Magicfiddle

The New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA) is a non-profit organization which, according to its website: "is dedicated to a better understanding of our historic and prehistoric past through the study and preservation of New England's stone sites in their cultural context. Founded, 1964."[1] The current president of NEARA is Suzanne Carlson.

Most NEARA members are curious about what they consider to be poorly understood archaeological sites in and around New England, containing features such as underground chambers, clusters of cairns, unusual walls, perched boulders, and engraved stones. Some of these sites fall under the category of "ceremonial stone landscapes" by United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.[2] in their recent resolution on the topic. NEARA members' interests include the documentation of lithic sites, the archaeoastronomy of sites, and their possible cultural origins. All members are interested in the preservation of the diversity of stone structures as part of New England's historic and prehistoric legacy.[3]

Most NEARA members are not professional archaeologists or anthropologists. As such, members explore and document but do not dig or otherwise disturb sites. The organization does not take any official view about the origins of the stone sites, and individual members are free to form their own opinions, which range from colonial to Native American to pre-Columbian European interpretations.

NEARA sponsors field trips to visit sites and holds two conferences a year at which professional archaeologists and anthropologists, as well as amateur researchers, are often speakers. Membership information, as well as photographs and information about the sites themselves, can be found at their web site www.neara.org.