NORTH AMERICA
What Created the 12,900-Year-Old Black Layer?
A forensic look at the Younger Dryas black mat found at Murray Springs and other North American sites, separating wetland formation from the disputed cosmic-impact hypothesis.
Arc
North America
Plains sites, river valleys, mounds, caches, and contact-era puzzles.
Latest Case Files
Recent write-ups in this arc.
NORTH AMERICA
The 16,000-Year-Old Mine Hidden Under a Wyoming Ghost Town
A forensic look at Wyoming’s Powars II red-ocher quarry, where secure evidence shows Paleoindian mining nearly 13,000 years ago while an older 16,000-year claim remains less firmly established.
NORTH AMERICA
Nearly 180 Ancient Faces Found on Arctic Stone
A forensic look at Qajartalik, where nearly 180 faces were carved into Arctic soapstone and linked to the Dorset/Tuniit cultural tradition.
NORTH AMERICA
5700 BC Burial Mound Built for One Child in Labrador
A forensic look at the L’Anse Amour burial mound in southern Labrador, where a Maritime Archaic young person was buried beneath a carefully built stone monument around 5700 BC.
NORTH AMERICA
15,500-Year-Old Stone Points Found Below Clovis
A forensic look at the Debra L. Friedkin site in Texas, where stemmed stone points were found beneath Clovis layers and dated thousands of years earlier.
NORTH AMERICA
13,000-Year-Old Footprints Found Under a Beach
A forensic look at the human footprints preserved beneath beach sands on Calvert Island, British Columbia, and what they reveal about Ice Age coastal movement.
Arc Intelligence: The Eastern Woodlands
Key definitions and context for North American anomalies.
Dry Masonry
A construction technique using stones stacked without mortar. Common in Middle Woodland structures like Fort Mountain.
Hopewellian Sphere
A prehistoric exchange network (c. 200 BC – AD 500) connecting the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, characterized by monumental earthworks and exotic trade goods.
Sterile Site
An archaeological site yielding no artifacts (pottery, lithics) despite structural evidence. Often implies a Temenos (sacred ceremonial separation).