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Figure 5.6. Bifacially chipped implement from upper glacial till (Level IV) at the Sheguiandah site (T. E. Lee 1983, p. 64).

The lower section of till, Level V, produced small thick bifaces and man-made flakes (Figure 5.7). The artifacts found in Level V were fewer in number than those in Level IV (T. E. Lee 1983, p. 66).

Figure 5.7. Quartzite bifaces from the lower glacial till (Level V) at Sheguiandah (T. E. Lee 1983, p. 66). Geologist John Sanford (1971) argued these tools and the one in Figure 5.6, were at least 65,000 years old.

Stone implements were also discovered in the layers beneath the tills. The layer immediately below the lower till, a meltwater deposit, covered a pavement of boulders. In and just beneath the boulder pavement were discovered one notched biface and several scrapers. Below the boulder pavement were silty stratified clays, with some cobblestones and boulders. From the upper part of the stratified clays, apparently deposited in a lake, came a broken bifacial implement and several stone flakes apparently struck by human beings (T. E. Lee 1983, p. 49).

How old were the tools? In his first reports, Lee was indefinite. Yet it seemed to him that some Sheguiandah artifacts were older than standard views about the peopling of the New World would allow. Lee (1972, p. 30) stated: “It is impossible to set a maximum age with certainty. . . . Of the four geologists most closely concerned—Dr. John Sanford of Wayne [State] University, Dr. Bruce Liberty and Dr. Jean Terasmae, both formerly of the G.S.C. [Geological Survey of Canada], and Dr. Ernst Antevs of Arizona— all but Dr. Antevs suggested that the site might extend back to interglacial times. Opinions differed as to whether that was 30,000 or 100,000 years ago. Dr. Antevs favored an interstadial for the appearance of man . . . estimated by him at 30,000 years ago. On his advice the group, in close communication, made public their conclusion: ‘a minimum of 30,000 years.’” In another paper, Lee (1981) said some of the geologists had suggested that the implements were perhaps 150,000 years old.

From this point on the story becomes murky. Lee’s discovery was obviously controversial, pointing to a human presence in North America far earlier than most scientists thought possible. John Sanford nevertheless continued to support Lee’s position. He provided geological evidence and arguments suggesting the Sheguiandah site was quite old. But the view advocated by Lee and Sanford did not receive serious consideration from other scientists. Instead, political maneuvers and ridicule were employed to discredit Lee.

Sanford (1971) gave strong arguments for an early Wisconsin or Sangamon interglacial date for the tools in and below the tills at Sheguiandah. The reasoning he used was somewhat complex, reflecting the intricate series of Wisconsin glacial events at the site.

The Wisconsin, the final North American glacial age, is divided into three periods—early, middle, and late (or main). The entire Wisconsin glaciation was preceded by the Sangamon interglacial.

The geology of the Pleistocene glacial episodes is undergoing constant revision. In fact, some experts would favor scrapping the traditional system of four principal glaciations (the Günz, Mindel, Riss, and Würm of Europe and their North American equivalents) for a system of alternating warm and cold periods of shorter duration. This system is said to more accurately reflect the evidence obtained from oxygen isotope studies of ocean core samples (Evans 1971). Even so, most authorities continue to make use of the traditional nomenclature, and we have chosen to do the same.

The early Wisconsin was dominated by glacial advances from centers north of the Great Lakes down into Ohio, Indiana, and other states. In the eastern Great Lakes region, the ice front was divided into three principal lobes (the Huron, Erie, and Ontario Lobes), which tended to advance and retreat together. The Huron Lobe is the one that covered Sheguiandah, located on Manitoulin Island