Mastodon Petroglyph found in Lake Michigan

While looking for shipwrecks in Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay divers may have discovered a large rock with a petroglyph of a Mastodon that has been speared. So much seems to be getting discovered in marine locations lately it is extremely exciting, as you can tell by the number of threads detailing exciting archaeological finds in a marine enviroment. Time for the archeaologists to trade in their khaki's for scuba diving gear.

Yahoo news

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - They aren't certain, but underwater archaeologists say they may have discovered a boulder with a prehistoric carving in Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay.
The granite rock has markings that resemble a mastodon — an elephant-like creature that once inhabited parts of North America — with what could be a spear in its side, say divers who have seen it.

A photo of the rock at this link, but its too far away to be able to make out any detail

“It appears the rocks have been manipulated by man,” says Dr. Mark Holley, an archeologist for the Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve Council who taught Underwater Archeology at Northwestern Michigan College. “But we still have to study the boulder to see if it is in fact a carving, or perhaps the result of natural phenomenon.”

Great find none the less and it will be interesting to hear what the experts think once they are able to get to it to have a proper look. Time for some diving lessons.

mojo


[edit on 7/9/07 by mojo4sale]

Rats! You beat me to it! I saw the news item and meant to post it here. I snooze, I lose!

It's an interesting and plausible find, because we know that the Amerinds of that time hunted and ate mammoths. But we've never seen what looked like a mammoth on a petroglyph (there's one known hoax, but no genuine ones.)

I really hope it's the real thing. This stuff is great and always excites me. I hope the "it's been tampered" doesn't mean it could be a fake or defaced to much.

reply to post by Byrd


One comment from the article suggested that no Mastadon fossils had been found in that area before, but it would suggest they had been in that area?

It is very possible. Thjousands of years ago, the geology of the earth was very different. Places that are under water now were once grassy hills and fields. And vice versa. Rivers flowing through New York state are believed to contain a lot of ancient indian site stuff, because the water level was a lot lower back then, and the Indians would probably have settled on the shore.

reply to post by Schmidt1989


Yeah, your right, this from the original article in the OP.

yahoo news

It was part of a row of stones of varying sizes that might have marked the shoreline 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, Holley said.
Some — although not the boulder — were arranged in a circle. That could indicate human manipulation although it's unclear, said Rob Houston, a geology instructor at the college who has inspected the site.

"some were arranged in a circle". That would certainly indicate human manipulation.

mojo

I saw this on the local news (I am about an hour south of Traverse City.) They showed a picture of one of the carvings, it was very cool. It looked close enough to human made in my mind.

[edit on 8-9-2007 by Ionized]

reply to post by Ionized


really, what station, might be able to get video of it on the web.

Hmm good question, I don't recall what channel I was on as I rarely watch TV. I just happened to be watching one of the news channels, I think it was yesterday, when I saw a quick story about it. Wish I could give more info than that.

I think it had something to do with these guys: Grand Traverse Underwater Preserve

[edit on 8-9-2007 by Ionized]

reply to post by Ionized


thanks mate. I'll do a google search and see if i cant find it. Thanks for the link i'll check that out too.

mojo

Here's a larger photo (set).

With and without the tracing.

Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve - Mastodon





[edit on 8-9-2007 by Jbird]

I'm sorry, but after reviewing the pictures from the link that Jbird put out, I think it's probably just a coincedance. But then again, a picture cant capture everything, so maybe the texture changes, or something physical that the camera can't pick up. After all, the divers who saw it must have really been looking at that rock for a long time to make that out, unless it was very visible.

The shot that was shown on local news was much closer, and better resolution. One could clearly make out what appeared to be carved impressions.

Originally posted by Ionized
The shot that was shown on local news was much closer, and better resolution. One could clearly make out what appeared to be carved impressions.

Ok, thanks dude, thats all that needed to be said to ensure it's credibility in my eyes.

There are Mesoamerican sites that show the Maya rain god Chaac with an elephant-like nose. The Nunnery temple at Chichen Itza displays the elephant-like nose of Chaac.




en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

www.mysteriousplaces.com...

An update for those interested, a 4 and a 1/2 minute audio report with the archaeologist who made the discovery and a native american spokesman.

reply to post by Schmidt1989


There were 2 divers, one was the underwater archaeologist, Dr. Holley, and the other was me. We were scanning for shipwrecks and came upon a line of stones not realizing what the stones had on them. We went down to see what type of stones there were, granite, dolomite and limestone, then we were scraping the zebra mussles off to see how many of each to see what the distribution was and then once we scrapped the stone with the petroglyph, it was like non other. Distinct markings. The Dr. was screaming underwater and I motioned to surface to see what his problem was (he was pointing at teh stone and I saw the image upside down). He yelled "It's a petroglyph!!!!!!!!!"

The carving was so deep you could put your index finger in up to the first digit. I noticed the arrow right off the bat and the impregnation marks (on a 9mb hi-res picture show the type of instrument used to make the marks.

But to get a real good test on it would mean lifting it out of the water and Michigan law is very stiff when it comes to artifacts. Can't move it.

Any suggestions?

Get something and make a nold of it underwater. A rubber like product, or epoxy of some kind that would come off eaisly, but leave the rock undamaged.

reply to post by forensic_diver


First off, welcome to ATS.


Congrats on your find.

I sugest trying to get a mold of the Artifact as well, if it is possible.

Seeing that removal of the artifact cant seem to be done.

Any other pictures?