‘Tantalizing’ discovery of ancient tool in Oregon prompts ‘extreme skepticism’

washingtonpost.com ^ | Sarah Larimer

[BenLurkin]

“The discovery of this tool below a layer of undisturbed ash that dates to 15,800 years old means that this tool is likely more than 15,800 years old, which would suggest the oldest human occupation west of the Rockies,” U.S. Bureau of Land Management Burns District archaeologist Scott Thomas said in the release.

But! Don’t get too excited, because the Associated Press spoke with Donald K. Grayson, a professor of archaeology at the University of Washington, and he didn’t seem completely sold on the find just yet.

[gundog]

I think “Rock of the Westies” is more applicable.

[Zeneta]

I think “Rock of the Westies” is more applicable

---

That is fricken hilarious !!!!1

[ForYourChildren]

Before Art Bell retired the show was called coasttocoastam this is the website also. Art searched and tried a number of replacements and settled on Goerge Noory. Art used to show up and do the weekend shows for a while.

[Salvation]

Remember — it’s Oregon.

[Vermont Lt]

I think it would come in on the wild card line....

[Salvation]

If you would like more information about what's happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me.

I lost my Oregon list when my computer crashed last year, so please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.

[Zeneta]

I actually liked Noory over Bell.

Admittedly I only caught the tail end of Art Bell, but Noory seemed to have a better radio voice. Silky smooth introductions of topics and guests that put the hook in.

He could introduce characters that had just enough charisma to be considered credible. Awesome stuff.

All crap, but really well done.

[Tailback]

Huh, just going from memory, in my archeology class in community college, there were woven sandals dated older than this found at Ft. Rock? IIRC. This was in 1993 so my memory may be incorrect. My teacher/professor was a very well known West Coast archeologist/anthropologist. At the time I was in his class the tool records indicated humans being in North America at around 45,000 years ago.

[bigmak007]

The Oregon Desert. Best.Book.Ever.
The 10,000 year old sandals were found on Reub Long's Ranch.

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

[tumblindice]

Viejo Juan McCain has an ancient tool.

[Tailback]

Only 10,000 years old? My bad, I thought they were older than that. That’s what you get from trying to remember a college class from 1993.

[nickcarraway]

I always knew there were a lot of tools in Oregon.

[Tailback]

You can do better than that. Usually you are very funny but that one fell pretty short.

[nickcarraway]

Well, thanks. Everyone has an off night. Just jokin’. If it helps, the tools were probably from, California and move to Oregon.

[blam]

"Huh, just going from memory, in my archeology class in community college, there were woven sandals dated older than this found at Ft. Rock? IIRC. This was in 1993 so my memory may be incorrect. My teacher/professor was a very well known West Coast archeologist/anthropologist. At the time I was in his class the tool records indicated humans being in North America at around 45,000 years ago."

I can get you there if you want to go. (ahem)

Calico: A 200,000-year Old Site In The Americas?

"The classic "ancient site" in the New World is "Calico," located in the Central Mojave Desert of California (Shlemon and Budinger, 1990). Two issues have dogged acceptance of Calico by mainstream archaeologists: (1) the authenticity of the artifacts; are they truly the product of human manufacture, or merely naturally produced "geofacts?" and (2) the obvious pre-Clovis age of the deposits (see, for example, lengthy discussions in Leakey and others, 1968; Haynes, 1973; Bryan, 1978; Taylor and Payen, 1975; Carter, 1980; Meighen, 1983; Patterson, 1983; and Budinger and Simpson, 1985)."

Ancient Hearths Test Carbon Dating (Humans In Brazil 56K+ Years Ago)

"Out of seven Pedra Furada charcoal samples scientists took from the hearth structures in the deepest layers, five were beyond the limit of the ABOX technique itself, returning ages greater than 56,000 years, the report said. Analysis of the final two samples gave finite ages of 53,000 and 55,000 years."

Alleged 40,000-Year-Old Human Footprints In Mexico Much, Much Older Than Thought

"Berkeley -- Alleged footprints of early Americans found in volcanic rock in Mexico are either extremely old - more than 1 million years older than other evidence of human presence in the Western Hemisphere - or not footprints at all, according to a new analysis published this week in Nature. "

[Pelham]

"I miss Art. "

Don't despair. This was posted on Facebook today:

"Art Bell, People Who Love Art Bell"

"Hi all, I wanted to come up here and say hi to all, the deal to get back on the air is close to closing. It has been a long hard fight but we are now close."

"The new show will be called Midnight in the Desert and will kick off in late July. I will be asking everybody to help with a Social Media blitz and I mean by posting it everywhere both in the U.S. And beyond, but not yet. I will let you know when the time is right and for now it is simply too early. Thank you all for your support through the tough times."

[21twelve]

Thanks for the news. I’ll have to look him up on my facebook account. (I use an alias - is that dumb? The last thing I need is a bunch of people friending me!)

[Tailback]

Cool stuff dude. Back then the oldest stuff found was some bone tools in Alaska. I’m sure there’s crazy older stuff that’s been found since 1993.

I love this stuff, can’t get enough. Bring it on!

[Pelham]

“I use an alias - is that dumb? “

That’s the same thing I do. I think that makes us criminals.

[blam]

"I love this stuff, can’t get enough. Bring it on!"

One of my favorites for the Americas:

Bye, Bye Beringia (8,000 Year Old Site In Florida)

"The Windover Site at Titusville, Florida 4,500 miles to the South and East of Beringia is the Windover Archaeology site. One of the so-called roving bands of hunters settled there to live. At Windover, more ancient human remains were discovered than the total of all others found previously in the New World, and they were the oldest. The Windover site produced the largest and oldest group of human remains, and most complete insight of an ancient culture ever found.

"*90 intact human brains that include the oldest DNA samples in the World.
*Artifacts of wood, bone, and seed that were made into jewelry and tools, providing insight into the ancient peoples' lives.
*Tests showed the oldest skeletons were buried 8,100 years ago. The youngest was placed in the ground 6,900 years ago. "To put this into context," Doran said, "these people had already been dead for 3,000 or 4,000 years before the first stones were laid for the Egyptian pyramids!"