The State of Our Knowledge About Ancient Copper Mining in Michigan The Michigan Archaeologist 41(2-3):119-138. Susan R. Martin 1995 ABSTRACT Popular literature contributes to the persistence of fantasy and mythology surrounding ancient copper mining in Michigan. This paper points out some of the major elements of mis …

Copper's allure has endured for millennia. Both ancient and modern mines for the extremely useful metal abound in North America's Lake Superior region; long before modern miners extracted the ...

In his 1879 text entitled Ancient Copper Mines of Lake Superior, John Jacob Houghton relates, beginning on page 141: On the south shore of Lake Superior the works of the ancient miners extend …

He extracted sediment cores from lakes adjacent to prehistoric mines on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale and measured trace metals in the cores, including lead and titanium, that had been released by processing the ore. The analyses showed copper mining began about 9500 years ago in some areas—some 3500 years …

Carbon dating of wood timbers in the pits has dated the mining to start about 2450 BC and end abruptly at 1200 BC. Officially, no one knows where the Michigan copper went. All the "ancient copper culture" tools that have been found could have been manufactured from just one of the large boulders. A placard in London's British Museum ...

From ancient volcanic rocks to glacial deposits, the UP offers a wide range of environments and formations to explore, making it a prime destination for rockhounds seeking adventure. The ancient …

Published April 1863, 30 page reprint from the Smithsonian Institution; this booklet one of the best early sources for the ancient copper mining activities of Upper Michigan. Booklet is fully illustrated with …

Isle Royale and the counties that line the northwest coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula are called Copper Country because of the rich deposits of native c... Front Matter ... Lake Superior Copper Explorers 1819–1874 Download; XML; Appendix 3:: Historic Copper Mines Founded on "Ancient Diggings" Download; XML; Appendix 4:: Profiles ...

Jewell, Robert L. 2004 Ancient Mines of Kitch-Gummi: Cypriot/Minoan Traders in North America. Jewell Histories. Fairfield, PA. Joseph, Frank. And Wayne May. ... It frustrates us a little when people talk of the copper culture in Upper Michigan as the place where it all started when this is not the case. It started in western Wisconsin and ...

Now, new research suggests that Isle Royale's mining boom peaked about 6000 years ago and left a legacy of aquatic pollution. The high levels of copper, lead, and potassium in sediments from a ...

Descending into an abandoned mine and touring mining museums connect visitors to the UP copper mining boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s. ... The Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee (9 miles west of Marquette), offers photos of everyday life in mining towns and a timeline of how mine work evolved. Outside, a trail connects the museum ...

From ancient lava flow ridges to the depths of native copper mines, the geoheritage of the Keweenaw is marked by millennia of humans and billions of years of earth processes. Learn more here . Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 …

Evidence for ancient copper mining in Michigan The earliest references to copper in the Great Lakes area come from Jacques Cartier's second voyage to the region in AD …

This native metal has an exceptional ratio of pure copper, typically over 95%. The most heavily utilized mines were discovered at Isle Royale, Keweenaw and Ontonagon. The following is an excerpt from the turn of the last century by Mr. J.T. Reeder of the Tamarack Mining Company in Calumet, Michigan, as he describes the ore deposits in this region.

Evidence shows that someone was mining copper in northern Michigan starting around 5,300 BC. It continued until 1,200 BC. Around 1,000 AD mining was restarted and lasted until 1,320 AD. The …

Isle Royale and the counties that line the northwest coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula are called Copper Country because of the rich deposits of native c... Front Matter ...

Author John R. Halsey, former state archaeologist of Michigan, uses mining reports, newspaper accounts, personal letters, and other sources to reconstruct what these nineteenth-century discoverers found, how they interpreted the material remains of prehistoric activity, and what they did with the stone, wood, and copper tools they …

We're not calling these Michigan copper mines or prehistoric mines anymore, now they are definitely Bronze Age mines even though we've been given no evidence to establish this in any way. ... 1995 The State of Our Knowledge About Ancient Copper Mining in Michigan. The Michigan Archaeologist 41(2-3):119-138. Retrieved …

Michigan's unique contribution to archeology is found in the ancient copper mines of the Lake Superior region. The presence of copper in the rocks of the Keweenaw Peninsula has been known for centuries. ... The state's copper deposits extend in a narrow band from the Michigan-Wisconsin border to the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula and out ...

About 10 years ago, Pompeani began doctoral research that cast doubt on the Old Copper timeline. He extracted sediment cores from lakes adjacent to prehistoric mines on Michigan's Keweenaw …

Evidence for ancient copper mining in Michigan The earliest references to copper in the Great Lakes area come from Jacques Cartier's second voyage to the region in AD 1535–1536. Cartier noted the presence of copper among the native peoples inhabiting the Gulf of St Lawrence (Biggar, 1924; Griffin, 1961). In

Dr Henriette Mertz, in her book, "The Mystic Symbol," (1986) speculates that the ancient Phoenician mariners traveled to Upper Michigan to mine the extremely pure and abundant copper lodes to satisfy the demands of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. The mines of Sinai, she says had been played out by that time, and those of Crete were …

Michigan Copper Country Mystery The Mystery. An estimated 500,000 tons of copper are missing from the Keweenaw Peninsula & Isle Royale. The copper was removed from pit mines which ranged from 5 to 30 …

A very ancient copper ax found along Munch Creek in Pennsylvania baffled many archaeologists. You see, according to them - LINK: "I believe this ax was made by the Old Copper Culture of Upper Michigan.Noninvasive testing shows the purity of the copper is consistent with the Keewenaw Peninsula, which extends into Lake Superior."

Ancient Copper Mining. Copper mining on Isle Royale is no recent thing--in fact it has spanned a period of more than 4,500 years. When man first arrived in the New World, perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, Isle Royale was still covered with thick glacial ice.

They created colonies even in Canada and exploited local copper mines. All this before Columbus! ... talking specifically about the possibility of ancient Greeks had arrived in …America, searching for …

It was deduced that early miners lacking heavy equipment could only mine protuberances, and left the remains behind. With these discoveries, Michigan's copper boom, which would become bigger in dollar value than the gold rush, was on. According to Halsey, hundreds of ancient mining sites were discovered in Michigan between the …

Isle Royale and the counties that line the northwest coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula are called Copper Country because of the rich deposits of native copper there. In the nineteenth century, explorers and miners …

Prehistoric Copper Mining in the Lake Superior Region, Octave Joseph DuTemple, privately published. Boom Copper, Angus Murdock, Macmillan Company, …

About 10 years ago, Pompeani began doctoral research that cast doubt on the Old Copper timeline. He extracted sediment cores from lakes adjacent to prehistoric mines on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale and measured trace metals in the cores, including lead and titanium, that had been released by processing the ore.