All language subtitles for America Unearthed S01E03 Great Lakes Copper Heist

The history that we were all taught
growing up is wrong.

My name is Scott Wolter, and I'm a
forensic geologist.

There's a hidden history in this country
that nobody knows about.

There are pyramids here, chambers,
tombs, inscriptions.

They're all over this country.

We're going to investigate these
artifacts and sites, and we're going to

the truth.

Sometimes history isn't what we've been
told.

I'm heading to Isle Royale in Lake
Superior.

Here in the Great Lakes region, more
than a century ago, an incredible relic

found.

A tablet with cryptic symbols.

Symbols, I think, are the key to
unlocking an epic, unsolved geologic

This area was once home to some of the
largest copper deposits in the world.

billions of pounds of copper lay hidden
underground.

And someone knew that.

At some point prior to Columbus coming
to America, much of the Great Lakes

copper disappeared.

And I'm here to figure out where it
went, who took it, and why.

Well, George, you're probably wondering
why I asked you to take me out to Isle

Royale. Yeah, what's up?

Obviously, you know, Isle Royale was a
place I know they did a lot of mining.

Yeah, you bet.

Love looking at the mines. They're all
over the place on the island.

How many mines do we think are on Isle
Royale? Do we have any idea?

They're constantly finding new ones. You
know, some of the estimates for the

region is 5 ,000 to 10 ,000.

Whoever was here mining thousands of
years ago.

Took a lot of copper out of here. What
kind of quantities are we talking about?

Between a billion to a billion and a
half. A million?

A billion. A billion. To a billion and a
half pounds of copper. How long would

that take? I mean, my God.

Well, one of the estimates from one of
the engineers was 10 ,000 people for 1

,000 years.

That's mind -boggling.

I mean, when you talk about these
numbers, it's so vast.

I know that the Native Americans did use
copper, but, you know, they've never

found anything even close to the type of
numbers that you're talking about. So

the question is, where did all that
copper go?

I think I know.

I'm firmly convinced that it's connected
to the Bronze Age.

Bronze Age in Europe? In Europe, yep. I
think people who came over here, this is

where they got the copper to fuel the
Bronze Age.

Who took the Great Lakes copper?

Where did it go? To answer that
question, I have to go back to the point

human history when copper forever
changed the world. The Bronze Age.

5 ,000 years ago, man learned to combine
copper and tin together to forge an

even stronger metal, bronze.

It was a game changer.

Now, he could make more useful
agricultural tools and more deadly

Things like daggers, swords, and axes.

With more weapons came more advanced
warfare.

Nations became more powerful, rising up
in an attempt to spread their culture

around the world. All thanks to copper.

But where did they get it?

While sources for copper can be found
throughout Europe, in places like the

Swiss Alps, England, and Ireland, some
people question whether there was enough

mineral ore to account for the massive
amounts needed to fuel the Bronze Age.

I'm one of those people.

And this tablet, found in Newberry,
Michigan, could prove it.

Check this out.

What's this?

It's a Newberry tablet.

You know, I think it could be a key
here, tying together the copper culture,

whoever was at mine here thousands of
years ago.

Unfortunately, it doesn't exist anymore,
but this thing was found 1896 over by

Newberry, Michigan.

A couple of guys tipped over some trees.
This thing was in the ground.

It's got 140 characters on it.

So the tablet's gone?

It's gone.

Oh, man. It apparently was destroyed.

You know, this is in beautiful
condition, but how many great artifacts

heard about? They're gone.

This could be a link to the copper cult.

And I'm thinking it's all speculation,
but it could be a way. I mean, if

mining the kinds of, you know, copper
that we think they were, they had to

some type of records or tabulations.

This could be connected.

I know that going back, copper was
actually more valuable than gold and

So that's a pretty strong motivator to
come all this way.

It's the mystery around here. When you
read the old papers from the early

explorers that came, there's no remnants
of who. You know, one of the other

things that's really important was the
purity of this copper here.

Copper, like most metals, has a unique
fingerprint.

I can test the purity of copper in the
Great Lakes and compare the results to

the purity of Bronze Age copper to see
if it's a match. The big question is,

where did the copper come from that
fueled the Bronze Age?

You know, we're talking 5 ,000 years
ago. This might be the only clue that

it together.

