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This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

TERMINAL WOODLAND COPPER PROCUREMENT STRATEGIES IN THE
SOUTHERN LAKE SUPERIOR BASIN

presented by

Troy Joseph Ferone

has been accepted towards fulﬁllment
of the requirements for

M.A. degree in Anthropology

 

Major professor

Date jug/1’ 916/]; 1772

0-7639 MS U is an Afﬁrmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

 

 

PLACE IN REFURN BOXto remove this checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINE return on or before date due.
MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested.

 

DATE DUE DATE DUE , DATE DUE

 

DEC i '0‘20127

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/00 chIBGID‘aDuapos-p.“

TERMINAL WOODLAND COPPER PROCUREMENT STRATEGIES IN THE
SOUTHERN LAKE SUPERIOR BASIN

By

Troy Joseph Ferone

A THESIS
Submitted to Michigan State University
in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Department of Anthropology

1 999

ABSTRACT

TERMINAL WOODLAND COPPER PROCUREMENT STRATEGIES IN THE
SOUTHERN LAKE SUPERIOR BASIN

BY

Troy Joseph Ferone

Few professional investigations have adequately addressed the prehistoric
procurement of native copper resources in the southern Lake Superior basin, an area
which contains the largest primary and secondary deposits on the North American
continent. These deposits were signiﬁcant sources of copper to the prehistoric
inhabitants of the region, and procurement of these sources was the ﬁrst stage in an
intricate system of native copper utilization.

Although archaeologists have long suspected that naturally displaced (secondary)
source deposits played a role in the prehistoric acquisition of copper throughout the
Upper Great Lakes region, the scale and intensity of a procurement strategy focused on
secondary deposits remained unknown. In this thesis I forward and test the assumption
that secondary copper deposits were significant to and deliberately procured by the
Terminal Woodland inhabitants of the southern Lake Superior basin.

In this thesis, a comprehensive account of initial archaeological investigations at
site 200N209, as well as a detailed discussion of the research methods, results and
observations from these investigations are presented. Several research questions are
advanced and discussed, which directly address gaps in contemporary research and lead
to discussions of a Terminal Woodland copper procurement system employed throughout

the Lake Superior basin.

 

Dedicated to the memory of Dr. Samuel N. Ladrach, my father.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the generous assistance of
numerous people and agencies. Many thanks to the great staff of the Ottawa National Forest
for their time, support and patience throughout this project, and for investing in me as an
employee of the US. Forest Service. In particular, Mark Hill was generous in his support for
this thesis and was a sounding board for many of the ideas put forth in the text. Technical and
professional assistance was also provided by several staff members of the Ottawa National
Forest including: Paul Daniels, Debrah Ellison, Joel Enking, Mike Kocher, Pat Leemon,
Sarah Mase and Paul Strand, all of whom were key contributors to this thesis. Thanks also to
Katie Egan-Bruhy for the gratis paleoethnobotanical analysis and to David Landon and
twelve MTU students for assisting in a site mapping extravaganza.

My thesis guidance committee consisted of Susan Martin, Bill Lovis, Larry Robbins
and Norm Sauer - and their contributions are much appreciated. Thank you all for your
ﬂexibility and willingness to accommodate, given my “remote” displacement in the Upper
Peninsula. Special thanks to Susan Martin for investing a signiﬁcant amount of her personal
time in working with me on this thesis, as well as other studies leading to its completion.

Accolades and kudos are given to those who labored with me during archaeological
excavations, and at the end of a long day had to trek up the steep clay banks of the
Ontonagon River valley. These hardy souls include: Dan Castle, Matt Daughtery, Jill
F erone, Bob Johnson, David Mather, Dan O’Rourke and my good ﬁ'iend Matt Thomas - who

not only worked in the ﬁeld, but also provided encouragement and friendship throughout all

iv

 

 

stages of this project. Without Matt’s assistance, including his personal library of prehistoric
copper references, this thesis would never have been completed.

I am indebted to Jill and Madeline for the sacriﬁces they made throughout the entire
process, and to my families, the Ladrachs and Garrisons for their help and support - every

step of the way.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................ viii
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................. ix
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1
PREHISTORIC PROCUREMENT STUDIES .................................................. 6
Archaeological Studies of Upper Great Lakes Copper Procurement ............... 10
Archaeological Investigations at 201R6: The Old Fort Site .......................... 16
CHAPTER 2
ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW OF
THE SOUTHERN LAKE SUPERIOR BASIN ................................................. 20
Secondary Copper Deposits ............................................................. 25
Ontonagon River Watershed ............................................................. 26
Glacial History ............................................................................. 27
Paleoecology ............................................................................... 30
Current Ecological Composition ......................................................... 33
CHAPTER 3
REGIONAL CULTURAL HISTORY ........................................................... 36
The Paleo indian Tradition ................................................................ 37
The Archaic Tradition ..................................................................... 40
The Woodland Tradition .................................................................. 43
CHAPTER 4
HISTORIC PERIOD ACCOUNTS OF SOUTH SHORE
COPPER PROCUREMENT ....................................................................... 48
Early Contact References ................................................................. 48
Historic Period References ............................................................... 52
CHAPTER 5

INITIAL INVESTIGATIONS AT SITE 200N209: A TERMINAL
WOODLAND COPPER QUARRY, WORKSHOP AND OCCUPATION

SITE IN THE ONTONAGON RIVER WATERSHED ........................................ 57
Site Description and Setting .............................................................. 57

Site Discovery .............................................................................. 61
Preﬁeld Investigations .................................................................... 63

Field Methods .............................................................................. 65

Shovel Testing .................................................................... 66

Site Mapping Strategies ......................................................... 67

vi

Test Excavation Methods ......................................................................... 69

Laboratory Procedures .............................................................................. 72
Lithic Tools and Debitage ........................................................ 73
Copper Artifacts ................................................................... 76
Results of Archaeological Investigations ........................................................ 78
Shovel Testing Results ............................................................ 78
Test Excavation Results .......................................................... 82
CHAPTER 6
200N209: DATA SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS
FOR FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS ............................................................ 100
Lithic Debitage ........................................................................... 100
Tools ....................................................................................... 102
Copper ..................................................................................... 104
Observations and Conclusions from 200N209 ....................................... 106
Directions for Future Research ......................................................... 114
CHAPTER 7
BEYOND 200N209: REGIONAL CONTEXT AND DISCUSSION ..................... 117
470N27/47LII: The Robinson Site ................................................... 119
47FR76: The Hemlock Cathedral Site ................................................ 124
ZOBGI4: The Sand Point Site ......................................................... 126
20KE20: The Lac La Belle Site ........................................................ 129
Synthesis and Discussion ............................................................... 131
Conclusions ............................................................................... 136
APPENDIX A
SITE 200N209 MASTER ARTIFACT PROVENIENCE AND
ACCESSION DATA .............................................................................. 139
APPENDIX B
SITE 200N209 TEST EXCAVATION UNIT STRATIGRAPHIC
PROFILES .......................................................................................... 153
REFERENCES CITED ........................................................................... 166

vii

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 6.1: 200N209 Material Assemblage .............................................. 101
TABLE 6.2: 200N209 Raw Material Frequency and Proportion ...................... 102
TABLE 6.3: 200N209 Tool Assemblage .................................................. 103

TABLE 6.4: 200N209 Tools and Raw Materials: Frequency and Proportion ....... 104

TABLE 6.5: 200N209 Copper Assemblage ............................................... 105

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 2.1: The Study Area .............................................................. 21
FIGURE 2.2: The Portage Lake Volcanic Sequence .................................... 23
FIGURE 2.3: The Ontonagon River Watershed .......................................... 28
FIGURE 5.1: Site 200N209 and the East Branch Ontonagon River .................. 58
FIGURE 5.2: Site 200N209 Plan View Map ............................................ 59
FIGURE 5.3: Site 200N209, Locale A .................................................... 60
FIGURE 5.4: Worked Copper From Locale B ........................................... 80
FIGURE 5.5: Thin Worked Copper From Locale B ..................................... 80
FIGURE 5.6: Bipointed Copper Awl from Locale B ................................. 81
FIGURE 5.7: Quartz Madison Point ...................................................... 84
FIGURE 5.8: Hammerstones From Locale A,

“c” is Third From Left ...................................................... 86
FIGURE 5.9: TEU 4 Anvilstone ............................................................ 88
FIGURE 5.10: TEU 4 HBLC Bipolar Core ............................................... 89
FIGURE 5.11: TEU 5 Prior to Excavation ................................................ 92
FIGURE 5.12: TEU 6 Worked Copper Artifact ......................................... 94
FIGURE 5.13: TEU 6 Bipolar Agate Core ............................................... 95
FIGURE 5.14: TEU 6 East Wall Proﬁle .................................................. 95
FIGURE 5.15: TEU 7 Copper Tool Preform ............................................. 97
FIGURE 5.16: TEU 7 Thin Hammered C0pper “Foil” ................................. 98
FIGURE 6.1: 200N209 Lithic Debitage Categories:

Frequency and Proportion ................................................. 101

FIGURE 6.2: 200N209 Lithic Raw Material Type:

Frequency and Proportion ....................................................... 102
FIGURE 6.3: 200N209 Tool Categories: Frequency and Proportion ................... 103
FIGURE 6.4: 200N209 Tool Raw Materials: Frequency and Proportion .............. 104
FIGURE 6.5: 200N209 Copper Assemblage: Frequency and Proportion ............. 105
FIGURE 7.1: Sites Mentioned in the Text ................................................... 120

Introduction and Research Context
More than a century of professional discourse has addressed the importance of prehistoric
copper utilization throughout North America. Most of the attention has been focused on
the Upper Great Lakes region and, in particular, the Lake Superior basin, which contains
the largest primary deposits of native copper on the North American continent (Rapp et al.
1990: 480). Most people with even a passing familiarity of Upper Great Lakes history and
prehistory recognize that prehistoric copper was extracted, worked into complex tools and
ornaments, traded as implements of exchange, and/or buried with the deceased. Each of
these observations have led to signiﬁcant avenues of academic inquiry, but there is still a
great deal more to be learned about the prehistoric utilimtion of native copper in the
Upper Great Lakes region. This thesis addresses the need for further information about
copper procurement - the ﬁrst stage in an intricate system of native copper utilization in
the southern Lake Superior basin.

Archaeologists would generally agree that copper was the most immrtant and
enduring native metal utilized by prehistoric peoples throughout North America.
Prehistoric copper use has been addressed from various research angles, such as elaborate
model building of prehistoric trade and exchange systems (Goad 1978), constructing
copper artifact typologies (Penman 1977, Wittry 1951), identifying elemental and
molecular copper sources (Rapp et al. 1990) and examining copper tool manufacture
through metallurgical analysis (Vernon 1990). Despite the important contributions of
these previous studies, few professional investigations have adequately addressed the
prehistoric procurement strategies of native copper resources in the primary source area

from which they are found.

 

 

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This thesis is not a panacea for the limited attention previously devoted to copper
procurement, nor is it intended to be the deﬁnitive work in prehistoric copper
procurement studies. The research herein provides a better understanding of one
particular strategy of copper procurement observed in the core of the largest primary
source area of native copper deposits - the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This
thesis also examines the temporal and cultural manifestations of a copper procurement
system employed throughout the southern Lake Superior basin.

With few exceptions (S.R. Martin et al. 1993), professional investigations of Lake
Superior copper procurement have focused strictly on Isle Royale, where the mining of
copper resources ﬁom intact deposits is a visible testament to the signiﬁcance of
prehistoric copper mining on the Island (Bastian 1963, Clark 1991, Grifﬁn 1961, Holmes
1901). Analogous studies of copper procurement along the south shore copper range of
Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula are basically nonexistent.

The mining of copper ﬁom embedded hardrock (primary) deposits has been the
focus of limited investigations at copper procurement sites throughout the region.
Archaeologists have long suspected that naturally displaced (secondary) source deposits
played a role in the prehistoric acquisition of copper throughout the Upper Great Lakes
region (Clark 1991: 151, Hoxie 1980: 32); but the scale and intensity of a procurement
strategy focused on secondary deposits remained unknown. In this thesis I forward and
test the assumption that secondary copper deposits were a signiﬁcant and deh'berately
procured source of copper to the prehistoric inhabitants of the southern Lake Superior

basin.

