Because of the astrological positions of the stones, some believe it was built by the Druids; William Goodwin, who purchased the land in 1937 (and who gave it the name Mystery Hill), was convinced that the site was a religious center used by Irish monks called the Culdees, who lived there long before Christopher Columbus showed up. Others claim that the site has Pre-Columbian origins. Still others believe it is simply the ruins of an old farm.
Despite years of investigation, there is no clear answer. Still, people come from around the world to see this popular tourist attraction, and to try to figure out the mystery of America’s Stonehenge.
The origins and uses of the site are indeed still a mystery. Because of the astrological positions of the stones, some believe it was built by the Druids; William Goodwin, who purchased the land in 1937 (and who gave it the name Mystery Hill), was convinced that the site was a religious center used by Irish monks called the Culdees, who lived there long before Christopher Columbus showed up. Others claim that the site has Pre-Columbian origins. Still others believe it is simply the ruins of an old farm.
Despite years of investigation, there is no clear answer. Still, people come from around the world to see this popular tourist attraction, and to try to figure out the mystery of America’s Stonehenge.
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