Featured Title:
Cave Of Forgotten Dreams on DVD |
 |
| The Quest for the Shaman: Shape-shifters, Sorcerers and Spirit-healers of Ancient Europe |
 |
| Login |
|
Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As a registered user you have some advantages like your own home page, fewer ads, and your contributions link to your page. |
| Who's Online |
There are currently, 148 guests and 4 members online.
You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here |
| |
Moderated by : Andy B , TimPrevett , coldrum , Klingon , MickM , TheCaptain , bat400 , davidmorgan , Runemage , SolarMegalith , sem
The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map : Index >>
Stones Forum >> North American Finds Discovered by Development
|
 |
| Page 2 of 6 ( 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 ) |
| Author |
North American Finds Discovered by Development |
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
 OFF-Line
|  Posted 23-10-2007 at 04:07
More Phoenix Arizona Prehistory as Downtown is Re-Developed.
The story that lies beneath Phoenix
Archaeologists uncover history's leftovers on CityScape site
The prehistoric pit houses, a century-old cosmetic-cream jar and antique bricks tell the story of the first merchants in downtown Phoenix. Archaeologists earlier this month found those artifacts deep beneath the downtown parking lot where on Monday crews will begin building a $900 million hub of shops, offices and restaurants.
"We are looking at the very beginnings of the city of Phoenix," city archaeologist Todd Bostwick said.
Underneath the 19th-century foundations, the team of archaeologists also found the buried remnants of about a dozen prehistoric pit houses. Hohokam farmers who lived in the Valley between A.D. 1 and 1450 probably occupied them, archaeologists say. No human remains were found.
Since a chunk of the land had been a parking lot for decades, Bostwick knew there was a good chance that artifacts were preserved underground.
CityScape developers plan to display some of the finds at Monday's groundbreaking ceremony.
They are also exploring ways to incorporate antique bricks, artifacts or old business names into the development, he said.
Over the years, floods, silt and wind buried pit houses and pioneer-era buildings under a few feet of dirt.
Early settlers eked out a hardscrabble life. Relations with Native Americans, including the Gila River, Maricopa, Pima and Apache tribes, were sometimes friendly, sometimes tense.
Experts knew about the pioneer-era businesses, but State Historic Preservation Officer James Garrison said he was astounded by how much was preserved under the parking lot.
Some of century-old walls fragments ran for a dozen feet, and one adobe cellar was practically intact.
"The first two-story building in Phoenix was sitting on top of a pit house," Garrison said. Even the Hohokam finds hinted at trade.
Archaeologists found a bracelet made from a seashell that is found only at a tourist destination in Mexico that is familiar to Arizonans.
"We aren't the first to vacation at Rocky Point," Bostwick said.
For more, see Jahna Berry's story from The Arizona Republic at
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1020dig1020.html
 Profile
 Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 04-01-2008 at 04:21
Ancient Find in Montana
Originally submitted by coldrum ---
Archaeologist Stephen Aaberg was surprised with the results of radiocarbon dating tests just completed on samples taken from trenches dug in Alkali Creek (Montana, USA) last summer. The sample that dated to most recent times - charcoal picked from a hearth uncovered 6 to 10 inches below the grassy surface - was determined to be 1,050 years old. The oldest, a bison foot bone found near stone artifacts, was dated at 5,300 years old.
About 18 inches below the 5,300-year level, archaeologists working for Aaberg's company found a single piece of charcoal. Aaberg isn't sure what to make of it but believes it could be 7,000 to 8,000 years old. Also found at that level was a fragment of a long, narrow projectile point characteristic of that ancient period. "We were surprised by the dates, but not so surprised that we just couldn't accept the data," Aaberg said.
Aaberg was hired by the state Department of Transportation to document the area in preparation for rebuilding Airport Road. In 2005, he walked both sides of the portion of Alkali Creek Road that would be included in the project, looking for signs of early human occupation. He found enough on the surface to warrant digging meter-square test pits. "We came right down on an old hearth," he said. "The site ended up being really substantially large." Aaberg's report found that the road project would have a significant impact on the archaeological site, which prompted the excavations of 2007 to document the archaeology before the bulldozers started moving earth.
Crews worked clearing 10 centimeters of soil at a time at likely spots within the perimeter of the site. They found cutting tools, stone knives, broken projectile points, animal bone and "pebble cores," the characteristically scarred rock left over after flakes were chipped off to make tools. The first major feature was the hearth that proved to be 1,050 years old. Its builders had dug a little pit, and inside were fire-cracked rock and an abundance of charcoal. About 4 feet below the first pit, archaeologists digging a trench with a backhoe found a second hearth of almost identical construction. The second hearth was dated to 2,600 years ago. Evidence suggests that these hearths probably were used to heat rocks that would be dropped into separate cooking pits filled with water for boiling food, Aaberg explained.
About 90 yards from the pit used to heat rock, archaeologists found what they believe is a stone boiling pit where food would have been cooked. They found the bones of grouse-sized birds, deer and antelope as well as bison. There weren't enough bison bones to indicate that large numbers of animals were processed there at one time.
The occupation site at Alkali Creek was likely a seasonal camp, although it's hard to tell what season. The fact that most tools were made from local rock may indicate that people camped there during the winter, when they were less mobile, Aaberg speculated. "What we can say is that particularly in the period beginning about 5,300 to 5,200 years ago, there are archaeological sites and artifacts all over Montana, especially east of the Divide," he said.
The Alkali Creek site presented archaeologists with a rare treasure - up to 15 acres of pristine ground, rich in artifacts, in the middle of a metropolitan area that has never been touched by a plow or residential or commercial development. Other cities have turned such resources into parks and cultural attractions, Aaberg said.
