*Skeletal remains of 169 people, split almost evenly between males and females, ranging from 6 to 70 years old. About 75 of the skeletons were relatively intact.
* 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!"
http://www.capegazette.com/storiescurrent/200909/artifacts11.html
According to a report filed by state archeologists, excavations at the 132-acre site along the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal indicated an almost continuous prehistoric occupation from 505 B.C. through 330 A.D.
“The early occupation of the site was apparently a small seasonal camp. The later occupation may have been a more permanent village,” the report concluded.
That’s more than 2,100 years before Dutch explorers landed near present-day Lewes, the first Europeans to touch Cape Region soil. Historical records show that the first inhabitants of the Mid-Atlantic region date back as far as 12,000 years ago.
The site was not included in the National Register.
Jackson said officials should take note of what occurred at Thompson Island, located where Rehoboth Bay and the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal converge.
The entire island is preserved as part of Delaware Seashore State Park. Artifacts found on the island date back to 3000 B.C.
Jackson said county officials, developers and planners are paying more attention to what is under the soil.
“It’s been brought to the forefront and they are staring to take it seriously,” she said.
The chiefs of the Nanticoke and Lenape recently testified in opposition to a rezoning and conditional use for an apartment complex off Plantation Road. They say construction of the project would infringe on an existing Native American burial site.
The long-standing lack of interest in indigenous sites is not surprising to Jackson. “It’s gone on for so long, it’s become part of the culture,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about money.”