10000-Year-Old Tools Found Under Peat Tells Story About The Last Ice Age

To clear the way for construction near a mall, an archaeological survey was carried out during which thousands of stone tools crafted at least 10,000 years ago have been unearthed. Foods that tested positive for what these ancient people were eating include bison, deer, bear, sheep, and salmon. The discovery of salmon bones also indicated that the fish has been migrating upstream for at least the last 10 millennia. He added further that the site was very good for setting up a camp as the people could use it in the form of a central location to go out fishing and hunting and engage in making and gathering the stone tools. In addition to the tools used for feasting, the researchers discovered a number of other unusual tools as well, including spear points with a concave base. He and his team discovered ancient tools and fragments under the site. Until now, only remains of ancient animals were found.

“Where Bear Creek fits into this complexity is a major focus of our research”, scientists wrote in a new paper on their findings, published earlier this summer in the journal PaleoAmerica.

The findings then were an unremarkable assortment of artifacts, reported archaeologist Robert Kopperl of SWCA Environmental Consultants, who led the field investigations.

What began as routine construction for a shopping mall near Seattle has turned into a major archaeological find. The discovery seems important from the archaeological perspective since there are only a few sites in and around Seattle that have yielded objects dating back to 10,000 years.

As a matter of fact, the bodies of water in the area appear to have been used by the early Native American settlers in a manner similar to how it is being utlilized at present, said Allyson Brooks, from the Washington State Historic Preservation Office. Below this peat layer, another wealth of tools and fragments were discovered later. A place they described as centralized making it easy to hunt, fish, and gather and make new tools from stone.

The tools were found to be unusually well-preserved due to a layer of peat that had assembled over the site during the years. Once analyzed, the artifacts will be returned to the Muckleshoot Tribe to be curated, since the items most likely belonged to their ancestors. “Upon completion of our now ongoing analyses, the site will contribute significantly to our knowledge of the range of LPH technological traditions and human-environmental interactions in the region”.