Digging for History at the Williams Creek Campground (Crater Lake - Mt. Mazama)

KEZI.com ^ | 11/17/2009 | Lindsey Do

[JimSEA]

ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Mount Mazama's catastrophic volcanic eruption created Crater Lake over 7,600 years ago. But it also created a sort of time capsule for Oregon scientists.

Now researchers from the Umpqua National Forest and the Oregon State Museum of Anthropology are digging in. This Passport in Time project actually started last summer, but was put on hold after the Williams Creek fire broke out in July. Now dozens of volunteers and researchers are back to unearth Oregon's history. These archaeologists spend hours sifting and digging, all in hopes of finding something ancient.

"We're looking for artifacts that will demonstrate what the people were doing, how they were living, what they were hunting and what they were fishing," said Debra Barner, Umpqua National Forest Heritage Program Manager. With this dig, archaeologists hope to piece together Oregon's history before the historic eruption of Mount Mazama. They're focusing on how people lived here at the confluence of Williams Creek and the North Umpqua River. While this site is just feet away from the river, fishing seems the most likely activity, but scientists say the real answers lie underground.

The Williams Creek campground is one of just ten pre-Mazama sites on the Umpqua National Forest, and researchers say its age is part of what makes it so significant and the finds so exciting.

The dig is scheduled to be completed by Friday, but the research is just beginning. Archaeologists will soon analyze soil samples for organic materials to piece together the lives and diets of ancient Oregonians.

[JimSEA]

It will be interesting to read the report of findings.

[JimSEA]

Might be of interest to you.

[Lockbar]

Those rocks look interesting.....

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Have they found any actual artifacts ?

[dog breath]

I was wondering, have they actually found a site of interest?

[JimSEA]

Yes but they are not spectacular (points, scrapers, etc.) also, the outline of a dwelling and a fire pit. They are not releasing much (I have spoken to a ranger who works in the area.) Soil analysis and similar tests will tell how they lived. One always wonders if they were able to escape the explosion. Likely not considering the ash spread visible in the ground today.

[SunkenCiv]

Mount Mazama's catastrophic volcanic eruption created Crater Lake over 7,600 years ago.

Thanks JimSEA!

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[SunkenCiv]

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[blam]

May be these people?

Early (Ancient) Hair Sample Raises Questions

""We came out with a dirt clod and inside the dirt clod was a human hair 14 inches long," she said. "It was so old there was no pigment."

"While scientists have yet to determine its age, the layer of soil it was in dates back 11,000 to 12,000 years."