 Lake Superior, the largest of the North American Great Lakes, it is also the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Believed to have first been inhabited 10,000 years ago after the retreat of the last Ice Age, however, there exists copper mines upon many of the lake's islands, which many researchers have concluded to be prehistoric. A sophisticated array of tunnels litters the islands, or more specifically, all of North America. Scarred by ancient mine pits as deep as 150 feet, carbon-14 testing of wood remains found in sockets of copper artifacts indicated they are at least 5,700 years old, although artifacts and evidence at some sites have suggested a date far older than what has been put forward. For example, some investigators believe that the mines were not even built by humans, but are the remains of a sophisticated mining operation that was once undertaken by alien visitors many thousands of years ago. Similar in scale to the ancient Carolina mica mines, mica being a material which we use in electrical components. It must be noted that all of these prehistoric mines show evidence of being abruptly abandoned, whether this is evidence of the death of an unknown king or queen, or evidence for catastrophe is unknown. All along Lakeshore are vestiges of this once highly successful ancient operation. The most astonishing of remnants catalogued publicly has to be the enormous lump of pure copper found in 1771 near the bank of the Antonigan River. In 1945 it was floated downriver on a raft by a James K. Paul and was eventually appropriated by an agent of the United States government. It was then shipped to Detroit and on to Washington, where it eventually slipped into the bowels of the Smithsonian. Known as the Antonigan Boulder, it weighs 3,708 pounds. It was apparently well known to Native Americans. According to the Kiwenawe Bay Indian community, the Boulder was used by tribe members to make offerings to its manateau, or spirit, to seek improvement in their health and well-being. Just how old is the Antonigan Boulder, or indeed the mine from which it came? Although many would like you to believe the mines are less than 5000 years of age, we think many factors surrounding them suggest that they are far older than that. Like mead within Nevada, home to the famous Hoover Dam, one of the largest man-made concrete structures on Earth, and what many feel will be the last surviving remnant of our civilization's existence on this planet. Although it is also home to a number of other lesser known, yet just as astonishing feats of human engineering. Similar to that of the incredible finds we have previously covered, an ancient mine, and although we know it was created for the collection of salt, the date of its creation remains a mystery with evidential examples of activity within this mine. Not only by a now lost civilization, but one that easily predated even that of the Native American himself. As mentioned in the Scientific American of 1926, quote, the mines were operating in Nevada many centuries before the days of Aurora and Piyush of Virginia City. One of the discoveries made by archaeologists now delving into the ruins of Pueblo Grande. Many centuries is putting it mildly, for the finds show that mining was in progress at the beginning of the Christian era some 20 centuries ago, and there are strong indications which point to work created at an even earlier period, end quote. Mysterious circular carving, reminiscent of those of Baalbek, Aswan, Bazda caves, Longyue, etc., are present within the mine. And although it is claimed these were made with stone picks, a true explanation as to the real technology or tools used to liberate this salt is yet to be discovered. But the reasoning behind such circular carving has seemingly been unraveled by a fine at the bottom or oldest parts of the mine. The salt was seemingly isolated in these circular carving marks as they became deeper and deeper. Then the center block of rock salt was believed to have been broken off by hand and taken out by the miners. What is truly astonishing about this mine is its size, although initial investigations of the cavern were to identify its purpose. This salt mine has since been bought by industries invested in salt production due to its quality. Yet the mystery surrounding how these ancient people discovered this vault of salt, or indeed how they carved their way through an entire mountain in its pursuit, if we assume them to have been primitive in nature and ability, remains an absolute enigma. However, if one were to allocate such feats to a more developed human state, identifying this huge deposit of salt, and indeed the adaptive stone cutting technologies we feel were clearly used elsewhere, incorporated into this mining process and explained how they managed to dig to such depths here, and indeed at other astonishing ancient sites the world over, are rather easier to explain. Yet I digress. Regardless of our own suspicions as to how this incredible mine was created, its existence alone we feel is proof that those responsible had far more knowledge and capabilities than modern man gives them credit for. It is an incredibly ancient mine, one in which we, and indeed many others within our field, find incredibly compelling. Throughout