Ancient Seafarers’ Tool Sites, Up to 12,000 Years Old, Discovered on California Island

Chert projectile points found on nearby San Miguel island are typical of Paleocoastal tools found in the Channel Islands. (Courtesy Erlandson et al.)

On a rugged island just offshore from Ventura County, archaeologists have turned up evidence of some of the oldest human activity in coastal Southern California.

On Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the Channel Islands, researchers have found three sites scattered with ancient tool-making debris and the shells of harvested shellfish.

The youngest of the three sites has been dated to 6,600 BCE, but based on the types of tools found at the other two, archaeologists say they may be as much as 11,000 to 12,000 years old.

The artifacts are traces of what’s known as the Island Paleocoastal culture, descendants of migrants who moved south from Alaska along the Pacific at the end of the last Ice Age.

These ancient seafaring people were some of the earliest inhabitants of California’s southern coast, said Dr. Jon Erlandson, an archaeologist with the University of Oregon who reported the new finds. [...] Western Digs


Link 2: Industria lítica de hace 12.000 años en isla Santa Cruz (California) 
Se constata la ocupación antigua de las Islas del Canal, frente a la costa de California

La investigación desarrollada por la Universidad de Oregón en las Islas del Canal, frente a la costa de California, ha revelado asentamientos de algunos de los primeros pobladores de la zona que podrían remontarse a unos 12.000 años de antigüedad. Estos pueblos llevaban una existencia muy ligada al mar, cazando mamíferos marinos, peces y aves, y recolectando moluscos y algas. Las mayores evidencias de su presencia consisten en concheros de orejas marinas y mejillones, además de restos de talla y herramientas líticas muy características...