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AMERICA’S OLDEST CALENDAR SITE FOUND

By René White, Resident of Clarke County, Bluemont, Va.

BLUEMONT, VA. (October 6, 2011) – Virginia’s Spout Run Site is announced as the oldest above-ground Paleoindian ceremonial site in North America by Archaeologist Jack Hranicky on Oct. 22 during the “Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Archeological Society” in Charleston, W. Va. at the Wingate Inn.

This prehistoric site located in Northern Virginia is of unique national significance and offers a glimpse into a highly developed culture living in Virginia over 12,000 years ago.

“Although archaeological sites have been discovered across the United States, there’s nothing like this above ground or this old in North America,” said Hranicky who is a Virginia Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA) credited with authoring 32 books on North America’s prehistory.

“This preserved site has numerous properties that prove its use 12,000 years ago by Paleoindians and classifies it as a major ceremonial/calendar site on the Shenandoah River,” Hranicky added. “I classify it as a ‘Horizon Observation Station’ which produced a paleo-calendar for early Americans.”

The site has above-ground concentric rings, jasper tools, summer/fall focus and calendar using the summer solstice as a start for the year. Jasper is a cryptocrystalline stone in geology known to be a preferred mineral to fashion tools by Paleoindians during the Younger Dryers period, which occurred after the Earth returned very quickly into near glacial conditions of cold, dry and windy.

According to Hranicky, the calendar was needed to hold ceremonies, maximize jasper tool-making and know changing seasons for survival.

 
AMERICA’S OLDEST CALENDAR SITE FOUND

Dating corresponds to the length of time that the Paleoindians mined for jasper at the Thunderbird (Flint Run) Paleoindian Complex in Warren County, Va. Thunderbird is a jasper quarry excavated in 1974 by Catholic University William Gardner (deceased). Gardner was among the first to uncover evidence Paleoindians used the Shenandoah River to reach jasper quarries there.

In 2010, Spout Run Site land owner Chris White discovered concentric rings on his private property and contacted Hranicky to investigate the site.

For over a year, White, and his wife René White, have helped Hranicky conduct the first scientific excavation uncovering a small five by five foot area at the Spout Run Site that so far produced jasper tools and other supporting artifacts dating 12,000 before present.

 “Our site investigation included mapping and exploring resources around the Spout Run property and confirms that Paleoindian priests carried out ceremonies here using the angle of the sun, concentric rings and a stone altar that stands about five-feet tall,” Hranicky said.

Hranicky and his team coined the name “Spout Run” for the prehistoric site after the Spout Run water-way that runs through the site down the Blue Ridge Mountain into the Shenandoah River.

Hranicky is in the process of registering the Spout Run Site as a state-recognized prehistoric site with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and as a National Historic Landmark with the U.S. Department of Interior.

“Our goal is to seek donations and funds to help preserve the site for future generations,” said White about protecting this sacred site. Anyone interested in helping preserve this sacred site can contact White at the Native American Church of Virginia at ONACofVA@gmail.com.

Only a small part of the site is excavated, which saves 95 percent of the site for the future.

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

For additional information or photographs regarding this site, please contact

Jack Hranicky (RPA) at 703-256-1304 hranickyj@archeology.org.

The Spout Run Site is not open to the general public and is available by appointment only

by contacting site owners Chris White or René White at 540-554-8730 ONACofVA@gmail.com.