From NPR:
Humans May Have Hunted Mastadons
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Day to Day, November 27, 2007 · An underwater archaeologist has found what may be an etching of a mastodon at the bottom of Grand Traverse Bay in Lake Michigan. Members of a local tribe believe that there is a spear in the mastodon, which would be hard evidence that humans hunted the prehistoric elephant-like animals. Tom Kramer of Interlochen Public Radio reports.
The full text of the interview is here:
NPR Day to DayCopyright 2007 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved.
November 27, 2007
Humans May Have Hunted Mastadons
ALEX COHEN, host:
And now to northern Michigan, where a scuba diver discovered what he originally thought was just a kind of weird rock on the floor of Lake Michigan. He thought wrong.
Tom Kramer of Interlochen Public Radio reports.
TOM KRAMER: It was a warm late summer day when Mark Holley stretched and pulled his way into a wet suit and splashed into the dark blue water of Grand Traverse Bay.
He came back to this spot to look for a long line of rocks that he discovered weeks earlier. The most interesting rock measures about three and a half feet by five feet. When he first saw it, Holley wiped off several inches of zebra mussels and revealed what looks like scratches all over the surface of the rock.
Mark Holley is one of just a handful of underwater archeologists in the U.S. He earned his Ph.D. in underwater archeology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. And he was pretty sure he had found something of interest, so he took some pictures.
Back in his home office, when he had a chance to dry off and take a closer look at those pictures, an image started to jump out at him. An elephant?
Dr. MARK HOLLY (Underwater Archeologist): No, this is crazy. There’s no way it’s an elephant, right? There’s no way it’s an elephant. And I don’t know, I guess I’d forgot when I was in third grade there and we went down to the museum in Ann Arbor, the natural history museum – what’s the most prominent display in there? Well, it’s of a Michigan mastodon, right? Which is essentially an ancient elephant that lived in the area.
KRAMER: In fact, more than 250 fossilized mastodons have been found in Michigan. So Holly looked at the photo again and again and again, and then he started asking other people what they saw, including some members of the Grand Traverse band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, whose tribal lands are near the site.
Not only did they see a mastodon etched on that rock, but they saw something else. They told Holly that a diagonal line coming from what would be the chest of the mastodon has tell-tale markings of being a spear complete with feathers. And that could signal only one thing, that humans hunted mastodons.
For years, experts in Michigan and around the country have collected evidence that humans ate mastodons, even storing the meat for months in cold water. But there has never been widely accepted conclusive evidence that the animals were actually hunted by humans.
Dr. HOLLY: Everybody has theorized that ancient humans hunted mastodons, but nobody has got the smoking gun that they actually have. And this could be the smoking gun.
KRAMER: Although he is genuinely excited about what he may have found, Mark Holly is quick to point out that there is plenty of work to do to verify, or debunk, what exactly is on that rock sitting on the bottom of the bay.
Charles Cleland agrees with that skepticism. He’s professor emeritus of archeology at Michigan State University, and he’s seen the photos and looked at the data.
Professor CHARLES CLELAND (Michigan State University): Things like this are always going to be controversial. But this would be a giant find if true, and you know, it would be of great interest to archeologists all over North America.
KRAMER: It’s also of great interest to local Native Americans. While members of the local tribe are reluctant to speak publicly about the find, John Bailey isn’t.
Bailey is a member of a different tribe and a former director of the Governor’s Commission on Indian Affairs in Michigan.
Mr. JOHN BAILEY: I think it’s highly significant because now it will lay to rest many of the myths and legends that have been created about the people in this region. And when you pinpoint when the wooly mammoth roamed and who hunted them, and with what equipment and what tools, really it verifies what as natives we have told these stories for hundreds of years.
KRAMER: For now, photos of the stone have been sent to experts around the country. The rock itself is still on the bottom of Grand Traverse Bay. Its exact location is a closely guarded secret to protect the site’s integrity.
Mark Holly, in the meantime, is continuing to dive the site looking for more signs of ancient people, or at least clues to history hiding under the waves.
For NPR News, I’m Tom Kramer in Traverse City, Michigan.
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