August 18, 2021

9,000 Year Old Obsidian Artifacts Found Under Lake Huron

An underwater archaeological team from the University of Texas, the University of Michigan, Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area, the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center, the Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory and the University of Georgia have found 9,000 year old obsidian tools under Lake Huron that originated 2,500 miles away from the well-known Wagontire site in Central Oregon. These are the farthest east these western obsidian artifacts has ever been found.

This research was part of a study on caribou hunters at the end of the last Ice Age.

More information: John M. O’Shea et al, Central Oregon obsidian from a submerged early Holocene archaeological site beneath Lake Huron, PLOS ONE(2021).  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250840

Phys.org has the report here:
https://phys.org/news/2021-06-underwater-site-team-year-old-stone.html