Lidar technology uncovers vast ancient Native American agricultural system in Michigan, challenging historical assumptions
By isabelle // 2025-06-10
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  • Lidar technology reveals a vast ancient farming system at Michigan’s Sixty Islands site, the largest pre-Columbian agricultural network in the eastern U.S.
  • The Menominee people built raised ridge fields over 330 acres, cultivating crops sustainably for 600 years despite harsh northern conditions.
  • The findings challenge assumptions that large-scale farming required hierarchical societies, showing egalitarian communities achieved this through collective labor.
  • The sacred site includes burial mounds and a dance ring, now threatened by proposed mining operations despite its cultural significance.
  • The discovery reshapes understanding of Indigenous agriculture, proving advanced land management long before European contact.
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, with its dense forests, cold climate, and short growing season, has long been considered an unlikely place for large-scale farming. Yet groundbreaking new research using Lidar technology has uncovered a sprawling ancient agricultural system at the Sixty Islands archaeological site, revealing it as the most extensive pre-Columbian farming site in the eastern United States. The discovery, led by Dartmouth researchers in collaboration with the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, challenges long-held assumptions about Native American agricultural capabilities and social organization before European contact. The site, known as Anaem Omot ("Dog’s Belly" in Menominee), was once home to an intricate raised ridge field system dating from the 10th century to 1600. These clustered garden beds, standing 4 to 12 inches high, were used to cultivate corn, beans, squash, and other crops. The findings, published in Science, suggest the agricultural system was 10 times larger than previously estimated, covering at least 330 acres, with researchers believing much more remains unmapped.

A sophisticated farming network hidden beneath the forest

Using drone-based Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), archaeologists penetrated the dense forest canopy to reveal an astonishingly well-preserved landscape. The laser mapping exposed parallel ridges arranged in quilt-like patterns, indicating a highly organized farming system. Unlike earlier assumptions that such large-scale agriculture required centralized, hierarchical societies, the evidence suggests smaller, egalitarian Menominee communities achieved this feat through collective labor and ingenuity. "When you look at the scale of farming, this would require the kind of labor organization that is typically associated with a much larger, state-level hierarchical society," said lead author Madeleine McLeester, an assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth. "Yet, everything we know about this area suggests smaller egalitarian societies lived in this region but in fact, this may have been a rather large settlement." The ridges were rebuilt over 600 years, with radiocarbon dating placing the earliest construction around the year 1000. Excavations uncovered charcoal, pottery fragments, and artifacts, suggesting farmers enriched the soil with composted household waste and wetland soils in a sustainable practice that kept crops thriving for centuries. Anaem Omot is already a sacred site for the Menominee, featuring burial mounds, dance rings, and remnants of ancestral villages. The Lidar survey also revealed previously unknown burial mounds, a circular dance ring, and the foundation of what may have been a Colonial trading post. Tragically, some mounds had been looted, while others were thought destroyed in the 1970s. The site’s preservation is remarkable given that most ancient field systems in North America were erased by modern farming and development.

Challenging history and facing modern threats

The discovery forces a reevaluation of pre-Columbian agriculture in North America. If such an extensive system thrived in Michigan’s harsh climate, similar networks may have existed across the eastern woodlands and are now lost to history. The findings also suggest the region was deforested for farming during this period, contradicting assumptions about untouched wilderness before European arrival. Yet the site faces threats from modern industry, including proposed open-pit mining for gold, silver, and copper. The Menominee Nation has fought to protect the area, which holds deep cultural and spiritual significance. "Our work shows that the ancestral Menominee communities were modifying the soil to completely rework the topography in order to plant and harvest corn at the near northern extent of where this crop can grow," McLeester said. "This farming system was a massive undertaking requiring a lot of organization, labor, and know-how." The Sixty Islands site stands as a testament to the sophistication of Indigenous agricultural practices, which have long been underestimated by historians. Far from being small-scale foragers, the ancestral Menominee engineered a sustainable, large-scale farming system that persisted for centuries. As Lidar technology continues to unveil hidden histories, this discovery underscores the importance of preserving sacred Indigenous landscapes before they are lost to industrial exploitation. The research team plans further surveys to locate ancestral Menominee villages, ensuring this chapter of Native American innovation is fully documented and remembered.   Sources for this article include: AncientPages.com NYTimes.com MSN.com Archaeology.org
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