Archaeologists have recently discovered preliminary evidence of human existence more than 15,800 years ago in Southeast Oregon’s Harney County.
Also uncovered at the same Rimrock Draw Shelter digs near Riley, Ore., are stone projectile points and possibly an enamel tooth fragment of a camel that went extinct some 13,000 years ago. Archaeologists with the Bureau of Land Management and the University of Oregon have been excavating at the site since 2011.
A BLM news release said what has most excited the archaeological community is a small agate hand-tool found under a layer of volcanic ash from a Mount St. Helen’s eruption. BLM archaeologist Scott Thomas said, “The discovery of this tool below a layer of undisturbed ash that dates to 15,800 years old means that this tool is likely more than 15,800 years old, which would suggest (it was) the oldest human occupation” in the western United States.
The orange-agate tool is believed to have been used for scraping animal hides, butchering, and possibly carving wood. A blood residue analysis of the tool revealed animal proteins consistent with bison, perhaps extinct ancestors of modern American buffalo.
Scientists and students are continuing investigative work at the site this summer.
Sources: Baker, Stephen. "Evidence of One of the Oldest Human Occupations in Western United States Discovered on BLM Land in Southeast Oregon." Bureau of Land Management News Release. U.S. Department of the Interior, 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 8 June 2015. http://www.blm.gov/or/news/files/BLM_Archaeological_Discovery_Final.pdf; Provost, Kelsey, Jessica French, and Pat O'Grady. "Rimrock Draw Rockshelter (35HA3855): A Summary of Recent Fieldwork at a Stemmed Point Site Near Riley Oregon." Northern Great Basin Prehistory Project Archaeological Field School 2015 Summer
