An Oregonian field research team thinks it has found proof that humans were here in the state at least 18,000 years ago. This could be evidence of the first human settlement in North America.
In order to excavate the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter near Riley, Oregon, the Bureau of Land Management has teamed up with the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History Archaeological Field School since 2011.
The BLM reports that Patrick O’Grady, an archaeologist, was the team leader when a significant discovery was made in 2012. Archaeologists discovered pieces of camel teeth that had been covered by volcanic ash from a Mount St. Helens eruption some 15,000 years ago.
In 2012, researchers discovered an orange agate scraper with remnants of bison blood. Later in 2015, they found another scraper. According to BLM experts, the “natural layering of the rock shelter sediments” suggests that the scrapers predate the volcanic ash and camel teeth by even more time.
The tweet below confirms the news:
Possible proof of oldest human-occupied site found in Oregon, dating back over 18K years https://t.co/GqkVgQDW50
— KRQE News 13 (@krqe) July 10, 2023
Researchers claimed a more recent discovery: the teeth date back to 18,250 years ago after undertaking a “radiocarbon-dating analysis” in 2018 and again this year.
The discovery was described as “startling” by O’Grady. “The identification of 15,000-year-old volcanic ash was a shock, then Tom’s 18,000-year-old dates on the enamel, with stone tools and flakes below were even more startling.”
According to the BLM, Cooper’s Ferry in Western Idaho was considered to be the area’s oldest known archaeological site. The “Clovis people,” who came to North America around 13,500 years ago from Asia and Siberia, have also been identified as the continent’s original inhabitants.
For those working in the field, this new evidence has been an exciting development, according to Heather Ulrich, head archaeologist for BLM Oregon/Washington.
These new dates, which may be the earliest yet, advance our archaeological understanding of human occupancy in North America thanks to the collaboration with Dr. O’Grady and the University. Ulrich remarked.
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