copper and other relics discovered in that neighborhood under singular circumstances; and possessing a
special interest owing to the distance of the site from Lake Superior. They included a peculiarlyshaped chisel or gouge, six inches in length […], a rude spearhead, seven inches long […], and the
small daggers or knives, […] all wrought by means of the hammer out of native copper which had been
subjected to fire, as is proved by the silver remaining in detached crystals in the copper. They were
found at the head of Les Galops Rapids, on the river St. Lawrence, about fifteen feet below the surface,
along with twenty skeletons disposed in a circular space with their feet toward the center. Dr.
Reynolds remarks of them: “Some of the skeletons were of gigantic proportions. The lower jaw of one
is sufficiently large to surround the corresponding bone of an adult of our present generation.” The
condition of the bones furnished indisputable proof of their great antiquity. The skulls were so
completely reduced to their earthly constituents that they were exceedingly brittle, and fell in pieces
when removed and exposed to the atmosphere.
Copper socketed spear heads with mid-rib was found with the burials at Brockville.
The appearance of weapons technology that is parallel with those found in the Medeteranean and
being disseminated by the Amorites and Beaker People into England is not serendipitous. Additional
evidence of migrations to North America, were the discovery of mines that have no historic precedent.
Two of the most sought after materials in the Bronze Age were copper and lead. The amount of copper
being mined out of the Lake Superior region was summarized in, “Science Frontier Online”, originally
published in Ancient American, September 1993. “For some 1800 years, beginning abruptly about 3000 BC, some industrious peoples mined ore equivalent to 500,000 tons of copper from Michigan's Isle Royale and Kewenaw Peninsula. Who were these mysterious miners, and what happened to all that copper? It certainly hasn't been found in the relics of North American Indians. And where was the ore smelted? About all the unidentified miners left behind are some of the crude tools they used to pound out chunks of ore from their pit mines (5000 pit mines on Isle Royale alone). Outside of some cairns and slab rock ruins, there is little to help pin down these miners. Mainstream archaeologist attribute all these immense labors to a North American "Copper Culture"--certainly not to copper-hungry visitors from foreign shores. Admittedly, many copper artifacts have been dug up from North American mounds, but only a tiny fraction of the metal the Michigan mines must have yielded.
Curiously, North American Indian mounds have contained copper sheets made in the shape of an animal hide. Called "reels" their function, if any, is unknown. The reels do, however, resemble oddly shaped copper ingots common in European Bronze Age commerce. Their peculiar shape earned these ingots the name "oxhides." They have been found in Bronze Age shipwrecks, and are even said to be portrayed in wall paintings in Egyptian tombs. The standardized hide-like shape, with its four convenient handles, was useful in carrying and stacking the heavy ingots. Could the reels from the North American mounds have been copied from the oxhides?”
In the following report is a description of a copper mine, where a six ton piece of copper was being
removed before being abandoned. This is evidence of the large scale mining that was taking place, that
far exceeds the amount of copper weapons that have been found associated with the Copper Culture.
The technique of lighting fires to heat the copper and then pouring water over the heated metal to make
it crack is the same procedures used in the early Amorite mines in Europe. Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania, 1843
From these considerations alone we are readily infer that the Mound Builders either engaged in
mining or else trafficked with those nations who did so engage. In 1847, about one year before the
ancient copper mines were discovered, it was pointed out that the probable source of the copper and
silver was the region of Lake Superior.
The discovery of the ancient mines has set all the speculations to rest. Copper Mines: In the copper
regions of Lake Superior have been found numerous excavations in the solid rock from which the
copper has been extracted. Upon examination, it has been discovered that the whole extent of the
copper-bearing region was resorted to by this ancient race. The ancient trenches and pits were found to
be filled even with the surrounding country, and were not detected until many years after the region had
been thrown open to actual exploration. Mining began effectively in 1845, and it was not until 1848
that S.O. Knapp, then the agent of the Minnesota Mining Company, made the discovery. In passing
over a portion of the company's grounds, in the winter 1847-8, he observed a continuous depression in
the soil which he conjectured was formed by the disintegration of a vein. Followed up the indications,
he came to a cavern where he noticed evidences of artificial excavation. On clearing out the rubbish,
afterwards, he found numerous stone hammers, and at the bottom was seen a vien with ragged
projections which the ancient miners had not detected.
Two and a half miles east of the Ontonagon River (the center of the great copper region of
Michigan) is the Minnesota mine illustrated. This shaft is situated in a wall of rock of compact trap.
The excavation reached a depth of twenty six feet, which was filled up with clay and a matted mass of
mouldering vegetable matter. At a depth of eighteen feet, among a mass of leaves, sticks and water, Mr.
Knapp discovered a detached mass of copper weighing six tons. This mass had been raised about five
feet, along the foot of the lode, on timbers by means of wedges, and was left upon a cob-work of logs.
