Archeologists have discovered a mystery at the bottom of Lake Huron

Two small artifacts recovered from the depths have a big story to tell. They are challenging what we think we know about how humans lived in North American nearly 10,000 years ago.

[rickhibdon]

When my son was young, we often wandered through the farm fields looking for "stuff" Found a dark smooth rock about the size of a potato that was covered with small round pick and white spots. We took it to U of M (where this vid was made) thinking it could be a meteorite. Professor looked it over. Turns out to be volcanic Basalt from a volcano in Canada. Over the years, minerals had leached into the holes filling them. Brought down here by glaciers! Almost as cool as a meteorite

[carlfitzpatrick]

My great grandfather while working for the township in iron county Michigan in the upper peninsula in 1920’s found a tang knife made out of Missouri River Chert it was made between 8000-10000 years ago and I have narrowed it down to the area that he found it. One of the archaeologists that I talked to from North Dakota found a trading site with these knifes, obsidian, Upper Peninsula of Michigan copper and other materials from around North America. My great grandfather found it while loading dump trucks by hand one shovel at a time. It has taken me several years to find out the age of it the material it’s made from and the location it was found in which was the hardest thing to do in the township there has been over 200 gravel pits in the 1920’s alone so I had to find out what the water levels at the time frame this was made which was 200 feet higher than today in this area the cross referencing the gravel pits and there locations and height above current water levels then the biggest clue he was home every night for supper when this was found and they got off of work at 4pm and he ate at 5 and using the average speed he could travel in a 1920 vehicle which he had narrowed the search it down to 5 and then using the water levels at the time this knife was made narrowed it to one place and it had to have been a burial that got washed away from moving water. My next quest is to find out about these people that lived here at that time frame.

[Edurne]

I'm not surprised they didn't find long blades. By the time obsidian reached Lake Huron, the blades had probably been broken and reworked several times. You just don't throw such a scarce and valuable material away unless you have it in abundance and easily on hand.
Just like farmers of not so long ago never threw away a piece of steel, not even a bent nail... My grandfather comes to mind...

[MikSrf]

I'm often surprised that we are surprised by our ancestors. If they hadn't been as intelligent and resourceful as they were, we wouldn't be here and be smart enough and resourceful enough to be scuba diving 100 ft down in a lake to study them.
😎👍

[pttpforever]

I've watched British Archaeology shows for years and it's always saddened me that there's so little filming of North American archeological finds that makes it's way to any major TV channel. At least we have YouTube channels like this one! Thank you!

[acarpentersson]

Underwater archeology will cause a lot of history books to be trashed and new ones written. People have always lived close to the water. As the climate has changed, the planet has warmed, and ice caps have melted, the coastline has moved further inland. There's a lot left to be discovered

[ezio_Winchester]

My native reserve is on the north side of Lake st. Clair. There are stories that we have been here for thousands of years

[masonmax]

people often underestimate how advanced ancient civilizations were

[metalhead]

We have known for decades that some of the early Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest of the North American continent were traveling and trading with other tribes much further away. Even as far as towards the east coast. And these were tribes that were here well near 8, 000 plus years ago.
When Mount Mazama blew just over 7700 years ago, it was recorded by all sorts of Native American tribal people. The blast itself reached hundreds of miles away from the volcano. The ash and cinder fall reached many humdreds of miles. As far away as towards the great lakes the explosion of the volcano was seen. And there are records it was heard even on the eastern northern coastal region .
For those who are not familiar with Mount Mazama, it is what we now call Crater Lake in Southern Oregon. It lost over 4000 feet of elevation in the blast and of course all that massive cubic miles of rock, ash, cinder and other debris that went with it and from within it leaving a crater miles deep inside it.
Volcanic glass and obsidian is found all over those regions. End much could of been blown clear for hundreds of miles.
We already have seen samples of the same grade of volcanic glass traded as far down towards South America and all along routs of hunting of wild games all accross plains and down towards the southern eastern areas of North America. It does not surprise me they find it in the great lake regions at all.
Many of the more ancient tribes had use of it. We see evidences of that all the time. It was not a redible source in abundance, but it was traded.
This idea that most Native American peoples of ancient cultures were violent and or war like is absurd and just fearmongering nonsense. It was told out of ignorance and lack of being educated.
Not to mention that over the last many tens of thousands of years or even longer some of these regions we take for granted now, use to be volcanic areas or even an ancient volcano itself. Volcanic glass or obsidian is formed when the magma or lava cools very quickly as if it was in water .. so volcanic glass can be formed anywhere..
What would need to be tested is the volcanic glass to compare it that of the tests on volcanic glass originating from other places.. that will tell us its origins. As all volcanic rock and ash and even cinder jas a signature that helps identify its origins..no two volcanoes are alike in the signatures it put forth from its debris or type of lava. It has very specific chemical signatures.

[bearcubdaycare]

I suspect that there's much more to be found underwater, given the 400 feet (120m) of sea level rise since Beringia.

[Giant_Meteor]

When I was a kid, living in Michigan, I found bits of obsidian on the school playground. The possible significance never occurred to me.

[snickelfritz]

Should we be surprised by any of this? Natives of the Americas have built amazing structures and had an impressive knowledge of the stars and other heavenly bodies. I’ve always been interested in Native American cultural norms but my brother had the patience to be the tool finder in our family. I can’t begin to tell you the number of shards and fragments of artifacts he found on our family farm in Ohio. In a bit of sad irony, my father who spent no time and had no interest in artifacts found the best one by simply stepping off his tractor one day. An almost perfectly symmetrical axe head made of extremely tough rock. It had countless cuts from farm implements turning the soil over decades but still very structurally sound. I believe that native man had OCD as it was the most perfectly shaped axe head iv’e ever seen of hundreds between the local Garst Museum and books.

[smokejaguar]

If we knew history as it truly was and not how we think it was... I think it would change the world👍

[jivepatrol]

Amazing find! Lake Huron is beautiful and vast. It holds many mysteries in its depths.

[warrendourond]

People don’t underestimate how advanced their ancestors were, they deny that anyone else’s ancestors were capable of anything special.

[anthonyalexzander]

There is growing evidence of small scale world wide trade before the end of the ice age. Yes there were boat builders back then.

[Alex_Plante]

It's probably a result of chain trading, where each tribe acts as middleman trading with neighbours on either side of them. Although each tribe only knows their immediate neighbours, these trade chains can cross continents.

[davidk]

Wow, this is...an incredible find. An exciting time to be an archaeologist for sure.

[MaryDougherty-gemh]

This is all wonderful information. Thank you for it. I understand what you are saying (& yes i am from Michigan). Incredible comments from everyone. I moved to NYC in 1977 & although i received a BS from MSU, I went on to a MA from Columbia University & now live in Kingston NY. Can't tell everyone how much I enjoyed their comments. Bless you all. Loved this article.

[gregwilson]

Look at the things we do. No different then. These discoveries and the recent time scale adjustments are changing everything. Wow!