The place is fantastic.

It sure is awesome.

I know you spend a lot of time out here.

Why don't you tell me about the island?

Well, you know, it's unique. It's a
national park, so it's well -preserved.

There are a lot of different cultures
that have come through here, from

to mining.

It's the largest island on Lake
Superior. It's 45 miles long and 8 miles

It's kind of hard to get here. You know,
it's 50 miles from Copper Harbor. You

have to take the ferry over, or if you
have a big enough boat to do it

It's unique.

Wolf population as well? Hey, I've read
about that. I guess the wolves are

struggling, aren't they? The wolf
population is dwindling and they're

about it becoming extinct.

What are the numbers down to now? They
were down to nine this last winter.

I know their disappearance is a mystery,
just like the disappearance of this

copper is a mystery.

So here we go. This is an example of one
of the pits on the island.

This pit could very well have been one
of the ancient pits, but we do know that

it was worked by miners in the 1840s.

Oftentimes, the more modern miners, the
European miners that came over and

explored for copper, found ancient pits
and worked over the top of them. It just

went crazy in the area, and the entire
Kivana Peninsula became one giant mining

site. producing more revenue from copper
mining than even the California gold

rush. Wow.

That's a lot of copper.

And speaking of that, I think you said 5
,000 years is one of the numbers you

tossed around as the age of some of
these pits.

How do you know that?

Actually, on one of the pits on the
island, there was one giant piece of

copper on the bottom, and it was
supported by oak timbers that had been

There were cut marks in the timbers that
they analyzed.

So they took some carbon samples of that
oak and placed it between 5 ,000 and 6

,000 years ago. Wow.

Yeah.

This is a pretty small pit. I'd love to
see something big.

After a night on the island, we're
heading out to the distant north shore

visit the Menang Mine.

It's one of the largest ancient mines on
the island, and I want to see if there

are any clues there to who did the
mining.

I also want to understand just how many
mines were worked here thousands of

years ago.

It turns out the wolves on the island
could be an unexpected clue to

understanding the size and scale of this
mysterious mining operation.

I've done a little bit of reading about
this big mystery of how did we lose a

certain segment of the dwindling
population here, the wolves?

Yeah, we've had 10 years of pretty high
wolf numbers.

But now the wolf population has been
coming down dramatically.

And in 2012, this last year, they hit
their lowest level ever. Just nine

left. Nine wolves.

What do you think happened? This spring,
we did find out that three wolves had

died in a minefield.

And here we've got some bones of one of
those wolves.

This came from the shaft. This one was
one of the wolves in the shaft.

Yeah, we fished him out along with two
other wolves.

So two adult males and then a female
pup.

So I'm curious, how deep did they fall?

Well, it's a unique, dangerous mine pit.
I mean, even for Isle Royale, about 10

feet of sheer wall down to water.

surface, which was probably frozen.

I couldn't hit the bottom with the
biggest pole I could stick down.

So are there any other large mammals, or
is it just wolves?

No, we've seen a dozen or so moose that
have fallen in and died in mine shafts.

Doesn't that tell you something about
the quantity of mine shafts and

mines? Yeah, I mean, there's hundreds of
shallow pits from mining.

For thousands of years, the one he went
into was by far the deepest, most

dangerous I've seen.

You know, in the article that I read
this spring, they left me with a

impression that the wolves are probably
going to go extinct.

What do you think?

On this island, in terms of probability,
they got about a less than 50 % chance.

The dwindling wolf population gives me a
sense of just how many ancient mine

pits there are.

on Isle Royale.

The remnants of this mining network are
so vast that animals like moose and

wolves can't avoid falling into the
pits.

This makes me more determined than ever
to get to the bottom of who's

responsible for taking all this copper
out thousands of years ago.

Now, We're on our way to the Menang
Mine, which is located on the far north

shore of the island.

It's one of the largest mines on Isle
Royale, consisting of deep pits and

of tunnels.

In the late 1800s, a thriving mining
industry existed here, and hundreds of

miners worked the pits.

It was these miners who uncovered
evidence someone else had already been

mining copies, possibly prehistoric
people.

And I want to discover who those people
were.

Well, Scott, this is what I've been
talking about. This is the Minang Mine.

Wow, that's great.

Isn't it something?

What's that, 50 feet?

