A chunk of charcoal unearthed at a Saskatchewan archaeological web site and examined in a lab suggests the location is 11,000 years previous and was probably used as a long-term settlement by Indigenous individuals.
The location close to Prince Albert, Sask., suggests Indigenous individuals lived within the area about 1,000 years sooner than beforehand thought, based on the Sturgeon Lake First Nation (SLFN).
Researchers who labored on the web site final summer season and picked up samples for testing shared some early findings in January with the Âsowanânihk Council, the SLFN physique main the challenge.
Radiocarbon relationship exams of charcoal taken from a fire on the riverbank web site counsel the settlement dates again about 10,700 years, confirming early hypothesis in regards to the web site alongside North Saskatchewan River.
The findings match oral histories that elders within the space advised researchers, stated College of Saskatchewan professor Glenn Stuart, one of many researchers invited to work on the web site final summer season. Researchers imagine individuals began residing on the web site shortly after glaciers receded about 10,000 years in the past.
“When you hear somebody talking about these huge floods that happened many, many years ago, then that makes us think that, OK, well, maybe there is a connection here because we could see from looking at this hearth that as soon as there was a stable landscape here, people were living there,” Stuart stated.
One of many subsequent steps is taking core samples additional inland, as a result of it’s not clear how far the location extends from the reduce financial institution, Stuart stated.
The outcomes affirm the location is likely one of the oldest examples of Indigenous settlements in North America, based on a SLFN information launch.
“This places it among some of the world’s most well-recognized ancient sites, such as the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge in England, and Göbekli Tepe in Turkey — each known for their immense historical significance and their role in shaping human civilization,” the information launch said.
SLFN desires protections established to protect the location and is planning to open a cultural interpretive centre.
A group of archaeologists looking out a web site close to Prince Albert, Sask., imagine the artifacts they’ve discovered can show Indigenous individuals lived within the area doubtlessly about 1,000 years sooner than beforehand thought.
SLFN elders advised CBC Information final 12 months that the situation on the river was an vital web site for migratory animals reminiscent of bison, making it a really perfect place to camp. It’s not but clear how lengthy individuals stayed on the web site at any given time.
“We do know that people certainly kept coming back to this location over and over and over again, and there could be hundreds of years between some of these occupations,” Stuart stated.
“They know where animals are going to be crossing the river. So they keep coming back to this spot.”
