Science: Rich Diggings

A glittering patch of quartzite, high on Sheguindah Bay Hill, was just the thing to catch an archaeologist's eye. Knowing that Stone-Age Americans made primitive tools from the easily workable material, Thomas Lee, a dedicated digger from Ottawa's National Museum, scrambled up the rocky slope on Lake Huron's Canadian shore to have a look. Half an hour later, he was poking and prodding one of the richest diggings in North America. The forest floor was dotted with crude knives, scrapers, and quartz chips. "I felt drunk," he said. "It looked as though the Indians had heard me coming, dropped everything, and...

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