Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons
June 12, 2020 - 2:36 PM
An arrowhead discovered near Williams Lake is changing history.
The arrowhead, discovered by Williams Lake Indian Band archeologists, is believed to be around 6,000 years old, much older than any other artifacts found at the site overlooking the lake, according to senior archeologist and project manager Whitney Spearing.
The artifact was found in what was once a summer fishing village and will be displayed in the new Williams Lake Indian Band administration building along with other artifacts discovered from the site, Spearing said.
The arrowhead was found after using a power screening unit and excavator, in soil that was to be put in a ditch following a 2019 landslide.
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“In 2019, we thought the site was about 4,000 years old and with this projectile point, the site is about 6,000 years old,” she said. “It just tacks on a whole other time period. There are horizons in time that we can ascribe certain tools to and this one is the oldest (one found).”
“It’s unreal,” she said. "It’s been in the ground for 6,000 years, in a construction site, put on a rock truck, moved by an excavator and put through a screen. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.”
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A house platform has also been discovered at the site, and new 3D modelling will show what the floor of the structure once looked like as the next project, Spearing said.
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