For more, see http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/12/22/montana/c111222_01.txt
The approximate location of the site can be found here: http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=45.804&lon=-108.493&z=17
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 06-01-2008 at 02:14
2500 year old bone found at Ohio site
Originally submitted by coldrum---
On the site beside the Scioto River, the archaeologists had found fire pits dating to about 550 B.C., shards of pottery, even traces of an ancient building.
This week, Ryan Weller and his team found something more: a human skeleton, buried on the riverbank by his or her loved ones as long as 2,500 years ago.
What's more, the skeleton might have company.
The archaeologists methodically scraping away the centuries at the Columbus Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant, 6977 S. High St., said yesterday that they have uncovered a prehistoric burial site.
Only one burial has been confirmed so far, with a skeleton that appears to be largely intact, Weller said. Another spot appears to be the remains of a cremated person, and clues in the soil suggest that other people might have been buried nearby.
"Possibly up to nine," Weller said.
Weller, a 40-year-old archaeologist, had been assessing the property's historical value before Columbus builds a pumping station there. His company, Weller & Associates Inc. of Grandview Heights, has been working with the city for about two years, checking out various locations as construction progresses.
Rick Tilton, a spokesman for the city's public-utilities department, said the find shouldn't derail the pumping station because the burial area is on the fringe of the job site.
The site appears to have been a seasonal encampment for people who lived during the Early Woodland time period, Weller said. They likely were drawn there for a variety of reasons, ranging from good hunting or fishing grounds to bountiful nut supplies.
The team hasn't dated the human remains, but the nearby fire pits found at the same depth date to about 550 B.C.
"There were people living all over Ohio in that time period," said Bradley T. Lepper, curator of archaeology at the Ohio Historical Society. "What makes this period so interesting is, it is the first farmers in the Ohio Valley. They were still hunting, gathering and fishing, but they had begun the process of settling down into villages and growing crops."
The team will spend the next several weeks excavating the site. What will happen to the human remains is unclear. Weller said myriad agencies determine where they end up, whether in museums or with a particular American Indian group. The negotiations are complex and sensitive, he said.
Much older human remains have been found in Ohio, but Lepper said all such finds are incredibly valuable.
"It's always interesting to find any traces of the past, especially from a time so distant," Lepper said. "Opening windows on the past like this are extraordinary events."
For more, see http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/12/01/BURIALFOLO.ART_ART_12-01-07_B1_NK8KVV6.html?sid=101 />
The approximate site location can be found here:
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=39.819&lon=-83.015&z=17
[ This message was edited by: bat400 on 2008-01-06 02:17 ]
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 10-05-2008 at 01:31
California Construction Finds Evidence of ancient Settlement.
Originally submitted by coldrum ---
Calaveras County and Angel's Camp are located east of San Francisco and the state capitol of Sacramento.
"A major freeway bypass project hit an unexpected delay after crews unearthed ancient artifacts by accident. The excavation is taking place in Calaveras County, near Highway 4 in Angels Camp.
"The bypass was being built to help commuters get to and from work with less traffic congestion, but in the process, they made an ancient discovery. Ancient Mi Wuk Native American artifacts were unearthed, some as many as 5000 years old.
"Debra Grimes is part of the Mi Wuk Tribe, and for the past moth, she and other archeologists are preserving what her ancestors left on the land. The discovery of tens of thousands of artifacts hasn't stopped construction, but it has certainly slowed it down.
"Through excavating, archaeologists have found signs of a village in the area.
"'We prefer to leave our things where they belong,' Debra said. But she'd rather save what's here than let it be destroyed by bulldozers.
"'To is, it's rewarding to be able to save those items,' she said.
"Once the bypass is completed in 2010, many of the artifacts will be reburied with a special ceremony. Mi Wuk's believe the artifacts belong to the land."
http://cbs13.com/local/calaveras.county.artifacts.2.705413.html
(The Mi Wuk (also MeWok and Miwok) are one of extremely diverse and numerous tribal groups found in California at the Contact Era. The Calaveras Band is one of many Mi Wuk groups located from the mountains of California down to the coast. )
(Calavaras County was made famous by the Mark Twain short story of the devious world of frog jumping contests.)
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 20-05-2008 at 04:22
Radiocarbon Dating of Malibu California Artifacts Confirms Importance of Farpoint Site.
Submitted by coldrum, a further article by Anne Soble on the Farpoint, Malibu, Clovis Point. ---
National Science Foundation and Smithsonian Officials Are Among Those Urging Preservation and Additional Archaeological Research at Point Dume Property •
Archaeologist Gary Stickel announced at a recent lecture at the Malibu Public Library that a stone spearhead, or point, found at a local construction site by a Native American project monitor in 2005 has been established as an artifact from the oldest archaeological find in the City of Malibu.
Radiocarbon dating of mussel shell fragments from the site that was provided gratis by the National Science Foundation at the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Laboratory at the University of Arizona dates them to 9074 BP (Before Present).
The shells would have been brought to the site, Dr. Stickel says, by the area’s prehistoric inhabitants, ancestors of the Chumash, the earliest recorded Native Americans who inhabited much of the immediate coastal area, including Malibu.
The archaeologist and his research associate, James Flaherty, indicate that the shell samples were found above the level where the spearhead, believed to be a Clovis era artifact, representing the “oldest identifiable culture in the New World,” was found. The date that Clovis people might have occupied the site has not been established, but proponents of their presence think they could have inhabited Malibu from 12,500 to 11,000 years ago.
Stickel says that Edgar Perez’s find of the spearhead, unearthed during construction work on private property on Point Dume, is “a major archaeological discovery of almost unlimited significance.”
