Mines Over 8,000 Years Old Can Be Found In Michigan

As popular as the act of mining has become thanks to games like Minecraft, it's easy to forget how integral mining is to our everyday life. From your phone to light bulbs, or back to knights in shining armor, there are few things you use in your day-to-day that aren't made from metals and minerals found below the Earth's surface.

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Humankind's decision to begin mining was a crucial step in evolution, and as it turns out, some of the first known mines in North America are here in Michigan.

Prehistoric to Now

Copper has long been a bountiful boon in Michigan's Upper Peninsula thanks to "basaltic lava and interlayered sediments" that formed billions of years ago. When glaciers eventually took over much of this region, the copper became exposed and dispersed around the "Copper Country" as this area came to be known.

Evidence shows that Indigenous Peoples from over 8,000 years ago were leading the charge on copper mining in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Copper, back in the day, was very easily accessible and could be found in riverbeds in the form of float copper. However, when this was used up, these people started digging shallow mines and used large, heavy rocks to break off the copper from the other rocks.

These people began developing mining tools out of rock (you can view these tools here). These early people mined the copper to make jewelry, tools, and fishing hooks that were then traded around North America. Archaeologists have come to call this time the Old Copper Complex.

Thousands of these ancient mines can be witnessed around the Keweenaw Peninsula at spots like Isle Royale and the Keweenaw National Historical Park, as well as plenty of tours of "modern" mines like the Delaware Mine from the mining boom that took place during the 1880s.