 

The geographical boundaries used in this thesis consist of nested spatial units,
beginning with a single archaeological site. Ultimately, the focus of discussion expands
into a broader contextual examination of the Ontonagon River watershed, the south shore
copper range and the Lake Superior basin. These boundaries are chosen speciﬁcally to
include the southern Lake Superior copper district which is an identiﬁable geological
forrmtion within the larger Upper Great Lakes region.

The temporal boundaries examined in this thesis reside primarily in the Terminal
Woodland stage, as manifested in the southern Lake Superior basin around AD 600 to
1400 (Clark 1991, Salzer 1969). The standard temporal-cultural stages of Early, Middle
and Late Woodland are not favored by many archaeologists in the Upper Great Lakes
region (Bruhy and Potaracke 1998, Clark 1991, G. Peters, personal communciation).
Rather, a less cumbersome designation of “Initial” and “Terminal” Woodland more aptly
encompasses the range of chronological and cultural identities observed throughout the
region, and will be applied in this case.

The cultural boundaries for this thesis, while operant within the deﬁned spatial
boundaries of the Lake Superior basin, are discussed in relation to the “Lakes Phase” as
identiﬁed by Salzer (1969). Borrowing from a taxonomic scheme proposed by Willey and
Phillips (1958), Salzer identiﬁed a series of distinct cultural-historical phases throughout
his study area of northcentral Wisconsin (Salzer 1969, 1974). Subsequent archaeological
investigators in northern Wisconsin, the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and more
broadly, the southern Lake Superior basin, have adopted Salzer's cultural-historical

ﬁamework (Bruhy and Potaracke 1998, Clark 1991, Cremin et al. 1980, Hill 1994,

 

Moﬂat 1992). The distinct material and cultural assemblages endemic to Salzer’s Lakes
Phase form the temporal and cultural setting for this research effort.

A major portion of this thesis introduces a new prehistoric site to the
archaeological record of the Lake Superior basin. Site 200N209 is located adjacent to the
East Branch Ontonagon River, near the present community of Mass City in the western
Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A comprehensive account of initial archaeological
investigations at the site, as well as a detailed discussion of the research methods, results
and observations from these investigations will be presented later in the text.

Two main research questions guided the methods of investigation at site
200N209. While other research questions surfaced before, during and after investigations
at the site, two questions bear mentioning because they directly address gaps in
contemporary research and provide a platform for discussions of copper procurement in

and beyond the Lake Superior basin.

0 Is there evidence of prehistoric occupation(s) associated with the large concentration
of pit and trench features observed along the East Branch Ontonagon River? If so,
what is the nature of the occupation(s).

o Is site 200N209 a prehistoric copper procurement site? If so, do the hundreds of pit
and trench features observed along the East Branch Ontonagon River demonstrate a

procurement strategy focused on secondary (ﬂoat) copper resources?

The initial chapters of this thesis lay the contextual groundwork for discussions of

investigations at site 200N209 and subregional considerations. Chapter One discusses the

 

   

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contemporary professional literature pertaining to studies of prehistoric resource
procurement. Clmpters Two and Three describe the physiographic and geological
conditions of the study area. Chapter Four overviews the cultural-historical sequences
documented in the Lake Superior basin and Upper Great Lakes region. Chapter Five
presents historic accounts of prehistoric copper use in the southern Lake Superior basin,
with particular attention to the Ontonagon River watershed. Chapter Six outlines the
research strategy, methods of analysis and results of investigations at site 200N209.
Chapter Seven summarizes the analysis, discusses the two research questions stated above
and concludes with a proposal for future avenues of inquiry at site 200N209 and other
Lake Superior basin sites. Finally, Chapter Eight synthesizes the information brought
forth in this thesis and expands the focus of discussion to Terminal Woodland

procurement and subsistence strategies in the southern Lake Superior basin.

Chapter 1
Prehistoric Procurement Studies

One of the best ways of understanding what was going on in a system involving

production, distribution (usually with exchange), and consumption, is to start at

the place of production. Whether we are speaking of the place of origin of the raw
material, the location of where the material was turned into ﬁnished products, or
the place of manufacture of an artiﬁcial material, such a location has much to teach

us (Renﬁew and Bahn 19912327).

This chapter discusses key studies of prehistoric resource procurement, with
particular attention to the mining and quarrying of native copper deposits in the Upper
Great Lakes region. Theoretical approaches to procurement and particular case studies at
prehistoric mines and quarries are overviewed, providing an anthropological ﬁamework
for the procurement of prehistoric copper resources in the Lake Superior basin.

Prehistoric procurement studies are well established in both New and Old World
archaeological inquiry. Investigations at several well known North American procurement
sites, such as the Flint Ridge quarries in east central Ohio, the pipestone quarries in
Minnesota, and the prehistoric copper mines around Lake Superior, have generated much
scholarly discourse beginning in the early nineteenth century (Atwater 1820, Holmes
1919). One particular scholar, W. H. Holmes, ﬁgures prominently as a pioneer in
procurement studies and published many articles on the topic (Holmes 1892, 1894, 1897,
1901, 1919). Hohnes will be discussed further in this chapter, as his studies of prehistoric
copper mining on Isle Royale were the ﬁrst professional investigations of prehistoric
copper procurement in the Lake Superior region (Hohnes 1901).

Contemporary archaeological and ethnographic studies of resource procurement

have made valuable contributions to the broader method and theory of anthropology.

Binford’s (1979) often—cited “embedded” and “direct” procurement models were
conceived ﬁ'om ethnoarchaeological investigations among the Nunamiut Eskimo.
According to Binford, a “direct” procurement strategy involves going to a particular
source area - in this case primary source areas - for the exclusive purpose of acquiring raw
materials (Binford 1979: 259-260). Conversely, an embedded procurement strategy is
employed as a component of a more comprehensive subsistence pattern in which raw
material acquisition was one of several activities being conducted as part of a seasonally-
scheduled “round.” Binford argues that the majority of all lithic procurement activities
employed by hunter-gatherers were embedded in other subsistence-related pursuits
(Binford 1979: 259-260). Although the obvious limitations of Binford’s embedded and
direct procurement models have been addressed in the professional literature (Gould and
Saggers 1985), his observations have made a lasting impression on the discipline.
Ericson (1984: 6) outlines another theoretical framework for the study of
procurement that has also been applied to contemporary archaeological investigations of
procurement (Gramly 1984, Torrence 1984). Ericson’s model focuses mostly on access
to raw materials, stating that the procurement of resources can be through either a direct
access system or a regional exchange system. In the direct access system, procurement
activities are conducted by people who travel directly to the source area from locations
outside of the source area. In this scenario, access to the source is not controlled by any
particular group or groups, and distribution of the raw material will occur within the
“territory” of the groups having direct access to the source material. Ericson’s regional
exchange system proposes the raw material is controlled and extracted by local

populations and redistributed through trade and exchange networks. In the regional

 

 

 

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exchange scenario, the number of specialists involved in production is much smaller than
the consumers of the end product.

Robin Torrence’s (1984) analysis of obsidian quarries on Melos Island established
a research design that applies Ericson’s (1984) direct access procurement model to
quarrying activities on the Island. Based on her examination of the lithic workshops
adjacent to the quarries, Torrence concludes the evidence ﬁ'om the quarries does not
support the contention of residential procurement specialists, but, rather, non-local
residents who traveled directly to Melos for the procurement of Melian obsidian

Burton’s (1984) ethnographic analysis of lithic quarrying activities in Papua, New
Guinea provide an interesting account of procurement activities as highly-organized
components of this modern community. Burton’s case study reveals that quarrying
activities were conducted exclusively by male “task groups” for relatively extensive
amounts of time. These task groups camped at or near the procurement sites, with female
members being responsible for all subsistence-related activities, including supplying food
to the males at the quarries. Burton ( 1984) thus provides a case study which
demonstrates the signiﬁcance of procurement activities by an existing population. Other
signiﬁcant contributions to procurement studies, utilizing ethnographic analyses, are found
in Hayden (1977) and Gould et a1. (1971), both of which examine the acquisition and use
of lithic materials by different aboriginal groups in the Western Desert of Australia.

Luedtke (1979) proposes a quantitative model of lithic procurement activities
which examines the quarrying of lithic raw materials as a component of “lithic demand” by
Late Woodland populations in the Great Lakes region. By advancing an economic

statistical formula, she investigates the quantity of lithic material required by Late

 

 

Woodland peoples throughout the course of a year (Luedtke 1979: 255). Through this
quantitative model of lithic demand, and borrowing ﬁ'om previously conducted
ethnographic research, Luedtke estimates the total lithic material needs per family, per
year, to be approximately 50 kilograms, or 110 pounds (Luedtke 1979: 261). Luedtke
applies this ﬁgure to an existing archaeological data set collected previously as a larger
examination of Late Woodland trade and exchange systems in the Great Lakes region
(Luedtke 1976). While recognizing the limitations of her study, Luedtke concludes (1979:
262):

The moderate estimates for lithic demand found here certainly imply that the

procurement of stone materials need not have taken a great deal of time, and could

lmve been accomplished in relatively few trips to a quarry.

Several New and Old World archaeological studies of prehistoric mining and
quarrying sites were consulted during the writing of this thesis. Unfortunately many of
these signiﬁcant reports are beyond the scope of this discussion. A review of the current
literature reveals that investigations at lithic quarries and related sites dominate the
literature pertaining to procurement studies. Additional insights into prehistoric quarry
and mining sites can be found in the contemporary works of Ahler (1986), Clark (1995),
Gramly (1984), Lepper et al. (1998) and Robbins et al. (1998). Each of these scholars
approaches the study of raw material acquisition uniquely, in a particular New or Old
World setting.

New insights and approaches to the study of procurement have recently been
advanced by scholars interested in the history of metallurgy and mining technology (Knapp

and Pigott 1997). Many of these contributions derive from the study of industrial mining

ﬁ'ontiers (Hardesty 1988, Landon and Tumberg 1996), studies of prehistoric and historic
technology (Craddock 1995) and ecological anthropology (Hardesty 1977). Historical
archaeologists and cultural anthropologists have enhanced these studies by addressing
some of the broad social and economic conditions identiﬁed at mining communities, such
as class structure, labor relations, gender and ethnicity; or, in Hardesty’s terms, the
“material, social and informational interaction sphere” of mining communities (Hardesty

1988: 1-5).

Archaeological Studies of Upper Great Lakes Copper Procurement

In this section a brief review of contemporary archaeological investigations at
prehistoric copper procurement sites in the Upper Great Lakes region is provided. A
thorough discussion of the historical literature pertaining to prehistoric copper
procurement in the study area is presented in Chapter Five of the text. An enduring
professional interest in prehistoric copper procurement in the region, particularly on Isle
Royale, is evident as one reviews the existing body of literature, begirming with Hohnes
(1892) and ending with Clark (1995). An exhaustive review of the literature pertaining to
prehistoric copper procurement in the Upper Great Lakes region is beyond the scope of
this study. Some of the key works on prehistoric copper quarrying and mining are
reviewed to demonstrate signiﬁcant contributions researchers have made to this ﬁeld of
study.

W.H. Holmes was a proliﬁc contributor to North American procurement studies,

and the ﬁrst to professionally investigate prehistoric copper mining in the Upper Great

10

Lakes region (Hohnes 1901). In 1892, Hohnes (1901: 685-686) visited the prehistoric

mines on Isle Royale because:

Modern mining had not so completely destroyed traces of the ancient work as on
the southern shores of Lake Superior, where extensive mining operations have
been carried on for many years.
Holmes marveled at the intensity of prehistoric mining evidence on the island; particularly
the features of the Minong site (1901: 687-690). He excavated a hardrock mining pit and
recorded innumerable hammerstones strewn in and about the pit features of the Minong
site (Holmes 1901: 690- 695).

Research efforts on Isle Royale maintained a focus on prehistoric copper mining
for several decades following Holmes’ investigations. The Ferguson and Franklin
Expeditions to Isle Royale in the 1920’s (Ferguson 1923, 1924) and the McDonald -—
Masee Expedition in 1928 (West 1929) mostly examined prehistoric mining and related
sites, although West (1929) describes materials recovered from several non-mining sites
on the Island.