The ebullient archaeologist, who dispenses copies of a letter confirming his role as an archaeological consultant for the film “Raiders of the Lost Ark” the way other PhDs provide CVs, says the Farpoint site, as the property is known, “keeps yielding new secrets that are important” to learning about the people who lived in Malibu 9000 and more years ago.
Stickel says, “There is vital additional work to be done at the site.” The current property owner prohibits further excavation, but Stickel hopes to raise the funds to acquire the site and permanently protect it. He adds, “Additional excavation could provide human teeth or bone material that could [corroborate] theories of human habitation.”
Dennis Stanford, the chief archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution and a Clovis era expert, says Farpoint is a “site of national significance and requires interdisciplinary research and protection.”
A growing chorus of archaeological voices supports additional exploration of the site that some say could hold the key to where the people who inhabited the western coastal areas originated.
For more, see
http://malibusurfsidenews.com/stories/208805/20080515001.html
Anyone seeking more information about Friends of Farpoint can contact Stickel at 323-937-6997 or dregarystickel@netzero.net.
[ This message was edited by: bat400 on 2008-05-20 04:25 ]
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 02-09-2008 at 03:49
6000 year old knife unearthed at Florida Park
Originally submitted by coldrum:
It started out as a simple plan to erect a pavilion-like shelter at the Marshall Street Park. Then it became an archeology dig.A city crew erecting the shelter stumbled upon an old knife on Monday, and archeologists today confirmed it is 6,000 to 8,000 years old, said Brad Purdy, the spokesman for the city of Safety Harbor.
Plans to put up the shelter were put on hold as various members of the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History decided to treat the site as an archeological dig. On their hands and knees in the mud, museum staff members this afternoon were sifting dirt for additional artifacts, said Ron Fekete, director of exhibits.
The 4-inch knife was likely used by the Tocobaga Indians, Purdy said. "The edges are so sharp," Fekete said. "It's in mint condition." It is made of chert, he said.
City workers had dug a hole roughly three and a half feet deep, to make the new pavilion able to withstand hurricanes, said Bobbie Davidson, director of operations for the museum. Rain fell on the pile of dirt left off to the side, and a city worker spied the knife on Monday, she said.
After the workers found the blade Monday at the park at 300 Marshall St., they washed it with some water at a fountain, said Purdy. It was then they realized it might be an artifact.
"We didn't know what we had," said Purdy. "When they realized what they had, they got on the phone."
Specifically, they called the curator of archaeology from the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History, who later confirmed the blade's age, Purdy said. The museum is expected to ask the city for permission to dig in another area of the park to see whether they can piece together the life of the knife.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25692018/
The park in Safety Harbor, Pinellas County, Florida is located near the head of Tampa Bay.
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 26-09-2008 at 04:48
Prehistoric site discovered in Vermont
Submitted by coldrum.
One of Colchester's (Vermont, USA) newest housing developments is slated to be built on land known to contain American Indian artifacts.
Charles Knight, a professor of anthropology at the University of
Vermont, serves on the board of the Vermont Archaeological Society,
and spearheaded a project to excavate the site of the proposed
Colchester housing development with Vermont Archaeological Society volunteers this summer. The Severance Corners site — where fragments of stone tools from as long as 2,000 to 6,000 years ago have been found — is located in the midst of the sprawling green fields off Severance Road. The site was identified by the University of Maine at Farmington's Archaeological Research Center. Knight obtained a grant that allowed Vermont Archaeological Society volunteers to conduct
additional recovery work on the property.
The density of artifacts discovered at the Severance Corners
site is low, Knight said. The items found – mostly fragments of tools
and the stone flakes resulting from their production – suggest volumes
to an experienced anthropologist. The site has not been formally
dated, but Knight suggests the findings, which include types of stone
known to come from St. Albans, and possibly from Berlin, N.H.,
represent a temporary hunting camp dating to the Early Woodland
period, 2,000 years ago. "They were making tools, and likely using
tools for hunting. They were trading stone, and moving over the
landscape," Knight said. "We start to see that the people who lived
here, who left this material, were dynamic, like us." Some evidence
suggests the items could be as much as 6,000 years old, Knight said.
For more, see
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080901/NEWS02/80831008
The location may be found here: http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=44.547208&lon=-73.167599&z=15.5&r=0&src=msl
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 22-03-2009 at 21:06
Submitted by coldrum --
Dig unearths secrets of early Delawareans.
As far back as 3,000 B.C., small tribes roamed with the seasons throughout the Delmarva Peninsula and would settle for a while on the relatively high ground near here, where Spring Creek flows into the Murderkill River.
Now wedged between Del. 1 and Del. 12, a small piece of their settlement site is providing a window into how those people lived and raising new questions about how far they traveled to trade with other tribes. "Sporadically and periodically over the past 5,000 years, people have been coming back to this site," said David S. Clarke, an archaeologist with the Delaware Department of Transportation.
DelDOT is spending about $2 million to excavate the site and collect its artifacts before building an $11 million interchange from Del. 12 onto Del. 1. The six-month excavation project was built into the schedule, so it won't delay construction of the interchange, which is scheduled to begin this summer, Clarke said.
The site isn't the biggest archaeological find in Delaware, Clarke said, but it is significant. Usually, discovery of such a site would mean altering the construction project to avoid excavation, which is required by the National Environmental Policy Act. But that wasn't possible with this project.
"No matter where the engineers moved the road, it was going to hit the site," Clarke said.
Field director Scott Padamonsky said the stone tools, pottery shards and other items found during excavation will be taken back to the firm's lab, cleaned, studied, catalogued and returned to Delaware.
