A 12,000-year-old find in Keene

Goodby also believes the type of stone they are finding in Keene as compared to the stone found in Swanzey in the 1970s, will ultimately prove the Keene site is even older than the Swanzey site.

Another exciting find was a stone fireplace that still had remnants of burnt fire wood in it. Next to the hearth, the archeologists also discovered what they believe to be burnt caribou bone. Goodby said testing will be done on the bone to determine the animal and the wood to determine what species of trees were in the area when these people lived there.

Goodby said he has two more weeks to gather what he can from the sites before construction on that part of the property continues on the middle school.

However, the significance of the site will not be lost once the areas are covered over with the new school, said William Gurney, Co-Superintendent of SAU 29.

He said school officials will be building the finds into the curriculum so that students will understand the importance of the history right there in their backyard. He also said replicas of the stone tools will be on permanent display inside the school.

"The curriculum has been a little bit lacking when it comes to the original inhabitants in New England," Gurney said. "Now the students will be able to hold replicas of the actual artifacts in their hands and see exactly what the real tools looked like and touch and hold them…. It's just great."

Further, the school district will receive a comprehensive report on the findings and Goodby also expects to give lectures and publish his findings at some point. Though a scientist through and through, Goodby can't hide his excitement for what they are discovering.

"To put it in context, I have been doing archeology for 25 years," he said. "And this is the neatest site I've ever seen. This is really a very important site."

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