In New England today there are megalithic stones, stone chambers and structures, carvings and petroglyphs, even an unidentified skeleton in armor that defy easy explanation. From Maine to Massachusetts, this work examines various unexplained historical remains in New England, exploring not only the layout and dimensions of such sites--some reminiscent of Stonehenge with their huge stones, astronomical alignments and undiscovered purposes--but also the history and possible explanations for their existence. Theories regarding Norse, Phoenician, Irish, Celtic and Native American origins are presented here in an impartial and logical manner. Sites discussed include Dighton Rock in Berkley, Massachusetts; Newport Tower in Newport, Rhode Island; the Bellows Falls Petroglyphs in Bellows Falls, Vermont; and Mystery Hill in North Salem, New Hampshire (also known as America's Stonehenge), with expanded coverage new to this edition. An appendix provides information regarding sites open to the public.

"From Maine to Massachusetts, this work presents an examination of unexplained historical remains in New England. From the most notorious to the lesser known, it explores not only the layout and dimensions of such sites--some reminiscent of Stonehenge with their huge stones, astronomical alignments and undiscovered purposes--but also the history and possible explanations for their existence"--Provided by publisher.

"This publication accompanies the exhibition The Philosophy Chamber: Art and Science in Harvard's Teaching Cabinet, 1766-1820, on view at the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from May 19 through December 31, 2017, and at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 2018."

The Westford Knight is a mysterious, controversial stone carving in Massachusetts. Some believe it is an effigy of a 14th century knight, evidence of an early European visit to the New World by Henry Sinclair, the Earl of Orkney and Lord of Roslin. In 1954, an archaeologist encountered the carving, long known to locals and ascribed a variety of origin stories, and proposed it to be a remnant of the Sinclair expedition. The story of the Westford Knight is a mix of history, archaeology, sociology, and Knights Templar lore. This work unravels the threads of the Knight's history, separating fact from fantasy. This revised edition includes a new foreword and four new chapters which add context to the myth-building that has surrounded the Westford Knight and artifacts like it.

This book examines the legends of who ‘really’ discovered America. It argues that histories of America's origins were always based less on empirical evidence and more on social, political, and cultural wish fulfillment. Influenced by a complex interplay of Nativist hatred of immigrants and Aboriginal people, as well as distrust of academic scholarship, these legends ebbed and flowed with changing conditions in wider American society. The book focuses on the actions of a collection of quirky, obsessed amateur investigators who spent their lives trying to prove their various theories by promoting Welsh princes, Vikings, Chinese admirals, Neo-lithic Europeans, African explorers, and others who they say arrived centuries before Columbus. These myths acted as mitigating agencies for those who embraced them. Along with recent scholarship, this book makes extensive use of archival materials—some of which have never been employed before. It covers the period from the sixteenth century to the present. It brings together separate historiographic ideas to create a unified history rather than focusing on one particular legend as most books on the subject do. It shows how questions of who discovered America helped create the field of historical scholarship in this country. This book does not attempt to prove who discovered America, rather it tells the story of those who think they did.

Pre-Columbian Trans-Oceanic Contact examines the discovery and settlement of The New World hundreds and even thousands of years before Christopher Columbus was born.

“You’ll never look at the region the same way again after reading about the tunnel from hell, toe-tugging spirits, and the curse of the mummy.” —The Boston Globe Before it became a haven for arts and culture, the Berkshires was a rugged, sparsely populated frontier. From the early days of Revolutionary fervor and industrial enterprise to today’s tourism, many chilling stories remain. A lost girl haunts a cemetery in Washington, and mysterious spirits still perform at Tanglewood. From the ghostly halls of the Houghton Mansion to the eerie events at the Hoosac Tunnel, residents and visitors alike have felt fear and awe in these hills, telling tales of shadow figures, disembodied voices and spectral trains. Author Robert Oakes, who has given ghost tours at The Mount in Lenox for more than a decade, leads this spirited journey through history. “The rich history of this region—spanning more than two centuries—includes spine-tingling tales from almost every town in the county. Oakes culled many of them for his book, which touches on myriad metaphysicals, including ‘The Undead Hessian of Egremont,’ ‘Highwood’s Ghost at Tanglewood,’ and ‘The Ghostly Guest in 301: The Red Lion Inn’—each of which will inspire readers to ‘peer into the shadows beyond the beam of [their] flashlight.’” —The Berkshire Edge