Ancient Stone Mysteries of New England: Yankee Lore

A Special, Illustrated Text Version with Exclusive Bonus Pictures

(The video version of this presentation is on YouTube)

You’ve likely heard the stories…

400 years ago, intrepid European settlers sailed here to the New World to break free from religious tyranny and begin new lives.

English Puritans Escaping to America c1874. Public Domain Image. Library of Congress.

They tamed a Pristine Wilderness, barely touched by its few inhabitants, those they called “Indians” — small, nomadic, hunter-gatherer bands who lived in harmony with nature, and left it unspoiled.

An Indian welcome on Charles River. Public Domain Image. Library of Congress.

These rugged settlers improved the land, bringing livestock, crops, and ideas on farming, over from Europe — clearing the landscape, and lining their pastures with hundreds of thousands of miles of stone walls.