Posted on 07/13/2007 1:10:32 PM PDT by Daffynition
ROSEVILLE An amazing discovery has been unearthed in Placer County. Amazing because of its history significance....and amazing because of how it was found. Archaeologist did not carefully unearth the 8,000 to 10,000 year old artifact, but it appears some curious squirrels dug it up.
And now, folks at the Maidu Indian Interpretive Center are trying to preserve what the squirrels unearthed. The center allows people to learn how Native Americans lived thousands of years ago. And it was here that the squirrels made their find in what could be called an ancient compost pile.
"You can see where little tiny flakes have been knocked off to sharpen this or to give it a certain shape." explained Cultural Interpreter Rick Adams who stumbled up the unearthed artifact along the Maidu Nature Trail. It's a carefully carved tool or ceremonially object dating back an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 years. Experts say it appears to be partially volcanic and may have originated in the Rancho Murietta area about 20 miles from where it was discovered.
"We only find what the squirrels are giving us right now. And that's OK. We don't want to dig." said Park Specialist Chuck Kritzon.
While the officials running the Maidu Center know there are probably more artifacts in the park, it is illegally for humans to dig them up on the protected land.
You know, I’m not a grammar ‘nazi’, but man it really gets to me when news writers can’t do a better job than this. Where are they getting these people, or perhaps more importantly, where are these people getting their journalism degrees??? These kinds of mistakes are rampant, and it’s pretty pathetic IMHO -- especially when you consider everyone is using computers now with SPELLCHECK!!!
Step aside
No, as I'm pretty sure they're all dead by now.
However, they are probably mostly descended from them.
LOL ... I was thinking that perhaps the editor was on vacation.
squirrel ping
ping
Finally found a little more info ... and it does look like a squirrel skinner!
A probable 8,000 to 10,000 year old flaked stone butchering tool was found at the Maidu Indian Historic Site and museum in Roseville. The strikingly colorful tool was unearthed by ground squirrel activity. Based on the wishes of the museum’s Nisenan Cultural Advisor, Rick Adams, the artifact will be reburied following further study. The cutting tool was dated by retired CSUS archeologist Dr. Jerry Johnson by comparing the artifact’s stone to previously dated items of the same material.
Native Heritage Camps next week offer children the opportunity to view the artifact and experience the lifeways of the local Nisenan culture. Call the Maidu Interpretive Center at 916-774-5934 for more information.
The Maidu Interpretive Center is located on a Nisenan Maidu Indian village site that was occupied for at least 8,000 years. Its rich cultural legacy is demonstrated by the hundreds of bedrock mortar holes and a series of ancient petroglyphs on the site. The museum showcases the daily life of the Maidu, and an outdoor trail highlights the many connections the Maidu had with the land.
Yes...yes...
Nah. Read this:
"The oldest human remains found in the Americas were recently "discovered" in the storeroom of Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology. Found in central Mexico in 1959, the five skulls were radiocarbon dated by a team of researchers from the United Kingdom and Mexico and found to be 13,000 years old. They pre-date the Clovis culture by a couple thousand years, adding to the growing evidence against the Clovis-first model for the first peopling of the Americas.
"Of additional significance is the shape of the skulls, which are described as long and narrow, very unlike those of modern Native Americans."
Clever little devils even know that the law doesn't apply to them.
And hundreds of years from today someone will be giving guided tours of pristine archeology sites turned into historical landmarks because they were so revered in the 21st century that their contents are still unknown.
Unless squirrels tipped them off in the meantime.
LOL!
OMG!
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