Dig this ... ancient riverbed
Archeologists stumble on find
Jenni Dunning, The Hamilton Spectator, (Jun 9, 2010)
Underneath an old lilac garden, researchers have found an ancient riverbed which the area's earliest residents may have called home.
McMaster University archeology students recently uncovered a riverbed -- 10,000 to 30,000 years old -- on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Cootes Paradise, said the group's instructor Meghan Burchell. "It's sheer blind luck. It was a random sampling," she said.
"People don't know there's so much archeology in Hamilton. This is really a living landscape."
The team discovered traces of a deteriorated wood post along the river's edge -- the first evidence of a clear structure, now buried about 25 centimetres underground, Burchell said.
It's likely the remains of a trap or drying rack for fish, she added.
Researchers hope to use a ground penetrating radar in the next couple o…