the ages countless reports of unexplained and baffling discoveries have been reportedly made deep within the minds of Earth. Regardless of the type of mine, or indeed its depth, it seems that these peculiar stories continue to surface, and usually only by word of mouth. Often attached to these fascinating tales, you will find stories of these artefacts being seized, destroyed, or simply reburied. We are often confronted with an apparent cover-up, vast resources and manpower being harnessed to hide these facts from the world. The motives for choosing to conceal such artefacts from the world could indeed be endless, though regardless of motive, we feel it is imperative that we continue to expose these stories to the Earth, if we have compelling witnesses and unmistakable evidence of a cover-up. Up beneath the city of Donetsk, within the Rostov region of Russia, a large foundation of sandstone can be found, something known as Rock Shield of Carboniferous Age. It is about 300 to 360 million years old, and is lined with distributions of coaking coals that are also of around the same age. Astonishingly, Mr. Kosatskin has discovered, upon the roof of this shaft of coal, an imprint of a chariot wheel, an imprint undoubtedly made before the rock had formed around it. He also discovered another imprint, a small distance further along the shaft. It must be noted that these imprints have remained buried deep within these seams of rock for many millions of years. If a scientific analysis could have been undertaken upon this artefact, it could have shaken our understandings of world history, just like so many other artefacts we have been made aware of, all but a few now stolen from the public domain. Upon realizing the implications of his discovery, Mr. Kosatskin, an extremely experienced foreman in ventilation and safety engineering, specializing in seismic prognosis, thankfully took several photographs of his miraculous and now concealed discovery, before officially reporting it and requesting a scientific evaluation. When his boss notified the owners of the mine in the hopes of getting an analysis of the artefact with an attempt to preserve it, to his boss's surprise, they demanded he continued the work through the shaft, so that it could be subsequently flooded, which is unfortunately what has occurred, making further exploration of the sites impossible. He stated that he's investigated further regarding the western mine's history with the fellow miners there, and was able to confirm the existence of the other print within that mine. It had been damaged by blast hole driving and was little mentioned, though it was indeed there. He was sometimes in this cut, he said, and got to take a good look at it. He says that he was surprised, but also somewhat afraid to admit that these objects are of artificial origin. We on the other hand are excited by such a premise, and will keep you posted on any further developments regarding the mine. Lake Michigan, a mysterious and enormous lake, long rumoured to possess crash UFOs or possibly a secret base hidden somewhere beneath the waves. However, it is not only the extraterrestrial activity which this lake is now famous for. The use of remote sensing technology is thankfully becoming more common within modern archaeology. Scientists now routinely survey lakes for hidden structures, and Lake Michigan is no exception. At a depth of 40 feet in Grand Traverse Bay, using sonar techniques, archaeologists discovered sunken boats, cars, and even a civil war-era pier. But among all this, they found a spectacular prehistoric ruin. When you see it in the water, you're tempted to say this can't be real, said Mark Holly, professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan University College, who made the discovery. Probably some form of stonehenge, if this site could be confirmed as having been man-made, it would give credence to a theory of people building complex ancient structures within Lake Michigan back when it was just a dry basin well over 10,000 years ago. Thankfully during the investigation, a large rock was spotted, with what many at the time suspected was an ancient illustration of a mastodon. During a conference in 2007, photos of the boulder from further investigations were displayed, these clearly showing this prehistoric drawing. However, Mark stated that experts were yet to come in and verify it beyond doubt. We couldn't believe what we were looking at, said Greg McMaster, president of the Underwater Preserve Council. Specialists, shown pictures of the boulder holding the mastodon markings, have asked for more evidence. They actually want to see it. Unfortunately, he added, experts in petroglyphs generally don't dive, so we're running into a little bit of a stumbling block there. If found to be true, the petroglyph would be well over 10,000 years old, confirming early post-ice age presence of both humans and mastodons in the upper Midwest. If authenticated, it would become an out-of-place artefact, like many other stone circles and other petroglyph sites, this one dated due to the age of the lake. Just who could have built the Michigan Stonehenge? How did they build it? As further investigation is undertaken, we will of course keep you posted on any future developments.