14000-year-old settlement found in British Columbia

Archaeologists discovered a settlement dated back 14000 years on on Triquet Island, British Columbia’s Central Coast. The site was known in local native traditions as a place which did not freeze during the last Ice Age.

Excavations at the site (by CBC News)

The settlement was found in a place which is identified through the oral histories of the Heiltsuk people as a strip of land that never froze during the ice age and it was a place where the ancestors flocked to for survival. The site is dated to 14000 years ago, during the last ice age where glaciers covered much of North America.

Site of excavations (by Joanne McSporran)

Archaeologists discovered a number of artefacts, including carved wooden tools. Remains of a hearth-like feature were also found, that allowed for extraction of charcoal flakes to be radiocarbon-dated. According to the researchers the results mark the site as one of the oldest places of human occupation on the Northwest coast of North America.

Archaeologists at work (by Tomonori Kanno)

The findings from Triquet Island’s archaeological site indicate early humans travelled the North American coast in a region that remained ice-free during the last Ice Age. The villagers were also adept at hunting, going after large marine mammals like walrus and seals in their early history. The beaches on the island have the remains of fish traps and clam gardens, common to the early marine cultures of the west coast of North America.

Needle found at the site (by CBC News)

(after CBC News, Joanne McSporran, Tomonori Kanno & Digital Journal)

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