A Speculative Model of a Submerged Late Ice Age Atlantic Civilization and Its Possible Cultural Continuities in New England

Abstract This paper presents a speculative macrohistorical theory proposing the existence of a sophisticated Late Pleistocene or early Holocene Atlantic coastal civilization whose primary habitation zones were subsequently submerged by post-glacial sea-level rise and heavily altered by glaciation, sedimentation, and ecological succession. The theory further proposes that fragmented survivals of this civilization—including lithic architecture, maritime traditions, symbolic systems, and inherited construction techniques—persisted through later Atlantic cultures, including Indigenous peoples of Northeastern North America, Norse explorers, Celtic maritime groups, and potentially other seafaring populations. Particular attention is given to anomalous stone structures and lithic landscapes in New Hampshire and the broader New England region, including oversized megalithic stones, dry-stone chambers, partially buried lower courses, and apparent architectural similarities to Atlantic megalithic traditions observed in Europe. The model suggests that many visible colonial-era stone walls may incorporate or rest upon significantly older anthropogenic substrates obscured through glacial activity, forest succession, and later human reuse. This theory does not claim definitive proof of a lost civilization. Rather, it proposes an alternative interpretive framework integrating paleoclimatology, archaeology, oral tradition, comparative megalithic architecture, post-glacial geography, and civilizational collapse theory. The paper argues that modern archaeological assumptions may underestimate the complexity and antiquity of human coastal societies prior to Holocene sea-level rise and that submerged archaeology may represent one of the largest missing datasets in human history. Keywords: Atlantic civilization hypothesis, post-glacial sea-level rise, New Hampshire stone walls, megalithic architecture, submerged archaeology, Late Ice Age cultures, lithic reuse, cultural continuity