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GeneralWhat is the earliest account of copper in the Keweenaw?

12th Dec 2018 14:51 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

This quote is from the Jacques Cartier biography.

“In September (of 1535), Cartier sailed to what would become Montreal and was welcomed by the Iroquois who controlled the area, hearing from them that there were other rivers that led farther west, where gold, silver, copper and spices could be found.”

This quote is from Samuel Champlain’s account of his voyage up the St. Lawrence River in 1608.

“When I was eight leagues from Quebec, I met a canoe, containing two savages, one an Algonquin, and the other a Montagnais, who entreated me to advance as rapidly as possible, saying that the Algonquins and Ochateguins would in two days be at the rendezvous, to the number of two hundred, with two hundred others to come a little later, together with Yroquet, one of their chiefs. They asked me if I was satisfied with the coming of these savages. I told them I could not be displeased at it, since they had kept their word. They came on board my barque, where I gave them a good entertainment. Shortly after conferring with them about many matters concerning their wars, the Algonquin savage, one of their chiefs, drew from a sack a piece of copper a foot long, which he gave me. This was very handsome and quite pure. He gave me to understand that there were large quantities where he had taken this, which was on the bank of a river, near a great lake. He said that they gathered it in lumps, and, having melted it, spread it in sheets, smoothing it with stones. I was very glad of this present, although of small value.

The Champlain account brings up another question; could the pre-Columbian indigenous people of the United States and Canada melt copper?

12th Dec 2018 15:34 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

Although there is some debate about whether they could heat the copper enough to melt (or smelt it), they probably didn't. They were able to anneal it though.

https://www.mpm.edu/research-collections/anthropology/online-collections-research/old-copper-culture

https://www.nulearningforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/JArchSci11-Cahokia-Copper.pdf

The French Jesuits did not get into the Lake Superior region until the 1650's. Claude Allouez reported in 1665 that he saw pieces of native copper in Lake Superior.

12th Dec 2018 20:38 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

Dave thanks for the references. I did have the Old Copper Culture information but the metallurgical study of the copper artifacts at Cahokia was new to me. I am happy to add that one to my files. It appears that gold and copper castings were made in South America in pre-Columbian times but the technology had not reached further north.

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/81279975.pdf

I could not find any references that supported the comments by Champlain. The Algonquin dialect was being translated to French it may be that they were talking about annealing.

12th Dec 2018 22:12 UTCNathalie Brandes 🌟 Manager

I'm not an expert in North American archaeology, but as far as I know, smelting was not practiced by the Copper Culture in the Great Lakes area. Annealing, however, must have been known or stress fractures would have formed in the worked copper. This means that they had to heat the copper to around 405 degrees Celsius. The uniformity of tools made also suggests molds and swaging might have been used.

A nice source of information about the Copper Culture is Susan R. Martin's book "Wonderful Power: The Story of Ancient Copper Working in the Lake Superior Basin".

Nathalie Brandes

Professor of Geosciences

12th Dec 2018 23:21 UTCAndrew Debnam 🌟

Hello Larry, this maybe of help-it cites a reference

https://archaeologymuseum.ca/copper-manufacturing-archaic/

Andrew

13th Dec 2018 00:35 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Excellent question Larry, for which there isn't really a good answer to. Below, I have provided a couple additional web sites for your reading pleasure that explains some of the possible ways the copper was worked, as well as dispelling some of the myths that surround Michigan copper.

The Old Copper Complex: North America's First Metal Miners & Metal Artisans

The State of Our Knowledge About Ancient Copper Mining in Michigan

13th Dec 2018 02:04 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

Copper melts around 1000 degrees. Wood fires run 600 until you are burning charcoal, when it gets up to 1100. Pottery is made around a temperature of ~800 degrees.

The Old Copper Culture was primarily in a pre-pottery stage of development throughout it's history. The metal producing cultures usually had already developed pottery and used the knowledge of this technology as a starting point to melt and smelt metals.

The Mesoamericans developed a rather sophisticated metallurgy with the creation of tumbaga.

29th Dec 2018 19:30 UTCFrank Festa

Mr. Maltby,

I have visited the peninsula and Isle Royale, have seen several primitive copper digging sites. Thought still being debated as to when and by who, massive amounts of native copper was supposedly removed from these places.

In very early times, there is supposition stating copper was removed by building great fires upon an outcropping, generating high temperature in the surrounding bedrock. Water was gather and poured onto the hot bedrock creating a thermal shock and thus cracking and fracturing the rock containing the copper.

Copper being a soft material can easily be pounded into flat sheet with the use of stone tools. I have experimented doing this and it does work.

The question still remains who removed the copper and when. I have read somewhere, local Indian tribes have stated it was a people before their time. If millions of pounds of copper was removed, another question is - where did it go?

If you read different material there is speculation of all sorts.

I have 2 articles if interested. One concerning the peninsula, the other a trip underground in the Delaware Mine

29th Dec 2018 21:00 UTCNathalie Brandes 🌟 Manager

To answer Mr. Maltby's initial question:

After looking around a bit, the earliest written account of copper in the Keweenaw I could find was by Jacques Cartier. Information about that can be found in:

Biggar, H.P., 1924, The Voyages of Jacques Cartier: Ottawa, Publications of the Public Archives of Canada.

Griffin, J.B., 1961, Lake Superior Copper and the Indians: Miscellaneous Studies of Great Lakes Prehistory: Ann Arbor, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan.

In reply to Mr. Festa's comments:

There is no debate in the archaeological community as to who mined the copper in the Keweenaw. It was the Palaeoindians of the Copper Culture and there have been many excavations investigating this fascinating group.

Yes, copper is soft and can be cold hammered into a flat sheet. This, however will create stress fractures. Since the artefacts do not have stress fractures, we know the Copper Culture understood annealing.

There has been no accurate calculation of the amount of copper removed in prehistory. Just people making up numbers and pretending to be scientific.

Yes, there is speculation of all sorts about ancient copper mining in the Keweenaw, mostly by people looking for sensation, not science. That is why I encourage people who would like to learn more about the Copper Culture to read articles written by actual archaeologists that have been published in reputable, peer-reviewed journals. A good article that dispels many of the myths is:

Martin, S.R., 1995, The State of Our Knowledge About Ancient Copper Mining in Michigan, The Michigan Archaeologist, v. 41, n. 2-3, p.119-138.

I believe a copy of the article is posted here: http://www.ramtops.co.uk/copper.html

I hope this helps.

Nathalie Brandes

Professor of Geosciences

29th Dec 2018 22:17 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

Well done Nathalie, Thanks.

Larry,

29th Dec 2018 23:19 UTCTom Rosemeyer

Very well put Nathalie and I highly recommend viewers read the article by Susan Martin.

Tom Rosemeyer

29th Dec 2018 23:54 UTCFrank Festa

Good input

Thank you

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