From the 1920’s through the 1950’s, Fred Dustin conducted archaeological
reconnaissance on Isle Royale, examining the prehistoric mining evidence in a broader
social and temporal context than previously considered (Dustin 1957). In studying
prehistoric occupation sites, Dustin made insightful observations of the prehistoric
inhabitants of the island and the roles they played in the extraction of copper resources.

Investigations in the 1950’s by Roy Drier of the Michigan College of Mining and

Technology (Michigan Technological University) continued a legacy of interest in

11

 

prehistoric mining on Isle Royale (Drier 1961, Drier and DuTemple 1961). Drier's
excavations of a prehistoric mine (pit 25), also located at the Minong site, produced a
large amount of wood charcoal and debris and hammerstones at six, twelve and thirteen
feet below the surface of the mining pit (Grifﬁn 1961 :5-7). Drier obtained three
radiocarbon dates from wood and charcoal samples at this location, with all three dates
ranging ﬁom 3800-3000 BP - congruent with the Late Archaic period on Isle Royale
(Clark 1995: 54). These dates were challenged by Bastian (1963: 54) and Clark (1995:
54). While Clark (1996) conﬁrmed a Late Archaic presence on Isle Royale in his own
investigations, none of his dates were obtained directly ﬁom prehistoric mines, as were
Drier’s.

In the late 1950's-1960's, the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology
(UMMA) conducted extensive archaeological survey and shovel testing on Isle Royale
under the direction of J. B. Grifﬁn. Griffin’s (1961) landmark publication of these
investigations, Lake Superior Copper and the Indians: Miscellaneous Studies of Great
Lakes Prehistory, is to date the most inclusive compilation of prehistoric copper studies in
the Upper Great Lakes region. Another signiﬁcant outcome of these investigations is the
work of Tyler Bastian, who directed the UMMA survey program for three ﬁeld seasons.
His Master's Thesis (1963) remains the most comprehensive analysis of prehistoric copper
mining in the Lake Superior region.

Bastian (1963) identiﬁed and further deﬁned two types of prehistoric mines on Isle
Royale: lode (pit) mines and ﬁssure mines. These mine types differ in their physical

characteristics due to the type of copper deposit being exploited. F issure mines tend to be

12

irregular, linear workings that follow a copper vein, while lode or "pit" mines are circular
workings in the bedrock, to extract lode copper deposits.

Bastian used experimental replication to better understand the techniques and size
of the workforce required for prehistoric copper mining on Isle Royale. He estimated the
number oflode mines on the island to be between 1500 and 2000 (1963: 49) and surmised
that between 2.25 to 3 million cubic feet of rock was mined on the island, based on the
estimated volume of tailings (waste rock) from the mines. Using the nineteenth century
Minong copper mine as an example, Bastian estimated approximately 280 to 375 tons of
copper could have been extracted from the prehistoric mines on Isle Royale (Bastian
1963: 50).

Bastian and his ﬁeld crews also conducted experimental replication of mining
techniques, in which 25 cubic feet of rock were removed during a 30-hour period, using
only two hammerstones (1963252). Bastian estimated the total number of hammerstones
on the island to be approximately 150 to 200,000 (1963:51). The results and implications
of these ﬁgures are used to postulate that all of the mining conducted on Isle Royale could
have been achieved by 50 miners working from 25-30 hours per year, over the span of
2000 years. Bastian conservatively estimated 2000 years for the time during which the
mines were most actively worked on Isle Royale. From his ﬁndings, Bastian (1963: 58)
insightﬁilly noted:

The result of the calculations show that an adequate perspective of time,

appreciation of the cumulative result of small contributions, obviates the necessity

of any explanation involving intensive, highly organized prehistoric mining
operations in prehistoric times on Isle Royale.

Another important experimental replication study conducted by the UMMA ﬁeld
crew was a test of the ﬁre-and-water mining technique frequently mentioned in the historic
literature (Hohnes 1901, 1919). No evidence of the use of this technique was found by
the crew, about which Bastian concluded (1963: 53-54):

Apparently, no one has ever doubted that ﬁre was used to help break up the

bedrock in at least some of the mines on Isle Royale. The persistence of this idea

may be attributed to a misunderstanding of the nature of the ﬁll in the

ﬁssure mines, and to the prevalent ideas about methods of aboriginal mining in

North America. It is evident that all of the data relevant to the use of the ﬁre-and-

water technique by the American Indians need to be critically re-

examined.

Bastian's work provided a functional research design for most of the arclmeological
investigations conducted on Isle Royale after the UMMA surveys (Clark 1991:120-121).
From the 1960's to the 1990's, most investigations conducted on the island have been
srmll projects in support of National Park Service directives.

Investigations of prehistoric procurement sites on Isle Royale resumed ﬁom 1987
to 1990 by the Midwest Archaeological Center (MWAC) of the National Park Service,
under the direction of Caven Clark. Two important sources of information derived from
these surveys. Clark's (1991) PhD. dissertation provides the most complete account of the
cultural-historical sequence at Isle Royale and contains a wealth of information about
prehistoric copper procurement and use in the region

In his dissertation, Clark examined the dynamic nature of group interaction as
exhibited by the systematics of raw material (lithic, ceramic and c0pper) acquisition and
exchange throughout the Lake Superior basin. Copper plays a signiﬁcant role in this

setting, as it is well-represented in the material record of prehistoric sites on the island and

14

throughout most of the Lake Superior basin. Clark examined, at various levels, the
procurement, use and exchange of copper resources ﬁ'om his investigations at Isle Royale.

Clark convincingly argued that the prehistoric manifestations on Isle Royale are
not culturally linked to those of the south shore of Lake Superior (Michigan and
Wisconsin), but instead are related to north shore cultural groups (Clark 1991: 144):

Evidence in the form of lithic raw materials unequivocally points to the north

shore, the Thunder Bay vicinity in particular, as the departure point for trips to Isle

Royale. Lithic raw materials contain a high proportion of types whose primary

source is in the Thunder Bay area (taconite, Gunﬂint formation cherts and

carbonate shales), although trace amounts of exotic cherts do occur. Quartz and

quartzite which dominate much of the lithics in the Upper Peninsula are rare.
Clark‘s argument is further reinforced by the fact that the prehistoric ceramic types found
on Isle Royale are typical of north shore occupations (Blackduck and Selkirk ceramic
wares) with limited evidence of "typical" south shore ceramic types such as Lakes Phase
or Oneota.

Clark demonstrated the copper resources of Isle Royale in particular, and the Lake
Superior basin in general, were accessible to different prehistoric cultural groups
throughout the region (1995: 178-180). Travel to and ﬁ'om Isle Royale and the extraction
of copper resources functioned within a broader set of subsistence-related activities and
“probably did not require any special organization or planning outside of that which was
required for other activities (1995: 179).” In essence, Clark advocates what appears to be

an embedded procurement strategy on Isle Royale.

15

Archaeological Investigations at 201R6: The Old Fort Site

Few references to prehistoric sites exhibiting evidence of secondary copper
procurement exist in the professional literature. Whittlesey (1863) described his
observations of prehistoric quarry pits in the glacial drift near Portage Lake in the
Keweenaw Peninsula. The details of Whittlesey’s accounts are described in Chapter Five
of the text.

The Old Fort site (20IR6) on Isle Royale, is another possible copper quarry site in
which secondary copper deposits appear to have been the focus of procurement activities.
The Ferguson and Franklin expeditions of the 1920's (Ferguson 1923,1924) were the ﬁrst
investigations conducted at the Old Fort site. Ferguson, a noted journalist, described the
site area as a rerrmant "city" and assumed the surprising number of pits, trenches and
berms must have been pit-dwellings for the miners (1923: 158-160). He conducted limited
excavations at the site but did not record anything of cultural signiﬁcance. From his
description of the site area, however, a plausible explanation for the pit features is a
prehistoric copper quarry in the glacial till deposits adjacent the Little Siskiwit River

(1923:159):

These pits are easily distinguished from the mining pits by several features: They
are dug, not in the rock, as are the mines, but, as I have said, in a boulder
formation lying along the ridge, near the crest; they are rectangular, instead of
circular like the mines. I have been quoted as saying these remains cover "square
miles." This is an exaggeration. Yet they do cover several acres and are
comparatively easy of access.

16

Subsequent investigations at the site were conducted by the McDonald-Massee
expedition of 1928 (West 1929) and by Dustin in the 1950's (Dustin 1957). Dustin
continued the excavations started by the McDonald-Massee expedition in the 1920's, and

disagreed with F erguson's ”pit-dwelling" assumption (Dustin 1957z8):

From this place we crossed the Little Siskiwit to the pit dwellings. These are
scattered along the old beach, and are probably the result of aboriginal digging to
secure hammers or perhaps to search for nuggets of copper.
In ﬁnther subsurface testing at the site, Dustin did not ﬁnd material evidence to determine
a cultural or temporal afﬁliation of the numerous pit features along the Little Siskiwit
River.
The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology visited the Old Fort site in
1961 and conducted limited testing in one of the pit features (Clark 1995: 44). Although
no artifacts or cultural features were noted, Bastian observed several hundred pits on an
"extensive cobble beach" on the opposite side of the river (Little Siskiwit) which he
believed could possibly have been dug in search of ﬂoat copper (Clark 1995: 45). By the
writing of his Master’s thesis, however, Bastian appeared more convinced that the
procurement of secondary copper deposits (ﬂoat copper) was neither a viable nor
productive procurement strategy. As he stated (1963: 19):
A third type of native copper deposit mentioned in archaeological literature is ﬂoat
copper (i.e., pieces of native copper occurring in glacial or beach deposits). A
considerable amount of native copper from the Lake Superior region was widely
distributed throughout the north-central states by the glaciers, and there is no
question that the Indians derived some copper from exposures of this material. On
the other hand, ﬂoat copper seems to be somewhat less than abundant in its

occurrence. Even on the Keweenaw Peninsula ﬁnds of ﬂoat copper are not
exceptionally numerous, as far as I have been able to learn in conversation with

17

several people in that area. If ﬂoat copper were present in suﬂicient quantities to

make its mining worthwhile to Indians, it would seem that it could be proﬁtably

mined in historic times as a placer deposit, but I have been unable to learn that this
was ever done. Consequently, the suggestion that the Indians dug for ﬂoat copper
in glacial deposits and in old beaches in the Little Siskiwit River area on Isle

Royale does not seem very probable. This method of Indian mining has also been

reported near Portage Lake on the Keweenaw Peninsula by Whittlesey (1863).

In 1990, Clark and the MWAC survey relocated, mapped and conducted limited
shovel testing at the Old Fort site in an effort to identify an occupation or copper working
area at the site. As in all previous investigations at the site, no artifacts or temporal-
cultural indicators were observed (Clark 1995: 44-45). Nonetheless, Clark argues that the
Old Fort site represents a secondary copper procurement site (1995: 45):

The most parsimonious explanation of these features may be the extraction of ﬂoat

copper ﬁ'om ancient beach deposits. Unfortunately, in the absence of associated

artifacts, the temporal placement, cultural assignation, and precise function of the
many pits remain unknown.

This chapter has reviewed key research conducted at procurement sites in New
and Old World contexts and particularly in the Upper Great Lakes. Within the Lake
Superior region, most of the scholarly attention has been devoted to Isle Royale, due in
part to the historical notoriety and public visrhility of the island and its prehistoric copper
mining. Investigations at copper procurement sites on the island have been the focus of
signiﬁcant research by Bastian (1963), Clark (1991, 1995) and Grifﬁn (1961), which,
collectively, provide the most comprehensive description of prehistoric copper mining in

the region. Their assumptions and observations contribute valuable information about the

procurement of copper from primary (bedrock) deposits. The plausrbility of copper

l8

 

procurement ﬁ'om secondary deposits -— alluded to but not proven in the case of the Old

Fort site - merits further investigation and will be addressed later in this thesis.

19

Chapter 2

Environmental and Geological Overview of the Southern Lake Superior Basin

The study area of this thesis is located geographically and culturally within the
broader context of the Upper Great Lakes region. At the subregional scale, this thesis
examines the prehistoric procurement and use of native copper resources ﬁom the
southern Lake Superior basin and, more speciﬁcally, the Ontonagon River watershed in
the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Figure 2.1).

