Devastated large area in the Ohio River Valley
By Sci-News Staff / Source
Archaeologists have found meteorites, microspherules, iridium and platinum anomalies, and burned charcoal-rich habitation surfaces at 11 archaeological sites of the Hopewell culture in three states stretching across the Ohio River Valley. While Hopewell people survived the catastrophic event, which occurred between 252 and 383 CE, it likely contributed to their cultural decline.
“Direct
positive evidence of catastrophic cosmic airburst and impact events have
been found in the western hemisphere at the Cretaceous and
Tertiary boundary approximately 65 million years ago and at the Younger Dryas boundary approximately 12,800 years ago,”
said University of Cincinnati’s Professor Kenneth
Tankersley and his colleagues.
“Both
of these events are associated with global mass extinctions and they occurred
before humans culturally evolved into complex, sedentary, agricultural-based
societies.”
“The recent discovery of two Holocene cosmic impact events in Argentina (6,000 and 3,000 years ago),
and one in Jordan (3,700 years ago), suggests that these natural catastrophes
are far more common than previously suspected.” EDITOR'S Note: the impact in Jordan 3,700 years ago is believed to be the basis for the Bibical tales about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. - WC
“Between
1,800 and 1,431 years ago (220 and 589 CE), Chinese astronomers documented 69
near-Earth comets, including Haley’s, which came within 0.09 astronomical units
of Earth in 374 CE (1,646 years ago.). At this time, human communities and the
resources they needed for survival were at a heightened risk of being destroyed
by a comet airburst event.”
“Archaeological
evidence of ancient cosmic impact events has been recovered from archaeological
sites of various ages in Europe, the Near East, and China,” they added.
“In
the western hemisphere, Hopewell archaeological sites in the Ohio River valley
contain an anomalously high concentration and diversity of meteorites when
compared to all other cultural periods. They include iron meteorites, stony
iron meteorites, and stony meteorites.”
In their new research, Professor Tankersley and co-authors used radiocarbon and typological dating to determine the timing of the catastrophic explosion.
They
systematically investigated 11 Hopewell sites in the Ohio River valley.
“Twenty-nine
radiocarbon ages establish that the event occurred between 252 and 383 CE, a
time when 69 near-Earth comets were documented,” they said.
The researchers found an unusually high concentration and diversity of meteorites compared to other time periods.
The
meteorite fragments were identified from the telltale concentrations of iridium
and platinum they contained.
They
also found a charcoal layer that suggests the area was exposed to fire and
extreme heat.
“Micrometeorites
have a chemical fingerprint. Cosmic events like asteroids and comet airbursts
leave behind high quantities of a rare element known as platinum,” Professor
Tankersley said.
“The
problem is platinum also occurs in volcanic eruptions. So we also look for
another rare element found in non-terrestrial events such as meteorite impact
craters — iridium. And we found a spike in both, iridium and platinum.”
The
Hopewell people collected the meteorites and forged malleable metal from them
into flat sheets used in jewelry and musical instruments called pan flutes.
Beyond
the physical evidence are cultural clues left behind in the masterworks and
oral histories of the Hopewell.
A
comet-shaped mound was constructed near the epicenter of the airburst at a
Hopewell site called the Milford Earthworks.
“Various
Algonquin and Iroquoian tribes, descendants of the Hopewell, spoke of a
calamity that befell the Earth,” said Professor Tankersley, who is Native
American.
“What’s
fascinating is that many different tribes have similar stories of the event.”
“The
Miami tell of a horned serpent that flew across the sky and dropped rocks onto
the land before plummeting into the river. When you see a comet going through
the air, it would look like a large snake.”
“The
Shawnee refer to a ‘sky panther’ that had the power to tear down forest.”
“The
Ottawa talk of a day when the sun fell from the sky. And when a comet hits the
thermosphere, it would have exploded like a nuclear bomb.”
“And
the Wyandot recount a dark cloud that rolled across the sky and was destroyed
by a fiery dart.”
“That’s
a lot like the description the Siberians gave for Tunguska.”
A paper on
the findings was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
_____
K.B. Tankersley et al. 2022. The Hopewell airburst
event, 1699-1567 years ago (252-383 CE). Sci Rep 12, 1706;
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05758-y