Archaeologists discovered something even more interesting than they were credited with digging for shipwrecks beneath the waters of Lake Michigan: they unearthed a rock with a prehistoric mastodon carving, as well as a series of stones set in a Stonehenge-like fashion.
The use of remote sensing tools is popular in modern archaeology: scientists routinely scan lakes and soil for concealed artifacts. Archaeologists unearthed sunken vessels and ships, and even a Civil War-era bridge at a depth of around 40 feet through Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay, utilizing sonar techniques to hunt for shipwrecks, but all of them discovered this prehistoric surprise that a qualified eye might guess from looking at the images of the sonar scans in this post. “When you see it in the water, you’re tempted to say it’s absolutely true,” said Mark Holley, professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan University College, who made the discovery at a news conference with images of the boulder on view in 2007.
“But that’s just what we need the specialists to come in and review. Professor Mark Holley hopes that a digital model of mastodon stone carving can support petroglyph experts. The ball carrying the marks is 3.5 to 4 feet high and approximately 5 feet long. The pictures show a surface of multiple fractures. Some might be normal, whilst others seem to be of human nature, but those who shaped what may be a petroglyph stuck out, Holley said.
They demonstrate the details of the mastodon-like tail, hump, head, trunk, tusk, triangular ear, and parts of the legs, he said. “We couldn’t believe what we were looking at said Greg MacMaster, president of the Aquatic Protection Committee. Specialists shown pictures of the boulder carrying the mastodon marks called for further proof before verifying that the markings were an ancient petroglyph, Holley said. “In fact, they want to see it,” he said. Unfortunately, he said, “Experts in petroglyphs generally don’t dive, so we’re running into a bit of a stumbling block there.” If proved to be valid, the willed petroglyph may be as ancient as 10,000 years – coincident with the post-Ice Age appearance of both humans and mastodons in the upper midwest.
The formation, if confirmed, will not be fully out of position. Stone circles and other petroglyph sites are found throughout the town. The finding was made a few years back, and oddly enough the find was not popularized at all, with little or no details accessible online, but I’ll be sure to update this article as soon as I can get more info.