Michigan's western Upper Peninsula is situated between the watersheds of Lake
Superior and Lake Michigan, and represents the ecological diversity of both the Canadian
and Carolinian biotic provinces as deﬁned by Dice (1943). Sommers (1977: 24-25)
divides the western Upper Peninsula into ﬁve physiographic regions based on topography,
soils and elevation. These ﬁve regions, from north to south, include the Lake Superior
Plains (including the Superior Lake-Border Plain and the Keweenaw Lake-Border Plain),
the Keweenaw Highlands, the Ontonagon Upland Plain and the Gogebic Hilly Uplands.
The Keweenaw Highlands and Ontonagon Upland Plain encompass most of the
Ontonagon River watershed and are closely tied to the geological formation of native
copper deposits in the southern Lake Superior basin.

The Keweenaw Highland region is a mineral-bearing geological formation
emerging ﬁom the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula to the south and west of the
Porcupine Mountains. This linear geological formation, commonly referred to as the

”copper range" or "trap rock" formation, is approximately 100 miles long and extends

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

8:. 203w 9: em 9:9“.

 

59:2:

 

 

21

continuously west across the Upper Peninsula, outcropping sporadically throughout
northern Wisconsin.

Geologically, the Keweenaw Highland is comprised primarily of Precambrian aged
igneous bedrock that forms part of the Canadian (Laurentian) Shield. Topographically,
the Keweenaw Highland region is a rugged, undulating, bedrock-controlled landform that
approaches 2000 feet above sea level (asl) at its highest elevations. It is along this
geological formation that North America's richest deposits of native copper ore were
embedded and occasionally exposed as natural outcrops.

Native copper resources exist throughout the Lake Superior basin in both primary
and secondary contexts. As deﬁned in this thesis, as by Upper Great Lakes
arclmeologists (Bastian 1963, Clark 1991), primary context refers to those copper
deposits which are embedded in a surrounding hardrock matrix and have not been
displaced from this place of original deposit. Secondary context refers to copper deposits
that have been relocated ﬁom their place of origin (primary context) by some external,
natural force. In most cases, secondary deposition is the result of glacial and/or ﬂuvial
displacement from the primary context. Both primary and secondary sources of copper
were available to the prehistoric inhabitants of the region beginning with the retreat of
glaciers ﬁ'om the region

The formation of primary deposits of native copper in the southern Lake Superior
basin, as well as Isle Royale, is related to the creation of the Keweenaw Highlands
geological formation (LaBerge 1994: 147). Approximately one thousand million years
ago, beneath the existing Precambrian (Laurentian) bedrock surface, an upwelling of

basaltic magrm exerted strong pressure under the entire Lake Superior basin. Additional

22

 

forces induced a huge dome which eventually split, creating the Keweenaw rift.

According to LaBerge (1994: 147):
The belt of subsidence (rift) developed in what is now the Lake Superior basin and
extended southward down the St. Croix River valley and on through southern
Minnesota, acrossIowa, at leastto centralKansas. NeartheeasternendofLake
Superior, the belt curved southward again, extending under what is now lower
Michigan. It appears to have ended somewhere near the Michigan-Ohio border.
The Keweenaw rill basaltic lava ﬂows, embedded with episodes of sandstone and

conglomerates, were deposited over much of the southern Lake Superior basin. A series

of over 200 distinct lava ﬂows, known as the Portage Lake Lava Series, comprise the core

of the Keweenaw Highlands formation of the south shore and Isle Royale (Bastian 1963:

17). ThePortage Lake basalts, also knownas ”traprock,” aretheprimarymatrixinwhich

native cOpper deposits are found within this region (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2 The Portage Lake Volcanic Sequence

 

    

North SlueVolcaic Grow

 

 

hanﬂuk1$1z150

23

Two types of primary copper deposits formed within the Portage Lake Lava
Series: lodes and ﬁssures. Both deposits are thought to have been formed by the
convection of hot gas and water bubbles rising up through the lava ﬂows (LaBerge 1994:
168-173). Three basic types of lode deposits are present within this formation:
conglomerate lodes, mass lodes and arnygdaloid lodes. Conglomerate lodes were
deposited in voids occupied, in part, by sand, gravel, and rock cobbles, thus creating
inclusions in the copper matrix. Mass lodes formed within larger vesicles and range in size
ﬁ'orn 100 kg to several hundred metric tons (LaBerge 1994: 170). Amygdaloid lodes
appear to have been the deposits exploited by prehistoric and historic miners on Isle
Royale and the south shore of Lake Superior (Rapp et a1. 1990: 480-481). Amygdaloid
lodes formed both in large vesicular cavities as well as along the surface and joins of the
brecciated basalt ﬂows (Eschman and Dorr 1970: 72).

The other type of primary copper deposit - ﬁssures — occurs where scams or breaks
cross different lava beds. F issure deposits can parallel or bisect the lava beds, and range
from very thin sheets of copper to upwards of three meters in width (Bastian 1963:18).

The Keweenaw Highlands formation of the western Upper Peninsula and Isle
Royale have been referred to as "one of the premier copper districts of the world and the
greatest producer of native copper of all time" (Rapp et al. 1990: 480). It is important to
note that other primary copper deposits are distributed widely, albeit sporadically,
throughout much of the Upper Great Lakes region. The continuation of the copper-
bearing Portage Lake Lava Series into northeastern Wisconsin and the north shore of
Lake Superior provided additional opportunities for procurement of primary copper

deposits. Primary sources of copper are also reported from Michipicoten Island, Point

24

Mamainse and other north shore locales (Clark 1991:150-151, Griﬂin 1961:77-102).
Based solely on documented surface evidence of prehistoric mining activities, the western
Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale deposits appear to have been the most intensively

exploited primary copper sources in the region and, most likely, the eastern United States.

Secondary copper deposits

Secondary copper deposits, commonly referred to as "ﬂoat" or "driﬂ” copper, are
more widely distributed throughout the Upper Great Lakes region than are primary
deposits. As a result of Pleistocene Era glacial intrusion over the copper-bearing Portage
Lake Lavas, large quantities of pure copper were dislodged and transported southward by
advancing ice sheets. Glacially deposited ﬂoat copper has been recorded as far south as
Ohio, Illinois and Iowa (West 1929:47), though the density of these deposits is much
greater within the Lake Superior basin, and particularly in the western Upper Peninsula,
northeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota.

Float copper varies in size from small pebbles to extremely large boulders, some
weighing thousands of pounds, although most are gravel and cobble-sized (Winchell 1911:
505, personal observation). Due to glacial and/or ﬂuvial transport, ﬂoat copper is
uniquely homogenous in its physical composition and typically has little or no bedrock
adhering to its surface. Conversely, copper mined ﬁ'om primary contexts often contains
rocky matrices, decreasing the ease with which it can be fashioned into ﬁnished tools.

The spatial distribution of ﬂoat copper throughout the region Inns not been mapped

with any degree of certainty, though its occurrence is often associated with glacial till and

25

 

outwash deposits, as well as sporadic deposition by ﬂuvial forces. Secondary deposits are
most abundant in the western Upper Peninsula in the glacial till, moraines, river beds and
along the Lake Superior shoreline. Although no formal maps of ﬂoat copper distributions
exist, local copper collectors have identiﬁed several concentrated areas of ﬂoat copper
throughout the south shore area. Unfortunately, the ongoing and large-scale “collection”
of copper artifacts and ﬂoat copper ﬁ'om this area has destroyed the integrity of countless
prehistoric sites. It stands to reason that at least some of these concentrations were

known to the prehistoric inhabitants of the region as well.

Ontonagon River Watershed

The Ontonagon Upland Plain is situated immediately south of the Keweenaw
Highland formation in the central western Upper Peninsula. This unique physio graphic
feature consists of extremely deep clays overlying glacial till and outwash deposits of the
Valders ice advance (Hack 1965: 36). The Ontonagon Upland Plain encompasses much
of the existing Ontonagon River watershed and formed as the bed of proglacial Lake
Ontonagon approximately 11,000-10,000 years BP (Hough 1958: 189). This lacustrine
clay plain occupies a relatively high altitude at 1200 feet asl and has a maximum slope of
only 2-6% (Jordan 1985: l). The Ontonagon Plain consists of moderately well to poorly-
drained clay soils, with the potential clirmx vegetation consisting primarily of Tsuga-Thuja
series forest species: sugar maple and eastern hemlock with smaller quantities of elm,
northern white cedar and ash present in poorly.drained areas (Jordan 1985: l). The

Ontonagon Upland Plain has a limited growing season ranging ﬁ'om 60 to 80 ﬁ'ost-free

26

growing days and typically exceeding 100 inches (254 cm) of snow between the months of
September and May (Sommers 1977: 49).

The Ontonagon River watershed is the largest riparian feature in the western
Upper Peninsula, stretching ﬁom Lake Superior in the north to the Wisconsin-Michigan
border to the south (Figure 2.3). This dendritic watershed consists of ﬁve primary
branches which converge into the main stream of the Ontonagon River near Rockland,
Michigan in Ontonagon County. The main stream of the Ontonagon River ﬂows north
into Lake Superior at the village of Ontonagon, Michigan. The entire watershed
encompasses over 1340 square miles and its many branches - West, South, Cisco, Middle
and East - are distributed over most of the Keweenaw Highlands and Ontonagon Upland
physiographic formations. The Ontonagon River watershed thus served as a natural
transportation system for the movement of prehistoric and historic peoples and materials

into and out of the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Glacial History

The Late Pleistocene-Era Wisconsinan Glaciation (20,000-9500 BP) had a
proformd impact on the geological and physical composition of the southern Lake
Superior basin. The Superior lobe of the Valders ice advance was the last identiﬁed
glacial intrusion into the western Upper Peninsula, and consisted of four identiﬁable sub-
advances: the Airport-W'megar advance (12,300 BP), the Lake Ruth advance (11,500
BP), the Porcupine advance (11,000 BP) and the Lake View advance of 10,000 BP

(Clayton 1984). Most researchers agree that the westernmost Upper Peninsula was

27

 

 

 

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completely ice-ﬂee after 9500 BP (Clayton 1984, Hack 1965). Geomorphological
investigations at the Gribben buried forest near Marquette, Michigan by Drexler et al.
(1983: 309-330) further support Clayton’s (1984) assessment that the western Upper
Peninsula was ice-ﬂee after 9500 BP.

The Porcupine and Lake View advances represent important stages in the
geological formation of the study area. The Porcupine advance (11,000 BP) consisted of
an ice sheet margin tlmt extended into the center of the western Upper Peninsula. Though
the southern portions of the area remained unglaciated, a large proglacial lake
(Ontonagon) formed from the meltwater of this advance (Hough 1958: 188). Lake
Ontonagon drained westward along this ice margin and fed into a series of proglacial lakes
(Lakes Ashland, Brule and Nemadji) in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota (Hough 1958:
188-192).

The Lake View advance was the ﬁnal glacial advance of the Superior lobe into the
western Upper Peninsula. This advance reached its rmximurn extent around 10,000 BP,
and its recession marks the initial formation of the Lake Superior basin. Shortly after
10,000 BP, the Lake View ice margin began to retreat ﬁom west to northeast. Large ice
dams between proglacial lakes Ontonagon, Ashland, Brule and Nemadji were breached,
creating a large glacial lake (Duluth) along the ice margin (Hough 1958: 188-192).
Glacial Lake Duluth continued to expand along this retreating ice front and became the
ﬁrst identiﬁable stage of Lake Superior. By 9500 BP, the ice margin had retreated north
of this basin and eventually ﬁlled to form the Houghton stage of the Superior basin, which

crested at approximately 360 feet above sea level (Kelley and F arrand 1967).

29

 

 

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The post-glacial Houghton Stage of Lake Superior continued to rise for several
thousand years. Around 5000 BP, the widely-documented Nippissing high water stage
was clearly deﬁned throughout the Superior basin. Cresting at 605 ft. above sea level,
Nippissing stage beach lines are visrble today along the south shore of Lake Superior in
the western Upper Peninsula. Long and linear sandy-gravel stretches clearly mark the
remnant beaches of Lake Nippissing and, according to Hough (1958:249-250), are:
“among the strongest and most spectacular shoreline features of any age found in the
Great Lakes region."

From 3500-2000 BP, lake levels dropped ﬁom the Nippissing level of 605 ft. to
the Algoma stage at 595 ft. above sea level. The Algoma stage represents a low water
stasis of Lake Superior until lake levels again rose after 2000 BP to bring Lake Superior
to its current levels (601 ft. above tide). With minor ﬂuctuations in lake levels from

approximately 4500 BP to the present, Lake Superior levels have not surpassed the

Nippissing stage.

Paleoecology

The recession of the Valders advance left a landscape ripe for colonization by
various ﬂoral and fauna] communities. Proxirnate to the ice margin, highly-charged
outwash streams and channels created numerous lakes, ponds and outwash "plains"
throughout the southern Lake Superior basin. These streams carried and deposited

sediment (clay, Silt, and sand) atop the glacial till and underlying bedrock formations.

30

 

 

Other glacially—derived features such as eskers, moraines and drumlins were also formed
during the retreat of the Valders advance.

It is assumed that immediately following glacial recession, pioneer vegetative
species adapted to cold, tundra-like environments colonized the Lake Superior basin for a
very short duration. These early ﬂoral communities consisted primarily of sedges, mosses
and grasses and, hypothetically, could have supported large grazing species such as
mammoth and barren-ground caribou (Cleland 1966:18). Given the lack of tangible
evidence in the Lake Superior basin, assumptions of early Holocene faunal composition in
the Lake Superior basin remain speculative. Reliable data concerning past vegetative
conditions are, however, present ﬁ‘om the region and have been reported recently (Huber
1993).

According to Cleland (1966: 14), the short-term tundra setting quickly gave way
to spruce dominated forests in the moist, low lying areas from around 12,000-11,500 BC
throughout the Upper Great Lakes region. The earliest portion of this "Boreal Woodland
Period," as deﬁned by Cleland, is characterized by an expansion of spruce-dominated
forest types in the wetland areas, while the better-drained uplands remained colonized
primarily by non-arboreal ﬂora. Moderating temperatures around 10,000 BC assisted in
the colonization of these uplands by various arboreal species, including balsam ﬁr, jack
pine and white pine. Cleland states that the ecological conditions observed during the
Boreal Woodland could support a wide variety of fauna, many of which are now extinct or
extirpated ﬁ'om the region. Thus, woodland musk-ox, American mastodon, giant moose
and woodland caribou could have been present in the Lake Superior basin given these

ecological conditions (Cleland 1966: 15).

31

For approximately 2000 years (9000-7000 BC), the Upper Great Lakes forest
composition shifted from the early spruce-dominant forest to a pine-deciduous forest. The
shift to pine-dominated forests (termed the "Pine Forest Period" by Cleland) went through
a transitional "Boreal Forest Period" from 9000 to 7000 BC (1966: 20). The boreal
forests consisted of various coniferous species with some negligible amounts of deciduous
species present throughout the region. Huber's (1993) analysis of 135 pollen cores from
Lake Superior veriﬁes a ﬂuorescence of pine during this time and supports Cleland’s
observations.

Several of the mammal species present in the Lake Superior basin today would
have originally inhabited the boreal forests of this region. According to Cleland (1966:

20):

It is probable that a few mamnmls found in deciduous forest situations also
inhabited the Great Lakes area at this time. In addition to mastodon, which have
been dated to the Boreal Forest period, we would expect that these forests were
inhabited by the black bear, marten, ﬁsher, wolverine, lynx, snowshoe, beaver,
muskrat, porcupine, woodland caribou and moose.

The pine-deciduous forest became ﬁrmly established in the upper Great Lakes by
around 5000 BC (1966: 21-23). Cleland argues the modern Canadian and Carolinian
biotic provinces were in place shortly after this time. By approximately 3500 BC, the
vegetative composition of the southern Lake Superior basin was a mosaic of pine and
hardwoods. In the truest sense, much of the landscape represented and currently

represents a transitional ecotone between the Canadian biotic province in the north and the

Carolinian biotic province to the south. According to Cleland (1966: 22), one could

32

expect the fauna of the western Upper Peninsula to be comprised primarily of Canadian
biotic species during the Pine Forest period, although large, uninterrupted tracts of pine
forest would most likely have held few herbivorous species due to limited food potential
(1966: 22).

The pine-deciduous forest represented the climax vegetative composition of the
southern Lake Superior basin until the inﬂux of Euro-American settlement in the mid-
nineteenth century. Veatch's 1959 reconstruction of “presettlement” forest types in
Michigan illustrates the forest composition across Michigan prior to European and
American settlement in the region. Veatch utilized soil descriptions, climatological data
and historical Government Land Office (GLO) survey notes ﬁ'om the middle nineteenth
century to reconstruct these historic forest types. Recognizing that vegetative
compositions are not static systems, Veatch's map is limited to a ”snapshot" of a mid-

nineteenth century landscape.

Current Ecological Composition

The onset of mid-nineteenth century extractive industries, primarily mining and
logging, completely altered the modern vegetative composition of the western Upper
Peninsula. By 1930, much of the region was denuded of mature pine and hardwood
stands. Today's forests are comprised of regenerated second and third grth timber

stands that are managed primarily by federal and state agencies and private corporations.

33

The USDA-Forest Service is the largest land management agency in the western Upper
Peninsula. The Ottawa National Forest manages approximately one million blocked acres,
the boundaries of which extend ﬁ'om the Wisconsin border on the south, to Lake Superior
on the northwest and to within six miles of Keweenaw Bay on the northeast. Large
sections of the Ontonagon River system, the Keweenaw Highlands, and the Ontonagon
Upland Plain are within the boundaries of this National Forest.

The USDA-Forest Service has developed an advanced Ecological Classiﬁcation
System (ECS) that can be used to describe the current ecological communities of the
study area. Coupled with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), ECS is a useful tool
for studying prehistoric and historic site distributions across the landscape (Franzen and
Weston 1973, Martin and Martin 1979, Kararnanski 1984, Garrison-Ferone et al. 1997).
This modern system was established in the late 1980's and is a revision of the previous
Ecological Land Unit System. ECS is part of the National Hierarchical Framework of

Ecological Units, which can be described as:

A regionalization, classiﬁcation, and mapping system for stratifying the Earth into
progressively smaller areas of increasingly uniform ecological potentials.
Ecological types are classiﬁed and ecological units are mapped based on
associations of those biotic and environmental factors that directly affect or
indirectly express energy, moisture, and nutrient gradients which regulate the
structure and function of ecosystems (McNab and Avers 1994).

ECS incorporates several environmental factors into the delineation of ecological
units: geomorphology, stratigraphy, lithology, soils, potential natural vegetation, fauna,
climate, surface water characteristics, disturbance regimes, land use history and cultural

ecology. At the largest scale of "domain," information about these factors is broad. As

34

the scale is transcended from domain to division, province, section, subsection, landtype
association, ecological landtype and ecological landtype phase, information about these
factors becomes much more detailed. ECS is thus a useful tool in the analysis of spatial-
ecological relationships between prehistoric and historic sites and the ecological land units
within which they are located.

This chapter has discussed the paleoenvironmental, geological and modern
ecological conditions within the study area of this thesis. An understanding of the
geological formation and distribution of native copper deposits throughout the southern
Lake Superior basin is important to the study of prehistoric c0pper procurement strategies
explored in this thesis. In the following chapter, archaeological cultures and populations
will be deﬁned to provide a cultural-historical context for further discussion of prehistoric

copper procurement and use within the Lake Superior basin.

35

 

Chapter 3

Regional Cultural History

This chapter discusses the spatio-temporal distribution of prehistoric cultures
within and proximate to the study area. Trigger (1978) provides a useful deﬁnition of an
archaeological culture that certainly applies to the case of the Lake Superior basin.
According to Trigger (1978: 76) the attributes of an archaeological culture are:

a geographically contiguous set of artefact types that may occur in differing .

combinations in different functional contexts and that together form the surviving

material expression of a distinctive way of life sufﬁciently comprehensive to permit
its bearers to perpetuate themselves and their behavioral patterns over successive
generations.

Throughout prehistory, the Upper Great Lakes region exhibited wlmt Cleland
(1976: 93) has referred to as a "cosmopolitan quality," meaning it is a composite of
material and cultural interaction. The archaeological record suggests the vast geographic
spaces of the Upper Great Lakes were bridged by different cultural groups who interacted,
exchanged materials and ideas, and occasionally left traces of their existence in locations
far removed ﬁ'om where they were established.

A cursory overview of these cultures provides the context in which the
procurement of native copper operated within this particular sphere, as well as throughout
the region. Only a small number of prehistoric sites within the study area, and particularly
the western Upper Peninsula, have been formally evaluated and published in a professional
media. Srnall-scale test excavations have been the norm, with two notable exceptions:

site 20KE20 in the Keweenaw Peninsula (S.R. Martin et al. 1993) and the Sand Point site

(20BG14) at Keweenaw Bay (Holman and Martin 1980). In recent years the Ottawa

36

National Forest Heritage Resources Program conducted initial test excavations at several
prehistoric sites throughout the National Forest as part of a public outreach and
educational program (Passport in Time). The results of some of these evaluations have
recently been published by Hill (1994, 1995).

The culture historical sequence of the southern Lake Superior basin generally
follows that of other regions throughout the Upper Great Lakes. It is assumed the earliest
migrants into the area would have settled shortly after glacial recession from the basin,
after about 9500 BP (Clayton 1984). These small, migratory hunting-foraging groups
likely exploited ﬂoral and faunal species adapted to periglacial conditions. Hypothetically,
the animal species exploited could have included mammoth, mastodon, caribou and,
eventually, moose, elk and other boreal forest species. This assumption must remain
speculative, as the archaeological record from the southern Lake Superior basin does not
support megafauna being present in this sub-region of the Upper Great Lakes. A more
likely scenario is advanced by Kuehn (1998), who argues that essentially modern biota

have been indigenous to the western Great Lakes since approximately 9000 BP.

The Paleoindian Tradition

The Paleoindian Tradition (9500-7000 BP) in the southern Lake Superior basin is
the most poorly understood in the Lake Superior basin. To date, few early Paleoindian
sites identiﬁed by distinctive, ﬂuted, projectile points have been recorded in the study area.
Late Paleoindian sites peripheral to the study area have been investigated and published

(Salzer 1969, Buckmaster and Paquette 1988, Meinholz, Kuehn et al. 1996). A recurring

37

observation from Paleoindian sites in the southern Lake Superior basin is the presence of
Hixton Orthoquartzite in the lithic assemblages. Hixton Orthoquartzite (siliciﬁed
sandstone) is found in primary deposits in southwestern Wisconsin and was an important
raw material to the region’s earliest inhabitants.

Salzer (1974: 43-47) deﬁnes two late Paleoindian phases in the Northern Highland
Lakes District of northcentral Wisconsin. The Flambeau Phase (7000-6000 BC) and the
Minocqua Phase (6000-5000 BC) represent what appear to be local expressions of a
western Plano Tradition in the Lake Superior basin. Salzer's initial assessment was that
Flambeau Phase projectile points are morphologically similar to Agate Basin points while
Minocqua Phase points are similar to Scottsbluﬂ' points (1974:43). Recent investigations
at the Deadman Slough site (47PR46) on the Upper Flambeau River in northern
Wisconsin further support the Plano inﬂuence in Lake Superior basin (Meinholz, Kuehn et
al. 1996).

To the immediate east of the study area in Marquette County, Michigan, A Great
Lakes Plano Tradition has been identiﬁed (Buckmaster and Paquette 1988, Clark 1989a).
Projectile points stylistically reminiscent of Agate Basin, Hell Gap and Scottsbluff/Cody
complexes are documented ﬁom a surface survey of several drawn-down reservoir lakes
in the central Upper Peninsula (Buckmaster and Paquette 1988:45).

Buckmaster and Paquette (1988) argue that the Paleoindian Tradition in the Upper
Peninsula was manifested earlier than the dates proposed by Salzer in northcentral
Wisconsin. Based primarily on association with dated projectile point styles from the

western United States, Buckmaster and Paquette (1988:40) posit:

38

Stratigraphic evidence and radiocarbon dates from various sites on the High Plains
suggest that Agate Basin is currently the earliest Paleo-Indian projectile point
tradition recognized in our study area. According to the investigators of the Hell

Gap site, Agate Basin projectile points should date to between 10,000 and 10,500

years old.

In the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, one ﬁactured Agate Basin type
projectile point, made of Hixton Orthoquartzite, was recovered by surface collection in the
Ottawa National Forest. The physiographic area from which this projectile point was
found is a continuation of the Northern Highland Lakes District of Wisconsin. Additional
surface survey and shovel testing was conducted around the isolated ﬁndspot by ONF
archaeologists in the spring of 1996, but no associated cultural material was recovered.

