Posted on 02/20/2005 11:24:20 AM PST by blam
Underwater arrowheads, tools dazzle Maritime historians
Last Updated Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:28:09 EST
CBC News
HALIFAX - Archaeologists are showing off a treasure trove they call one of the most significant discoveries of Mi'kmaq artifacts in Nova Scotia.
Hundreds of arrowheads and tools, some 8,000 years old, were discovered last summer along the Mersey River, near Kejimkujik National Park in the southwest region of the province.
Workers from Nova Scotia Power were doing repairs to generating stations on the river. As water levels dropped in some areas, the riverbed was exposed for the first time since dams were built 70 years ago.
Suddenly hundreds of artifacts appeared in the mud.
"The quantity of material, the quality of material, the age range represented by the material, all is just fascinating for us," said archaeologist Bruce Stewart, who was hired to investigate.
Pottery fragments, spear points, knives and other items were found around 109 ancient campsites.
One barbed harpoon was once used to spear salmon and eels 3,000 years ago, Stewart said.
Since the artifacts were lying on the surface, the RCMP was brought in to control looting. Even the discovery was kept a secret.
"I think this is vitally important," Mi'kmaq historian Daniel Paul said of the find.
"There was a real functioning civilization here when the Europeans began to come here en masse, but the proof has been virtually destroyed. And all of a sudden we are finding the proof."
The Mersey River encampments are once again under water.
The artifacts will be sent to the Nova Scotia Museum once Stewart and his team finishes sorting them.
Old Copper Culture artifacts have been recovered in Wisconsin as well.
Several 'native american' cultures in central & South America were extremely skilled in metal arts. Here's one example.
First I would envy the collection any one of the RCMP has now. Second, no ray guns?
Or it came with instructions that said, "Stick pointy end in salmon and eels."
"how do they know this? Maybe it was used to spear rattlesnakes or something."
There are no poisonous snakes in Nova Scotia. :-)
First off, I don't count gold.
But, If you're telling me that there are copper knives and spears in canada from 4000BC, that really would be something impressive and quite shocking...but honestly I don't beleive it, since the pilgrims were shot at with stone arrows in AD1600s. I guess I'll wait and see how well this claim stands up to scientists criticisms.
SEE! It was an effective snake spear.
What is your learned counter-hypothesis or grounds for dismissal?
The problem with copper is that it decays rapidly in damp climate unless something unusual is done to preserve it.
so why weren't they using copper to kill the english and french?
Additionally, other similar spears could have been found among piles of bones of salmon and eels next to the ashes of a campfire, for instance.
The one in the Ohio valley vanished about 1100 AD which was about the time a lot of civilizations vanished. My personal belief is that the little Ice Age caused a drought of epic proportions to hit the Americas. About four major Meso-American civilizations that we know of collapsed at this time.
A lot of knowledge was lost when civilizations fell in Europe, why would you think it would be different in the Americas?
Bt way of explanation, offshoring and the balance of payments has brought about the increase in oil, gold and land. The dollar is nose diving. I saw a power washer (Honda) at $997 at Home Depot. Three years ago it was under $500. I think Bush figures an American will say, "Hey I can make that cheaper". He will, but offshore and HQ on a tax sheltered island. Unless the sending of money home by illegals and other immigrants is also curtailed, as well as tax reform to make it profitable to manufacture in the US, the dollar is headed to Yuan status. Just My Opinion. Was PRO Reagan then and still admire the man - his wife on the other hand is a closet nut / Democrat IMHO, of course.
First off, I don't count gold.
The bulk of that burial mask appears to be copper. The Moche worked gold, silver & copper.
'Copper, wood & resin' Moche ceremonial digging stick
Hammered Copper Effigy-Hopewell Culture (100 B.C.-400 A.D.)
"The people who left the metal implements were probably not even ancestors of the Mi'kmaqs of today. It's a mystery who they were."
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The primitives killed them off. THat's my hunch. Not always does the more advanced culture displace the more primitive ones. The greenland vikings dissapeared, and I think they were exterminated. And I really think there were labrador and newfoundland vikings as well that were exterminated.
In the short term, the only technology that matters is making war and if you aren't prepared for that short term threat, you become a short term corpse. Textiles, metal, farming, transport, housing...it's all superfluous to the immediate threat of war. What's more important are experienced individuals that know how to survive, know how to kill efficiently, know how to hide and escape, how to scout and track(especially in the absensce of good maps), and know how to organize teams of brigands. manufacturing and agriculture are worthless assets if they are undefendable.
I think it was here at free republic that I learned that the mormons beleive there were advanced civilizations in south america that rivaled those of the mediteranean at the time of christ, and that after the resurection, christ visited them. But then some time later, they were exterminated by primitives from the jungles.
Who knows, maybe there's something to it. I really don't know where or what their proof is for this story though.
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