Thanks .
Davis holds a boulder chip. [Image by Robert Woolsey]
Posted on 08/02/2011 7:38:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An anthropologist has found what she believes are stone tools in a street excavation in downtown Sitka. The finds -- if they are confirmed -- could help shed light on Paleolithic humans who either lived in, or passed through, the region... "It's a simple tool where you have a certain kind of rock, and you drop that rock on another rock and a flake comes off. And if it's nice and sharp along there you'll use it for a while. You grip it like that -- use it as a skin scraper, or for whatever you're scraping. Then, when it gets worn out, you throw it away," says Nancy Yaw Davis, an anthropologist by trade, and an archaeologist by coincidence. She's standing next to a trench in Sitka's Monastery Street, about a block from her home. The rock, called a "boulder chip" is absolutely unremarkable... Next she shows me a stone point, called a "biface." ...Davis honed her eye for stone tools working for years in the Cook Inlet area. She holds a Master's degree from the University of Chicago, and a Doctorate from the University of Washington. She's the author of numerous publications, including a major book exploring connections between prehistoric cultures in Japan and the Americas called "The Zuni Enigma." ...River meandering, glacial rebound, volcanic activity, and dramatic sea level changes have all affected the landform. Close to where Davis found the possible stone tools is what appears to be a deposit of beach cobble. It could be an ancient river beach, or it could be fill from previous sewer work. Because this site has been disturbed many times, it doesn't really matter. In archaeology, as in real estate, it's sometimes location, location, location.
(Excerpt) Read more at kcaw.org ...
Davis holds a boulder chip. [Image by Robert Woolsey]
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Paleolithic
Noun 1. Paleolithic — second part of the Stone Age beginning about 750,00 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age about 8,500 years BC
Palaeolithic, Paleolithic Age
Stone Age — (archeology) the earliest known period of human culture, characterized by the use of stone implements
Lower Paleolithic — the oldest part of the Paleolithic Age with the emergence of the hand ax; ended about 120,000 years ago
Middle Paleolithic — the time period of Neanderthal man; ended about 35,000 years BC
Upper Paleolithic — the time period during which only modern Homo sapiens was known to have existed; ended about 10,000 years BC
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Early visitors to Alaska had sewers?
Built well too!
If there just now needing repair....
They also had wireless internet. That’s why you can’t find any wires.
Interesting. I have a Neanderthal hand axe in my collection.
It's fun to have such things around for the guests. Growing up my folks used an ancient Indian grind stone as a door stop.
If you read past the headlines it spoils all of the fun.
(learning to be liberal)
I totally agree!
No wonder we have global warming, hey didn't recycle.
“It’s a simple tool where you have a certain kind of rock, and you drop that rock on another rock and a flake comes off.”
That’s the extent of my knapping skill. My boy wanted to try skinning an elk with such a chip, so I banged on an obsidian nodule until I got a large comfortable chip with one incredible razor edge. And did that thing ever slice and skin an elk! It would run up the inside of a leg faster than a knife.
Of course then he wanted some points for the longbow I made him. That was embarrassing. We did manage to get one that was roughly triangular, with one extra side, and he was satisfied to see it on his cedar arrow.
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