These logs were from six to eight inches in diameter, the ends of which plainly showed the marks of a
cutting tool. The upper surface and edges of the mass of copper were beaten and pounded smooth,
showing that the irregular protruding pieces had been broken off. Near it were found other masses. On
the walls of the shaft were marks of fire. Besides charcoal there was found a stone sledge weighing
thirty-six pounds, and a copper maul weighing twenty-five pounds. Stone mauls, ashes and charcoal have been found in all these mines. In further explanation of the engraving, the letter b, represents the original matter thrown out by the ancient miners; a, the angle of the shaft; d, three masses of copper.
On the island known as Isle Royale, near the northern shore of Lake Superior, these ancient works of man are very extensive, and some of the pits are sixty feet in depth. On opening one of these pits of this island it was discovered that the mine had been worked through solid rock to the depth of nine feet. At the bottom was vein of pure copper eighteen inches thick. The works are scattered throughout the island, and are located on the richest veins. These miners were intelligent and experienced, for they not only showed rare powers of observation in locating the veins, but also displayed much knowledge in following them up when interrupted. The excavations are connected underground, and drains are cut into the rock to carry off the water. At one point the excavations extend for over two miles in a nearly continuous direction.
In these ancient mines have been found wooden shovels, used in scraping away the soil. Wooden bowls and troughs of cedar occur. From the splintered pieces of rock embedded in the rim of some of these bowls, it is inferred that they were used for bailing our the water; and as charcoal also occurs, it may be inferred that the rocks were heated and then water was dashed on in order to shatter and destroy the cohesion between the particles. Stone hammers,
or mauls, and copper are frequently met with.. The wide distribution of the copper implements shows that an extensive business was carried on, and to penetrate to Lake Superior, from the valley of the Ohio, required a journal of a thousand miles, which must have performed during the summer. With them they must have carried their provisions, as there is no evidence of a settled life in that region, such as mounds, village plats, etc. The climate is too cold for the maturity of Indian corn, and hence it was necessary to go in well-organized companies.
Bronze Age traders of metals in the Medeteranean were seeking lead. There is no historical records
of historic Native Americans mining or using lead, which makes the following historical accounts even
more puzzling, unless we consider the possibility that metals were mined and sent to ready markets in
Europe and the Levant.. Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania, 1843
A remarkable, irregular trench, the vestiges of which can yet be seen, with occasional interruptions,
runs from the upper lead mines to the neighborhood of the lower; it is at least six miles in length. It was
found there by the earliest emigrants, and thirty years ago, stout trees grew on the banks of earth
thrown out in excavating it. It was there, it is said, and ancient in its appearance, when Roberdeau
erected or commanded the fort at the upper lead mines.
The American Antiquarian, January 1889
Ancient Mining in North America, by J. S. Newberry The finding of various implements made of the more precious minerals would not in itself indicate that the Mound Builders engaged in mining. Copper was extensively used, and yet this material has been found in various localities. It has been found in pieces of several pounds weight in the valley of the Connecticut and near New Haven, where a mass was found in weighing ninety pounds. It is found in small pieces in New Jersey, Indiana and Illinois. Small pieces have been picked up in various localities in Ohio. It is probable that the copper found in Connecticut and New Jersey originates from the red sandstone formation, while in Indiana and Illinois it was deposited during the drift. In Ohio it has possibly been dropped by the hand of man. What is true of copper is not so of galena, obsidian, mica and silver.
Considerable quantities of galena have been found in the mounds of Ohio. Upon one of the alters within a mound in "Mound City" (three miles above Chillicothe) a quantity of galena was found, which had been exposed to the action of fire. It is frequent occurrence on the sacrificial alters, and met with in quantities of thirty pounds weight. "Plumb bobs" and net-sinkers are met with made out of this material, and yet no original deposits are known in the State of Ohio.
Obsidian, a peculiar glass-like stone of volcanic origin, is obtained from some of the mounds, but in very small quantities, and in the shape of arrow and spear-points and cutting implements. This mineral has not been met in situ north of Mexico and east of the Rocky Mountains.
Mica (commonly called isinglass) has been taken in large quantities from the mounds, and often ploughed up in the neighborhood of the enclosures. In these sepulchral mound in the center of the earth-work at Circleville, Ohio, there was taken out a sheet of mica three feet long, one foot and a half wide, and one inch and a half in thickness. In the year 1828, in one of the low mounds near Newark, Ohio, regular layers of mica plates, from eight to ten inches in length, four or five inches wide, and from half an inch to one inch in thickness, were found covering fourteen human skeletons in an advanced state of decomposition. From this mound there were taken about twenty bushels of mica. As mica is found in large quantities, and carefully laid away in the mounds, it is evident that it was regarded as of great value. It was used for mirrors, ornaments, and, as it has been found covering the skeleton, may have been looked upon as having supernatural properties. Mica is found in New Hampshire and North Carolina. In the former State it has been found from two to three feet in diameter; but there is no evidence that the Mound Builders penetrated that far east neither have any ancient mines been discovered there. Traces of wrought silver have been found, but they are exceedingly scarce, and constituted no technical importance among them.
