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An 11,000 - year - old settlement in Canada is challenge the idea that other Indigenous people were mobile . The fresh uncovered village situation of Âsowanânihk , which means " a plaza to get across " in the Cree language , is one of the old archaeologic site found on the continent and suggests that an organised society exist in central Canada far earlier than expert antecedently thought .

" This site is shake up up everything we thought we knew and could change the narrative of early Indigenous civilization in North America , " amateur archeologist Dave Rondeau , who first identified the site in 2023 , said in a Feb. 4statement .

Two people standing in front of a cliff, looking at the different colored lines of soil running horizontally

Experts look at the eroding cliff where the site was discovered in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Evidence already recovered from Âsowanânihk , located in the Sturgeon Lake First Nation ( SLFN ) in central Saskatchewan , include Oliver Stone tools , firepits and bison bone , according to the statement . A very large firepit suggests that the web site was used for a long period , or repeatedly for shorter periods , according toGlenn Stuart , an archaeologist at the University of Saskatchewan who is involved in the project . Such manipulation indicates that the settlement was potential a long - full term one , rather than a temporary hunting camp , where Indigenous hunter strategically harvested the extinctBison antiquus .

Related : Ancient Indigenous lineage of Blackfoot Confederacy run back 18,000 twelvemonth to last ice age , DNA reveals

Charcoal from one of the hearths wasradiocarbon - datedto about 10,700 years ago , Stuart secernate Live Science in an email . This mean that people were living in the small town just after the last ice age ended , when there was finally acres suitable for plants to grow .

An illustration of two Indigenous people pulling hand cart-like contraptions

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Ruins of a large circular building on a plant plain with mountains in the background.

" This indicates that people arrived in this position as before long as it was inhabitable , " Stuart said , " and then continually reoccupied the site for thousands of year . Ancestral First Nations have been living in the area west of [ the urban center of ] Prince Albert for as long as it has been possible to live in the area . "

" This discovery is a knock-down admonisher that our ancestors were here , building , booming , and shaping the land long before story books notice us , " SLFN Chief Christine Longjohn said in the statement . " This site speaks for us , proving that our roots run deep and unplowed , " she enjoin .

The site of Âsowanânihk is presently being contemplate by archaeologists , including Stuart , alongside the SLFN ’s Âsowanânihk Council , which include Elders , Knowledge Keepers and educators . The council is also working with local stakeholder to protect the website , which was originally identified because it was eroding out of a riverbank and now present possible wipeout from logging activities in the area .

Circular alignment of stones in the center of an image full of stones

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