A plausrble, though not widely supported, contention is the Paleoindian use of
copper. J.H. Steinbring (1968, 1975), the major proponent of a Paleoindian copper
industry, advocates a Plano-copper relationship based on his observations of copper
projectile point styles from western Manitoba and Ontario. According to Steinbring,
Agate Basin lithic projectile points are the prototypes for a distinctive lanceolate copper
point style which he calls "McCreary Points” (Steinbring 1968). Steinbring's assumptions
are based solely on morphological similarity of non-provenienced surface artifacts, since
these copper points have not been recovered in archaeological or stratigraphic contexts.

To date, the regional archaeological data does not support a deﬁnitive Paleoindian
copper industry, though several early radiocarbon dates have been reliably associated with
copper artifacts ﬁ'om the Upper Great Lakes region (Shay 1971, SR. Martin et al. 1993).

Beukens et aL (1992) derived radiocarbon dates from copper-preserved organic material

from three sites around South Fowl Lake, along the border of Minnesota and Ontario.

39

The radiocarbon dates of preserved wood and cordage inside copper spear points indicate
a developed copper working industry was practiced in the Upper Great Lakes region by

7000 BP (Beukens et al. 1992: 1-7).

The Archaic Tradition

Several assumptions underlie the distinction between the Paleoindian and Archaic
Traditions in the Upper Great Lakes region. Investigators of Archaic period sites have
suggested a shift in subsistence economy from primarily a large game focus, to a more
generalized reliance on local plant and animal species (Cleland 1966, Fitting 1970). Other
Archaic hallmarks include more diverse artifact assemblages, larger populations and an
extensive trade and interaction network (Stoltrmn 1986: 207-211). Copper become an
important raw material to Archaic peoples and is abundant in the archaeological
assemblages of Archaic sites throughout the region. The Archaic period, as deﬁned by
archaeologists, is the longest prehistoric period, dating ﬁ'om about 5000-500 BC, or until
the advent of ceramic technology in the Upper Great Lakes region (Fitting 1970: 65,
Stoltman 1986: 207).

Cleland states that the modern Canadian and Carolinian biotic provinces were
established in the Upper Great Lakes region by around 5000 BC (Cleland 1966: 21).
Archaic peoples must have, out of necessity, shifted to a more broad-based or generalized
subsistence strategy, which Cleland terms a "diﬂuse economy" (1976: 59-76). Diffuse
economies allowed for increased ﬂexibility in the acquisition of resources and adaptation

to changing environmental conditions. Being located in the Canadian, as well as

40

transitional-Carolinian biomes, Archaic peoples of the southern Lake Superior basin had
access to a wide range of faunal species including: moose, black bear, whitetail deer, gray
squirrel, snowshoe hare, chipmunk, striped skunk, badger, and a variety of small mammals
(Dice 1943). Within the Canadian biotic province, however, resource variability would
have been more limited due to the homogenous composition of this ecological province.

Germane to the study of the Archaic Tradition in the Upper Great Lakes region is
the concept of "Old Copper”. The term "Old Copper" was initially coined by McKem
(1942) as the "Old Copper Industry" and subsequently referred to by various scholars as
the Old Copper "Manifestation" (Kidd 1952), "Complex" (Wittry and Ritzenthaler 1956),
"Assemblage" (Worrnington 1957), ”Culture" (Grifﬁn 1964) and "Tradition" (V astokas
1970)

Semantic/taxonomic differences aside, two “camps” of thought are involved in the
discourse on “Old Copper.” Some believe that the development of an Archaic c0pper
industry in the Upper Great Lakes region sufﬁciently deﬁnes an unique cultural entity.
Others believe, as do I, that many different cultural groups had access to copper resources
within the region and developed separate copper working industries (Johnson 1964, Clark
1991).

Archaic period "Old Copper" artifacts represent the most diversiﬁed assemblage of
utilitarian copper tools observed throughout all time periods in the region. These artifacts
are typically large implements, including spear points with various halting mechanisms
(sockets, tangs and conicals), knives (crescentic and beveled), gaffs, harpoons, ﬁshhooks,
spuds, celts, beads and an assortment of awls, drills, and punches (Wittry 1951). The "Old

Copper" artifact typology developed by “Wittry (1957) remains the most commonly cited

41

 

reference for classiﬁcation of Archaic copper artifacts. The limitations of this typology
have been identiﬁed by subsequent scholars, and revisions to the Wittry typology have
been advanced (Penman 1977, Steinbring 1975).

Salzer (1969) deﬁnes two archaeological phases for the Archaic Tradition in the
Northern Highland Lakes District: the Squirrel River Phase (ca. 5000 BC) and the Burnt-
Rollways Phase (ca. 2000 BC). Unlike the preceding Paleoindian phases, the artifact
assemblages of Archaic sites are much more diverse, with small comer and side notched
projectile points, a wide variety of scraping tools, bifacial knives, drills, and numerous
ﬂaked stone tools, many of which are made ﬁom non-local chert sources. A wide variety
of copper tools are also present in both the Squirrel River and Burnt-Rollways Phases
(Salzer 1974: 45).

Thenuuic studies of Archaic settlement and subsistence systems have also been
conducted in the Upper Great Lakes region. Lovis and Sabo (1979) in their Traverse
Corridor/Inland Waterway study state that Late Archaic occupation sites in the Carolinian-
Canadian transition zone of lower Michigan do not clearly demonstrate population
aggregation. They argue that the transition zone was utilized by small, mobile groups as
part of a larger settlement and subsistence pattern during the warm weather months.
These small, dispersed "microbands" employed a diffuse economic strategy that was
ﬂexible enough to exploit various resources over a large geographic area.

Hill (1994) outlines a preliminary model of Late Archaic settlement and
subsistence in the western Upper Peninsula that is congruent with Lovis and Sabo (1979).
According to Hill, the Late Archaic archaeological record of the western Upper Peninsula

also indicates dispersed, warm-season occupation by small microbands in the Canadian

42

 

 

 

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Biotic Province and subsequent aggregation in the Carolinian Biotic Province during the

winter.

The Woodland Tradition

The transition from the Archaic to Woodland is marked by the inception of
ceramic technology around 500 BC in the Upper Great Lakes region (Salzer 1986:240-
241). Archaeologists typically divide the Woodland period in the eastern United States
into Early, Middle and Late Woodland periods. However, many archaeologists in the
Upper Great Lakes region prefer to use a two-part Woodland sequence of Initial and
Terminal for Lake Superior basin populations, due to the relatively late arrival of ceramic
technology and a poorly-deﬁned Middle Woodland period in this region. The two-part
Woodland sequence is certainly more applicable to Lake Superior basin cultures, and will
be used throughout this thesis.

Woodland sites in the western Upper Peninsula have general similarities to
“Nokomis” and “Lakes Phase” sites in northern Wisconsin, and North Bay sites from the
Door Peninsula (Mason 1966, Salzer 1969, Hill 1995). Salzer (1969) identiﬁes the
Nokomis Phase (Early-Middle Woodland) from excavations in the North Lakes region of
Wisconsin. Nokomis Phase sites tend to be located in riparian contexts and have diverse
tool assemblages which include ceramics. The arrival of ceramic technology into the
region is estimated to be around 200 AD (Salzer 1974: 47). Initial Woodland ceramics,
collectively termed "Lake Nokomis Trailed” by Salzer, appear to have been inﬂuenced by

North Bay cultures to the east and the Havana Tradition to the south (Salzer 1974:47).

43

Initial Woodland sites, such as those identiﬁed as Nokomis Phase, demonstrate a
continued exploitation of native copper in their artifact assemblages. Unlike the large,
utilitarian copper tools of the Archaic Tradition, Woodland copper exhihits a wider variety
of smaller, functional tools, and more ornamental artifacts. The apparent shift in artifact
form (rather than quantity) ﬁom the Archaic to the Woodland Period is well-documented
in the professional literature, though explanations for this shift have not been adequately
addressed (Halsey 1992: 8-18).

The study area of this thesis is in an unique geographic and ecological position
between the Nokomis Phase and North Bay cultures in the Carolinian Biotic Province to
the south and the coterminous Laurel expression in the Canadian Biotic Province to the
north To date, no Laurel sites have been identiﬁed in the western Upper Peninsula of
Michigan.

Initial Woodland sites in the southern Lake Superior basin tend to be small,
dispersed, seasonal occupations along lake and river shores (Salzer 1974: 47-49, Hill
1995). An increased reliance on locally-available raw materials is indicated by a
dominance of quartz and Hudson Bay Lowland cheit in the lithic assemblage as well as a
variety of copper tools, ornaments and manufacturing debris. Few Initial Woodland sites
have been investigated in the western Upper Peninsula. Ceramic assemblages from these
sites have been dominated by undecorated, grit-tempered, non-diagnostic sherds (Hill
1994). Most of what is known of Initial Woodland occupations in the study area comes
from the northern Highland district in north-central Wisconsin (Bruhy and Potaracke

1998, Salzer 1969).

The Terminal Woodland stage in the western Upper Peninsula is documented by
excavations at the Sand Point site (20BG14) and several other sites designated as "Lakes
Phase" in northern Wisconsin (Salzer 1969, Bruhy and Potaracke 1998). Salzer dates the
Lakes Phase from ca. AD 600 to 1400 (1974: 49-50 and notes these sites vary widely
from one to over forty acres in size and are found primarily in lacustrine contexts, though
a small number of riparian-associated sites are recorded (Salzer 1974: 49).

Lakes Phase ceramic assemblages are the most varied of the Woodland Tradition
in the southern Lake Superior basin. These ceramic styles appear to be related to, or
inﬂuenced by, the "southern" Efﬁgy Mound Tradition, Oneota and Middle Mississippian
shell-tempered varieties (Dorothy 1980). The Sand Point ceramic assemblage in the
western Upper Peninsula indicates Lakes Phase peoples had contact with extra-regional
cultural groups, evidenced by the inclusion of Juntunen Wares ﬁom the Straits of
Mackinac and an assortment of Mississippian ceramics. No other site in the western
Upper Peninsula of Michigan has produced such a wide variety of local and non-local
ceramic types.

Salzer (1974: 49) observes that Terminal Woodland lithic assemblages are

dominated by locally-available quartz for stone tool manufacture:

The Lakes phase lithic industry is distinctive and is characterized by a shift to small
triangular projectile point styles, which are usually found in great abundance and
variety at each site. This is the most common tool form encountered, with
scraping and cutting tools forming only very small percentages of the typical tool
set. Wedges, bipolar cores, and utilized ﬂakes are slightly more common, and
these, like all the other tool forms, are almost always made of the locally available
quartz. Siliciﬁed sandstone was sometimes used, but the lithic debris at Lakes
phase sites ranges ﬁom 80 to 99 percent quartz chippage and tools.

45

 

Based on his investigations in the Northern Highland District, Salzer advocates a
diminishing Lakes Phase copper-working industry in northern Wisconsin. More recent
investigations at Lakes Phase sites in the study area of this thesis, however, challenge
Salzer’s notion of a declining Terminal Woodland copper industry, suggesting instead the
continuation of a developed copper industry throughout the southern Lake Superior basin.
These investigations, including Salzer’s in the Northern Highland District, will be ﬁrrther
discussed in this thesis.

Recent investigations by archaeologists in the Northern Highland District have
documented what could be a post Lakes Phase Woodland component in the region.
Salzer (1974: 50) asserts that the Northern Highland District appears to have been
abandoned by around AD 1400. Further investigations in the region, however, have
identiﬁed a distinct cultural/temporal component that dates to circa AD 1400 (Bruhy and
Potaracke (1998) and Moﬂ'at et. a1 (1993). This phase, tentatively termed the “Zarling
Lake Phase” is believed to represent the latest prehistoric population within the Northern
Highland District until European contact in the 17'" century. Though this may be the case,
the relationship between Zarling Lake Phase populations and the historically-noted tribal
groups within the region has not been yet been adequately explored (Bruhy and Potarcke
1998: 8).