Eventually, the artifacts will be displayed at the Delaware Archaeology Museum in Dover.
Before excavation started last month, the site looked like any other field that motorists pass as they speed along Del. 1 through Kent and Sussex counties. Cattails and marsh grasses along the field's southern edge hide the slow, meandering Murderkill River from view.
For more, see:
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090217/NEWS/902170329/1006
Approximate location of dig is here:
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=39.008794&lon=-75.460318&z=14.7&r=0&src=msl
.
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 17-05-2009 at 07:00
Artifacts shed light on San Antonio's 'Garden of Eden'
Submitted by coldrum ---
When workers took a backhoe to a mound of earth near Brackenridge Park a couple of months ago, out popped an archaic spearhead, turning what was supposed to be a construction site into an archaeological dig.
Archaeologists swooped in and found 5,700-year-old stone tools from one of the oldest hunter-gatherer groups to live in San Antonio, according to Jon Dowling, an archaeologist with University of Texas at San Antonio's Center for Archaeological Research. The find sheds more light on some of the first people drawn to the San Antonio River during the early archaic period.
“It's a very rich place to live at the headwaters of the San Antonio River,” Dowling said. “These people were smart. They knew a Garden of Eden when they saw one.”
San Antonio's oldest artifacts date between 8,000 and 11,000 years ago from the so-called Clovis culture and were found at digs in Northern San Antonio.
Dowling said that when work began on a pedestrian bridge over the San Antonio River to connect Brackenridge and Miraflores parks, right behind the AT&T building, no one expected to find anything new because the area is so heavily developed.
The site contained artifacts from different time periods, attesting to the spot's enduring popularity, he said.
The first spearhead is between 2,200 and 1,400 years old, and it marks the period just before the introduction of the bow and arrow. The dart point is around 5,700 years old and was likely affixed to the end of a bamboo spear and launched at prey with an atlatl. The Guadalupe tool is around 5,500 years old and was used for woodworking and scraping flesh, kind of like a primitive Swiss Army knife, Dowling said.
Archaeologists also found a bone from a small deer, a sign that early people set up camp there and butchered animals for food. It also marked a period after the climate cooled, killing off big animals such as mammoths and bison. People began to broaden their diet, eating more plants and hunting smaller animals such as deer, turkey and turtle, Dowling said.
The park had fresh water, chert stone for tool making, raw materials and food sources. Not much different from today, Dowling said. “A good place to live now was a good place to live 6,000 years ago,” he said.
Source: My San Antonio.
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 25-06-2009 at 05:24
Submitted by coldrum ---
Archaeological find at Snohomish County, Washington, Site.
Tool Finds From Contemporaries of Kennewick Man
Stone tools used by some of the first people in the Pacific Northwest had lain, for thousands of years, undisturbed beneath the forest floor.
A developer in 2007 uncovered thousands of artifacts -- including spear points, stone knives and scraping tools -- while performing a survey on land where he planned to build more than a dozen homes.
The ancient trove, investigated with just a few small test digs, put those plans on hold.
State archaeologists believe they've found one of the best preserved sites of human activity from what's known as the Olcott period, 4,500 to 9,000 years ago.
"The developer accidentally bought himself one of the most significant sites in Washington state," said Allyson Brooks, the state's historic preservation officer. "The site is extremely significant for our understanding of the first inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest."
The Stillaguamish and the Tulalip tribes are among those who have a strong interest in the site's culture and history. The Herald was asked not to report the location to prevent looting.
The tools catalogued by archaeological consultants during the initial survey are probably a fraction of what remains below the soil. Initial estimates put the artifacts at up to 9,000 years old.
Scores of similar areas are known throughout the state. Brooks and others say this one is remarkable because it is undisturbed and rich with artifacts.
The developer is working with county, tribal, state and federal authorities to protect the land.
"This site gives us a lot of opportunities to discover a lot of history," said Shawn Yanity, the Stillaguamish tribal chairman. "It's so rich with history, it just needs to be preserved."
The Olcott period
The find is among those that archaeologists call an Olcott site.
Most Olcott sites appear to be seasonal hunting stations, tool workshops or base camps. Olcott sites are generally restricted to Western Washington.
Similar spear points, used for thrusting, not throwing, have come from Eastern Washington, British Columbia and Oregon. The tools are usually made from local volcanic rock.
Kennewick man -- the 9,500-year-old skeleton found near Kennewick in 1996 -- is from same general period. He has an Olcott point with a serrated edge embedded in his hip. The wound healed over; it didn't kill him.
A lack of bones or plant material has prevented scientists from using carbon-dating on Olcott sites to determine their exact age. "About all we find are the stone tools," Jolivette said.
The Snohomish County site could help change that, if excavated properly.
Saving the site
Given the new site's importance, you might expect archaeology teams to be encamped there already. That hasn't happened yet, and might take some time.
From 17 test holes each about the size of a small wastepaper basket, archaeology consultants dug up thousands of artifacts. Catalogued in plastic bags, they fill eight cardboard boxes.
The Cascade Land Conservancy, a group that tries to find market-based solutions for preserving land, could be a partner, too. They're interested in preserving the forest as much as the stone tools that are hidden below.
"It definitely seemed like a project worth pursuing," said Nick Harper, CLC's conservation director in Snohomish County.
Longtime Tulalip leader Stan Jones said the find is extremely important to tribal history. There might be a way to use some of the artifacts in a Tulalip cultural museum expected to open soon, he said.
Yanity, the Stillaguamish chairman, hopes all of the tribes with a stake in the process can work together. The chance to rediscover their common past could also be a great opportunity to train tribal archaeologists.
For more, see HeraldNet.
Information on Snohomish County can be found here.
