13,000-year-old tools unearthed at Colorado home

news.yahoo ^ | Thu Feb 26 | ALYSIA PATTERSON

[JoeProBono]

Landscapers were digging a hole for a fish pond in the front yard of a Boulder home last May when they heard a "chink" that didn't sound right. Just some lost tools. Some 13,000-year-old lost tools. They had stumbled onto a cache of more than 83 ancient tools buried by the Clovis people — ice age hunter-gatherers who remain a puzzle to anthropologists. The home's owner, Patrick Mahaffy, thought they were only a century or two old before contacting researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder. "My jaw just dropped," said CU anthropologist Douglas Bamforth, who is leading a study of the find. "Boulder is a densely populated area. And in the midst of all that to find this cache."

[JoeProBono]

This photo release by the University of Colorado on Feb. 26, 2009, shows Douglas Bamforth, Anthropology professor for the University of Colorado at Boulder, left, and Patrick Mahaffy, show a portion of more than 80 artfiacts unearthed about two feet below Mahaffy's Boulder's front yard

[txroadkill]

Ping

[vetvetdoug]

Doesn't the Book of Mormon refer to these people?

[JoeProBono]

[padre35]

Hmm...Made in America by (ab)original Americans...

[No Truce With Kings]

Jeeze — and I thought they must have spotted Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd out in Colorado.

[George Smiley]

My kids ALWAYS leave tools where they’re not supposed to.

:-)

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[George Smiley]

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

[padre35]

Thousands of years later, that edge is still sharp enough to perform minor surgery with....that is amazing.

[Mr. Mojo]

Biochemical analysis of blood and other protein residue revealed the tools were used to butcher camels, horses, sheep and bears. That proves that the Clovis people ate more than just woolly mammoth meat for dinner

I would hope so -- all Mammoth all the time would be a drag.

Camels? I knew the camel family originated in N. America about 40 - 45 MYA, but thought they left (for both Asia and So. America) some 2 - 3 MYA. Looks like at least one type (perhaps llamas) stayed around a lot longer.

[Dinsdale]

Have they torn down Mahaffy’s house looking for more yet?

He’s going to be asked to move, not get paid for years if ever etc.

Nightmare scenario.

If it happens to you, box them up and sell them at a rock show for whatever those thieves will give you. Notify no authority or you are FUBAR.

[JoeProBono]

American Camel

[Texas Songwriter]

The genus Tanupolama was Pleistocene (Late). If you look carefully at the photograph you see a Scotts-Bluff point, noted for being used to kill the giant Bison and the Clovis point noted to being used with either of the elephants. It is interesting to note that the workmanship 10,000 years ago was far superior to that of 1,000 years ago. One needed good, reliable tools to go up against a Bison or Mammoth or large Tanupolama.

[jwparkerjr]

re: 13,000-year-old tools unearthed at Colorado home

We built a house once. I know how the owners feel. At least they have a finished house.

Our contractor went belly-up, after collecting over 90 percent of our money, and left us with a house that was about 30 percent complete. He had not filed a notice of commencement and had not paid a single supplier or sub-contractor. What a mess. Thankfully we had good counsel who realized the builder could be charged with grand theft. Amazing how fast he found a certified check for the money to complete the house. That was 30 years ago, we still live in and enjoy the house.

[Eagle Eye]

Kinda neat.

Probably some old Clovis tribal chiefs threatened to disarm the people and so they made their stash LOL!

[Quix]

WOW.

Sure a lot of hours spent making those tools.

Have you ever tried to make one?

Takes a lot of careful doing.

I’ve never made a complete even arrowhead . . . but I’ve chipped enough to know how to do it.

[Chickensoup]

13,000-year-old tools unearthed at Colorado home

probably still waiting for the contractor to return

[JoeProBono]

Gotta clean mine up a bit

[JoeProBono]

"Have you ever tried to make one?"

Nah. Smart arrows are in vogue.No chipping involved.

[Quix]

LOL.

So, who are your Sherpas carrying the bag of arrows?

[JoeProBono]

Sherpas carry anything including housing:-}

[blam]

"Probably some old Clovis tribal chiefs threatened to disarm the people and so they made their stash LOL!"

They may find one of mine one day too, ahem.

[Quix]

WOW.

Here’s some links on making stone tools:

http://www.geocities.com/knappersanonymous/press.html

FLINTKNAPPING FUNDAMENTALS:

http://www.geocities.com/knappersanonymous/howto.html

GROUND STONE TOOLS

http://www.geocities.com/knappersanonymous/ground.html

SILENT STONES SECRETS OF EARLY SURVIVAL:

http://www.geocities.com/knappersanonymous/jes.html

[Eagle Eye]

But I’m sure it will take another 13,000 years.

[SunkenCiv]

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[Pharmboy]

ping

[SunkenCiv]

Whoop! Sorry! Thanks txroadkill.

[Ken H]

Good luck to whoever tries to find the gold coins I've got buried.

And just to make sure, I've got a sign over the spot that says, "There is NO gold buried here".

[uglybiker]

Evidence that once, a very long time ago, intelligent life existed in Boulder.

[combat_boots]

home run!

[Mike Darancette]

The Clovis points are stunning workmanship. But one day the Clovis People and many of the large animals they ate just went away.

[gleeaikin]

They probably did not “just go away”.

SunkenCiv has repeatedly posted the book by Firestone, et al, about a giant extraterrestrial air burst that probably destroyed the Clovis culture, killed most of the large mammals so that they went extinct not long afterward, and created the Carolina Bays. It is fascinating reading, and I am inclined to believe the hypothesis.

[Steve Van Doorn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_Dryas_impact_event

[Mike Darancette]

I am inclined to believe the hypothesis.

I read the book and that is exactly I meant. Even though the three strike theory beginning 41kya is a bit convoluted it is obvious that something really bad happened 13kya which quickly removed Clovis Man and the mega fauna from the scene.