Observant visitors to America’s northeastern forests have long encountered various stone structures.  These include stone chambers, stone piles, unusual stone walls and circles, propped boulders, petroglyphs and stone or earthen mounds.  

NEARA was founded in 1964 to promote research into the origins and functions of these structures and sites, to document them and encourage their protection and preservation. Volunteers participate in the search for new sites and enjoy the challenge of better understanding them through the lenses of history, archaeology, anthropology and geology, as well as fields such as archaeoastronomy, deed research, and epigraphy. 

Our biannual meetings provide an opportunity for sharing research on a wide array of subjects, from the early peopling of the Americas, diffusion of cultural features across oceans in antiquity, Native American traditions, to the colonial period.  Mythology, astronomy, comparative religion, agricultural practices, landscape studies and remote sensing are all areas we have explored. 

Our meetings and publications offer a forum for studying these diverse subjects, in an effort to better understand our region and its global context.  We invite you to share in this unfolding adventure of discovery!