Photo By Keith Hayes | Calico Early Man Site director Chris Christianson shows some of the artifacts and...... read more read more
BARSTOW, Calif. - Imagine standing on the shore of a 200-square-mile freshwater lake teeming with fish while antelope, hares and other animals feed off succulent vegetation in a lush, green river valley. Twenty-thousand years ago that is what the Mojave Desert looked like.
In 1958 a man-made artifact was discovered at a bentonite mining pit 16 miles northeast of Barstow. With the help of world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Louis Leakey, the Early Man Site was established in 1964 and has been actively excavated for 41 years by an all-volunteer cadre of students, scientists and geologists.
Chris Christianson, who has worked as director of the Calico Early Man Site for three decades, said the area was believed to have been a tool-making workshop for the denizens of the area who lived along Lake Manix, the huge Pleistocene epoch body of water which once existed. According to the Bureau of Land Management website http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/barstow/calico.html, the discovery of the site may also be the earliest evidence of human occupation of the Americas.
No human remains have been found at the site, Christianson said. “We’re not sure if these people were cultured to the point yet that they were practicing ritualistic caring for the deceased. If they were, they were going to do it down along the lake shore where they were living, not up in the rocks here.”
Some of the artifacts, including arrowheads, scrapers, and knives excavated from the site are on display at the small visitor center.
Christianson said the massive Lake Manix, fed by the Mojave River, dried up about 20,000 years ago when the region started to become the current arid landscape of the Mojave Desert. Today, the Mojave River flows mostly underground, sometimes rising to the surface during the rainy season, and empties its water at certain inland spots in the desert.
Off-duty Marines and others interested in taking a day trip to the attraction and exploring a fascinating aspect of human development in the region can drive to the Calico Early Man Site by taking the I-15 freeway north to Minneola Road and following the signs. Hours are posted on the website, and there is an entry fee.
The dig draws 5,000 curious people a year from all over the world. Christianson, who gives tours of the dig site, said “You can come up here to learn something new, broaden your horizons and learn about the first human intervention in the Western world.”
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2015 12:01 |
| Story ID: | 160977 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 381 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, On and Off the Beaten Path: Calico Early Man site, by Keith Hayes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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