This chapter has discussed the cultural and historical sequences of prehistoric
populations within and adjacent to the study area of this thesis. Particular attention has
been given to the identiﬁable components that comprise the various Traditions, and
especially the role that native copper appears to have had in the material culture of these

south shore populations. The following chapter will continue along the cultural historical

46

 

 

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spectrum and provide a discussion of historical period references and documentation of
the procurement and use native copper in the southern Lake Superior Basin, with

particular attention given to the study area of this thesis.

47

Chapter 4

Historic Period Accounts of South Shore C0pper Procurement

Early references to prehistoric copper procurement in the Upper Great Lakes
region are abundant in the historical literature. These often-cited accounts are
documented in the seminal works of Grifﬁn (1961), Drier and DuTemple (1961), Bastian
(1963), Vastokas (1970) and others. The earliest references to native copper in the region
are found in the notes and observations of sixteenth and seventeenth-century French
explorers, traders and Jesuit missionaries. A hiatus in these accounts occurred between
the late eighteenth century and the mid-nineteenth century "copper boom" in the western
Upper Peninsula. Douglass Houghton's 1841 formal announcement of mineral wealth
along the south shore of Lake Superior ﬁreled interest in prehistoric copper studies and, as
a result, numerous publications investigating this facet of prehistory found their way into
the professional media, oftentimes encouraged by economic incentives ﬁom mining
companies. This chapter discusses some of the historical references to prehistoric copper

procurement in the southern Lake Superior basin.

Early Contact Period References

The ﬁrst written references to prehistoric copper in the Upper Great Lakes region
date to the early sixteenth century, when French explorers described their travels in "New
France" (Quebec). Cartier's second voyage up the St. Lawrence River in 1535-36

mentions the Saguenay region, which his Iroquoian-speaking guides mentioned was

48

 

somewhere north and west of Montreal, as a place where copper could be found (Biggar
1925: 105-106). In 1603, Champlain, Cartier's replacement in New France, was told of
copper mines in the "far north" by the Huron Indians and in 1610 was given a copper bar
as a gift by the Montagnais and Algonkian Indians (Biggar 1925).

In 1610, Etienne Brule was commissioned by Champlain to explore New France to
the north and west, and to seek potential sources of copper. Brule reached Lake Superior
some time between 1618 and 1628 and brought back pieces of copper which he claimed
originated from an active copper mine (Wrong 1939: 242).

By the mid-seventeenth century, the expanding fur trade penetrated deeper into the
Lake Superior region, broadening Jesuit missionary inﬂuences and hopes for economic
gain from mineral wealth Accounts of south shore copper deposits thus became more
detailed at this time. In the early 1660's, ﬁrsthand accounts of copper deposits and
mention of copper ornaments being worn by various indigenous groups were relayed
directly to Montreal by explorers, traders and missionaries (Kellogg 1925: 347). In 1659,
Radisson and Groseilliers traveled the south shore of Lake Superior on their way to trade
with the Sioux and Cree at Chequagmegon Bay in present day Wisconsin. Describing the
portage at the Keweenaw Peninsula, Radisson mentions the ﬂoating "Island of Copper"
(Isle Royale) offshore from the mainland of the Upper Peninsula (Grifﬁn 1961: 38).

Descriptive accounts of south shore copper deposits, as well as copper use by
extant Indian groups, are provided in the Jesuit Relations of (Fathers) Allouez and Dablon
in the late 1660's (Thwaites 1902). Though written in the ﬁrst person narrative, these
accounts are probably from secondhand sources. Nonetheless, these passages provide

insights as to how copper deposits were perceived by the earliest Europeans in the region.

49

 

 

Father Allouez traversed Lake Superior in 1665 and was responsible for establishing the
mission at Chequarnegon Bay. He described what sounds like ﬂoat copper in Lake

Superior (Thwaites 1902: 32):

One often ﬁnds at the bottom of the water pieces of pure copper, of ten and
twenty livres weight. I have several times seen such pieces in the savages' hands;
and since they are superstitious, they keep them as so many divinities, or as
presents which the gods dwelling beneath the water have given them, and on which
their welfare is to depend. For this reason they preserve these precious
possessions. Some have kept them for more than ﬁfty years; others have had them
in their families ﬁom time irnmemorial, and cherish them as household gods.

Father Dablon, who was stationed at Sault St. Marie in 1668, provided a more
concise account of south shore and Isle Royale copper deposits in the Jesuit Relations
(Thwaites 1902: 72-76). Like Allouez, Dablon was concerned with ﬁnding primary
sources of Lake Superior c0pper. To his credit, Dablon synthesized a great deal of
information ﬁom various sources into his narrative. In reference to the south shore and

Ontonagon copper deposits, Dablon stated (Thwaites 1902: 74-75):

Still returning toward the mouth of the Lake and following the South side, at
twenty leagues' distance from the spot we have just mentioned one enters the river
called Nantounagan (Ontonagon), in which is seen a height from which stones of
red Copper fall into the water or on the ground, and are very easily found. Three
years ago we were given a massive piece of it, a hundred livres in weight, which
was taken in this same spot; ﬁom it we have cut off some fragments, and sent them
to Quebec to Monsieur Talon.

All do not agree as to the precise spot where it is found, some maintaining that it is
where the river begins to narrow, and others saying that is it encountered very near
the Lake, by digging in the clay. Some have said that at the place where the river
forks, and in the channel farthest to the East, on this side of a point of land, one
must dig in the rich earth to ﬁnd this Copper; and that pieces of this metal are even
found scattered in the channel which is in the middle.

50

Still continuing in this direction, the long point (Keweenaw) of land presents itself
which we have called the arrow of the bow; at its end there is only an Islet, which
appears to be six feet square, and is said to be all of copper. Finally, not to leave
any part of this great Lake that we have not explored, we are assured that in the
interior, toward the south, mines of this metal are found in different places.

Two commercial copper mining and prospecting ventures were haphazardly
attempted in the 1700's by Europeans. In 1739 Sieur de la Ronde, commander of the
French post at La Pointe in Chequamegon Bay commissioned two German mining
specialists to explore the Ontonagon River copper deposits (Kellogg 1925: 155-156).
These specialists identiﬁed three potentially proﬁtable mining areas in the western Upper
Peninsula: the mouth of the Black River, the mouth of the Big Iron River and the
Ontonagon River watershed ( 1925: 156). Difﬁculties in logistical support to this mining
region and civil unrest at Chequamegon Bay thwarted any formal mining at these locales
(1925:158)

Alexander Henry's 1771 failed mining attempt in the banks of the Ontonagon River
is a well-known comedy of errors. Henry ﬁrst visited the Ontonagon River in 1765 and
stated (Henry 1901: 187):

The copper presented itself to the eye, in masses of various weight. The Indians

showed me one of twenty pounds. They were used to manufacture this metal into

spoons and bracelets for themselves. In the perfect state they found it, it required
nothing but to beat it into shape.
On this same trip, Henry was also taken to the famed “Ontonagon Boulder” which was

ﬁrst mentioned by Father Menard a century prior to Henry’s travels.

51

In 1771-1772, Henry established a mining camp at or near the forks of the
Ontonagon River. The supposed location of this camp is several miles upstream ﬁ'om the
river's mouth at Lake Superior and close to the reported location of the Ontonagon
Boulder. Henry's mining company began excavating a shaft directly into the soft clay river
bank but neglected to use structure ﬂaming supports. During the spring thaw of 1772, the
shaft collapsed and no ﬁirther work was done along the river until the onset of commercial

mining in the mid-nineteenth century.

Historic Period References

Formal documentation of prehistoric copper mines in the western Upper Peninsula
are tied to the development of commercial mining in the mid-nineteenth century. Interest
in prehistoric copper mining increased throughout the 1800's and, unlike the spurious
accounts from the preceding French and English explorers, American documentation was
published in the professional media. This section outlines the key references to prehistoric
mining in south shore copper range. Since these and other accounts are documented in
their entirety elsewhere (Grifﬁn 1961, Drier and DuTemple 1961), this thesis will not
duplicate that eﬁ'ort. An overview of these key accounts and references provides a basic
understanding of the historical dialogue concerning prehistoric copper procurement sites
throughout the study area of this thesis.

Foster and Whitney's geological report of the Lake Superior copper range (1850)
documents, in detail, the discoveries of Samuel Knapp, an agent for the Minesota (sic.)

Mining Company in 1847 and 1848. Knapp was searching for potential copper deposits

52

several miles upstream from the mouth of the Ontonagon River when he encountered a
"man-made" cavern which contained hundreds of hammerstones and an exposed vein of

copper. According to Foster and Whitney (1850: 160):

The following spring he (Knapp) explored some of the excavations to the west,
where one of the shafts of the mine is now sunk. The depression was twenty-six
feet deep, ﬁlled with clay and a matted mass of mouldering vegetable mater. When
he had penetrated to the depth of eighteen feet, he came to a mass of native cOpper
ten feet long, three feet wide, and nearly two feet thick, and weighing over six
tons. On digging around it the mass was found to rest on billets of oak, supported
by sleepers of the same material.

The nineteenth-century Minesota Mining Company has since obliterated any traces
of this, as well as most of the prehistoric mining evidence atop the bluﬂs near Rockland,
Michigan. Foster and Whitney discuss the extent of prehistoric mining sites throughout
the Keweenaw Highlands and mention that most of the these mines have charcoal
contained within them, which they believed to have resulted from building ﬁres to remove
copper from the surrounding “trap” rock (1850: 159-162). The use of ﬁre in the
extraction of copper is ﬁ'equently mentioned throughout much of the nineteenth-century
literature (Holmes 1901).

Charles Whittlesey's 1863 publication Ancient Mining on the Shores of Lake
Superior is a compilation and summary of the research he conducted in the western Upper
Peninsula in the 1850's. This source is the most complete record of prehistoric copper
procurement sites in the area and showcases the nature and extent of prehistoric copper

workings in the study area of this thesis. Unfortunately, much of Whittlesey's writings are

saturated with attempts to prove the "mythical race of mound builders" which, in his

53

estimation, preceded Native Americans. Nevertheless, Whittlesey’s (1863) report is an
important contribution to the study of prehistoric mining and associated activities along

the south shore of Lake Superior.
Whittlesey’s discussion of the procurement of secondary copper deposits in the
western Upper Peninsula is of particular relevance to this thesis. In reference to the

distribution of copper deposits in the glacial drift and till, Whittlesey states (1863: 1-2):

Detached and water-wom lumps of copper have been found in great numbers in
the gravel, clay, and loose materials that cover the rocks, from the days of the
Catholic fathers to this time, not only in the mineral region but over a large space
to the southward of it. All these pieces were originally from veins, but have
probably been separated by the same cause that gave rise to that formation which
geologists call the "drift."

While documenting the Portage Lake prehistoric mine sites in the Keweenaw
Peninsula, Whittlesey also observed prehistoric workings in the glacial drift along Lake
Superior. A review of the pertinent literature indicates that Whittlesey provides the only
account of procurement from secondary copper deposits in the south shore copper range.

I have thus included this section in its entirety (1863: 14-15):

The ﬁrst signs of ancient excavations occur near the lake level, and what is
remarkable are not in the rock, but in the sand and boulder "drift." The most
capacious of these gravel pits, however, occur on a line nearly level and about 100
feet above the surface of the water. They are partly upon the land of the Quincy
Mining Company and in part on the Pewabic, a short distance east of the landing,
as shown in the sketch. Those constituting the upper series are even, broad, deep,
and regular, having the appearance of old fortiﬁcations. They extend around the
headlands of gravel, connecting adjacent ravines, as though the object was to bring
water ﬁ'om the rivulets along the face of the bluff.

54

At the points of the ridges they are much broader and deeper than they are at the
heads of the ravines... A bench, or narrow terrace, breaking into the slope of the
hill, forms a regular plateau for the uppermost group; the other group being
scattered along the slope at irregular intervals. Some of them extend down the
declivity nearly to the water's edge. Pits of a peculiar shape are occasionally seen
to the westward of the landing, particularly at the distance of about a mile. Here is
a group of small ones covering several acres on a piece of level land, which is
elevated about 200 feet above the lake, constituting one of the upper drift terraces.

