Principal Investigator: John O’Shea
There is an undiscovered country beneath the Laurentian Great Lakes. This land sits preserved, Pompeii-like, beneath the deep, cold waters of Lake Huron, with still-rooted trees and stone constructions that are among the earliest dated hunting structures on the planet. The record of this post-glacial world—and of the human communities that first inhabited it—is crucial for understanding the early human history of North America, yet it can only be investigated underwater.
This project focuses on the very earliest (and deepest) occupation of this now-submerged landscape, dating back 11,500 years. We expect these earliest sites not only to resemble those of sub-Arctic hunters with hunting architecture but also to evidence a broader range of constructed features, such as fish traps, as the hunters exploit the newly exposed landscape.
To discover these sites, this Klinsky Expedition will utilize new, cutting-edge methods of submarine prospection. It has recently been demonstrated that an acoustic sub-bottom profiler—a device normally employed for mapping buried strata—can identify lithic scatters (the debris resulting from stone tool manufacture). Like using a magnet to find the proverbial needle in a haystack, this technology will allow us to scan the lake bottom remotely and to pinpoint promising targets for archaeological investigation even at substantial depths. The system will also identify buried stratified deposits, which can yield both a wealth of cultural information as well as provide a rich source of environmental DNA (eDNA).
The project will undertake 20 sorties into central Lake Huron, with activities divided between remote site survey and direct archaeological testing by scuba-trained archaeologists. During these tests, materials will be collected for dating, eDNA analysis, and other environmental indicators. Recovered cultural materials will be analyzed in the Great Lakes Range of the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. The results of all these analyses will be incorporated into the immersive Deep Dive virtual reality system. This system uses AI to visualize the ancient environment and to predict site locations but has also been adapted for classroom use as a means of engaging high school students in the STEM disciplines and as a vehicle to encourage indigenous engagement with the research.
Meet the Principal Investigator
John O’Shea is the curator of Great Lakes archaeology at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology and a professor in the Department of Anthropology. He received his PhD in prehistoric archaeology from Cambridge University in 1979. He has directed major field projects focused on Bronze Age societies in Hungary, Romania, and Serbia, as well as on precontact Native cultures in North America. His work is currently focused on underwater archaeology, where his research involves both submerged prehistoric sites and historic shipwrecks. He has been the principal investigator for research on submerged landscapes in the Great Lakes since 2008. Beyond serving as PI, John captains the S/V Blue Traveler and is a member of the project dive team.
