Post by Okwes on Apr 6, 2008 12:07:12 GMT -5
Child digs up 4,000-year-old Native American tools
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By Betsy Levinson
GateHouse News Service
Posted Apr 04, 2008 @ 12:33 PM
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LITTLETON — Donna White’s grandson, Dalton, was digging in White’s backyard when he uncovered what he said was a “stone in the shape of a little man.”
“I knew immediately what he had,” she said. “I almost died. I said, ‘Wow, this isn’t a man, this is an axe.’”
White taught at the Concord Museum for 15 years, and she knew that the education program included Native American tools that are indigenous to the area. She knew Dalton had a rare find. She said the rock has indentations that identify it as a tool, but to a 5-year-old, make it look like a person.
“I was in awe,” said White as she looked at her grandson that day. “I knew they are real Native American tools. They were meant to be here.” She said the native peoples used the axe “on a daily basis.”
White dotes on Dalton, a bright child with glasses whom she calls “the little professor.”
“I call him my shadow,” she said. “He follows me around.”
She bought Dalton his first shovel this winter because the boy loves to dig holes in her backyard.
“I told him if he was going to dig, dig in the vegetable garden,” said White this week, figuring that he could help turn over the soil.
She told Dalton to go back in the garden and see if there were more, and sure enough, he found more in the same hole. White ran the tools through the dishwasher and brought them into the Reuben Hoar Library where her colleague Andrea Curran works. She knew Curran loved local history.
Curran asked if she could bring them to an archaeological firm in Littleton to get more information about the find. She brought them to Martin Dudek of John Milner Associates Inc. to have the items appraised and authenticated.
“He said in all his years on digs, he was most excited about these,” said Curran. He told Curran they were about 2,000 to 6,000 years old. Dudek told Curran the tools are “the most significant find in Littleton.”
“There were five things within 3 or 4 feet of each other,” said Curran, leading her to conjecture that Native Americans “might have had an encampment” in the area that is near Beaver Brook.
As far as dating the tools, White was on the money.
“I said they were 4,000 years old,” she said. “I knew right away.”
White said the spring thaw brings things to the surface, so the timing was right for Dalton’s treasure.
“He loves looking in the dirt with his little magnifying glass,” said White. “He’s always looking at rocks.”
White said she is pondering what to do with the rare items.
“They are Dalton’s,” she said. “They are his find.”
She may donate them to the Littleton Historical Society on loan until the boy comes of age.
“It has to be on display with a picture of Dalton with his shovel,” said White, “until he is grown.”
She said others have suggested donating them to a university, but White said, “They belong in Littleton.”
“They are here for a reason,” she said. “They belong here.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Betsy Levinson
GateHouse News Service
Posted Apr 04, 2008 @ 12:33 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LITTLETON — Donna White’s grandson, Dalton, was digging in White’s backyard when he uncovered what he said was a “stone in the shape of a little man.”
“I knew immediately what he had,” she said. “I almost died. I said, ‘Wow, this isn’t a man, this is an axe.’”
White taught at the Concord Museum for 15 years, and she knew that the education program included Native American tools that are indigenous to the area. She knew Dalton had a rare find. She said the rock has indentations that identify it as a tool, but to a 5-year-old, make it look like a person.
“I was in awe,” said White as she looked at her grandson that day. “I knew they are real Native American tools. They were meant to be here.” She said the native peoples used the axe “on a daily basis.”
White dotes on Dalton, a bright child with glasses whom she calls “the little professor.”
“I call him my shadow,” she said. “He follows me around.”
She bought Dalton his first shovel this winter because the boy loves to dig holes in her backyard.
“I told him if he was going to dig, dig in the vegetable garden,” said White this week, figuring that he could help turn over the soil.
She told Dalton to go back in the garden and see if there were more, and sure enough, he found more in the same hole. White ran the tools through the dishwasher and brought them into the Reuben Hoar Library where her colleague Andrea Curran works. She knew Curran loved local history.
Curran asked if she could bring them to an archaeological firm in Littleton to get more information about the find. She brought them to Martin Dudek of John Milner Associates Inc. to have the items appraised and authenticated.
“He said in all his years on digs, he was most excited about these,” said Curran. He told Curran they were about 2,000 to 6,000 years old. Dudek told Curran the tools are “the most significant find in Littleton.”
“There were five things within 3 or 4 feet of each other,” said Curran, leading her to conjecture that Native Americans “might have had an encampment” in the area that is near Beaver Brook.
As far as dating the tools, White was on the money.
“I said they were 4,000 years old,” she said. “I knew right away.”
White said the spring thaw brings things to the surface, so the timing was right for Dalton’s treasure.
“He loves looking in the dirt with his little magnifying glass,” said White. “He’s always looking at rocks.”
White said she is pondering what to do with the rare items.
“They are Dalton’s,” she said. “They are his find.”
She may donate them to the Littleton Historical Society on loan until the boy comes of age.
“It has to be on display with a picture of Dalton with his shovel,” said White, “until he is grown.”
She said others have suggested donating them to a university, but White said, “They belong in Littleton.”
“They are here for a reason,” she said. “They belong here.”