[ This message was edited by: bat400 on 2009-06-25 05:28 ]
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 01-07-2009 at 04:32
submitted by coldrum ---
Archaeologists search for clues of ancient Austin (Texas) residents
Archeologists are slowly digging for buried treasure on the old Zilker Park rugby fields -- and they are welcoming the public to join in.
The treasure is not literal gold or jewels but is treasure in the sense of the insight it could offer into what was happening on the land thousands of years ago.
"The value of archeology is really in information. It's what we can learn about what people were doing here in Central Texas, in Austin, 10,000 years ago," said Nick Trierweiler, cultural resources program director for Ecological Communications Corp., which is overseeing the project.
The dig is looking for artifacts from the Paleoindian Era, which lasted from about 11,500 years BC to about 8,200 years BC. The artifacts are believed to be the oldest deposits in Austin.
Archeologists began by digging a 20 by 20 foot hole 10 feet deep. They're now slowly digging 6 feet deeper -- about 6 inches at a time. Each bucket of dirt is taken out of the hole and carefully sifted for artifacts by archeologists.
Zilker Park is filled with artifacts from native Americans who lived, camped and hunted in the area along the Colorado River, but random core borings showed the rugby fields likely offered the oldest and most valuable finds.
"The people were living here because of the springs, they had a good source of water, and wherever there is water, there is going to be animals," Trierweiler said. "So there's lots of food for them to eat. This was a great spot to live, now and 10,000 years ago, and that's why people were living here -- generations and generations and generations.
The public is invited to help sift through the first 10 feet of dirt, which could contain artifacts from 6,000 to 10,000 years old.
No training is required, but preregistration is. Go to archeologyatzilker.com to sign up.
A special viewing platform is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the next six weeks.
For more, see KVUE News and City of Austin Public Works Projects. Last link includes aerial photos of the dig site.
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 11-07-2009 at 11:03
Skeleton unearthed on Monterey, California's Cannery Row
Submitted by coldrum.
As soon as construction crew members working next to the Sardine Factory realized they had unearthed human remains, the back hoe was turned off and a call was placed to the Monterey Police Department. The skeleton found under the parking lot near Cannery Row was that of woman, perhaps thousands of years old and probably a member of the Esselen indian tribe.
The remains were found Wednesday as a ditch was being dug behind the restaurant. A skull and about half a skeleton came up in the backhoe scoop.
"We immediately stopped the job," said Frank Donangelo, vice president of planning and development for the Cannery Row Company, which owns the property.
After the police department received word of the bones on Wednesday, officers secured the scene and a coroner and pathologist arrived to assess whether a crime was committed.
Once the bones were determined ancient and not to be investigated as the remains of a crime, a call was made to representatives of the Esselen Nation, which has local ancestral roots.
Louise Miranda Ramirez, who chairs the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, has been on-site overseeing the excavation.
The Esselen people prefer to leave remains where they are found, but if that is not an option, the remains are removed and buried elsewhere, Ramirez said. That is the plan with the skeleton found Wednesday. When and where that will be has not been determined, she said.
"We want them to be reburied with a ceremony and make sure they don't show up on a shelf somewhere in a museum," said Ramirez, a former Peninsula resident who lives in San Jose.
Ramirez declined to allow the remains to be photographed by The Herald. She named the Esselen ancestor "Ichi Kolo," which means "Sister Love" in the Esselen language.
Archeologist Susan Morley, who lectures at CSU Monterey Bay, is leading the excavation. She worked Thursday and Friday on it and plans to continue the dig on Monday.
"Archaeology is about trying to learn about human behavior," Morley said. "We are trying to carefully document this individual to find out anything about when she was buried."
Morley said she could not estimate how old the remains are, but Indian remains found on the site in the past have been dated from 2,000- to 6,000-years-old. The skeleton found Wednesday was about four feet deep, which is a clue to the age of the bones, Morley said. Sea shells found during the dig a layer above the skeleton are probably 500 to 1,300 years old, she said.
Morley said the land under the parking lot, which is between Foam Street and Wave Avenue, was excavated in 1980 and found to be the site of a "major village" from precolonial times.
"When they tore down the houses" that used to be where the parking lot is, "they found lots of burials," she said.
Ancestral remains are considered sacred by Esselen Nation members, which is why Ramirez is working to preserve them.
"These are our people and we need to respect them," Ramirez said. "None of the non-native people who have been brought into this area would want their families to be disturbed in this way."
While the remains are sacred to local Indians, they should be appreciated by all local residents, Ramirez said.
"It's Monterey history, life before the missions," she said. "Our rich culture should be honored and enjoyed."
Sourece: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_12488025
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 28-07-2009 at 04:12
Pipeline Work Digs Up Artifacts In Nebraska
Submitted by coldrum ---
An archeological discovery southwest of Hartington at the beginning of May has had some unusual results. A pre-construction crew with the Keystone Pipeline project, which originates in Hardesty, Canada, and is currently digging the pipeline route in northeast Nebraska, found evidence of prehistoric artifacts while completing the land survey of the pipeline route, said Jeff Rauh of Keystone.
“The survey crew identified the site and tried several routes around the site but found, at each turn, another area with artifacts.” He said the archeology company is currently preparing a report for the Nebraska Historical Society.
When planning a route for such a project, Rauh said they try to avoid known sites where artifacts have been uncovered. Information about the site and its area are required to remain confidential and he could not divulge the exact location.
While excavating ground samples for the pipeline route with a backhoe, a grouping of old fire dugouts or pits was uncovered.
A group of archeological experts was brought in to investigate the site. During a two-week period, they sifted the area with screens, finding small animal bones and other small items that may be arrowheads. The men excavated an area that they believe was a campground and dug 6-8 feet down from the surface.
