According to legend, the land in the eastern United States, home to the Hopewell culture 1,500 years ago, fell under the curse of a flying horned serpent, causing the region to be covered in platinum while simultaneously leading to the decline of life.
The decline of Hopewell culture has been a topic of debate for many years among American archaeologists. New research led by anthropologist Kenneth Tankersley from the University of Cincinnati (Ohio, USA) has sought clues to this mystery from several unusual points: strange legends and the abundant platinum found in the soils of three states.
A magnet used to collect tiny metal particles from sediment revealed components belonging to an extraterrestrial object, a death comet – (Photo: Michael Miller)
The legends of the tribes in this area tell of a giant horned serpent flying across the sky 1,500 years ago, dropping stones to the ground before plunging into a river. One variant describes a “leopard in the sky” with similar behavior. Another variant refers to the day the “Sun fell down.”
According to Science Alert, researchers believe that these legends refer to a rare astronomical phenomenon.
What raises suspicion is a comet-shaped mound built in the Milford Earthworks area, the center of the region where the Hopewell culture once thrived and mysteriously declined.
Thus, they analyzed the land and sediments in the area and immediately noticed an anomaly. Even today, the concentrations of iridium and platinum at 11 Hopewell archaeological sites remain very high. This characteristic is evident in the sediment layers, particularly the layer from 1,500 years ago, which also contains a layer of charcoal.
The article published in Scientific Reports recounts the disaster: it was a comet explosion.
When the comet flew across the sky, it would appear like a glowing serpent, in line with the popular legends among the tribes. The exploding comet created a terrifying meteor shower, igniting an area of 23,828 km2. The environment was severely devastated, and the ecosystem was disrupted, leading to the gradual decline of the tribes in the years that followed.
Radiocarbon dating results indicate that this mysterious event occurred around 252 to 383 AD, a time when up to 69 comets threatened Earth in rapid succession, although it remains unclear which one exploded.
