| Holcombe Site | |
| Location: | Intersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights, Michigan |
| Coordinates: | 42.5686°N -83.0094°W |
| Added: | April 16, 1971 |
| Refnum: | 71001023 |
| Designated Other1: | Michigan State Historic Site |
| Designated Other1 Date: | July 17, 1970 |
| Designated Other1 Num Position: | bottom |
The Holcombe Site, also known as Holcombe Beach, is a Paleo-Indian archaeological site located near the intersection of Metropolitan Parkway and Dodge Park Road[1] in Sterling Heights, Michigan, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1970.
In 1961, amateur archaeologists Jerome DeVisscher and Edward J. Wahla[2] discovered evidence of an ancient settlement at this site.[3] Later radiocarbon dating of hearth elements determined the site to be an 11,000-year-old Paleo-Indian settlement.[3] A five-year dig by archaeologists from the University of Michigan uncovered numerous artifacts.[2] The distinctive small, thin, fluted arrowheads found at the site were dubbed "Holcombe points;" similar flint arrowheads have been found at other sites in Michigan and southern Ontario, with scatterings in northern Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.[4]
The Holcombe site was situated on what was, at the time it was occupied, the strandline of a small glacial lake that probably drained into nearby Lake Algonquin. Arrowheads, flint chips, and bone fragments were recovered, indicating that these Paleo-Indians hunted Barren-ground Caribou, a species particularly adapted to the tundra-like conditions that existed at the time. The site yielded evidence of the Indigenous people's change in culture and subsistence as the climate in the area changed.[3]