A Canadian archaeological team started its work at the Saunders Goose Pond settlement. The site was found last summer on Waskaganish territory in northern Quebec and it could could date back 7,000 years.
     When archaeological crews were digging near the Smokey Hill rapids last summer, they expected to find relics and pottery dating back about 150 years, so it came as a surprise when one discovery was linked to pre-European times.
     "It was very obviously quite different and quite old," says James Chism, the curator of archaeology at the institute. "It's pretty exciting, because we don't have a lot of sites in Quebec that are that old, if it's as much as 7,000 years. It's a time period that we know almost nothing about," Chism added.
     Chism said the area where the relics were found was likely once a peninsula or island, even though the site is now about 63 metres above sea level. It's possible the territory was a campsite, but archaeologists won't know for sure until the team gets a better look at the settlement. Chism hopes they will be able to narrow down the timeline this summer through geological surveys and tests on any organic materials they might find, such as charcoal or bone.

Edited from CBC News (25 August 2013)