rakovsky Wrote:
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> But then.... like I said, colonists from 18th c.
> England could have chosen springs as areas to
> build their own structures themselves, no need to
> demand it was done by Irish monks.


And this they surely did, one needs water to live. However, the colonialists apparently made no special effort to build their homes directly over a 90 degree intersection - and yet all of the chambers I have visited were so built - with the intersection lying in the heart of each chamber. Go dowse them and you will see. Also, their openings all appear to be facing to the east, I would guess (based on my compass readings) to one or another local solstice or equinox position.

As far as I have determined there is absolutely no record of, nor tradition of, colonialists building such chambers either in the New World, or the Old. The kind of dry wall stonework, with large flat roofing stones, is however, very much like that seen in the northern tier of the British Isles. There has been speculation that these chambers were built as root cellars, but this makes no sense. They are usually not close by to any old dwelling site, plus why go to all the trouble to build such a separate structure when you could simply incorporate your root cellar into the foundation work of your home or barn (as was commonly done) - thus saving on labor, distance, and effectiveness?

There is no record of Native Americans performing this kind of stonework in the northeast region, if indeed anywhere. Plus, as I've said, they apparently were not versed in a dowsing tradition.

Many still extant chambers are missing some, if not all, of their flat roofing stones - stones which were likely hauled off by the first colonial arrivals for use as culvert stones, or similar. I should think that they thought these structures had been built by the native Indians. However, in my area these chambers are almost all at elevation and some distance from the Connecticut River. There is ample documentation that the early colonial settlers here first established themselves up at elevation because the native tribes trafficked the River, but they did not stray far from the immediate valley floor. This is a curious thing unless you infer that they knew about these already then ancient mysterious chamber sites and decided to give a wide berth to whatever creature or god had built them. I have read documentation that the native Indians thought of the hills surrounding the river in this way, but would need to search to find the reference.

That other remains of the builders of these chambers have apparently not survived is a question I can't answer - other than to say that perhaps it's better to state that such remains have as yet not been knowingly found.

I am certain that these chambers significantly predate the colonial period, but as to exactly when they were built I don't know. As I said, Goodwin's theory and explanation seem the best to me, and if you are truly interested in this subject I would suggest reading his book and exploring these chamber sites for yourself.