<![CDATA[Indications of the earliest signs of human inhabitation have been found by accident, near an archipelago on the north coast of British Columbia. Scientists were collecting sonar images off of the ocean floor of Haidi Gwaii, and happened upon a line of rocks that were estimated to be at least 13,700 years old. On top of this, there were also rectangular shapes marked deep on the ocean floor. The archaeologists state that these findings are as important as the discovery of the H.M.S. Franklin. The rectangles and rock formations are at least a hundred metres below the surface. The expedition was led by an archaeologist from the University of Victoria named Quentin Mackie. Because of the incredible depth, Mackie and his team used a remote-controlled underwater vehicle to search the sea floor for any clues regarding an ancient civilization. Mackie came to the area after studying it for more than fifteen years, with a hunch that the ancient people of the land hunted salmon near the coast. He thought of this as he realised that he was unlikely to find stone tools and campfires in the area. He decided that if the people were hunting salmon, then they must have built plenty of fish weirs. The archipelago used to be a stretch of land that went back to the mainland. The main island of the present archipelago was twice its current size, and the sea level a hundred metres lower than it is today. The vehicle that they used to scour the ocean floor for clues was provided by Parks Recreation. The vessel was on the ocean floor and river beds for twelve hours a day, for a total of ten days. In all, 25km of riverbeds were surveyed. When the survey was finished, they found remains of what could have been a fish weir. One of the scans obtained from the vessel showed a line of stones that were placed at a right angle to the stream of the fish. The fish weir served to corral the fish in order for the people to catch them more easily. Building weirs like these was common practice for the people in Haldi Gwaii, and to many other cultures throughout history. The scientists used carbon-14 dating on a nearby archaeological site, and found the weir could date back as far as 13,800 years. Of course, this figure is not set in stone as scientists need to do more work to derive the real date in which the rocks were put up. Further tests will now be done by geologists to ensure the rocks weren't naturally formed in this way. After this is complete, the researchers will head out to try and find more stone tools and sediment samples next summer. Mackie states that it is still not clear whether something significant has been found. Confirmation will only come when the geological tests have been done. He goes on to say that the research vessel found other materials that look too well-made to be natural. If they do find that the rocks were not man-made, then they were most likely cultural. ]]>
: Scientists Believe They Have Found Earliest Human Habitat in Canada
