The New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA) is a non-profit organization which, according to its website: "is dedicated to a better understanding of our historic and prehistoric past through the study and preservation of New England's stone sites in their cultural context. Founded, 1964." The current president of NEARA is Suzanne Carlson.

Areas of interest

Some NEARA members are concerned with controversial archeological sites in and around New England. In particular, sites containing items such as stone cairns and underground chambers are often written about in their affiliated publication, The NEARA Journal, and are the subject of group outings. Some of these are the same sites said to fall under the category of ceremonial stone landscapes by United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. in their recent resolution on the topic. NEARA members' interests include study of large controversial sites such as America's Stonehenge

America's Stonehenge

America's Stonehenge is an archaeological site consisting of a number of large rocks and stone structures scattered around roughly within the town of Salem, New Hampshire in the northeast United States. America's Stonehenge is open to the public for a fee...

, as well as archeoastronomy of sites. All members are interested in the preservation of the diversity of stone structures in the woods of New England.

One observer has noted that "NEARA is also a hotbed of 'Diffusionist' thought, the belief that the Americas were widely visited by European and Asiatic cultures before Columbus." (See also Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact

Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact

Theories of Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact are those theories that propose interaction between indigenous peoples of the Americas who settled the Americas before 10,000 BC, and peoples of other continents , which occurred before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean in 1492.Many...

.)

In addition, articles dealing specifically with the subjects of epigraphy

Epigraphy

Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...

 and archeoastronomy are featured on the NEARA website.