Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - You don’t have to be an archaeologist to discovered something of great historical value. It seems indigenous residents may have found evidence of an unknown Ice Age culture in Michigan, USA. The disturbing part of this story is the findings are deliberately ignored by the pipeline company Enbridge!
The group made up mostly of Native American tribal citizens was surveying underwater energy pipelines in Michigan.
Line 5 Beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Credit: NWF
Using a remote-operated underwater vehicle in the Straits of Mackinac to take a look at Enbridge's Line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines on the lake bottom, they suddenly spotted stones that seem to have been arranged in circular and linear patterns on the lake floor.
Are the stone formations simply a work of Mother Nature or did Ice Age humans place the stones to form certain patterns? If so, it must have happened before the site was submerged.
If that was done by the hands of humans, it occurred when the Straits area was last above water — near the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago.
"We didn't expect to find this — it was really just amazing," said Andrea Pierce, a 56-year-old Ypsilanti resident and citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, who was one of four women who drove the project to inspect the Straits bottom.
"My question is, who knew they were there?"
This is an interesting discovery because we know from previous reports, “archaeologists exploring Lake Huron, one of the five Great Lakes of North America have found traces of an ancient lost civilization that is twice as old as Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Egypt.”
In 2009, John O’Shea, a University of Michigan Professor and archaeologist, found closely resembling stone formations under the water of Lake Huron.
"The technician assigned to the job was told only to consider shipwrecks," O'Shea wrote in a Feb. 12, 2020, letter to deputy state historic preservation officer Martha MacFarlane-Faes,” the Detroit Free Press reported.
"When the technician noticed linear stone alignments of the type documented in Lake Huron, he was told to ignore them. When he asked permission to consult with me about their potential cultural origin, his request was again denied. He was subsequently removed from the project and was not allowed to see the final report."
Could the discovery made by Professor O’Shea and the recent one made by Native American tribal citizens surveying underwater energy pipelines be related?
At present, it’s impossible to tell and the discovery requires scientists to examine the age and nature of the submerged stone formations.
The group that made this discovery has opposed to Line 5 surveys pipeline area on lake bottom arguing an important archaeological site will be destroyed. Obviously, the Native Americans want it preserved, but Enbridge has not commented on the discovery. However, Enbridge has previously made clear there are no signs of artifacts and it wants to continue with the pipeline construction.
“The group that made the discovery in the Straits said scientists and area tribes must validate the findings — and if they’re proven correct, the pipeline, known as the Enbridge Line 5, should be barred from operating if it disrupts culturally sensitive sites on the lake floor,” The New York Post reports.
Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy told the Detroit Free Press the company had also surveyed the area around the pipeline and that it “found no submerged cultural resources in the area that was assessed.”
An Oct. 2, 2020 ROV image of what members of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians believe is a submerged prehistoric manmade rock formation under the Straits of Mackinac near the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline. Credit: Fred Harrington, Jr.
“We have not seen the report from the organization suggesting they have discovered significant features and we do not know if they assessed the same areas we did,” Duffy continued.
“We are open to sharing the information we have collected with tribal governments and learning more about the assessment done by this group.”
A side-scan sonar image of what members of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians believe is a submerged prehistoric manmade rock formation under the Straits of Mackinac near the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline. A tribal group surveyed the straits on Sept. 23, 2020. Credit: Fred Harrington, Jr.
O’Shea said he’s concerned the potential discovery is being bushed aside for the sake of expediency in tunnel permitting. Further review would not be a major undertaking, he said, but he’s concerned the state may lack the proper resources. The historic preservation office is understaffed and lacks an official state archeologist," M Live reports.
“The ability to do a credible review is my biggest concern,” he said.
See also: Mysterious Underwater Ruins In Canada And America – Evidence Of An Unknown Ancient Civilization?
The future of these possible archaeological artifacts resting at the bottom of the lake is currently uncertain. For now, we can only keep our fingers crossed this ancient site will be preserved and investigated by scientists.
