Oregon coast yields 10,000-year-old site

The Associated Press

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Another archaeological site on the Southern Oregon coast has been determined to be about 10,000 years old, making it the second-oldest known site in the state, according to Oregon State University researchers.

The site on a bluff just south of Bandon included a large number of stone flakes, charcoal pieces and fire-cracked rock, said Roberta Hall, professor emeritus of anthropology at Oregon State and principal investigator in the study.

There also is evidence of a stone hearth, Hall added.

The site was discovered after researchers analyzed a site in 2002 at Boardman State Park north of Brookings, which eventually was dated at nearly 12,000 years old, making it the oldest coastal archaeological site in Oregon.

Humans may have come to Oregon earlier than 12,000 years ago, the researchers say, but finding evidence of their habitation is difficult.

Study results were published in the journal Radiocarbon. Researchers included Hall, geoarchaeologist and field work supervisor Loren Davis, graduate student Samuel Willis and soil scientist Matthew Fillmore.