I don't know, man.

It's certainly a lot deeper than the
other shaft that we saw.

Does that go underneath there? It looks
like it keeps going.

It does, actually.

Not only can we see the shaft from the
top, but we're going to go down over

here, and you can see the shaft from the
side as well.

the easy way man about this place this
is awesome yeah

well

you

can see plenty of copper carbonate here
that green carbonate is obviously

Break down a copper, that's a telltale
sign. We see it all the time.

See all these fractures sort of running
in this direction?

Yeah. It's probably copper in this seam
right here.

Copper has always been seen as a
miraculous metal.

We know now that its ions kill bacteria,
which is why it's used for pots and

pipes. It's valuable.

That's why people steal it from
abandoned homes.

During World War I, more than 270
million tons of copper came from here in

Great Lakes region.

But billions of pounds of copper was
mined here long before modern times.

Maybe by whomever left the Newberry
tablet behind.

significant operation here. There was a
lot of copper pulled out of here.

It goes back quite a ways.

You can see the tracks that are left
from the 1800 miners and as they worked

over the top of the ancient miners.

I think the chances are pretty remote
that we're going to find evidence of any

ancient mining.

I mean, the blasting that's been done
here, whatever might have been here, is

surely gone or buried.

Do you think there's any chance I could
get a sample from here?

You know, you can't take any samples,
any copper off the island because it is

national park and it's a preserve.

I understand.

But we're not far from the largest piece
of flow copper that anyone has in their

possession.

And I know for a fact you can take a
look at it, maybe get a sample. If

else, they have...

Copper samples from the area there that
we can get our hands on for sure.

George told me scientific dating on some
of the piths proved they were mined 5

,000 years ago.

I'm convinced that Great Lakes copper
was used in the Bronze Age.

There may be a scientific way to link it
to Bronze Age copper, but I need a

sample so I can test its purity.

If I find a man, then someone from
Europe was here mining Michigan copper 5

years ago. And that would mean a
complete rewrite of American history.

I'm in northern Michigan investigating
the disappearance of millions of pounds

of ancient copper.

I want to know who took it.

I also want to know if there's a
connection between whoever mined the

the Newberry tablet, which has symbols
on it that I think could crack the case.

I think that the disappearance can only
be explained by miners that came across

from Europe during the Bronze Age.

I'm searching for a piece of Michigan
copper that I can test for purity to

out if it matches with ancient copper
discovered in Europe. But first, I'm

checking out a massive example of local
copper.

Wow.

What's that?

That's incredible.

So how big is it? Over 28 tons.

You know, I can see obvious glacial
striations, so clearly this is a piece

the glaciers picked up, carried it, and
dropped it. We see the scratches of

being scraped along the ground as it was
buried.

So, Judy, I just came back from the
Menang mine. My friend George took me

and we saw some.

some mining pits, and we talked about
some of the quantities, the estimates of

over a billion pounds of copper that was
mined.

So what do you think about the idea of
ancient people coming from across the

Atlantic and mining copper in this
region?

It's the only thing that makes sense.
Where do they get all the copper needed

build the Bronze Age when bronze is made
from mostly copper?

Why wouldn't they come? I agree with
you. Why wouldn't they have? So they

every reason to do it.

What about Native legends?

Do you know anything about that?

Well, yes, there are some stories about
fair -haired, fair -skinned people

having been here.

And perhaps Native Americans even left a
message about that. Are you talking

about the petroglyphs in Copper Harbor,
the ship petroglyph? That's the one.

I've looked at that petroglyph, in fact,
and I've done some research on it.

Personally, I think it's probably...
maybe a thousand years or somewhere in

there, but it could be much older. I'm
not sure. What do you think?

That ship, I think, is so significant.
It's so different from anything Native

Americans would have done.

The shape of the sail, it's quite
square.

I looked at that very carefully a couple
years ago, and it has sort of a Minoan

-style square sail.

The Minoans were a Bronze Age culture.

From the Greek island of Crete.

It was not until around 1900 that
archaeologists discovered evidence for

Minoans. But little is known about them.

What is known is that the Minoans had a
huge sailing and trading empire that

dated back to about 3 ,500 to 5 ,000
years ago. That's precisely the time

copper in America was disappearing.

