Number 10-11, Fall and Winter 1966
Elden Johnson, Editor
[4 pages, no figures]
Charles R. Watrall
University of Minnesota
Site 21 ML 9 is located in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota and is situated on a peninsula which projects into Lake Ogechie about one mile from the outlet of the Rum River on Lake Mille Lacs.
The site itself was found during the construction of recreational facilities in the MIlle Lacs-Kathio State Park. Extensive test excavation was conducted in 1965 under the direction of Professor Leland R. Cooper of Hamline University. These excavations resulted in the recording of surface features indicating a large palisaded village which warranted further excavation.
Intensive excavation was begun during the 1966 MORRC field season by the University of Minnesota under the direction of Elden Johnson, State Archaeologist. Excavation uncovered at least three house patterns, many ricing pits, and one burial. Also a midden deposit was found on a slope which extends to Lake Ogechie. It yielded among other things a large concentration of potsherds.
Preliminary analysis of the ceramic material from the site shows a high percentage of Late Woodland and Mississippian pottery types.
Projectile points show a high percentage of small triangular points with slightly concave bases and made of a variety of materials. Small, triangular points, side-notched, make up a small percent of the total. Other lithic materials include end scrapers, mauls, and sandstone abraders.
Some trade materials were also recovered. These include gun flints, glass, beads, mold-made clay pipes, and some possible metal gun parts.
At present, it appears that the Leland R. Cooper Site is a Late Woodland-Early Historic fortified village. It is suggested that this site may be one of the large Mdewankanton Dakota villages mentioned in early historic literature of this area.
Peter A. Bleed
University of Minnesota
Between July 16th and September 2, 1966, a University of Minnesota research crew conducted archaeological excavation at 21 ML 11, Petaga Point. This work was conducted under the MORRC program and yielded much new information on the prehistoric Indian cultures of central Minnesota and will help to solve many of the archaeological problems of this important area. The site itself is located in the new Mille Lacs-Kathio State Park. It extends from a point of land at the outlet of the rum River, Lake Ogechie eastward about 500 meters a mile west of 21 ML 9. At the present time, the site is surrounded on three sides by bogs which support a rich growth of wild rice.
The archaeological potential of the site was first discovered by T.E. Moore who homesteaded the area. During plowing, Mr. Moore found several copper artifacts which today would be called "Old Copper" types. Dr. Lloyd A. Wilford, University of Minnesota, noted the presence of these artifacts but did not dig at the site. The Moore collection has, unfortunately, been lost.
In 1965 work was begun on the construction of camping facilities in the park; and at the same time, Professor Leland R. Cooper conducted an archaeological survey of the area. The material recovered from the testing of Petaga Point indicated that the site was worthy of further investigation.
The 1966 excavation had a dual purpose. First, since construction of park facilities was planned for the site area, it was necessary to obtain a picture of the total history of the point. Secondly, it was hoped that copper artifacts could be found in direct association with other artifacts in order to link the "Old Copper" tools to an Archaic culture. In carrying out the first aim, the entire point was intensively tested. The stratigraphy of the area was found to be partially disturbed. However, based upon preliminary laboratory analysis of artifactual inventories, it appears that Petaga Point had two major periods of occupation.
The earlier occupation of the site is evidence by copper and stone tools. Copper tools at the site included conical socketed points, a crescent shaped knife, a possible harpoon, several awls, and numerous nuggets of native copper. Also found were several tanged-stemmed points similar to types found in many Eastern Archaic sites. Several large core choppers appear to be associated with this horizon.
Most recently, there was a multi-occupation of several Indian groups during the Late Woodland period. This is evidenced by a variety of Late Woodland pottery including Blackduck, Kathio, Sandy Lake, and Clam River. Corresponding to the presence of Late Woodland is a large sample of typical Late Woodland projectile points.
"Old Copper" is one of the least understood archaeological complexes of the Eastern United States. Before this culture can be understood, the total archaeological assemblage which encompasses the copper tools must be defined. Once this is done, the cultural affinities can be studied and the temporal location of the complex can be isolated. Petaga Point yielded such artifact associations. It is hoped that once laboratory analysis of the material is complete Petaga Point will answer some of the questions of "Old Copper" in the sequence of Minnesota's prehistory and the entire Eastern United States.
Cambria Village Ceramics. RuthAnn Knudson Shay. MA thesis, 1966, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, vii+ 116 pp., 12 tables, 19 plates.
Cambria village, 21 BE 2, located in southern Minnesota, is a single component Mississippian site occupied during the twelfth century. Although the site is prominent in the archaeological literature concerned with Mississippian manifestations in the Upper Mississippi River valley, little analysis of cultural material has been done to date. RuthAnn Shay undertook the analysis of the ceramic material as the subject for her MA theses; and the resulting work is of vital importance in the study of Mississippian culture in an area out of the central Mississippi culture area.
Not only is the thesis important for the definition of the pottery present in the Cambria artifactual assemblage, but also for the methodology. Mrs. Shay has used the type: variety system in establishing pottery grouping, and also a statistical analysis to test and determine cultral [sic] selectivity of specific ceramic attribute combinations.
The types and varietyies [sic] described for Cambria village include:
Pine County Survey
Leland R. Cooper, Professor Emeritus at Hamline University, again participated in the MORRC Program in Prehistoric Archaeology. He conducted a site survey and testing program in Pine County along the southern end of Lake Pokegama during the summer season 1966. One of the main areas survey and tested was the land belonging to the Redemptorist Fathers of the St. Gerard Mission, and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Vach. A total of nine village and mound sites, representing ARchaic to Late Woodland cultures, were locate with the help of the Fathers and the Vachs. Mrs. Vach has an extensive and well-documented collection of archaeological materials from each of the sites, and has donated the collection to the University of Minnesota, Anthropology Museum. Professor Cooper also surveyed land owned by Mr. Paul Stumne of Pine City; and excavated two mounds on the Stumne farm.
Thanks is given to Miss Sandra Resner who took charge of the archaeology laboratory this past summer, coordinating the laboratory work of processing archaeological material from the various excavations; and for reorganizing the storage room.
With the increase in archaeological projects, both field work and laboratory analysis, it was necessary to obtain people in certain technical fields to facilitate research and publication. The laboratory added to its staff a photography--Robert Steinhauser; a cartographer--Gordon Lothson; and a illustrator--Ingeborg Westfall.
Miss Carla Norquist, Research Assistant in the archaeology laboratory, spent the summer excavation at the site of Eketorp located on the island of ‡land off the southeast coast of Sweden. Eketorp, a fortified village, was occupied several times from AD 300 to 1100. The excavation was led by Professor M•rten Stenberger, Professor Emeritus, Uppsala University, Sweden. Miss Norquist received a Thord Gray Fellowship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation to participate in the excavation.