Every Michigander knows about the view through the famous Arch Rock on Mackinac Island, but there's something new of geological interest: The possibility of a 10,000-year-old stone circle at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac.
Freep.com revealed that a group made up mostly of Native American tribal citizens used a remote-operated underwater vehicle in the Straits of Mackinac to take a look at Enbridge's Line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines on the lake bottom -- and saw something else.
What they allegedly saw were stones "arranged in circular and linear patterns on the lake floor."
"If that was done by the hands of humans, it occurred when the Straits area was last above water — near the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago," freep.com reported.
This isn't the first time ancient secrets have been revealed under a Michigan lake. Edgeofknowledge reports that in 2007, while searching for the remains of sunken ships, scientists Marc Holly, professor of underwater archeology at the Northwestern University of Michigan, and his colleague Brian Abbott discovered a stone structure at a depth of 12 meters in Lake Michigan.
"They believe that this building, similar to Stonehenge, is about 9000 years old, but interestingly, on one of the stones there is carving in the form of mastodon, which died out more than 10,000 years ago. The exact coordinates of the find are still kept secret – this condition was put by local Indian tribes who do not want the influx of tourists and curious on their land," the website reported.
Michigan's Beaver Island in the Upper Peninsula also has a stone circle, the origin and era of which has been debated for more than 10 years. Carvings on the circle are speculatively thought to be astronomical signs.
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As for the sighting in the Straits, whether it means anything for the pipeline is yet unknown. Enbridge produced a report for the state last year that said it had found 32 "acoustical contacts" on the Straits floor but said none were a cultural resource.
Meanwhile, public comment is allowed on the tunnel project until Monday. Sound off HERE.