Stone tools at least 10,000 years old found

SEATTLE – An archaeological survey to clear the way for construction near a Redmond mall has unearthed thousands of stone tools crafted at least 10,000 years ago.

“We were pretty amazed,” archaeologist Robert Kopperl, who led the field investigation, told the Seattle Times. “This is the oldest archaeological site in the Puget Sound lowland with stone tools.”

The rare find is shedding light on a time when prehistoric bison and mammoths still roamed what is now Western Washington. Only a handful of archaeological sites dating back 10,000 years or more have been discovered in the region.

Chemical analysis of one of the tools revealed traces of the food they were eating, including bison, deer, bear, sheep and salmon. The dig also uncovered a fragment of salmon bone, evidence that the fish made its way up local streams for at least 10,000 years. It also revealed other unusual tools, including the bottoms of two spear points that have concave bases.

The site near Redmond Town Center mall was initially surveyed in 2009, as the city embarked on a project to restore salmon habitat in Bear Creek, a tributary of the Sammamish River. The creek had been confined to a rock-lined channel decades before.