Two precious items made of “imported” obsidian were found in unexpected places.
According to Heritage Daily, these are two tools made of obsidian, which means “obsidian” or “obsidian”, a type of volcanic glass. They were excavated by hand at a depth of 32 meters, in an area between two ancient hunting grounds, submerged at the bottom of Lake Huron, Eastern United States.
An archaeologist is excavating artifacts at the bottom of the lake – Photo: PLOS ONE
This material has great value in modern times, used to make fine surgical knives or decorative gems. For Stone Age hunters, obsidian was even more valuable because it was easy to shape and produced the sharpest blades. Therefore, this material has been widely used and traded for most of human history.
Particularly, the 2 obsidian tools at the bottom of the lake carry 3 unique values at the same time. According to Sci-News, first, it is an extremely valuable artifact, not only because of the raw materials but also because it is 9,000 years old. Second, they characterize the tool making and use skills of hunters who have settled in America since ancient times.
Third, the source of obsidian was determined to be from a very remote place – the Rocky Mountains in the Northwestern United States – proving that this was an exchange item, evidence of trade activities! For archaeologists, this is quite a shocking detail.
The 2 pieces of obsidian are 2 valuable ancient tools, a great treasure in terms of materials, manufacturing methods, dating and history – Photo: PLOS ONE
Dr. Ashley Lemke, an anthropologist in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Texas at Arlington, said this is a rare find. “These tiny artifacts reveal social connections across North America 9,000 years ago,” Dr. Lemke emphasized.
The fact that this ancient site with artifacts preserved underwater has brought “unparalleled” treasure, because its integrity far exceeds similar structures on land.