The polished stone implements composed of a greenish slate of close grain have already received attention. This stone is not found in original deposits in the valley of the Mississippi, unless it be upon the rim of the basin. It belongs to the oldest sedimentary formation and occurs in considerable masses along the Atlantic coast, and has been observed from Rhode Island to Canada.
From these considerations alone we are readily infer that the Mound Builders either engaged in mining or else trafficked with those nations who did so engage. In 1847, about one year before the ancient copper mines were discovered, it was pointed out that the probable source of the copper and silver was the region of Lake Superior.
I have been much interested in reading the article on "Ancient Mining in America," by E.P. Appy, in March number of The Antiquarian, and I take the liberty of reporting to you some facts bearing on the subject with which he seems not to have been familiar.
The ancient copper mines on Lake Superior have been fully described by many writers. I have been much in that country and can testify to the accuracy of the descriptions of the ancient copper mines given by Whittlesy, Foster and others, as well as the review of the subject now presented by Mr. Appy. I will only add that so far as my observation has extended all the ancient workings on Lake Superior were abandoned many hundred years ago, for the heaps of debris that surround the pits made by the ancient miners were covered with forest trees which had obtained their maximum size, and I have heard of any of the old miners which did not show evidence of abandonment at least four hundred years ago.
The old mica mines of North Carolina and the quarries of serpentine in the Alleghanies, worked by the ancient inhabitants to procure materials for their pots, pipes, ect., show the same rude processes and I may add the same antiquity as the copper mines of Lake superior, for they, too, were overgrown by what seemed primeval forest when first visited by the whites.
To all the evidences of ancient mining industry in our country cited by Mr. Appy, I will add that some population of the Mississippi valley in ancient times worked our oil fields in many places, and at least on one case opened and extensively worked a vein of lead. This lead vein is situated on the Morgan farm, about six miles northeast of Lexington, Kentucky. Part of the area traversed by it has been long cultivated and the evidences of excavation have been thereby to some extent obliterated, but a part of the course of the vein runs through a tract of woodland which has never been touched by the axe. Here the ancient working is in the form of an open cut, six to ten feet wide, of unknown depth, and now nearly filled with rubbish. On either side of this trench the material thrown out forms ridges several feet in height, and these are everywhere overgrown by trees, many of which are as large as any found in the forests of that section.
In regard to the working of our oil fields in former times, I would say that I have found conclusive evidence that wells were sunk and oil collected on Oil Creek, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, In Mecca Ohio and at Enneskillen, Canada. In 1860 the first fountain well was opened by Brewer and Watson just below Titusville. I then resided in Cleveland, Ohio, and went to Titusville to examine the interesting geological phenomena presented by the newly-opened wells. In passing down the valley of Oil Creek, I noticed that the surface of the ground was pitted in a peculiar way; it was in places completely occupied by shallow depressions, ten to fifteen feet across and from one to three feet in depth. At first I thought they must have been produced by a wind-fall, in which the trees were all uprooted, but I was familiar with the character of the depression made by the overturning of a large forest tree, and knew that the pit thus formed was oval, with a ridge on one side and none on the other. These pits were, however, quite symmetrical and were a puzzle to me. While I was talking with Mr. Brewer or Mr. Watson about them and asking questions to which I got no satisfactory answe
rs, a man standing near told me if I would go with him to his well one hundred yards away the mystery would be solved. I did so, and found that he had begun the excavation of a well in one of these pits, and had sunk through the superficial material some twenty-five feet to the rock where he was to begin drilling. In sinking his pit followed down an old well, cribbed up with timber, and in it stood a primitive ladder, such as was so often found in the old copper mines of Lake Superior; a tree of moderate size, with many branches, had been felled and the limbs cut off a few inches from the trunk, thus forming a series of steps by which one could ascend or descend. The cribbing of the ancient well was rudely done with sticks six to eight inches in diameter, either split from a larger trunk or lengths cut from a smaller one. The sticks had been cut by a very dull instrument, undoubtedly a stone hatchet.
The method of gathering the oil practiced by the ancient inhabitants was evidently that followed in the Caspian region up to the time when the American method of drilling and pumping was introduced, viz.: a pit sunk in the earth, and the oil skimmed from the water.
What use was made of the oil we can only conjecture, possibly it was employed only medicinally, as the oil from the spring at Cuba, New York, was used by the Indians in that region; possibly for burning, as petroleum has been used from time immemorial in Persia, India and China. The large number of pits sunk in the valley of Oil Creek indicated, however, that the quantity taken out was large and that the oil served some important purpose among the ancient people. The pits described above were located in a dense hemlock forest in which many of the trees were three feet and more in diameter.
The amount of pits that were excavated would indicate that large amounts of oil was being removed.
It would seem probable that this oil was for the use of lamps. Several oil lamps have been found, that
are believed to belong to the Allegewi Hopewell. Lamps, like many every day items were not included
with burials in mounds. Archaeologists, while destroying hundreds of Allegewi Hopewell burial
mounds, have never excavated, nor looked for any Allegewi Hopewell village sites. Because this
The Nephilim Chronicles: Fallen Angels in the Ohio Valley Page 21
