MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS

MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS - WIRE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄż ł=START= XMT: 13:19 Wed Mar 11 EXP: 13:00 Sat Mar 14 ł ł ł łOLDEST AMERICAN HOME FOUND IN OHIO, DATED MORE THAN 12,000 ł łYEARS OLD ł ł ł łMEDINA, OH (MARCH 11) UPI - Archaeologists in Ohio have ł łfound what may be the oldest American home in a discovery ł łdescribed as being of staggering importance. ł ł ł łCleveland Museum of Natural History officials said Tuesday ł łthe Sharon Township site contains two pits littered with ł łstone weapons and three holes for posts, dated more than ł ł12,000 years old. The site is believed to be the living ł łquarters for a group of prehistoric Paleoindian people. ł ł ł łDavid Brose, the museum's chief curator of archaeology, ł łdiscovered the site in 1990. He said the structure appears ł łto be the oldest found in North America. ł ł ł łArtifacts found at the site have been sent to a laboratory ł łin Arizona for specialized carbon testing. Brose said he ł łlearned Feb. 20 that the testing revealed several hard ł łwooden posts found at the site indicated an age in excess ł łof 12,250 years. Carbon-dating of charcoal remains in a ł łnearby pit dated vegetation to 13,120 years ago. ł ł ł łBrose said the most conservative estimate archaeologists useł łin referring to the first Americans is 11,000 years ago. Butł łthe Medina County discovery moves that figure past 13,000 ł łyears. ł ł ł łBrose would not disclose the exact location of the site, ł łsince he hopes to continue excavating. Brose says he wants ł łto ''get the layout of the house, the size of the family or ł łdifferent kinds of families.'' ł ł ł łBradley Lepper, an international authority on Paleoindians ł łand curator of the Moundbuilders and Flintridge museums in ł łOhio, offered a baseball analogy to convey the discovery's ł łimportance. ł ł ł ł''It's like hitting a grand slam home run in the World ł łSeries,'' he said. ''The fact that there is the oldest ł łevidence of a house, a pit probably with food remains ... ł łjust staggering.'' ł ł ł łHe said key to the discovery is the fact that the objects ł łwere discovered in context. ł ł ł ł''Usually you find these things in a plowed field,'' said ł łLepper. ''Now we have them in association with features - ł łthe pits. The importance of these pits is they can give us ł łevidence of what kind of food these people were eating. Theył łcan tell us what kind of houses they built for themselves. ł łThere are no other houses dating from that time period.'' ł ł ł łLepper said it is important to understand the achievements ł łof the Paleoindians who migrated from Asia to the Americas. ł ł ł ł''They were amazing,'' he said. ''One archaeologist once ł łsaid that in the realm of human achievement, we will never ł łagain see the likes of what the Paleoindians achieved - not ł łuntil we discover a planet that we can inhabit. ł ł ł ł''These people discovered two continents - North and South ł łAmerican. They moved into a new world, adapted to the ł łdifferent environments and laid the groundwork for all ł łpeople later on.'' ł ł ł ł=END= ł