Tools Found in Eastern Canada Older Than Previously Thought

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA—Stone tools discovered near a fire pit on the shores of an ancient lake in eastern Canada have been dated to 12,700 years ago, or 700 years older than had been previously thought. According to a report in CBC News, some of the tools, used for working animal hides, making bone tools, and decorating, originated in Maine, indicating that the people using the tools traveled over a wide area, or obtained goods through trade networks. “There’s an awful lot of use of these tools,” added Brent Suttie of the Department of Tourism, Heritage, and Culture. He explained that the tools had been reshaped multiple times until they were no longer functional. The campsite will remain undeveloped, and the artifacts, housed in the provincial archaeological collections facility, will be “returned to First Nations at the time they request them,” Suttie said. For more on archaeology in Canada, go to “Franklin’s Last Voyage.”