American Stonehenge

Stonehenge remains a great mystery, with experts divided over why the prehistoric monument was built. Somehow, prehistoric mankind managed to create this structure, which seems to defy the engineering capabilities of the time.

It has been discovered that a similar enigmatic stone structure exists beneath the waters of Lake Michigan in the US. Furthermore, this underwater creation is believed to be 5,000 years older than its British counterpart.

The site was discovered in 2007 by a team of archaeologists conducting a survey of the lakebed. Just off the coast of Traverse City, MI, they chanced upon a series of large stones arranged in a circular pattern. At a depth of about 40 feet (12.1 m), the team was initially unsure what they’d found.

The pattern is of 2 circles, one inside the other, with the inner circle 20 feet in diameter and the outer circle 40 feet. Some of the stones weigh up to 3,000 lbs (1,360 kg), but analysis suggests that the stones had been deliberately arranged by humans.

The stones are all granite, which is found in the area. The formation is estimated to be around 10,000 years old, one of the oldest formations ever discovered in North America.

While the Lake Michigan stones are similar in size and shape to the monoliths of Stonehenge, they aren’t stacked or connected in the same way.

There is evidence that prehistoric tribes roamed the Great Lake area for thousands of years, very little is known about them.

The Anishinaabe were among the first to inhabit the region. This tribe’s prehistoric, hunter-gatherer forefathers settled in the area following the last Ice Age, and their descendants believe they placed the stones there for a sacred purpose.

The area was not underwater 10,000 years ago, and people had settled on the exact spot where the stones were laid. However, 5,000 years later, the water levels rose, flooding the Lake Michigan basin.

Thanks to advanced technology, scientists were able to stitch together photographs of the rocks to create accurate 3D pictures, which they could then analyze in detail. This revealed carvings and engravings on some stones, including an image of a Mastodon.

Mastodons were ancestors to elephants and woolly mammoths. They were up to 10 feet tall (3.1 m), weighed upwards of six tons (5,440 kg), and lived from about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. The carvings suggest that the humans at this site had some knowledge of these mammals, possibly even hunted them.

The formation’s configuration–which includes a long line of rocks leading directly to it–suggests it could have been an ancient hunting structure known as a drive lane. Humans have used drive lanes for thousands of years to herd groups of animals along a path toward a kill zone, where hunters lie in wait. In this case, the site challenges the belief that early humans weren’t capable of creating such sophisticated structures.

Nevertheless, the precise purpose of the structure and the identity of its architects remain a mystery. Like its younger cousin over in Salisbury.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/strange-stonehenge-discovered-in-us-lake-that-s-5-000-years-older-than-the-british-landmark/ar-BB1pGifA?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=c9c98088d1de48bf9e371e0d06f68d37&ei=80