Holcombe Site
{{short description|Archaeological site in Michigan, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Holcombe Site
| nrhp_type =
| image = HolcombeBeachSiteSterlingHeightsMI.jpg
| image_size = 258
| caption = The historic marker is placed "near" the Holcombe Site
| location = Intersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights, Michigan
| coordinates = {{coord|42|34|7|N|83|0|34|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Michigan#USA
| architecture =
| added = April 16, 1971
| area = {{convert|1|acre}}
| refnum = 71001023{{NRISref|version=2009a}}
| designated_other1 = Michigan State Historic Site
| designated_other1_date = July 17, 1970
| designated_other1_number =
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
}}
The Holcombe Site, also known as Holcombe Beach, is a Paleo-Indian archaeological site located near the intersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dodge Park RoadThe 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. in Sterling Heights, Michigan, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1970.
Site discovery
In 1961, amateur archaeologists Jerome DeVisscher and Edward J. Wahla{{cite web | title = Prehistoric History | publisher = City of Serling Heights | url = https://www.sterling-heights.net/bins/site/templates/default.asp?area_2=pages/comm/history/prehistorichistory/prehistorichistory_454.dat&area_1=pages/nav/comm/history/history.dat&area_3=0.dat&area_0=0.dat&area_8=0.dat&objectid=BEB01220&ml_index=0&NC=6053X | accessdate = June 17, 2011 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121227232019/https://www.sterling-heights.net/bins/site/templates/default.asp?area_2=pages/comm/history/prehistorichistory/prehistorichistory_454.dat&area_1=pages/nav/comm/history/history.dat&area_3=0.dat&area_0=0.dat&area_8=0.dat&objectid=BEB01220&ml_index=0&NC=6053X | archive-date = December 27, 2012 | url-status = dead }} discovered evidence of an ancient settlement at this site.{{cite web|url= http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/9473.htm|title= Holcombe Site (20MB30)|publisher= Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online|accessdate= June 16, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120601091530/http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/9473.htm|archive-date= June 1, 2012|url-status= dead}} Later radiocarbon dating of hearth elements determined the site to be an 11,000-year-old Paleo-Indian settlement. A five-year dig by archaeologists from the University of Michigan uncovered numerous artifacts. 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.{{cite web | title = Holcombe | author = Dan Higginbottom | author2 = Guy Gibbon | date = March 2009 | publisher = University of Minnesota Department of Anthropology | url = http://anthropology.umn.edu/labs/wlnaa/points/clusters/holcombe.html | accessdate = June 15, 2011}}
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.{{citation | title = Journey to the Ice Age: discovering an ancient world | author1 = Peter L. Storck | author2 = Royal Ontario Museum | publisher = UBC Press | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-7748-1028-9 | page = 219 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HldYDSp4JyoC&pg=PA219}} 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.
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{citation | title = The Paleo-Indian occupation of the Holcombe beach | author1 = James Edward Fitting | author2 = Jerry De Visscher | author3 = Edward J. Wahla |editor1= Jerry De Visscher |editor2= Edward J. Wahla |publisher= University of Michigan |year=1966 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=P-ARAQAAIAAJ}}
External links
- [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/anthro1ic?size=50;sort=archsitename;start=1;type=boolean;view=reslist;rgn1=archsitename;select1=all;q1=Holcombe Images of Holcombe site excavations]
{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan}}
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Macomb County, Michigan
Category:Michigan State Historic Sites
Category:Archaeological sites in Michigan
Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan