Archaeologists surveying the waterways of suburban Seattle have made a discovery thats likely the first of its kind in the region an ancient tool-making site dating back more than 10,000 years.
The find includes thousands ofstone flakes, an array of bifaces,scrapers, and hammerstones, plus several projectile points , some of which were fashioned in a style that experts describe as completely new for this region and period inits history.
The stone tools were found in Redmond, Washington, in a layer of material along Bear Creek that was dated between 10,000 and 12,500 years ago. (Courtesy R. Kopperl/SWCA)The site was discovered along a creek in Redmond, Washington , under a layer of peat that was radiocarbon dated to about 10,000 years ago.
And in the layer withthe artifactswereburned bits of willow, poplar, and pine, which were themselves dated between 10,000 and 12,500 years ago.
Together, these materials frame a period of prehistory in coastal Washington which archaeologists have not been able to explore before.
While other sites in Washingtons lowlands have produced animal remains from the end of the last Ice Age, this is the first discovery of stone tools that date back more than 10,000 years, according to Dr. Robert Kopperl, lead researcher of the find.
Its the oldest artifact assemblage from western Washington, and the excellent context in which we were able to do our excavations and sampling is now providing a picture, much clearer than ever before, of the environment these people were living in during the transition out of the Ice Age, he said.
Kopperl, from the firm SWCA Environmental Consultants , and his colleagues first made the find in 2008 while surveying a waterway known as Bear Creek, as part of a salmon habitat restoration project.
Initial work turned up some stone artifacts above thelayer of peat a remnant of a time when the area was inundated with wetlands and lakes which seemed to resemble a peat layer nearby that was about 3,500 years old.
But radiocarbon results showed that the newly found peat was between 8,000 and10,000 years old.
Two concave bases and a stemmed base are among the fragments of stone tools, dated to more than 10,000 years old, found at the site. (Courtesy R. Kopperl/PaleoAmerica)That in itself was interesting, Kopperl said, and then when we did our 2009 test excavations, all of the artifacts we found were below that peat instead of above the peat, indicating that they pre-dated 10,000 years before the present.
The team then knew that it had a unique chance to plumb the depths of an important time in western Washingtons past, when the period marked by the last Ice Age known as the Pleistocene transitioned into the epoch in which we live today, called the Holocene.
This was the first opportunity anyone has had to conduct an archaeological excavation of a Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition lithic-bearing site in the western Washington lowlands, Kopperl said.
Once they picked up traces of human habitation older than any other found in the region, the researchers hoped to encounter artifacts that had never been found there before.
We figured once we began finding diagnostic artifacts that they would be different from those of the later local technological traditions, he said.
Sure enough, we found two projectile point fragments that were concave-based something not seen at any time in the local projectile point sequence.
In all, six projectile points and base fragments were found at Bear Creek.
The two points with concave bases somewhat resembled Clovis points, which have been found elsewhere in the region but without clear archaeological contexts, Kopperl said.
But rather conspicuously, both newfound artifacts lacked the distinctive fluting thats typical of the Clovis style.
Meanwhile, he added, a third point fragment was reminiscent of a style known as the Western Stemmed Tradition , which is typically found farther inland, in the interior Northwest and the Great Basin.
[For example, readabout this recent discovery: 13,500-Year-Old Tool-Making Site Uncovered in Idaho Forest ]The concave-based points are different from any other forms found in western Washington, from any time period, Kopperl said.
As far as the projectile point sequence in western Washington, which only really developed for the time periods after 10,000 [years ago], those points are completely new.
With the recent discoveries in Idaho, Oregon, Northern Plains of Canada and Montana, the time lines keep changing.
Great stuff.
K....
I have been there many times and know exactly where Bear Creek is. My oldest daughter lives only a few miles East of there.
I can imagine that area 12,000 yrs. ago would be a perfect environment for ancient man to inhabit. As would all of the Puget Sound area. If it weren't for all of the people living there, it would still be a wonderful place to live. I'll bet the anthropologists and Native Tribal historians at the U. of WAare in hog heaven over this find.
Thanks for the info and the article. Indeed there is more to come.
I hoped that you had been to the area dd.
''hog heaven'' is probably an understatement.
As you can see in the background, it is a highly commercialized area, in the middle of downtown Redmond. there is a walking trail along the other side of the creek. I have walked there several times with my hound dog. the town is working to reclaim the creek area and kind of restore the area to its' more natural state. It drains into Lake Washington a few mile downstream. the lake in turn feeds into Puget Sound. It would have been a natural path inland for ancient inhabitants.
This is also one of the areas inhabited by the Duwamish Tribe of Chief Sealth. Also the ill fated Chief Leshci had a band living in this area. Of course white man quickly did his best to cut down every living tree in the area. Thanks to 'appointed' Governor of the territory, Isaac Stevens.
So that's where I left it! It's a bitch being 20,000 years old.
Correction; chief Leschi was actually chief of the Nisqually tribe which live in the Nisqually area of WA, which is in the Eatonville area, some 20 miles or so south of Seattle. He and Chief Sealth were, however contemporaries, and were treated equally disdainfully by whites. Chief Leshchi was hanged in 1858, supposed for killing a white soldier. He was exonerated in 2004.
Chief Sealth died in 1866. The city of Seattle is, of course named for him.
Put on your glasses MM, you'll stumble across it.
The really sad thing dd, is that the Duwamish are not recognized by the U.S. government. They have a history that dates back long before Columbus stumbled on the continent. They have no land, how frickin' sad is that.
Yup, we are the original founders of Hobby Lobby.
I Have to treat these ones like gold because Medicare and my insurance only pays for a new pair every two years and last fall I fell asleep on the couch (Ahhhh retirement) with my glasses on and when I woke up the 1 year old Shih-Tzu was happily gnawing on them on the floor. So these newer ones, as my wife never fails to remind me are going to have to last!
I find all this so very fascinating! Thank you for posting this! I wish Matthew would look at more local archaeology!
What exciting discoveries.Hats off to the men and woman who work to uneartheach treasure, creating an ever expanding history of what was.
I'll keep posting them, you make Matthew read them. Maybe we can change his mind Dowser.
It really is exciting to watch the change in the course of our history. Every new discovery changes what they thought was history Lynne.
Wonder if this may have been part of Kenniwick man's camping/hunting/lodging area??
Interesting thought 1st.
From the number of ''sites'' that they are finding across the west, it's seems that Kenniwick was wide spread and covered a substantial time period.