Geologists who study copper reserves around Lake Superior in Michigan say that a million tons of ore are missing from mines. But they didn’t disappear overnight, some think they may have been removed from the soil more than 2000 years ago.
Prior to the open of the 20th century, copper miners worked the region, two of whom, it is said, discovered the Newberry Tablet. More factually than the origin of this relic is evidence of around 10,000 copper mines around Lake Superior at least 2,000 years old.
On the TV show, America Unearthed, forensic geologist Scott Wolter visited Isle Royale and some ancient copper mining pits. He also looks at the Newberry Tablet and contends that some markings are Minoan symbols.
Wolter’s expertise is more suited to the analysis of minerals, and he proceeds by analyising ore from the area. Geologists who study copper ore can develop a sort of DNA profile, ore is not purely a single element but rather a mix of elements. He compares the ore with another sample that was discovered in a Minoan vessel. The purity of the copper and the concentration of other elements lead Wolter to conclude that the Minoans could have gotten ore from Michigan around 1500 BC.
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