If I can test Michigan copper and match
its purity with that of ancient Bronze

Age copper, then I might be able to
prove the Minoans were America's mystery

miners.

Could the Minoans have been involved?

They very well could have been, since
they were noted for being marvelous

mariners. We know the Minoans got...

Farther than Creek, farther west than
Creek.

They were looking for copper, no
question about it. We have the copper

They had the sailing technology to get
here.

I mean, this would be a huge blow to the
standard history that we know.

There is a way I think I can test this.
It would be great if we could get a

sample to test that copper for trace
element analysis.

I know I can't get a sample of this, but
we might be able to get one somewhere

from up here. Any suggestions?

Sure. A friend of ours who has a
charming shop called the Euphrates

Trap. He also is an amateur geologist.

Who do I ask for when I go there?

Hooli.

In my search to uncover the mystery of

who mined the ancient Michigan copper,
I've seen photos of a long -lost stone

tablet found in the area.

and a petroglyph of what could be a
carved Minoan trading ship.

Perhaps the two are connected, and the
symbols on the tablet are Minoan.

And if I can find a piece of Michigan
copper that tests as the exact same

as a Bronze Age sample, it could mean
that the Minoans got their copper from

here.

All I need is some Great Lakes copper to
compare, and thanks to Judy, I have a

lead.

Hey, how's it going?

Good.

Scott Walter, how you doing? Not bad,
not bad.

Say, Judy Johnson, do you know her?

Oh, yeah.

She said I should be looking for a guy
named Hooley.

That's me.

That's you, okay.

Do you have any copper?

We got lots of copper.

What I'd like to do is, I'm wondering if
I might be able to get a sample.

Of copper.

I think we can do that here.

Do you have some I can maybe look at?
Yeah, as a matter of fact, I was just

prepping these two here. I found them in
the box downstairs. I forgot I had

them. And these are, this is float
copper.

So you're familiar with the giant piece
of copper back in Marquette, right? Yes.

Okay. So this is essentially the same
thing, just a smaller version. Yeah, a

smaller version. Yeah, it comes in all
sizes.

See, there's one other thing I'd like to
ask you about. I don't know if you know

anything about it, but I've been looking
into something called the Newberry

tablet. Oh, yeah.

It's gone now, but do you know anybody
who might have some information about

Well, yeah. I mean, when they found it,
there was this big hurrah. I mean, they

didn't know whether it was Egyptian or
whatever, you know. And luckily, there

was a mining journal newspaper guy there
that took pictures of them. Okay. And

then they got stuck in a guy's barn, and
then the weather warmed down because

they weren't baked clay. They were just,
you know, in that raw form.

They have them down there in a museum in
St.

Ignace down there, part of the tablet.
Wait, wait, wait. You mean it still

exists? Yeah, yeah. It was just down
there, matter of fact, two weeks ago.

Holy. The fact that that tablet still
exists is really important because if I

could get it under my microscope and do
some weathering studies, I might be able

to potentially tie the Minoans with the
new world up here.

the Michigan topper mystery might be
solved. It would be a big deal.

I can't believe the Newberry tablet,
long thought to have been destroyed,

exists. I think it's just the clue I
need to solve the case of Michigan's

mystery miners.

When two woodsmen found the tablet by
accident in 1896, they had no idea the

importance of their find.

When I found out it still exists, I
delved deeper and discovered something

The script on the tablet is thought to
be Minoan.

But based on what I've learned so far, I
see no chance it could have been fake.

That's because the tablet was discovered
before the Minoan culture was even

known to exist.

Archaeologists didn't find evidence of
the ancient Mediterranean culture until

1900, four years after the woodsman
found the tablet.

Now, I've come to the museum where the
stone tablet is kept to conduct an

analysis using forensic geology.

Welcome to Fort DuBois. I'm Connie.

Hi, Connie. Scott Walter.

Scott, glad to meet you.

Say, I'm a forensic geologist, and I was
referred to you by a man named Hooley,

and he mentioned to me that you had an
artifact here that might be helpful in

some research that I'm doing about the
ancient copper culture.

Have you ever heard of the Newberry
tablet?

Ah, yes.

We have them right here.

You have them? We have them. You do have
them? We have them in this museum, yes.

How did the artifacts get here?

