The smallest New England state holds the biggest mystery when considering unusual lithic sites and structures. The Old Stone Mill, also known as the Old Stone Tower and the Newport Tower, in Newport, Rhode Island, has been a place of controversy since at least 1837 with the publication of Antiquatatis Americanae, in which Norse vestiges in America are traced. This began the 'Vikings in America' theories and ideas which continue through today.

The first undisputed references to the tower are in Governor Benedict Arnold's will of 1677 which mentions 'my stone-built windwiln', and in a deed filed 10 months earlier referring to 'ye stone tower'. It would seem that the towers purpose is already a bit fuzzy. No other records indicate that Arnold either built the tower or used it as a windmill himself. A case was made for Arnold having constructed the tower as a windmill based on a similar stone windmill near his birthplace in England, however that structure was found to actually be much farther from his home, and since it was originally an observatory and not converted to a windmill until after Arnold's death, it is unlikely that he ever saw or knew of the building. Another puzzle regarding the windmill theory is that a duly recorded deed and a mention in town records were made when one Peter Easton was given land and lauded for building the town's first windmill, yet Arnold receives not even a passing mention for supposedly constructing a much more unusual, technically-difficult and original windmill.

In this painting from about 1770, one can see the wonderful vantage point the tower once enjoyed, and this supports the theory that it was built as a watchtower or part of some sort of fortification. The holes in that idea, however, are as big as the archways in the tower: why waste resources building such an indefensible structure? The eight large archways allow easy access to the tower; the random windows are too open.

St. Olaf's Church, in Tonsberg, Norway is an old Norse church built in the 1200's, and is evidence to Viking theorists of the Old Stone Tower's possible Norse origins.

The Old Stone Tower depicted as the core of a Norse round church, such as St. Olaf's.

A two-year archealogical survey of the tower began in 1948 conducted by Harvard graduate student William S. Godfrey, Jr. Godfrey found the original trenches for the column footings, and a few artifacts, none of which were Viking, all being Colonial. Remnants of Colonial-era pottery, broken clay pipe and gun flints were found even under some of the columns. Godfrey commented, regarding the dig, "When the excavation began, I was more than half convinced of the Norse origin of the structure, but the Colonial evidence...was so consistent, the Norse evidence so absolutely absent, that I had no choice but to alter my original views. Although I will not place any bets on the original use of the Old Stone Mill, there is no doubt in my mind that it was built by the early settlers of Newport, perhaps by Arnold."

One would think that this is the end of the controversy, but probably because of the unusual construction, architectural oddities (a ridge along the inside wall is claimed by some to be exactly like Norse church design, and is meant to support a portable altar which could be easily removed and taken along in the event that a prolonged enemy attack presses the people to flee) and no clearly-defined purpose, the Old Stone Tower continues to be claimed as evidence of pre-Columbian European colonization in America, and so the arguments continue.

(For further reading and bibliography, see Lithic.)

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RHODE ISLAND / Connecticut

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