Bear Creek event to shed light on Native American life 10,000 years ago

The Bear Creek site, located in the heart of the City of Redmond, is the oldest excavated archaeological site with stone tools in Western Washington. It was first identified in 2008 during a routine environmental survey for a city habitat restoration project, and since then it has generated a wealth of information about Native American life more than 10,000 years ago near the outlet of Lake Sammamish.

On Feb. 25, project director Dr. Robert Kopperl will be on hand at the edge of the restoration area overlooking the site to informally provide information and answer questions about the project and Washington state’s shared archaeological heritage. He’ll be at the new overlook of the Lower Bear Creek habitat restoration area (west of the World Market store) along the Bear Creek recreational trail between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Parking is available at the Redmond Town Center lots across Bear Creek Parkway from the recreational trail and presentation location.

“It is the oldest archeological site with stone tools that has so far been investigated by archeologists in the Puget Lowlands and the Washington Straits region,” Kopperl told the crowd at a Redmond Historical Society event in 2015. In an earlier report, Kopperl noted that the site is the first opportunity to study how American Indians made the Puget Lowlands their home at the end of the last ice age, some 16,000 years ago.

Learn more about the project at http://www.redmond.gov/streamrestoration.