Dr. Benson.

in the 60s, was a collector of many
artifacts, and he received a phone call

Fort Algonquin in the area, and he
decided, why not? So he looked at the

Newberry tablets, he purchased them, he
brought them here.

Tablets? Well, it came in pieces when it
sort of... So you have more than one

piece? Yes, we have more than one piece.
They've been here ever since? They've

been here ever since, yes.

I understand that they were found in
Newberry.

And the Smithsonian analyzed them.

But at that time, they had no clue. So
they put them in the fraud category.

Yeah, I've heard that before.

I don't know if they're a hoax or a real
thing. Let me ask you a question. Has

anybody looked at them in modern times
scientifically that you're aware? No,

at all. I think I can help you with
that.

Wow.

Well, I think I'm done with the
preliminary examination and have some

and some bad news. But I'll start with
the bad news, okay?

This is nothing I'm sure is going to
shock you, but the tablet's in really

shape. And it needs some attention,
serious attention. Otherwise, just

handling could be gone.

The good news is I was able to make out
some of the characters.

On the tablet.

I know there's at least three, possibly
four, maybe even a fifth character

that's still there.

And I think it looked like what we have
here on this photograph taken in the

late 1890s of the tablet.

I know for sure we have this Trident
figure here. It's definitely there.

And it's Minoan script.

A weird thing. I heard of some more
Minoan type.

You heard some known script?

Yeah, some scripts, some symbols.

Beyond this?

Yes. Where was that?

Underwater.

Underwater? Underwater. And how they get
underwater, I have no clue.

Well, I have some ideas. Are we talking
about a lake?

Mm -hmm. Okay. Northern Wisconsin area.

Oh, really? Okay.

Well, you know, thinking about it...

That may not be so strange after all,
and I don't think anybody threw anything

into the lake. We have something called
isostatic rebound or uplift of the land,

and a few thousand years ago, what is
now at the bottom of a lake may have

dry land at one time.

So if there's Minoan script carved on a
tablet or on rocks at the bottom of a

lake in northern Wisconsin, I will find
it.

Well, how are you going to get to it
underwater?

Diving.

After looking at the Newberry tablet,
I'm convinced the Minoans could be the

ones responsible for mining the copper
in the Great Lakes thousands of years

ago.

If there really are Minoan symbols in
the bottom of a lake in this area that

match the ones on the tablet, I need to
see them, and I've tracked down the guy

who found them.

If you look back at the time of the
Minoans and during the Bronze Age, it

lot of copper to make the amount of
bronze that was made. I don't think

enough there to account for all the
bronze, and I think a lot of people have

been pondering that issue.

So where did it come from? I mean,
that's the question. And to me, it seems

reasonable that here's where they came.

That's correct.

There's no question. They came for the
pure copper.

that line the Great Lakes region,
especially up in Michigan.

And they left a lot behind to let us
know that they were here.

You found these?

Underwire, 15 to 20 feet in depth.

Symbols made out of stone, made into
mounds to match some of these. So what

we looking at here?

This is the fist cymbals. There's like a
boomerang, the W. These are amazing.

You know.

I just got done looking at what's left
of the Newberry tablet, and the W was

of the symbols that I was able to make
out on that ancient stone.

These symbols that I found here clearly
match many of these on this tablet.

So what you're saying is your symbols on
the bottom of the lake and the Newberry

tablet are all connected by ancient
copper miners?

Yeah.

Is there any that are still intact?

In fact, there is. Not too far from
here. I'd like to film something. You

realize that if these...

are legitimate and they were made by the
Minoans, that means that we had the

Minoan culture coming here thousands of
years before Columbus.

I mean, this is a big deal.

Scott, you ready to go back a few
thousand years? You bet.

Lead the way.

Well, Scott, whatever those piles once
were, they sure look like they've been

messed with.

Not much left.

Yeah, they've all been tampered with.
Let's get out of this cold water. I'll

talk about it on the boat.

I appreciate guys like you that are out
there looking for these things.

You were absolutely right. That one
structure underneath there did look like

W. It was a little flat on the bottom.
It didn't loop up in the middle like

Ws do, but it definitely was nicely
symmetric, and it was a beautiful symbol

down there. There's no question about
that. The symbols do match. But I have

tell you that I'm a little skeptical
about what I saw in the water.

