Imagine swimming deep within Lake Michigan, only to come up with the discovery of an ancient stone structure that predates England’s Stonehenge by 5,000 years. It would feel like the opening chapter of some adventure novel. But this is a real-life mystery baffling archaeologists.
It was back in 2007 that Professor Mark Holley, an underwater archaeologist from Northwestern Michigan College, was doing a routine survey of the lakebed not very far from Traverse City. He and his team weren’t looking for monsters; they were trolling for shipwrecks and remnants from the lake’s past. They found sunken boats and cars, an old Civil War–era pier. But nothing could have prepared them for what came next. There, at about 40 feet deep, lay a series of large stones arranged in a perfect circle.
These stones weigh as much as 3,000 pounds,are arranged in a pattern approximately 40 feet in diameter. Within that circle is an inner ring, about 20 feet across. Each stone appears to be made from locally-sourced granite and dates back about 10,000 years. To put that in perspective, that’s 4,000 years before the construction of Stonehenge!
But what had these stones been doing under Lake Michigan? For an explanation, archaeologists had to turn to the help of local Anishinaabe tribes. One of those descendants named Hank explained that stones are very important in their culture. His ancestors put them there for a holy purpose, he said. “We refer to stones as animate objects because they come from the mother—the Earth, who is alive.” Hank gave a very interesting description culturally for all those stones.
One of the stones in the outer circle bears what appears to be a drawing of a mastodon—an even older relation to the elephant, which used to prowl North America over 10,000 years ago. An engraving of this nature would go to prove that these people who built this framework would have known such large animals, possibly even hunting them.
It could even have been a type of hunting trap, according to Dr. John O’Shea, a Curator of Great Lakes Archaeology. Ancient hunters constructed drive lanes to aid in driving animals into some confined or easily capture area. This can be supported by the linear alignment of stones along with a long line leading to the circular formation.
Not everyone, however, is convinced. Indeed, several experts have reported that the stones could quite easily have been naturally placed or moved there by glacial activity. The debate was further muddled by the fact that many archaeologists were not trained scuba divers and so it’s difficult for them to first-hand see the site.
Holley first shared preliminary results with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa tribes to respect the cultural significance of the site. While the actual site location will not be released to the public, at least for reasons of posterity, such a move is, in itself, a sign of respect toward indigenous heritage.
Advanced technology today has given much for understanding, yet much is still debated and mysterious. It is in mapping this stone formation down to the last detail in 3D models that scientists have used the technology of stereo photogrammetry. Exactly, the technology allowed closer inspection of the carvings and, secondly, the style used in laying stones that makeup historic sites bent on enlightening the possible purposes and origin of this ancient site.
This “Stonehenge” underwater has defied our conventional perception of the capabilities of prehistoric man. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, it was judged to be an extremely advanced area, much beyond what our ancestors might have done. Yet, lo and behold, they were more sophisticated than we ever thought they might be capable of complicated architecture and building and with knowledge about their natural environment.
So the next time you are sitting there, looking over at Lake Michigan, and your eyes reach out into its wild blue yonder, keep in mind that beneath those waves lies a testament to both human ingenuity and our mysterious ancient heritage. Holy site, hunting trap, or natural phenomenon, this underwater stone circle invites one to come closer, question on, and further our quest to understand a common history.
