Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

At the Bottom of Lake Huron, an Ancient Mystery Materializes
[Sometimes] Scientific American ^ | June 1, 2021 | Aaron Martin

Posted on 06/06/2021 8:29:09 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

The air was likely frigid as the hunter lit a small fire. The caribou would come in the morning—forced through the narrow strip of marshland where he camped. There was nowhere else to go. The land was flanked by water on both sides, and large stones had been laid out in slanting lines to funnel the animals into this bottleneck. The hunter struck his weapon to sharpen its edge in anticipation. In that moment, two glassy flakes splintered away from the point of impact and fell to his feet. They would be buried there for nearly 10,000 years.

In 2013 those two shards of obsidian, a natural volcanic glass, would be recovered from a sample of earth, roughly the volume of a quart of milk, that was pulled from the bottom of Lake Huron, under 100 feet of water. And the story the flakes would tell was one of an even longer journey...

Obsidian was highly prized by ancient stone toolmakers. The flakes identified by Brendan Nash, a member of O’Shea’s team at the University of Michigan, have strike marks and sharp, feathered edges—both telltale signs of human modification. This evidence, combined with the distance to the obsidian’s original source, paint a picture of an extensive trade or exchange network that spanned the continent nearly 3,000 years after the end of the last ice age.

Stone tools recovered from the Alpena-Amberley Ridge are much smaller than artifacts found nearby that date to the same time period. This suggests that a group of ancient people, with a different way of life and system of hunting, existed on the ridge around 9,000 years ago.

(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: alpenaamberleyridge; ancientnavigation; brendannash; canada; godsgravesglyphs; johnmoshea; kankakeesandislands; kenosha; lakehuron; michigan; obsidian; ontario; uofmichigan; wisconsin; youngerdryas
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last
To: llevrok

Butter is better.


61 posted on 06/06/2021 12:24:14 PM PDT by mcshot (OMG! I'm now labeled as a cult member for being anti mask and a no vaxxer.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Hi.

I’ll wager the Indians were obsequious with their obsidian.

Okay, I’ll go to the corner...

5.56mm


62 posted on 06/06/2021 12:33:34 PM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho need to go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crz

“The funny thing here is..they were but 40 to 50 miles from the largest deposit of iron ore in North America and did not know it.”

Because... Despite what the “impossible” narrative says... It was during the Bronze age before the Iron age. The Vikings were “floating” long before even the Bronze age, So were the Jomon in Japan, and the Oceanic peoples. Man first “Floated” across the Wallace line to Australia around 50,000 years ago. :)

Here is something you might find interesting about traces of Vikings in the northwest passage and even the west coast, Whole bunch of links about Vikings about half way down the page in the the “Last Viking” story:

http://www.spirasolaris.ca/index.html

But you are absolutely right, all they needed were axes and weapons to make and do anything they wanted. And I don’t even think sail canvas would have been needed, they had Native labor to row and furs in abundance. Everything they needed but the few tools were all there already. :)


63 posted on 06/06/2021 1:05:33 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: crz

I absolutely do believe there was a route to the gulf of Mexico also.along these rivers was where tons of copper pieces were found made of Great Lakes copper.


64 posted on 06/06/2021 1:14:42 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Openurmind

As long as old scientists sit on the committees that decide grant funding, they will not tolerate research that will upend their careers.


65 posted on 06/06/2021 1:24:47 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor (A Leftist can't enjoy life unless they are controlling, hurting, or destroying others)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: SauronOfMordor

Right on the nailhead... It all boils down to selfishness and egotism that is preventing very important discoveries.


66 posted on 06/06/2021 1:35:39 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Openurmind
They would have had to tow extra boats from their home port “shipyards” and then would have had to portage/carry them to the lakes so it is impossible”.

The distinguished gentleman should read the chronicles of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They managed.

If the trade was a regular thing, then the boats/canoes/whatever, once built or otherwise gotten there, would have been making the back and forth trip regularly.

67 posted on 06/06/2021 2:00:14 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor (A Leftist can't enjoy life unless they are controlling, hurting, or destroying others)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: SauronOfMordor

Absolutely and so did the natives long before...

That was one of the silliest things I have ever heard yet.


68 posted on 06/06/2021 2:15:04 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Thanks for a fascinating post!


69 posted on 06/06/2021 2:48:33 PM PDT by colorado tanker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tallguy

“tragic boating accident” now I call that settled science!


70 posted on 06/06/2021 5:53:09 PM PDT by Theophilus (Dems fear fear. Christians fear God. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Openurmind

You don’t understand my sense of humor, I guess.

wy69


71 posted on 06/06/2021 8:15:12 PM PDT by whitney69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Monkey Face

Not surprised. Both made money.

wt69


72 posted on 06/06/2021 8:57:41 PM PDT by whitney69
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: whitney69

Maybe so, but I never saw any of it!

‘Face

;o]


73 posted on 06/07/2021 2:21:37 AM PDT by Monkey Face (Today, I release myself from previous versions of me that I created just to survive. ~~ Unknown ~~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

The long-used route between Lake Ontario (which receives the river waters via the Falls at Niagara, a bit of an obstacle to navigation) to Georgian Bay (basically Lake Huron) involved portaging, which was a skill well known to shipbuilding cultures of Eurasia, because, y’know, they were completely afraid of getting out of sight of land (/rimshot). The Varangians went upriver from the Baltic and portaged their ships across to descend other rivers to reach the Black Sea, for example.

[snip] History

Samuel de Champlain was the first European [known] to travel the network of inland waters from Georgian Bay to the Bay of Quinte with the Hurons in 1615. It was this same route that would later be canalized and become the Trent–Severn Waterway. [/snip]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent%E2%80%93Severn_Waterway


74 posted on 06/07/2021 4:00:36 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Varda

Hey, headlines are supposed to grab attention, it’s just doin’ its job. :^)


75 posted on 06/07/2021 4:01:50 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: M Kehoe

:^) Colin Renfrew got his props early in his academic career via his work on the Aegean obsidian trade. Even today though, there are jokers who seem to think that the world’s waters were always obstacles to human movement, even though the British Isles are one of the most-invaded places on Earth.

https://www.google.com/search?q=colin+renfrew+obsidian+trade


76 posted on 06/07/2021 4:05:08 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: blam

Well, human feet and watercraft, anyway. :^)


77 posted on 06/07/2021 4:08:21 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: smokingfrog

Thanks sf!


78 posted on 06/07/2021 4:08:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: colorado tanker; OftheOhio; Southside_Chicago_Republican; TXnMA; blam
My pleasure. TXnMA, flint-knapping is one term, what's the term for working with obsidian?

79 posted on 06/07/2021 4:12:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

I guess there is no possibly of those pieces got out there on an ice float the broke or melted... And there was no distinct rock line up they mention. I think it’s just a fluke. They clearly just grabbed the top layer of sentiment. I would think 10k years they would be a touch deeper...


80 posted on 06/07/2021 4:14:11 AM PDT by sit-rep ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson