Posted on 01/23/2004 12:33:33 PM PST by 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.
I think the issue here is whether the oldest inhabitants of the continent were American Indians. Kennewick Man wasn't American Indian, notwithstanding the Bush Administration's siding with Indians to prevent further scientific study.
No. He was 9,300 years old and 'Spirit Cave Man' (the oldest mummy in America) was 9,400 years old. (They look very similar)
Arlington Springs Woman is the oldest human skeleton ever found in the Americas.
Nope, that was the Clinton administration and the court ruled in favor of the scientists. It is presentlt back in court on appeal. (Kennewick Man)
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.
I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me.
She showed me her room, isn’t it good, norwegian wood?
She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere,
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn’t a chair.
I sat on a rug, biding my time, drinking her wine.
We talked until two and then she said, "it’s time for bed".
She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh.
I told her I didn’t and crawled off to sleep in the bath.
And when I awoke I was alone, this bird had flown.
So I lit a fire, isn’t it good, norwegian wood.
I do. We found one earlier this week off the coast of India...I think it was 7,500 years old too.
Nope, the Bush administration filed a brief in the appeal claiming the remains were culturally unaffiliated but still Native American and thus covered by NAGPRA.
It's on my list of ten reasons why I won't be voting for GWB in 2004.
No one should dig around Ft. Meade, lots of unexploded ordnance including a full, unused belt of .50 cal uncovered the same day I found the scraper.
civ·i·li·za·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sv-l-zshn) n.
(1)An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing, and the appearance of complex political and social institutions.
(2)The type of culture and society developed by a particular nation or region or in a particular epoch: Mayan civilization; the civilization of ancient Rome.
(3)The act or process of civilizing or reaching a civilized state.
(4)Cultural or intellectual refinement; good taste.
(5)Modern society with its conveniences: returned to civilization after camping in the mountains.
I think (2) might apply.
Wash your hands Norwell, they didn't have tp!
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