Rimrock Draw Rockshelter is a

rockshelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...

located in Eastern Oregon of the US. It is an archaeological site being studied by the University of Oregon under the guidance of Dr. Patrick O'Grady in coordination with the Museum of Natural and Cultural History and in partnership with the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

(BLM). It is notable for potentially being one of the oldest archaeological sites in North America. Unpublished dates ranging from ca. 18,000 Cal BP to 17,000 Cal BP were identified by Dr. Thomas Stafford Jr. and Dr. John Southon. The dated specimens were from camelid and

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

teeth, respectively. The animal bones were found in association with

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

debitage. According to a report by the BLM, stone tools and flakes were found below the

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

of the dated animal teeth. In 2012, excavation encountered Mount St. Helens Sg tephra (~15,600 cal yr BP) overlaying ''camelops'' tooth fragments. Ten centimeters below the teeth fragments an orange flake tool was collected. In 2017, further orange debitage was found along with bison carpal and teeth fragments, and obsidian flakes, all suggesting a pre-Clovis occupation.

References

External links

{{Commons
These are the oldest stone tools ever found in the United States - ArsTechnica - 7/10/2023Stone tools and camel tooth suggest people were in the pacific northwest more than 18000 years ago
Rock shelters in the United States Landforms of Harney County, Oregon Archaeological sites in Oregon

See also

References

External links