The oldest tool in North America

These are 14 small pointed stones, or projectile points – from 1 to 5 cm long – that can be placed at the end of arrows or spears. It is found on the banks of the Salmon River, in Idahoin an archaeological site called Cooper Ferry. This stone, many years ago, attracts the attention of archaeologists: such stones were discovered there earlier, about 13,500 years ago, and traces of coal It indicates the use of fire at least 15,000 years ago.

However, it exceeds the 13,000-year mark, and is already older than what was, for decades, the oldest archaeological site in North America, the so-called by ClovisNew Mexico.

The difficulty of turning back the hands of time has always been the last great glaciation: for humans to walk through the region called “Beringia” – when Siberia was and Alaska They were not separated by the Bering Strait – to the northwest of the United States, a passage should first have been opened between the glaciers; Which happened only 14,000 years ago. But judging by the evidence accumulating around 14,000 years ago – in one case, at a remote site like Chile – some humans would have crossed earlier.

Maybe fishermen who followed the coastarchaeologists say. “If you go south along the Pacific coast” at that time, The lead author explains the new researchLauren Davis, “The first big left turn, south of the ice, will be the Columbia River, and if you go upriver, you can get to the Cooper Ferry.”

The way these points have been clipped—their “style” in a way—distinguishes them from so-called Clovis points. Instead, the research authors say Find them relatives Tools found in Asia and are 20,000 years old. A relationship that may be reasonable, but requires many other discoveries of the same kind to reach a consensus.

Search It was published in December in the journal Science advances.

Photo: Stone projectile heads from the Cooper Ferry Site / Loren Davis, Oregon State University