Alan Osborn, a research assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, believes it is a significant site containing historic Native American artifacts. “We call finds like these time capsules,” Osborn said. “The dugouts are food pits which early natives stored food, and when its usefulness was finished, the pit was filled with trash.”
The artifacts were carefully packed up and sent to a lab for further research. The archeology company will submit a report to the Nebraska State Historical Society.
“Because these projects like the pipeline are federally funded, there is a certain protocol they need to follow,” said Trish Nelson of the Nebraska Historical Society. “Archeological sites are preserved mainly because they are a non-renewable resource.”
Nelson said prehistoric sites are protected and exact locations not disclosed because the historical society wants to prevent vandalism. The sites are noted and usually covered up again. Only in certain cases is there a further excavation of artifacts.
Normally, if a road or pipeline is planned and a historical site such as this is discovered, the area is excavated. The first option would be to design a different route.
“But the site south of Hartington was too large to negotiate a route around,” said archeologist Terry Steinacker of Nebraska’s Fort Robinson State Park.
From a preliminary management report, Steinacker said the site has been identified as a prehistoric site that dates back to the Woodland period. This period is set from 1 A.D. to 900 A.D. and it is possible this site is 1,500-2,000 years old. This would be a time before Euro-American occupation in the Midwest.
Interestingly, the landowner remembered a rock with writing on it was located in a pasture he now owns. Before he purchased the property, the rock was moved to the University in Lincoln and now it sets outside the Elephant Hall at the museum.
Osborn said the rock has petroglyphs on it, which are hand prints that the prehistoric peoples carved out of the rock. The writing either marked a tribal territory or movement across the countryside.
For more, see http://www.yankton.net/articles/2009/07/06/community/doc4a51747f5907a722886166.txt.
Hartington is in Cedar County Nebraska, and here is a very Rough approximation of the location where the village was found.
The Nebraska State Museum's "Elephant Hall", where the petroglyph rock may now be seen.
[ This message was edited by: bat400 on 2009-08-02 22:25 ]
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 02-08-2009 at 22:19
More on the Hartington, Nebraska, Woodland era village. Submitted by coldrum ---
Digging archaeology along the Keystone pipeline
It's no secret that long before white settlers arrived in Siouxland, the area had been home for hundreds of years to American Indians. They first settled here, established small settlements and villages and lived off the land. But you can't just walk around and find much physical evidence of those long-ago cultures anymore. Given findings earlier this year at Dennis Arens Sr.'s farm, you have to wonder how much of that history lies hidden beneath our feet.
Since 1961, Arens has tilled, planted and harvested crops around his farm southwest of Hartington. In all that time, it's hard to imagine how many times his tractor has passed over what was unearthed in April, when TransCanada Keystone pipeline archaeologists discovered a small village 6-10 feet beneath the surface of one of Arens' fields. Arens had never seen any clues that such a site existed on his land.
"How those guys found it, I have no idea," he said.
During archaeological surveys last fall, archaeologists found evidence that something was down there. As construction began this spring on the Keystone oil pipeline, which is running through Cedar and Wayne counties in northeast Nebraska, workers found a small piece of pottery and some arrowheads.
After consulting with state and federal agencies, TransCanada workers spent the next two weeks excavating the site. In addition to the artifacts, they found about 30 holes of 3-4 feet in diameter. They were burn holes, used for cooking over fire. It's estimated the settlement was 1,200-2,000 years old.
"I was surprised it was there," Arens said. "I couldn't believe all the small circles that were there." But after thinking about it, it made sense. Two creeks run nearby, providing a steady water source. "It was a perfect site," Arens said.
Once satisfied that the site had been excavated and all artifacts removed, workers covered it back up. After consulting with the proper state and federal authorities, TransCanada Keystone project representative Jeff Rauh said, the company decided that the pipeline route would not be altered and it would run over the site, which again is deep beneath the surface.
No human remains were found at the site. All artifacts were sent to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to be analyzed and documented. Once university officials are done with them, Arens can have them back. Since he doesn't really know what all was recovered from his land, Arens said he'll probably ask for the artifacts to satisfy his curiosity. He might give them to the museum in Hartington to display.
For hundreds of years, those artifacts and evidence of the settlement were hidden. It only seems to make sense that they be put somewhere so we can appreciate the history of the area, perhaps gain insight into the lifestyle of those who were here before us.
For more, see the Sioux City Journal.
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 03-08-2009 at 03:04
Archaeological dig finds ancient First Nations camp in A
Submitted by coldrum ---
A look at life thousands of years ago is being revealed west of Calgary.
An archeological dig has found all kinds of items from an ancient First Nations camp. The find was made during prep work for the upgrade to Highway 1A. The area is near the turnoff to Bow Valley Provincial Park.
The dig is underway just north of Hector Lake near the Stoney Nakota Lodge. Norm Rider says he always wanted to be an archeologist, and now has the opportunity in his own back yard. He's one of a handful of locals hired for this excavation. He's found arrow heads, stone tools, and buffalo bones. "Most of the stuff we do dig up in a traditional sense is supposed to stay in the ground, but I kind of look beyond that and see the knowledge we can gather for everybody else here for everybody else to see."
Archeologist consultants with Bison Historical Services were hired for this project. The province's Heritage Resource Act requires an impact assessment to be done before the road is built.
Sean Goldsmith says there are six dig sites where people were living in prehistoric times before Europeans came to North America. They are finding items here ranging from 200 to 7,000 years old. "Even though the things we are digging up here aren't the remains of my own cultural ancestors, it's all part of the human story. It tells us about how people lived in the past."