The rocks there look to me like they had
not been there for a long time, and I

would have expected more sediment
buildup.

The mounds were not like I found them
several years ago. I don't know what the

situation is there. It doesn't mean
that, you know, some of them aren't

there are others in other places.

It's not so much the mounds that make me
convinced.

That the Minoans were here. And we're
still doing a lot of investigation.

But we do know we're walking in ancient
footsteps.

I'm not convinced that the rock piles I
just saw in the lake were left here by

the Minoans. But Scott Mitchin is yet
another local who believes that they

here, mining the copper from the Great
Lakes region.

And a simple test could help me prove
it.

If Michigan copper is as pure as copper
from Bronze Age Europe, and specifically

as pure as the ingots from one of the
only Minoan shipwrecks ever found, then

there's an ancient connection I think is
impossible to deny.

Hey, Greg.

I was up in the UP, Upper Peninsula,
Michigan, and I...

I have a sample of copper radii here. I
understand it's very pure, and I'd like

to find that out for myself. Is that
something you can help me with?

Can you tell me a little about the
technology we're using today?

Yes, this is a technique known as
particle -induced X -ray emission, or

for short.

And so what we've got is an accelerator
that's going to generate a high -energy

beam of particles.

Those are going to shoot down through
that tube, and as those ions hit it, the

sample will emit X -rays.

And those X -rays can tell you things
about what's inside the sample.

Am I right that NASA used PIXI to
analyze the rocks that came back on the

flights, and they're using it for Mars
exploration too, right? I believe that's

correct, yes. What I'd like to try to do
is use this data to compare with,

hopefully, samples of Bronze Age copper
to see if there's a match.

And if there is, well, this would prove
that ancient miners came to North

America long before Columbus, and that
would change history in a profound way.

I think copper mined from America's
Great Lakes was used to fuel the Bronze

in Europe thousands of years ago.

I think the ancient miners were the
Minoans.

a culture from the island of Crete who
also left behind the Newberry tablet,

which is undoubtedly old and may be
written in their language.

And I think a high -tech analysis I'm
doing that compares the fingerprint of

Great Lakes copper with copper pulled
from a Minoan shipwreck could prove it.

Firstly, if we look at the larger
spectrum, we see these peaks that

due to copper, and there's lots of it.
Big peak there. Yep.

And then if we look at the finer
results, the trace elements, we see a

germanium, arsenic, and some even more
exotic things like eropium, terbium, and

phthalate. Okay.

So that's a pretty unique fingerprint. I
mean, these things are represented

here. They're just so much smaller than
the copper. Yes, they are. Okay. What

was the percentage of copper? Were you
able to determine that?

Well, at least of the metallic elements
present in the sample, something from 99

to 99 .9 % is copper.

99 plus percent copper.

That confirms what we were told. What we
suspected is that that copper was

extremely pure.

So that tells us that the visible copper
that we see is very specific to those

areas, and obviously your results
confirm that. That's great.

Knowing the purity of this and the
purity of the copper from the Minoan

shipwreck are the same, I'm feeling
better than ever about my theory that

Age copper came from America.

I've investigated whether copper from
the Great Lakes was used to fuel the

European bronzing.

What I can say for certain is that the
purity of Michigan copper is a match to

the purity of copper found on a
shipwreck of the Minoans, a European

from the island of Crete prominent
during the bronzing.

The Newberry tablet is another clue that
links the Minoans to the Great Lakes

region in ancient times.

More than a century ago, a couple of
woodsmen started chopping wood and

upon this incredible discovery.

This stone tablet was wrapped in tree
roots, so it must have been there for a

long time.

They saw these symbols but had no idea
what they were.

Only years later would we know that
these symbols were likely Manoan and the

importance of their discovery.

What I've seen rewrites not just
American history, but also European

and gives us new and critical insight
into understanding the evolution of

civilizations on both sides of the
Atlantic.

I'm here to unravel the deepest
mysteries, and what I'm discovering

history in a profound way.

Next time.

On America unearthed. We found one guy
in there. His bones were huge.

This is reminiscent of giants. They
wanted to get this thing buried as fast

possible. Sounds like there's a cover
-up going on. Are you saying Roger Sager

is lying about his claim?

If you have a mysterious artifact or
site I need to see, I want to know about

it. Go to history .com slash unearthed.