Free Republic

About 8500 years ago, hunter-gatherers living beside Eagle Lake in Wisconsin hammered out a conical, 10-centimeter-long projectile point made of pure copper. The finely crafted point, used to hunt big game, highlights a New World technological triumph—and a puzzle. A new study of that artifact and other traces of prehistoric mining concludes that what is known as the Old Copper Culture emerged, then mysteriously faded, far earlier than once thought. The dates show that early Native Americans were among the first people in the world to mine metal and fashion it into tools. They also suggest a regional climate shift...

...Why do the Greek descendants of the Minoans share a gene in their DNA with the Chippewas and no one else on the planet? In November of 1896, near the town of Newberry, Michigan. In Michigan's Upper Peninsula two woodsmen clearing land on a farm uprooted a tree and discovered three statues, and a clay tablet. The tablet was 19 by 26 inches in size. 140 small squares were cut into the stone. In each square a letter or character. The University of Michigan and the Smithsonian Institution were notified. Both of these institutions, at the time refused to look...