[OR_Archaeology] Fwd: Update on Paisley Cave Pre-Clovis

[Susan White]

> The Winter 2009/2010 edition of American Archaeology has an
> update on Dennis Jenkins work at Paisley Cave, where
> Jenkin's team found human coprolites that have been dated as
> Pre-Clovis, 1000 years older than existing Clovis artifacts,
> and matching the Pre-Clovis dates at Monte Verde in Chile.
> There were doubters in the archaeological community when the
> data was announced. Jenkins proceeded to work on his finds
> since then to satisfy the doubters that his dates are
> correct.
> 
> Jenkins first took DNA samples from all 67 students, site
> visitors and researchers to make sure their DNA did not
> contaminate the coprolite DNA, and the data shows there is
> no contamination from them. The coprolites were tested at
> two different locations, in Florida and Oxford, by using
> accelerator mass spectrometry and the dates at both labs
> were the same, the coprolites are 14,300 years old.
> 
> Leading critics said that burrowing animals in the cave
> could have upset the stratigraphy and that the obsidian
> hydration dates that Jenkins got to match the radiocarbon
> dates are often not reliable. One group of critics felt that
> the coprolites had every indication of being produced by
> herbivores. Jenkins pointed out that there are 161 species
> of edible plants in the area and thus, human feces could
> look like an herbivore's. And, to close that argument,
> Jenkins tests showed that there was no herbivore DNA found
> in the coprolites. One critic pointed out that other
> artifacts in association with the coprolites had not been
> found.
> 
> Jenkins and his team carried out an extensive field season
> in 2009. Many obsidian and chert flakes were found and a few
> stone tools. A tool made from a bison horn was found and a
> bone tool with teeth along the edge dated to 14,000 years
> ago. It could be a mammoth bone tool. And those who had
> doubts about a good stratigraphy went to the site in 2009
> and came back satisfied that the stratigraphy had not been
> disturbed after doing extensive research. 900 human
> coprolites have now been unearthed. These have all been sent
> for testing to various labs around the world. A twig of
> sagebrush associated with human artifacts has been tested at
> 14,500 years old. In November, Jenkin's team found a scraper
> tool that was dated to 14,230 years ago, thus making it the
> oldest tool ever found in the Americas.
> 
> Here is the story I posted on that discovery;
> 
> November 5, 2009
> Oldest Tool in the Americas Uncovered
> 
> In a very important report in Nature Magazine, Dennis
> Jenkins, the archaeologist who found the pre-Clovis human
> coprolites dated to 14,000-14,270 years old in Paisley Cave
> in Oregon, now claims to have found the oldest human
> artifact ever found in the Americas--a scraper like tool
> that dates back to 14,230 years ago. The date was calculated
> by way of sediment and radiocarbon dating. The tool was
> found in a rock shelter in the caves near Paisley, Oregon.
> There were some criticisms of the dating of the coprolites
> because no human artifacts were found with them. This
> discovery of a tool strengthens the veracity of the earlier
> claim.
> 
> DNAindia has the story here;
> NEW (11/09); DNAindia.com; Oldest American Artifact
> Unearthed Dates Back to 14,230 Years
> 
> And the original story of the Paisley Cave discovery is
> here;
> 
> April 2, 2008
> 
> Oldest Biological Evidence of First Americans Found in
> Coprolites in Oregon Cave
> 
> Archaeologists in Oregon have found fossilized human feces
> that appear to be the oldest biological evidence of humans
> in North America. The feces or coprolites in archaeological
> terms date back to 12,500 BCE, pre-dating the Clovis people
> by 1000 years. DNA analysis of the coprolites show the folks
> who lived in a cave in Oregon at 12,500 BCE are closely
> related to modern Native Americans and come from Eastern
> Asia. The coprolites were uncovered at Paisley Caves, 220
> miles from Portland.
> There is some controversy in the findings since there were
> traces of wolves, coyotes and foxes found in the coprolites
> as well meaning that there could be some question about the
> actual age of the human DNA in the coprolites. 
> 
> The Washington Post has the story here;
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/04/03/ST2008040302198.html 
> 
> Jenkins will carry out one more field season at Paisley
> Cave this year.
> 
> We often wait a long time for follow ups on major
> discoveries such as this. This was more timely.
> 
> American Archaeology Magazine is not published online, so I
> cannot post a URL for the article. It is a publication of
> the Archaeological Conservancy, and their URL is;
> 
> http://www.americanarchaeology.com/aawelcome.html 
> 
> Mike Ruggeri
> 
> Mike Ruggeri's Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
> http://tinyurl.com/2m8725 
> 
> Breaking Pre-Clovis and Clovis News
> http://tinyurl.com/d3xeln 
> 
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