Sayak Banerjee, Amity University Kolkata
Archaeological sites underwater are home to significant historical information. Due to the lack of oxygen, they consist of materials that are relatively lost in drylands. Underwater archaeology serves to provide research, evaluation, preservation, restoration, and presentation of submerged archaeological wealth. These materials on the subjection of geological changes might have sunk into the water body. About this, lately, an underwater archaeologist, associated with a research team from The University of Texas (UT), discovers ancient obsidian flakes located 4000 km away from its origin in Central Oregon. In search of 9000 years old stone tools artifacts as a part of their study, these specimens were revealed beneath Lake Huron.
What is an Obsidian?
Obsidian, also termed as volcanic glass, originates from the West and the Rocky Mountains also have seen quite a few specimens. It is said to have been a unique exchange product in Eastern North America. It was, most of the time, deposited in burials, caches, and complexes. It being a raw material was a prized possession for knappers because of its luster, flaking property, and its resulting razor-sharp edges.
Findings of the underwater archaeologists:
The obsidian flakes discovered from the underwater archaeological site correspond to the oldest east confirmed specimens of western obsidian ever revealed in the continental area of North America. This makes it the most distant record for obsidian artifacts from a geological source, in contrast to anywhere in the world. These little artifacts with the help of their characteristic chemical signatures make way for various analyses and documentations which unveiled the existence of social connection across west-east North America 9000 years ago.
Underwater archaeologists revealed that the usage of obsidian was omnipresent in the West whereas in the East, although earlier it appeared rarely, later it turned out to be an important unconventional good. In this way, the archaeological occurrences in the East of the Rocky Mountains followed a chronological pattern. There have been considerable variations in the water levels over the past 18,000 years. These fluctuating water levels have been constantly exposing and submerging huge areas of land. The paleo landscape present underwater gives evidence that when the water level was at its lowest, the area had been inhabited by animals, plants as well as humans. The dry land corridor had gone underwater with the rise in water levels and never came up again. The paleo landscape present underwater consists of ancient sites such as stone walls and hunting blinds which are 100 feet below sea level.
The Broader Study:
Their findings in Lake Huron gave the researchers an analysis regarding the socio-economic civilization of caribou hunters at the end of the ice age. It also gave the record of the late Pleistocene or early Holocene setting and culture in the region surrounding the Great Lakes. Underwater archaeologists stated that the prediction of the exact means of locomotive for these obsidian flakes from the place of origin is difficult. Any probable natural process could not be the cause of the movement of these flakes. Therefore, accounting for the wider social network extending across the continent, it is likely that the specimen had reached the Great Lakes by the way of multiple hands. The scientists had proposed that it might be due to the hunter-gatherer movement, long-distance boat travel carrying goods, or raw material transport via land.
The research team mentioned this specific discovery is intriguing and emphasizes the significance of underwater archaeology. They said that the preservation of underwater archaeological sites is incomparable to that on land. Concerning this finding, the trans-continental connections stretching from the West Coasts to the Great Lakes can be elaborated with further studies. Thus, the obsidian flakes provide a clearer view of a complex and feebly understood period in the North American past.
Also read: First-ever genomic analysis on the African Swine Fever Virus
Reference:
- O’Shea, J. M., Lemke, A. K., Nash, B. S., Sonnenburg, E. P., Ferguson, J. R., Nyers, A. J., & Riebe, D. J. (2021). Central Oregon obsidian from a submerged early Holocene archaeological site beneath Lake Huron. PloS one, 16(5), e0250840. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250840
About author:
Sayak Banerjee is a 3rd-year Biotechnology Engineering Student with a great interest in Immunology and Microbial genetics. He is a creative scientific writer at BioXone with an inclination towards gaining knowledge regarding various sections of Biotechnology and engaging himself in different wet lab skills.
Some of his publications from BioXone are:
- https://bioxone.in/news/worldnews/car-t-cells-scientists-discover-on-off-switches-for-cell-immunotherapy/
- https://bioxone.in/news/worldnews/neutrophil-derived-nanovesicles-a-novel-drug-delivery-system/
- https://bioxone.in/news/worldnews/pig-to-human-heart-transplantation-a-solution-to-the-rarity-of-donor-organs/
- The Corrosion Prediction from the Corrosion Product Performance
- Nitrogen Resilience in Waterlogged Soybean plants
- Cell Senescence in Type II Diabetes: Therapeutic Potential
- Transgene-Free Canker-Resistant Citrus sinensis with Cas12/RNP
- AI Literacy in Early Childhood Education: Challenges and Opportunities
“Mosquito Smoothie": No, not a smoothie to drink!
Sribas Chowdhury, Adamas University, Kolkata Malaria is not something unknown to us. Occurring when an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites a person, it accounts for over 400,000 deaths every year. The onset occurs when the parasite Plasmodium enters the human bloodstream and infects the liver cells and finally, the red blood cells. While vaccines are […]