At underwater site, research team finds 9,000-year-old stone artifacts

An underwater archaeologist from The University of Texas at Arlington is section of a exploration team finding out 9,000-calendar year-previous stone resource artifacts identified in Lake Huron that originated from an obsidian quarry far more than 2,000 miles away in central Oregon.

The obsidian flakes from the underwater archaeological internet site symbolize the oldest and farthest east confirmed specimens of western obsidian at any time discovered in the continental United States.

“In this case, these little obsidian artifacts reveal social connections across North America 9,000 a long time in the past,” explained Ashley Lemke, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at UT Arlington. “The artifacts identified down below the Fantastic Lakes appear from a geological supply in Oregon, 4,000 kilometers away—producing it 1 of the longest distances recorded for obsidian artifacts anywhere in the environment.”

The one of a kind study was a multi-faceted pursuit with divers in the h2o and researchers in the laboratory from UTA, the University of Michigan, Lake Superior Countrywide Marine Conservation Area, the University of Missouri Research Reactor Centre, the Northwest Exploration Obsidian Scientific tests Laboratory and the University of Ga. Their mixed get the job done, “Central Oregon obsidian from a submerged early Holocene archaeological website beneath Lake Huron,” was printed very last thirty day period in the journal PLOS A single.

Due to the fact the website was underwater and undisturbed, scientists systematically and scientifically recovered the obsidian, a kind of volcanic glass that was employed and traded commonly all through substantially of human record as a prized materials for creating sharp applications.

“These are very small parts that have very massive tales to convey to,” Lemke explained. “Obsidian from the much western United States is rarely located in the east.”

Lemke is a leader and innovator in the area, serving as the chair of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology, an worldwide group focused to underwater archaeology and the preservation of underwater cultural methods. She is an expert on submerged ancient web sites in the Americas and has investigated other parts this kind of as the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.

The come across in Lake Huron is section of a broader study to fully grasp the social and economic firm of caribou hunters at the close of the last ice age. Drinking water amounts ended up a lot decreased then scientists have located, for illustration, historical web-sites like stone walls and looking blinds that are now 100 toes underwater.

“This certain find is definitely enjoyable since it shows how essential underwater archaeology is,” Lemke explained. “The preservation of historical underwater web sites is unparalleled on land, and these areas have offered us a great prospect to understand additional about previous peoples.”&#13

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