Workers Find Signs Of 7,500-Year-Old Civilization While Building Water Plant (Mass.)

Herald Tribune ^ | 1-23-2004 | AP

[blam]

Workers find signs of 7,500-year-old civilization while building water plant

The Associated Press

NORWELL, Mass. -- The discovery of a possible American Indian settlement as much as 7,500 years old has halted work on a new water treatment plant.

Workers have found about 38 tools and stone chips used for making and repairing tools, as well as a hearth and a storage pit, at the site on South Street near Third Herring Brook.

Lauren J. Cook, senior archaeologist on the team that surveyed the area, said it was unusual to find "features" of civilizations, like the hearth and the stone pit, so early in their survey.

"The site has, as we say, integrity. There are portions of the site beneath the surface that are not disturbed," Cook told The Patriot Ledger of Quincy. "It's pretty clear to us that one thing this site offers, because of the hearth, the possibility of radiocarbon dating, which can help to better define the period."

The tools are characteristic of the Late Archaic and Middle Archaic periods of the Holocene Epoch, and are between 3,000 to 7,500 years old, Cook said.

Artifacts from the Late Archaic period have been found in Norwell before.

"It was quite a thrill to touch and handle something a human hand had been holding 7,000 years ago in his or her hand," said Norwell water superintendent John McInnis, who was at the site when the artifacts were removed.

McInnis said that the treatment plant would be moved to another water department-owned site nearby.

Archaeologists will excavate some portions of the new site, as well as continue their surveys on the original site. If they uncover more artifacts at the original site, the Massachusetts Historical Commission could request a complete study.

The $7.2 million water system improvement project, that includes the plant and a new well field, would increase water production during periods of high demand.

[blam]

First Americans

[Ditter]

We have hunted arrowheads in south Texas & Mexico for many years. I always get a feeling of awe when I pick up an arrowhead that someone made & used in that spot, thousands of years ago.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Once when I lived in Arizona I visited Walnut Canyon where the Anastazi Indians lived as cliff dwellers as long ago as over 1,000 years ago, or longer. The adobe walls of the rooms in the cliffs bore the hand prints of the women who did the work. My hand fit right into her hand and it was an odd, and moving feeling to place my hand in a print that old. She had to be standing where I was standing and about my size. A sister, nameless that I will never forget.

[Ditter]

You are almost right. Pi are round, & cornbread are square.

[Henchman]

....maybe it was a brewery?

[msdrby]

ping

[Pablo64]

True, true. I guess my momma always made sheet cakes (and darn good cornbread!) ;)

[MineralMan]

"We have archaeological evidence from the Chumash area of habitation dated to 13,400 years ago. This was on Santa Rosa Island, off the Santa Barbara coast.
"

Yup. In the area where I live, Chumash habitations have been dated to 9000 years. Since there's a lot of erosion, there's a lot of surface material that is picked up by locals here. Styles of points have some pretty clear age links.

The most exciting find I'm aware of in the area happened in the back yard of close friends of mine. While they were digging a hole to plant a tree, they discovered a cache of amazing items, including a 14" long obsidian blade, some soapstone breastplates and tons of other amazing items, once the area was fully excavated. Since there is no obsidian here, with the closest source being in the Sierras, it was clear evidence of trade with the Sierra tribes.

I am constantly amazed to be walking in the area and find points and other items just sitting on top of the ground. My best find was a small group of charm stones, all clustered together. It looked to me like someone had dropped a bag full of them and there they sat, until the bag disintegrated.

[blam]

The Adena People

"The Adena folk were unusually tall and powerfully built; women over six feet tall and men approaching heights of seven feet have been discovered. It would seem that a band of strikingly different people of great presence and majesty had forced their way into the Ohio Valley from somewhere about 1000 B.C. - Robert Silverberg "

[genefromjersey]

Interesting !

I know some of the actual Indian tribes-notably the Mohawk and Susquehanna had exceptionally tall people-(estimates are just that,but 7' seems to have been pretty common for men,6' for women.) One visitor described their voices as very deep and resonant-like pipe organs.

In Patagonia ( a name that means "big feet" or big foot)there were giants,according to Portuguese explorers.The explorers did battle with some of them, and enslaved a few:intending to show them off in Europe,but they died during the voyage. This race of giants was said to be more "white" than the various Indians the explorers had encountered.

[carpio]

BTTT

[breakem]

Thos tall ones were the Original Celtics.

[SunkenCiv]

Not a ping, just a GGG update.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·