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An archeological survey conducted as Washington State Department of Transportation plans a new bridge over Lake Michigan and a salmon-conservation project worth 11 million dollars unearthed tools and remnants of the 10,000-year old camp.
A camp of human settlers from the end of the last Ice Age was brought to light on a site near the Redmond Town Center Mall, Redmond, Washington.
An archeological survey conducted as Washington State Department of Transportation plans a new bridge over Lake Michigan and a salmon-conservation project worth 11 million dollars unearthed tools and remnants of the 10,000-year old camp.
In a region notorious for the scarcity of clues pointing back to ancient life, a layer of peat was hiding this valuable evidence of Ice Age settlers in the area.
The salmon-conservation projects received 11 million dollars in funding from the State Department of Transportation. The main goal is that 16 acres of habitat designated specifically to salmon are restored. Ironically, among the remnants found near the Redmond Town Center Mall, bone fragments belonging to salmon indicated that the fish have been breeding and keeping their ground in the region for over 10,000 years.
The humans of the Ice Age who established their camp here were skilled in making their stone tools, used for fishing, hunting and gathering food essential for their survival.
Robert Kopperl who was the lead researcher on site stated:
“This was a very good place to have a camp. They could use it as a centralized location to go out and fish and hunt and gather and make stone tools”.
Among the treasures buried under the peat layer the archaeologists found spear points and arrowheads, stone flakes, projectile points, stone awls and others. Not only this, but after thorough analysis was conducted, it was found that these settlers had a diverse food menu at hand.
Some remnants indicated that the human settlers in this end of the Ice Age camp hunted bison, sheep and deer and bear and fished for salmon. Hearty meals for harsh times.
The finding is detailed in a paper published in the PaleoAmerica journal.
Photo Credits: regmedia.co.uk
