IV. Catalogs

Aitkin Independent Age

1954

"Ed Borg Finds Collection of Ancient Hardened Copper Tools on Farm at Grayling" in the Aitkin Independent Age 72(10), Aitkin, Minnesota.

This is apparently a cache of 9 copper tools, some large. They were found "near the bank of the original Sandy river channel which has been straightened out by dredging... of recent years." No associated artifacts were discovered. The cache was examined by Wilford soon after its discovery.

1928

A Minnesota Copper Pike. The Wisconsin Archeologist 7(4):218-219.

Willoughby describes a large copper pike which was plowed up in Carlton County, Minnesota in 1926.

1928

An implement of prehistoric man. Thirty-sixth Annual Report of the Ontario Provincial Museum, pages 51-54. Toronto, Ontario.

1972

A Copper Spearhead from Western Oklahoma. Plains Anthropologist 17(55):65-67.

The authors describe a large projectile point of native copper, discovered in 1968 in western Oklahoma. Metallographic and trace element information is provided.

1961

The Haltiner Copper Cache. The Michigan Archaeologist 7(2):7-10.

The Haltiner cache was discovered in 1946 along the Thunder Bay River in Alpena, Michigan. It contained a 4 pound copper cobble, 31 pieces of manufacturing debitage, and 3 small, finished copper implements. The materials were recovered from a sand ridge at a depth of approximately 3 feet. Surficial ceramic period artifacts could not be clearly associated with the copper. No ochre or burials were apparent. On the basis of similarities to the McCollum materials (Griffin & Quimby 1961), Binford estimates that the Haltiner cache dates to approximately 600 B.C.

1902

Archaeological notes. The Wisconsin Archeologist (os) 1(4):102.

Brown presents several brief reports on members' collections. A few copper pieces are included.

1907

The Implement Caches of the Wisconsin Indians. The Wisconsin Archeologist (old series) 6(2):47-70.

In a synopsis of prehistoric caches found in Wisconsin, Brown notes 5 caches of copper artifacts and 3 caches containing both flaked stone and copper artifacts. Two of these caches are illustrated.

1969

Three unusual copper implements from Houghton County, Michigan. The Wisconsin Archeologist 50(1):26-32.

1940b

The Minnesota Archaeological Society launches a program of photographing and recording distinctive Minnesota artifacts. The Minnesota Archaeologist 6(2):62-65.

Flaskerd notes a newly instituted Minnesota Archaeological Society program to photograph and document copper and pipestone artifacts in the state. (The results of this program are unknown.)

1945

Copper Axe: Willow River, Aitkin County, Minnesota. The Minnesota Archaeologist 11(2):48.

This source illustrates and describes a copper axe found in Aitkin County, Minnesota before 1920. The specimen is in the Kalamazoo Public Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1941

A Catalog of Copper from Roseau County, Minnesota: Collection of P.O. Fryklund, Roseau, Minnesota. The Minnesota Archaeologist 6(3):4-16.

Fryklund provides outline drawings and basic provenience for several copper artifacts from northwest Minnesota and nearby Manitoba and Ontario. Many of theses are presently curated at the Roseau County Historical Society Museum.

1961d

Old Copper Specimens from Near Brockville, Ontario. In Lake Superior Copper and the Indians: Miscellaneous Studies of Great Lakes Prehistory, Anthropological Papers, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, no. 17, edited by James B. Griffin, pages 118-ff.

Griffin discusses copper artifacts from eastern Ontario which he believes are affiliated with the Old Copper complex.

1956

A Socketed Copper Harpoon. The Wisconsin Archeologist 37(2):50-51.

1967

Old Copper Socketed Projectile Point. Newsletter of the Iowa Archaeological Society 43:3.

This article briefly describes a copper point found "near Lost Nation in Clinton County, Iowa" in the 1870s, eroding from a creek bank after a heavy rain. It is illustrated on the cover of the newsletter by line drawings from three views and two cross sec tions.

1962

The J.F. Norman Collection of Copper Artifacts. The Wisconsin Archeologist 43(3):65-69.

The J.F. Norman collection of 26 copper artifacts is illustrated. Some measurements and available provenience are provided. The pieces were found in northwest Minnesota (the text mistakenly states northeast) or in Wisconsin. The collection is curated by the Science Museum, St. Paul, Minnesota.

1967

An Unusual Copper Knife. The Minnesota Archaeologist 29(4):104-05.

Johnson describes and illustrates a copper crescent discovered near Boy River, Minnesota in 1923.

1973

The Arvilla Complex. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul (p. 13).

The Arvilla site in eastern North Dakota, a burial mound group, contained several large, ornamental copper objects and a leaf shaped copper knife approximately 27 cm long. The only other copper objects from Arvilla Complex sites are awls. The Arvilla Complex is felt to postdate the Middle Woodland Laurel culture, giving it an approximate date of later than 500 A.D. (The Arvilla artifacts have been returned for reburial.)

1964

Heavy Copper Artifacts. The Minnesota Archaeologist 26(1):23-30.

These pages contain illustrations, executed by Kammerer, of 26 copper artifacts from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and one piece from Alaska. The drawings include cross sections.

