A team of anthropologists has discovered a cache of over 200 obsidian projectile points and scraping tools in a high-altitude pass in California’s Sierra Nevada. Chemical fingerprinting of the volcanic glass reveals that the material originated from a source over 500 miles away in present-day Oregon.
Dating to the early Holocene (10,000 years ago), this find suggests that Paleo-Indian groups had established extensive and highly organized long-distance trade networks much earlier than previously believed. The discovery challenges the model of isolated nomadic bands and suggests a deeply connected ancient American landscape.