This archaeological dig is expected to continue throughout the summer, and Alberta Transportation hopes to start construction on the new Highway 1A in 2010. All the artifacts will go to the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton.
For more, see calgary.ctv.ca.
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 22-10-2009 at 04:47
Submitted by coldrum.
Piqua Shawnee wants Ohio mound protected from wind farm. Tribal Elder Uses 1914 Archaeological Text to Locate Mound.
Indian tribe says plans to build a commercial wind farm in western Ohio pose a threat to an ancient burial mound and the state should put a barrier around it to keep it from being disturbed.
The Piqua Shawnee Tribe asked that the mound be protected in a motion it filed with the Ohio Power Siting Board regarding EverPower Wind Holdings Inc.'s proposal to build the 70-turbine farm near Urbana. (General location: http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=40.157928&lon=-83.596932&z=9.3&r=0&src=msl) />
Gene Park, an elder of the Alabama-based Shawnees and an agent for the tribe in Ohio, said Monday there are six Indian mounds in the Urbana area that were constructed thousands of years ago by the Shawnee's ancestors. One of the mounds is on the site proposed for the wind farm, Park said. He said he identified it based on a book published in 1914 by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.
"I went up and checked it out, and it was the exact site as indicated," Park said. "It's a humongous mound, and it's covered with trees."
Park said the tribe is convinced it is a burial mound, and people who live nearby tell him that artifacts have been discovered there over the past 30 years. "Nobody said anything about any bones, but we know they are there," Park said. He said the tribe plans to further research the matter and present its findings to the board later this month.
Michael Speerschneider, director of development for EverPower, said the company has looked at all the known archaeological resources in the area. "We feel like we've taken care to identify those structures and avoid them. We understand and respect those resources," Speerschneider said. "We are aware of a mound in that area. We don't have any plans to disturb that mound."
A few hundred acres of land will be disturbed by construction of the turbines, which will be up to 490 feet tall.
EverPower says the farm will provide Ohio with nonpolluting energy and boost the state's economy, creating hundreds of jobs and possibly generating a billion dollars in economic activity throughout the region.
The Piqua Shawnee are officially recognized by the state of Alabama as a tribe and have members living in Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Maryland and South Carolina.
Park said he is concerned that the mound will be destroyed by construction of the wind farm.
"I'm not upset about turbines, but they dig great big holes and pour concrete. They have to have an enormous amount of concrete," Park said. They are going to have earth-movers messing the whole place up." Park said the tribe wants the state to erect some sort of barrier around the mound to protect it. "We don't want our ancestors dug up," he said.
For more, see the AP article at: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20091012&id=10484856
[ This message was edited by: bat400 on 2009-10-22 04:53 ]
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 22-10-2009 at 05:00
Submitted by coldrum --
Edmonton archeological dig uncovers old campsite and possibly . . . soup.
An archeologist has discovered in Edmonton an intact 2,000- year-old campsite with enough detail to even guess at the recipe the ancient people used for their soup.
The black circle of ash, scattered bison bone fragments and chipped rock doesn’t count as a major scientific discovery, said Gareth Spicer, principal archeologist with Calgary-based Turtle Island Cultural Resource Management. But the site has enough diverse elements to tell a story about the lives of a small group of people who camped by the river for several days.
“You don’t get that very often,” Spicer said. “All the pieces fell together here. It was purely by luck we didn’t backhoe out the entire hearth.”
The five-day dig happened last May. Spicer said based on the evidence found at the site, a small family group likely camped at the spot for a couple of days before moving on. At the time, it was right on the edge of the river, and the pollen record shows it was surrounded by currant shrubs, chokecherry and roses.
He found a broken spear point and more than 150 small sandstone and quartzite fragments, each about the size of a fist, scattered around blackened earth.
The fragments show signs of being heated in a fire, then cracking as they were dumped in cold water – a technique many cultures used to boil water before they had clay pottery or metal pans, says Spicer.
If people were camping in one place for a longer time, they would dig a pit and line it to make a large bowl, then boil water and render the fat from bison bones to make pemmican.
The cracked rocks were discarded if they were too small. Spicer sent several away for testing. Traces of pronghorn, rabbit, whitefish and trout, wild onion and sunflower were found on the rocks, but not in the soil around them, indicating the residue is like from a soup.
To find the age of the fire, Spicer turned to fragments of several buffalo ribs and a leg bone that were found nearby at the same depth in the soil. He sent them to a lab for radio carbon dating and got dates back of 2010 and 2030 before present.
For more, see the
http://www.kelowna.com/2009/10/13/edmonton-archeological-dig-uncovers-old-campsite-and-possibly-soup/
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 25-10-2009 at 06:35
Submitted by coldrum--
A striking find by an 8-year-old boy proves [Tampa Florida] was an active hunting ground after the last ice age.
When a public works crew was replacing a storm sewer line on Joyce Street and First Avenue N last month, Jordan Emmett, a budding archaeologist, went to have a look.
"I saw a red thing sticking up and I brought it home,'' he said.
At first, his grandfather, Mike Emmett, said he thought it was a piece of plastic.
But the red thing turned out to be a roughly 5,000-year-old spear point made by the seminomadic middle archaic people before the Egyptians began building pyramids. The well-preserved tool was formed out of reddish agatized coral that turned into flint 450 million years ago. It's a little over 2 inches long and weighs about 0.6 ounces.
"It's known as part of the Newnan cluster of projectile points,'' said James Dwyer, curator of archaeology for the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History.
Jordan's discovery comes almost exactly one year after a city worker found a spear point between 6,000 and 8,000 years old at the Marshall Street Park across from Joyce Street where he lives.
