And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: "Victor Rocha" Discovery of ancient grinding tools bolsters alternate migration theory LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The discovery of grinding tools on the central California coast seems to bolster the idea that the earliest Americans did not rely on hunting, supporting an alternate theory on migration to the continent. The most common theory for the populating of America has been that big-game hunters crossed the frozen Bering Strait and moved through the interior of the continent on foot 12,000 to 13,000 years ago. However, previous coastal discoveries in Peru and on islands off California have supported the theory about a second group of migrants that used watercraft to reach North America up to 13,000 years ago, experts said. Milling stones, beads, shells, tools, seeds and a carved stone fish -- all believed to be about 10,000 years old -- were uncovered at a site near San Luis Obispo, outside the town of Arroyo Grande. The site, called Cross Creek, initially caught the attention of archeologists in 1996 when workers found shells. An excavation firm supervising the construction of a water pipeline then began exploring the site for other artifacts, later finding the millstones. The Cross Creek artifacts were especially notable because they lacked hunting tools and animal bones, but included milling tools, said Richard Fitzgerald, the excavation project's supervising archeologist. "The people of Cross Creek had a different tool kit. Not to say that they never hunted, but it wasn't their emphasis," Fitzgerald said. "These very well-made tools are associated with collecting and processing seeds and plant material. Clearly, their way of life emphasized gathering and collection of shellfish," added Terry Jones, an archeologist and technical consultant on the project. "That behavior has not been linked with the earliest colonists of North America." Fitzgerald and his colleagues plan to publish their technical report within the coming year and are submitting their conclusions to journals. http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N181.HTML Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
