Holcombe Site

Holcombe Site

The historic marker is placed "near" the Holcombe Site
Location Intersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights, Michigan[1]
Coordinates 42°34′7″N 83°0′34″W / 42.56861°N 83.00944°W / 42.56861; -83.00944Coordinates: 42°34′7″N 83°0′34″W / 42.56861°N 83.00944°W / 42.56861; -83.00944
Area 1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP Reference # 71001023[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP April 16, 1971
Designated MSHS July 17, 1970[3]

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]

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 Indian's change in culture and subsistence as the climate in the area changed.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Holcombe Site (20MB30)". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Prehistoric History". City of Serling Heights. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  5. 1 2 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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