1952

Sixty Years of Ontario Archeology. In Archeology of Eastern United States, edited by James B. Griffin, pages 71-82. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Kidd notes that presence of probable Old Copper artifacts in southern Ontario, and the definite presence of Old Copper artifacts in northern Ontario. A few sites and locations are named.

1940

A recent find in Minnesota. The Minnesota Archaeologist 6(2):51-52.

This is an anecdotal account of the discovery of a copper knife in Hennepin County in 1939. It includes an illustration, a description and measurements.

1938

Macalester Collection #6, 1890, Article #9. The Minnesota Archaeologist 4(3):106 ff. (Reprinted from Macalester College Contributions no. 6, 1890.)

This source describes "some of the most interesting" of Lewis' copper artifacts. Many of these are from outside the region (Kentucky, Arkansas, etc.) but several seem to relate to the Old Copper complex. Provenience information is generally good.

1967

A catalogue of Old Copper artifacts in the Neville Public Museum. The Wisconsin Archeologist 48(2):81-128.

The authors document the collection of copper artifacts at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Most of these are scattered surface finds, a few are from caches, and most have general provenience. Those artifacts from the extensive Schumacher collection are well documented. Most of the artifacts are illustrated in 32 photographic plates. These artifacts were used by Wittry (1951) in preparing his typology.

1941

Big Sandy Lake, Minnesota. The Minnesota Archaeologist 7(4):38 ff.

Miner notes that copper artifacts are abundant at Big Sandy Lake, but does not give much specific information about the artifacts.

1957

The Old Copper Culture and the Keweenaw Waterway. Fieldiana Anthropology, v. 36, no. 8. Chicago Natural History Museum.

Approximately forty copper artifacts found along the Keweenaw Waterway in Houghton County, Michigan are described, along with a few accompanying stone artifacts. The authors report on their 1953 survey and testing of some of the locations where these artifacts had been discovered, noting that they were not able to find either surface or subsurface archaeological remains.

1961

Old Copper Artifacts from Chicago. In Chicago Area Archaeology, edited by Elaine A. Bluhm. Illinois Archaeological Survey, Bulletin 3:34-46.

Quimby describes copper artifacts found in the city of Chicago, some of which are Old Copper types. The geology of the location indicates that they are post-Nipissing. They were obtained by the Chicago Natural History Museum in 1893.

1967

An Unusual Old Copper Point. The Wisconsin Archeologist 48(1):1-2.

1969

An Old Copper Point from Southeastern Iowa. Newsletter of the Iowa Archaeological Society, no. 50.

Ritzenthaler briefly reports "the finding of a rat-tail copper point in Columbus City township, Louisa County, Iowa. It was a surface find... [and] there are no other copper specimens known for that area.... Its position on the Iowa River which joins the Mississippi some 15 miles away suggests riverine traffic. The piece measures 8-1/2 inches in length." It is illustrated by a line drawing.

1960

An Old Copper Crescent from Alberta. The Wisconsin Archeologist 41(2):34.

This source documents one copper crescent found in Saskatchewan, 150 miles northeast of Calgary. A description and photo are provided. Ritzenthaler notes that Old Copper in western Canada is "extremely rare."

1962

Evidence of Old Copper Culture in South Dakota. Museum News 23(11-12), November and December 1962. W.H. Over Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota. (Reprinted in The Wisconsin Archeologist 32(1):1-18.)

This source documents an isolated find of a copper crescent in Sioux Falls in southeastern South Dakota. The artifact was not heavily oxidized.

1967

An Unusual Old Copper Point. The Wisconsin Archeologist 48(1):1-2.

Ritzenthaler describes a surface find of a socket-tanged point from Columbia County, Wisconsin. The point initially appeared to be corroded iron, but thorough examination proved that is was copper with a corroded cortex high in iron oxide, apparently deri ved from iron rich ground water.

1940

Unusual copper artifacts in collections of the Minnesota Historical Society. The Minnesota Archaeologist 6(2):54-55.

Sackett presents a brief review of the c. 800 copper items in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society.

1906

Archaeological Materials from Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Archeologist 6(1):20-44.

Smith lists artifacts from Wisconsin in the Museum of Natural History in New York City, including approximately 300 copper artifacts. Provenience, usually very general, is given. A few pieces are illustrated with photographs.

1968

Old Copper Artifacts from North Dakota. The Wisconsin Archeologist 49(3):125-26.

Spiss reports on three socketed, Old Copper type artifacts found in North Dakota. The report includes a photo.

1944

A Minnesota Copper Sickle. The Minnesota Archaeologist 10(2):73-75.

Thayer describes an unusual copper artifact, apparently ancient, which he suggests may have functioned as a sickle. He presents ethnographic parallels to support this view.

1982

An Archaeological Survey of the Southeastern Lac Seul Region. The Minnesota Archaeologist 40(4):155-208.

This paper describes a collection which contains Old Copper artifacts from the vicinity of Lac Seul in northwestern Ontario. Fifty-one copper pieces are illustrated by drawings. Not all are necessarily Old Copper.

1963

Thirty Old Copper Culture Artifacts from Michigan. The Michigan Archaeologist 9(2):17-19.

The authors describe the copper artifacts from the Mitchell Collection curated by the Minnesota Historical Society. These 30 pieces, from a once more extensive set, were collected in Michigan between 1847 and 1906. Each piece is described, and illustrate d from two or three views. Measurements and available provenience are provided.

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