Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Midas Tümülüsü (Tumulus MM)
The Devil's Column
Weightlifting Hall of Fame
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
At Nai Mong Hoi Thod, the oyster omelet is worth waiting for.
Nai Mong Hoi Thod
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
3 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
4 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
5 days ago
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
6 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Connecticut Groton Gungywamp

Gungywamp

The kind of mixed-up place that drives archaeologists crazy.

Groton, Connecticut

Added By
Dylan Thuras
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gungywamp
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gungywamp
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/wnprimages/23...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/wnprimages/23...
  bryce1 / Atlas Obscura User
  bryce1 / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Gungywamp in Groton, Connecticut is the kind of site that can drive archaeologists crazy.

It's a very messy story. The site, located in the Connecticut woods less than an hour away from New Haven, consists of multiple stone chambers, rings of stones, piles of rock, Native American artifacts, mysterious etchings, lithic artifacts, Colonial artifacts, and hundreds—perhaps thousands—of years of various settlers adopting and rearranging the site. It's difficult to tell where one historical period ends and another begins.

The site attracts what might be called archaeological conspiracy theories. Among the most popular of these theories (one that crops up at multiple stone sites in the Northeast, like New Hampshire's Mystery Hill) is that the site is a pre-Colombian settlement built by 6th-century Celtic Christian monks who escaped Ireland to avoid Norse aggression.

While it is easy to dismiss this theory, the confirmation of pre-Columbian Norse contact in Newfoundland, and the suggestion that Polynesians may have had contact in South America make it difficult for some to dismiss out of hand. No findings confirming the theory have ever been found by any credible linguists, epigraphers, or archaeologists, making it still a fringe theory at best.

Even less credible theories involving aliens, some unknown group of ancient peoples, and energy vortexes (yes, really) also surround the site. Frustratingly for some tour guides, the site exhibits occasional spikes in electromagnetic activity on a magnetometer. This is believed by some geologists to be the result of the composition of quartz, granite and magnetite rocks, but that does little to dissuade those who want to believe Gungywamp is a UFO-influenced energy vortex.

What has officially been found at Gungywamp is no less confusing or mysterious. A lithic stone pounding tool found there dates to at least 1500 B.C., which is pre-tribal Native American. The site certainly has plenty of indigenous artifacts including arrowheads, stone flakes, and pottery fragments. The Native American inhabitants may also be responsible for the stone circles, which some believe are astronomical tools and which others believe are colonial mill or hide tanning areas.

However, it is the multiple stone chambers that get people the most excited. Thought by most to be root cellars built by colonial settlers, they have some strange properties, including one that's designed to line up with the equinoxes, so that light shines though a small window. This seems not to fit with the work of colonial settlers. Prominent 30-foot rock ledges and an eagle petroglyph only provide further mystery and confusion to the site.

Whether constructed by Colonial-era European settlers, slaves in colonial times, by Native Americans such as the Pequot or Mohegan tribes, or even (however unlikely) by Irish Monks, the site will no doubt provide plenty of work, and frustration, to archeologists for many years to come.

We explored Gungywamp on Obscura Day - March 20th, 2010. Photos, stories and more here

Related Tags

Lost Tribes Ruins Subterranean Sites

Know Before You Go

The site is half located on Ct state property and half on private land. Signs on the site for both the private sections and public lands say no trespassing, that cameras are in use and they will prosecute. Access to Gungywamp is still available. Both the state and private owners have allowed the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center to conduct tours of Gungywamp as they are the "caretakers" of the site. There is no parking at the entrance to Gungywamp and no signs posted that it is there, however, you can park at an abandoned church parking lot. (Shepherd of the Sea Chapel in Groton, Ct) It is about a 10/15 minute walk from the parking lot to the entrance to the the hiking trail. If you want to take a tour of Gungywamp go to site.http://dpnc.org/gungywamp-structures/. Tours are small group tours and you should pay on their site to ensure a spot in the tour, especially if you go for an equinox! Never fear if you want to go on one of those special times to see the solar alignments. They conduct special tours on equinoxes so you can see the alignments! The tours are $15 per adult and the money goes to support the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center. Be warned Gungywamp is surrounded on 2 sides by swamps. There are a lot of mosquitoes. Wear bug spray! Wear sturdy shoes. The trails are uneven, rocky, mucky, and often muddy in the swampy parts.

Community Contributors

Added By

Dylan

Edited By

bryce1, e1savage

  • bryce1
  • e1savage

Published

April 7, 2010

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gungywamp
  • http://dpnc.org/gungywamp-structures/
Gungywamp
Gungywamp
Groton, Connecticut, 06340
United States
41.383475, -72.060804
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Submarine Force Museum

Groton, Connecticut

miles away

Ye Antientist Burial Ground

New London, Connecticut

miles away

Annual Burning of Benedict Arnold

New London, Connecticut

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Groton

Groton

Connecticut

Places 3

Nearby Places

Submarine Force Museum

Groton, Connecticut

miles away

Ye Antientist Burial Ground

New London, Connecticut

miles away

Annual Burning of Benedict Arnold

New London, Connecticut

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Groton

Groton

Connecticut

Places 3

Related Stories and Lists

There Are a Lot of Quirky Henges Around the United States

List

By Isaac Schultz

Related Places

  • For more than 30 years, the former town of Potosi resided underwater after it was flooded by the building of a dam

    Uribante, Venezuela

    The Drowned Church of Potosi

    A town church once nearly submerged by the damming of a river is now hauntingly visible as the water recedes.

  • Skara Brae is on the west coast of Scotland.

    Sandwick, Scotland

    Skara Brae

    Amazing and mysterious Neolithic settlement on Scotland's Orkney Islands.

  • The new bridge and the trench

    Aybak, Afghanistan

    Stupa of Takht-e Rostam

    Highly unusual subterranean stupa and adjacent cave monastery.

  • Alexandria, Egypt

    Sister Library of Alexandria

    Underneath the Serapeum ruins lies a dark passage with nooks for books, the lesser-known “sister” to the famous ancient library.

  • DOMUnder

    Utrecht, Netherlands

    DOMunder Subterranean Ruins

    Underground attraction offering tours of the foundational ruins of a church nave that collapsed in 1674.

  • Main area under the water feature/skylight

    Valencia, Spain

    L'Almoina Archaeological Centre

    Walk into an underground archeological dig, the site of the Roman Forum that was once the center of Valencia.

  • P-1 Level 1.

    Athens, Greece

    Klafthmonos Square Parking Structure Fortification Walls

    Preserved portions of Athens's ancient defenses are on display in a subterranean parking garage.

  • Tunnel 33, now collapsed.

    Winter Park, Colorado

    Rifle Sight Notch

    This old train trestle and collapsed tunnel once allowed the railroad to negotiate the steep slopes of the Colorado Rockies.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.