Old tools, or old rocks?

A story to keep an eye on -- but don't rewrite any history books just yet:

What appear to be crude stone tools may provide evidence that people lived in Minnesota 13,000 to 15,000 years ago, which if confirmed would make them among the oldest human artifacts ever found in North America, [local] archaeologists said Friday. . .

"The finding is intriguing but it really needs to have its precise age nailed down and more needs to be known of the artifacts," said David Meltzer, an archaeologist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Much more research needs to be done to allow firm conclusions, Wells and her colleagues acknowledged. "It's bound to be controversial," said Matt Mattson, another archaeologist on the project.

I'm not sure why they went public with this claim before doing at least a bit more background work. From the article, it sounds as if it's not even certain that the "tools" are man-made artifacts. But perhaps beating the drum a bit is the only way to insure that the site ends up properly excavated and studied.

Posted by David on January 17, 2007 8:21 PM