Colvilles Turn Down Request For Wider Dig

The Colville Indian Tribe has rejected a request for more scientific investigation at a site where humans camped 11,000 years ago.

The tribe's action apparently has ended excavation in an apple orchard near East Wenatchee for the season - and perhaps for the foreseeable future. The state Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation reports there have been no requests for a permit to resume the work next year.

Michael Gramly of the Buffalo, N.Y., Museum of Science has directed excavation this fall under strict restrictions worked out with the Colvilles and the state. Gramly had agreed to remove only stone and bone tools that had been exposed, and then covered up again, during a dig two years ago.

The camp is thought to be a settlement of the so-called Clovis people, named for the site in New Mexico where artifacts dating to their era were discovered in the 1930s.

But last week, Gramly sought the Colvilles' agreement to remove artifacts uncovered this year. He said he feared the valuable artifacts would be damaged if they were covered again to await excavation in future years.

He also sought the tribe's permission to further explore a separate excavation a few yards away from the main site, where another artifact had been found.

Mathew Dick Jr., chairman of the tribe's cultural-affairs committee, said the tribe turned down both requests.

The Colvilles are concerned the site, which has yielded some of the most spectacular stone tools found in the Americas, may contain human remains.