Ancient artifacts in Oregon challenge early American history
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Archaeologists in Oregon, USA, uncovered stone tools beneath volcanic ash layers suggesting people lived in North America around 18,250 years ago.
A team from the University of Oregon has been excavating at the Rimrock Draw site as part of a field training program. They found two skillfully made stone tools, one bearing bison blood residue, under ash from a volcanic eruption over 15,000 years ago.
Radiocarbon dating of animal remains found alongside the tools indicates an age of about 18,250 years, leading researchers to believe the tools are even older. This discovery adds weight to the growing evidence that the first people arrived in North America earlier than previously thought, potentially by traveling along the Pacific coast instead of through an ice-free inland corridor. The findings challenge the long-held theory of a 13,000-year-old migration from Asia.
Professor David Lewis of Oregon State University noted that the dating aligns with oral traditions of local tribes, which recount stories of major geological events like the Missoula floods and encounters with large, now-extinct animals. Further discoveries in Oregon, including sewn animal hides around 12,000 years old, demonstrate that communities during the last ice age were more resourceful than scientists previously understood.
Archaeologists are working to confirm the age of the Rimrock Draw artifacts, as claims of such great antiquity require careful scrutiny from the scientific community. Similar finds, like tiny arrowheads in the Tian Shan mountains of Uzbekistan, continue to reshape understanding of early Homo sapiens history.