Dwyer said Jordan's spear point was used to hunt small game, such as rabbits, deer and raccoons.
"It's still sharp,'' Jordan said, tracing the side of the weapon with his finger.
If you'd like to have a look, both objects are on display at the museum. If you ask, officials will let you hold it up to the light, and when you do, it's possible to see tiny fossils inside.
"Jordan put it on permanent loan for us,'' said Bobbie Davidson, the museum's director of operations.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article1026848.ece
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 27-10-2009 at 04:17
Chance of ancient burial ground halts Louisiana Causeway floodwall project. Submitted by coldrum ---
There are new tribal concerns that American Indian ancestral bones could be under Lake Pontchartrain where dredging would occur during proposed floodwall construction beneath Causeway Boulevard (see http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=30.019325&lon=-90.153056&z=12.2&r=0&src=msl). It is the second cultural red flag raised in the past two months as the Army Corps of Engineers evaluates how, if approved, the floodwall work would affect people and their environments.
The lengthy evaluation process is required by federal law and must be finished before property can be acquired and a construction contract can be awarded for the project, which is already months behind schedule.
The first case involves a request for the corps to consider sparing the historical Lake Pontchatrain Causeway canopy that has stood sentry over the bridge's south end for decades. And most recently, the agency was asked to consider and plan for the possibility that ancient human remains may be buried where the lake dredging is proposed just off the Metairie lakefront.
Both concerns now top the list of final issues that must be resolved before the corps can finalize a plan to provide so-called 100-year flood protection for the northernmost tip of Causeway Boulevard at the lake. A corps official said he's far more concerned about the time it may take to resolve issues involving the canopy, nearby Causeway Commission buildings and relocation compensation than it will to reach an agreement with tribal authorities.
"There is a clear path there to move forward, and we're prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to be respectful and address their concerns, " said Gib Owen, corps chief of econoligcal planning and restoration. "Tribes are sovereign nations, and we take their concerns seriously."
Owen said an obvious resolution could include having an archeologist and-or tribal representative standing by to recover, for reburial, any remains that might be unearthed during dredging tentatively planned along both sides of the bridge.
"We can't say that human remains are there, " said Ken Carleton, archeologist for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw. "But there is potential for remains to be buried in the lake bottom where the corps is looking at digging trenches."
Historians have documented the existence of American Indian middens, or mounds of mainly discarded oyster shells, along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain and other state water bodies. The structures were often linear and followed a shoreline or watercourse and were sometimes big enough and high enough to be inhabited and to hold a tribe's dead.
"It's almost a given that where there's a shell midden, there are human remains," Carleton said.
Although most middens have been destroyed by erosion, shell dredging, basin dredging, shoreline construction and other human activities in the past 100 years, evidence of three middens along the east Jefferson lakefront were documented in the early 20th century.
None of them were in the immediate Causeway area where floodwall construction is now proposed, although corps archeologist Mike Swanda said one was within a half-mile of the bridge.
"But that doesn't really matter because we know that they lived all along the shoreline, " Swanda said.
As middens degraded over time, Carleton said, the remains of those interred within could wash out and into adjacent water bodies, as he said was discovered happening several years ago on the Lake Borgne shoreline in St. Bernard. "We stepped out of the boat and there were human remains at our feet, " he said.
By the same token, had there been a midden in the Causeway area, remains could have washed into the sites now targeted for dredging just offshore.
"This is a sensitive issue; these are the remains of tribal ancestors, " he said. "These are peoples' grandmothers. And even when remains are thousands of years old, it's still of concern to us that the dead be properly treated."
He estimates that any bones from lakefront middens would probably be from 500 to 2,000 years old.
Two ways out
Swanda said the corps has done various types of testing in efforts to identify archeological sites along the entire east Jefferson lakefront, following a plan that he said was laid out in advance for the state Historical Preservation Office and some tribal representatives. "We did everything we could, everything we could think of," he said. "But Carleton's concerns are valid because some things are just so difficult -- like surveying to find remains in the lake -- that you can never be 100 percent sure."
Carleton said he sees only two basic alternatives.
The corps can send an underwater archeologist down in advance of construction to try and find evidence of remains. Or, he said, the corps can skip the survey and make plans for examination and recovery as part of the dredging operation.
"The corps has done really, really well at avoiding potential sites until now, " Carleton said. "And it's never our intent to stop or slow a project, but the graves of tribal ancestors is a very high priority for us."
For more, see, http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2009/08/chance_of_ancient_burial_groun.html
Profile
Reply
|
bat400
Joined:
10-04-2006
Messages: 1332
from South Central Indiana, US
OFF-Line
| Posted 10-11-2009 at 04:30
Submitted by coldrum---
Jackson County officials uncovered prehistoric artifacts during an archaeological study last week near County Road E-17 east of Andrew.
Officials found stone tools and other prehistoric items thought to have been from 1500 B.C. The county is determining if the discovery will alter plans to replace the 20-foot-wide bridge with a 30-foot span over Brush Creek, located one mile east of Andrew.
Federal funds will cover 80 percent of the estimated $800,000 it will cost for the bridge replacement.
Source: http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=260449
Aprox Location: http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=42.153407&lon=-90.585272&z=7.9&r=0&src=msl
Profile
Reply
| |
| Go to Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|
|
|
|
|
IMPORTANT NOTES: This site uses COOKIES. Please do not use this web site if you do not agree to our Terms and Conditions of use.
If you plan to visit ancient sites in person, please make sure you follow our Charter.
Articles, photographs and comments are the property of their respective authors or contributors, please contact them for permission to reproduce. Site design ©1997-2012 Andy Burnham.
|
Main News