New England Antiquities Research Association
NEARA OSL Dating Project 2020-2021
The NEARA OSL Research Team
THE TEAM met every Sunday via Zoom for five weeks in August plotting out their project strategy. They discussed the timing, the equipment, the sites, the process, and the tasks at hand. Their excitement seemed to build every week.

The meetings were very informative and every team member added their own area of expertise and experience, they were followed up with emails that quickly filled up everyone's inbox.

They became known as "The OSL Dream Team" and we thank them for all the time they devoted to this project and all the dedicated hard work that went into its success!


THE OSL RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERS

NEARA MEMBERS: Teresa Bierce, David Brody, Harvey Buford,
Jim Egan, Tome Elmore, Alison Guinness, Dave Gutkowski, Doria Kutrubes, Norman Muller, Dyane Plunkett,
Vance Tiede, and Jim Wilson.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS: James Feathers (Univ of Washington Luminescence Laboratory), Marine Frouin (Stony Brook University, Geosciences Department)

SITE VOLUNTEERS

NEARA RESEARCH COMMITTEE: Peter Anick, Fred Martin,
Tom Paul, Donna Thompson, and Walter van Roggen.
ADDITIONAL VOLUNTEERS: Tyler Beebe and Vesna Kundic



THANK YOU!
TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS, PROPERTY OWNERS,
SITE ORGANIZERS, AND NEARA MEMBERS WHOSE
INSIGHT, SUPPORT, AND HARD WORK HELPED TO MAKE
THIS IMPORTANT RESEARCH PROJECT HAPPEN
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU
TO OUR PRESIDENT HARVEY BUFORD WHOSE DILIGENT BEHIND THE SCENES ORGANIZING HELPED TO MAKE
HIS LONGTIME VISION OF THIS PROJECT A REALITY
THANKS HARVEY!
LUMINESCENCE LABORATORY TESTING AND RESULTS COULD
TAKE UP TO A YEAR, BUT WE WILL KEEP NEARA MEMBERS
POSTED ON THE PROGRESS IN FUTURE NEARA PUBLICATIONS
THE SITES BELOW ARE
A PART OF THE
NEARA OSL DATING PROJECT
OSL PROJECT SITE IN
NORTH SMITHFIELD RHODE ISLAND
IN THE NEWS!
When Tom Mrva first acquired 48 acres off Rocky Hill Road 17 years ago, he had no idea his land might contain hints to the area’s earliest settlers.

It wasn’t until he put it up for sale recently that he started having conversations with the North Smithfield Heritage Association about the meandering walls and rock formations that crisscross his property.

According to the NSHA, the parcel contains the highest concentration of stone features they’ve identified so far in North Smithfield, features that may date back thousands of years. Continue reading below...
THE LITHIC COMPLEX
MADISON CONNECTICUT
NEARA Member Tom Paul lead the OSL Project Team to take samples at a site he discovered and named The Lithic Complex on Hammonasset Line.

This site is filled with stone walls that align during the solstices with stone structures in the shape of snakes and turtles, white quartz boulders, prayer seats, an aligned chamber, and many carefully constructed cairns as described in Chapter 2 of Tom's report below.

Read all About The Hammonasset Line in
Tom Paul's Field Report Below
Photo Credits: Jim Wilson
HUNT'S BROOK SOUTERRAIN
MONTVILLE CONNECTICUT
Shortly after the hurricane of 1938 moved through Montville CT two teenagers, Mary Crouch and Carl Pilecki, were walking along the steep and lonely north slope of Beaver Dam Hill when they came upon a scene that undoubtedly startled them. The two teens kept knowledge of this feature pretty much to themselves until 1984...

CONTINUE READING THE NEARA JOURNAL ARTICLE BELOW
BY NORMAN MULLER
OSL RESEARCH TEAM ADVISOR AND LONGTIME NEARA MEMBER
Photo Credits: Walter van Roggen
AMERICA'S STONEHENGE
SALEM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Like Stonehenge in England, America's Stonehenge was built by early people well versed in astronomy and stone construction. It has been determined that the site is an accurate astronomical calendar. It was, and still can be, used to determine specific solar and lunar events of the year.

The NEARA OSL Research Team and Research Committee were there on
Sept 11th working with the NH State Archaeologist Mark Doperalski and David Trubey from the NH Division of Historical Resources collecting samples at the Oracle Chamber and the Watch House Chamber.

Doria Kutrubes and her assistant Sam surveyed the site with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), which is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface.

Thank you Mark and David for volunteering your extensive knowledge of archaeology and thank you Doria and Sam for mapping the subsurface of this amazing site. What an exciting day in New Hampshire!
Photo Credits: Walter van Roggen
THANK YOU
Jim Feathers and Marine Frouin
for all Your Hard Work and Expertise
Before, During, and After
The NEARA OSL Dating Project

We are Looking Forward to
Your Professional Conclusions!
BE A PART OF NEARA AS WE UNEARTH THE MYSTERIES OF THESE
STONE SITES AND WATCH FIRSTHAND AS THE PUZZLE UNFOLDS
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