Holcombe Site

The Holcombe Site, also known as Holcombe Beach,[3] is a Paleo-Indian archaeological site located near the intersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dodge Park Road[1][3] in Sterling Heights, Michigan, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971[2] and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1970.[3]

Holcombe Site
The historic marker is placed "near" the Holcombe Site
LocationIntersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights, Michigan[1]
Coordinates42°34′7″N 83°0′34″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.71001023[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 16, 1971
Designated MSHSJuly 17, 1970[3]

Site discovery

In 1961, amateur archaeologists Jerome DeVisscher and Edward J. Wahla[4] discovered evidence of an ancient settlement at this site.[3] Later radiocarbon dating of hearth elements determined the site to be an 11,000-year-old Paleo-Indian settlement.[3][5] A five-year dig by archaeologists from the University of Michigan uncovered numerous artifacts.[4] The distinctive small, thin, fluted arrowheads found at the site were dubbed "Holcombe points;" similar flint arrowheads have been found at other sites in Michigan and southern Ontario, with scatterings in northern Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.[5]

Historical description of the site

The Holcombe site was situated on what was, at the time it was occupied, the strandline of a small glacial lake that probably drained into nearby Lake Algonquin.[6] Arrowheads, flint chips, and bone fragments were recovered, indicating that these Paleo-Indians hunted Barren-ground Caribou, a species particularly adapted to the tundra-like conditions that existed at the time. The site yielded evidence of the Indigenous people's change in culture and subsistence as the climate in the area changed.[3]

References
  1. The NRHP lists the location of this site as "address restricted." The Michigan State Housing Development Authority gives the location as noted, and has erected a marker at the site. The marker text states the actual location is "near this site." Geocoordinates reflect the location of the marker.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. "Holcombe Site (20MB30)". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  4. "Prehistoric History". City of Serling Heights. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  5. Dan Higginbottom; Guy Gibbon (March 2009). "Holcombe". University of Minnesota Department of Anthropology. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  6. Peter L. Storck; Royal Ontario Museum (2004), Journey to the Ice Age: discovering an ancient world, UBC Press, p. 219, ISBN 0-7748-1028-9

Further reading
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