There are, no doubt, many others, large and small, concealed by the thick brush
wood with which the ground is covered. Mr. C.C. Douglass states that lumps of
water-rolled copper and small masses are frequently found on both sides of the
lake in this drift graveLTo obtain this transported mineral, Mr. Douglass
conjectures to have been the object which the ancients pursued in their gravel
trenches, and at the same time, that they selected ﬁom the water-wom boulders of
the coarse drift such stones as had the proper size and shape for mauls, to be used
in the adjacent rock excavations.
Whittlesey (1863) also provides descriptions and illustrations of prehistoric copper
and wooden tools found in and around the mines of the Ontonagon area (1863: 17-22).
Additional descriptions of Ontonagon copper artifacts are provided by a noted historian,
Daniel Wilson (1856). Like Whittlesey, Wilson was actively involved in the ongoing
"myth of the moundbuilders" debate and argued the moundbuilders and copper miners
were of the same "vanished race" (Wilson 1856: 230-232). Unfortunately, some of these
outdated notions have become so deeply ingrained in the literature that similar rhetoric
occasionally resurfaces in modem-day western Upper Peninsula discussions and writings.
In closing, the accounts described in this chapter represent early and later historic
documentation of prehistoric copper procurement evidence in the southern Lake Superior

basin. Related literature pertaining to prehistoric mining activities on Isle Royale is also

prevalent and can be found in Holmes (1892, 1901), Gillrnan (1873), Lane (1898) and

55

Winchell (1881). These historic descriptions are equally interesting, but are beyond the
scope of this thesis.

This chapter and those previous have provided a contextual ﬂame of reference
from which to examine the prehistoric procurement of copper resources in the southern
Lake Superior basin Without this background, it would be diﬂicult to fully appreciate the
internal workings of a copper procurement strategy and the people who practiced this
strategy throughout the region. The chapters that follow detail and discuss investigations
conducted at an archaeological site, 200N209, from which larger conclusions can be
drawn about prehistoric procurement and settlement systems in the southern Lake

Superior basin.

56

Chapter 5
Initial Investigations at Site 200N209:

A Terminal Woodland Copper Quarry, Workshop and Occupation Site
in the Ontonagon River Watershed

Site Description and Setting

Site 200N209 is situated adjacent to the East Branch Ontonagon River in
Ontonagon County, Michigan. The legal location of the site is Township 50 North, Range
38 West, Section 32, SE ‘A NW '/4 (Figure 5.1). The most salient feature of the site area
is the presence of several hundred irregularly-shaped pits, trenches, berms and unnatural-
looking undulations of various sizes and depths. Included in the following pages are the
topographic feature and plan map of site 200N209 (Figure 5.2) and Locale A (Figure
5.3). The pit concentration area identiﬁed at the site is one of at least three other
concentrations located adjacent to the East Branch Ontonagon River in this immediate
vicinity. Similar concentrations have also been observed by the author on the other side of
the river, as well as .5 km upstream and .5 km downstream from site 200N209. To date,
a comprehensive archaeological survey of this riparian feature has not been conducted,
leaving the true nature and full scope of pit features along this river unknown.

The geological and physical setting of the 200N209 site area is quite unique. The
site resides atop four remnant river terraces, approximately 45 meters north of the existing
river corridor. These four terrace formations (Tl-T4) are visible from the river and

indicate the historically active nature of the East Branch watershed. The terrace

57

 

formations are comprised of a dense deposit of water-worked glacial tilL including gravel,
cobbles and large glacial erratic boulders. The landscape is densely vegetated, with cedar
and hemlock dominating the boulder-strewn T1 and T2 formations, while balsam, aspen

and an occasional white pine occupy the upland terrace formations.

Figure 5.1: Site 200N209 and The East Branch Ontonagon River

 

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Protruding from the glacial till deposit of the Terrace 4 formation, and surrounded
by the pit concentration area, is a relatively small, ﬂat, teardrop-shaped loamy sand
inclusion measuring 19 meters north-south by 30 meters east-west (Figure 5.3). This
sandy "plateau" - designated as Locale A - is approximately 2 meters higher than the

surrounding pit concentration area and is bounded on the west by a steep ravine leading

58

 

     
 

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59

down-slope to an intermittent drainage. This landform is comprised of approximately .5
meters of alluvial-deposited sands atop the water-worked glacial till. Further
investigation, including consultation with Ottawa National Forest Soil Scientist Sarah
Mase (1996: personal communication), indicates the Locale A landform is a remnant

sandbar which formed along an extinct river corridor, evidenced by the T4 formation.

Site Discovery

Typical of many prehistoric sites in the western Upper Peninsula, the initial
discovery of site 200N209 was not by an archaeologist, but rather by prehistoric c0pper
collectors using metal detector equipment in search of subsurface copper material. After a
1986 ﬁeld inspection of USDA Forest Service lands in the Ontonagon Ranger District of
the Ottawa National Forest (ONF), Forest Service archaeologist RE. Dinsmore was
alerted to the ﬁnding of several dozen "pits and trenches" adjacent to the East Branch
Ontonagon River, near the present community of Mass City. The Mass City area is well
known for surface indications of ﬂoat copper and prehistoric copper mining activities.
Dinsmore's informant also reported a local collector had found a c0pper “needle” around
one of these pits (ONF: 1986). Dinsmore visited the site in July of 1986 and noted several

pit features visrhle on the ground surface. Her notes read:

Possible prehistoric copper mining pits - dozens situated on mostly level terrain
above and adjacent to drainage and the East Branch Ontonagon River. Site
consists of dozens of depressions ca. lxlm to 3 m in diameter and up to l m deep.
Local amateur with metal detector reportedly recovered a copper needle from in or
around one pit (ONF site ﬁles).

61

According to Dinsmore (1996: personal communication), she believed the
concentration of pit features could possibly represent prehistoric quarrying activity. This
observation was further substantiated by the absence of historic period disturbance, such
as Euro-American copper mining and logging. Dinsmore noted that the seemingly random
orientation of the pit features was unlike that of any nineteenth-century copper mining site
recorded in the trans-Ontonagon copper mining district. No professional investigations
took place at this site until the research conducted for this thesis.

In July of 1996, the author and archaeologist Matthew Thomas visited the site to
observe and document the possible "prehistoric pits. " The results of this visit further
documented the absence of any historic period activities in the site area but did note traces
of small, irregularly-excavated holes indicative of metal detector probing pits. This
assumption is based on the author's personal observation of conﬁrmed metal detector
probing pits at prehistoric and historic sites in the western Upper Peninsula. The evidence
of metal detector activities at the site was conﬁned mostly to Locale A - which was
possibly the area ﬁom which the copper needle was collected, as noted by Dinsmore.

In August of the same year, the author was accompanied by archaeologists Susan
and Patrick Martin, of Michigan Technological University, for a site visit and consultation.
It was decided at this time that further archaeological investigations should be conducted
to examine the morphology of the pit features, and attempt to determine if a prehistoric
occupation existed at the site. While it was assumed the hundreds of pit and trench
features observed at site 200N209 were, in fact, prehistoric copper quarry pits, these

initial reconnaissance efforts failed to verify a prehistoric manifestation at the site.

62

   

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Prefield Investigations

Prior to the onset of ﬁeld investigations at site 200N209, preﬁeld investigations
were conducted. Preﬁeld research emphasized examination of archival sources to
determine if the concentration of pit features observed at site 200N209 could be the result
of nineteenth or twentieth century mining, prospecting or logging activities in the
irmnediate site vicinity. Before assigning a prehistoric signature to the several hundred pit
and trench features in and around the site, the possibility of historic period activities had to
be considered.

A review of the property records, deeds, titles and abstracts of T50N R38W
Section 32 and the surrounding vicinity was conducted to see if a mining or mineral
exploration company owned or acquired pr0perty in the site area. This inquiry revealed
the tracts in and around the site area were owned by the United States Government until a
patent of property was completed in 1902 to a private individual (Frank A. James). After
1902, the property was acquired by the State of Michigan and in 1940 was transferred
back to the United States Government (U .8. Forest Service). No documentation of
ownership by a mining or exploration company is indicated ﬁ'om this archival review. This
does not, however, completely rule out the possibility of historic activities in the site
vicinity.

More intriguing documentation of the site area is recorded in the Government
Land Ofﬁce (GLO) survey map and notes ﬁ'om 1848. Besides establishing the basic
township, range and section lines for the State of Michigan, the early GLO land surveyors

recorded their observations and interpretations of certain natural and cultural features in

63

and around their survey routes. Oltentimes, these observations would include the precise
location of unique landforms, ﬂora, fauna, and interactions with indigenous populations.

The survey notes and maps of S. M. Higgins, dated April 1848, describe the
natural features in the vicinity of site 200N209. These survey notes also mention the
potential for copper deposits adjacent to the East Branch of the Ontonagon River.
Higgins' notes and map ﬁom the corner of sections 29, 30, 31 and 32 in Township SON,
Range 38W are written in the standard vernacular of the mid nineteenth century surveyors
(GLO 1848):

North line between sections 29/30

Large trap boulders in bed of stream

A stream 2 links wide, course W in ravine, 50 feet

Primitive boulders in stream

6 chains from river, 1 chain from river, trail E-W along river bottom, poplar and

white pine

The GLO notes do not speciﬁcally mention pits in the vicinity of 200N209. The
notes do, however, indicate the surveyors were aware of potential deposits of copper by
speciﬁcally mentioning the "trap" rock contained in the glacial till along the river. Of
additional interest is the notation of a trail running east-west along the river bottom. The
GLO map indicates the trail crosses through the site in Section 32 along the north bank of
the East Branch Ontonagon River. During archaeological investigations at the site, a well
traveled game trail was noted along this particular stretch of river in the site area. It is

conceivable that this is same trail mentioned by the surveyors, or perhaps the trail is a

vestige of a prehistoric or early historic transportation feature along the river.

64

A local history publication titled The History of the Mass-Greenland-Rockland
Area (Jamison 1969) was also consulted during archival investigations. This publication
identiﬁes the various mining companies that operated in and around the Mass City area,
and gives brief mention to the prehistoric workings over which most historic mining
ventures took place. I found this reference to be relatively adequate for a description of
the area surrounding Mass City. Again, this publication makes no mention of numerous
pits along the East Branch Ontonagon River.

Finally, I conducted personal interviews with four long-time copper artifact
collectors ﬁom the local area. All four individuals were forthcoming with information
about their copper collecting activites in the Mass City area. All four copper collectors
have been to site 200N209 and describe the site as "untouched by historic mining,” and
the "obvious work of prehistoric people." One of these individuals was responsible for

collecting the copper "needle" from the site in 1986, as reported by RE. Dinsmore.

Field Methods

Preﬁeld investigations and surface walkover survey failed to give a functional or
temporal signature to the numerous pit and trench features observed at site 200N209.
While it was strongly suspected that these features were prehistoric quarry pits, further
investigations had to be conducted to test this assumption. The archaeological ﬁeld
investigations at site 200N209 were guided by a research strategy which utilized a variety

of data recovery techniques and procedures.

65

Shovel Testing

Previous archaeological work in the heavily—forested landscape of the western
Upper Peninsula has led to the determination that the most eﬁcient method of prehistoric
site detection is controlled shovel testing (Lovis 1979, Martin and Martin 1979). Shovel
testing survey methods in the Lake Superior basin typically include excavation of at least
two parallel transect lines spaced 10-15 meters apart as well as between individual shovel
test units (STU’s). These transects are usually conducted along well-drained upland
landforms associated with a renmant or existing riparian, lacustrine or wetland feature. All
soil matrix removed from the shovel test unit is usually screened through one quarter inch
hardware mesh. The size and depth of individual shovel tests vary depending on soil
deposition and stratigraphic depth to "parent" or "B horizon" subsoil. In general, a 30-
centirneter diameter STU, excavated to 30-50 centimeters below the ground surface, is an
average and appropriate size and depth for most shovel tests conducted in the western
Upper Peninsula.

Shovel testing at 200N209 focused on two areas adjacent to the pit concentration.
A major assumption guiding the placement of shovel test transects was that a prehistoric
occupation, if present, would be located proximate to the concentration of pit and trench
features in a relatively level, well-drained location. Locale A and Locale B ﬁt the above
criterion and were conducive to a controlled shovel testing survey.

The shovel testing strategy employed at Locale’s A and B involved parallel
transects with ﬁve-meter intervals between transect lines and individual shovel test units

(STU's). The placement of initial transect lines was guided by the uppermost river terrace

 

formation along the East Branch Ontonagon River. Locale A received seventeen STU‘s,
eight of which contained positive cultural material (chert and quartz debitage and tools)
and conﬁrmed a prehistoric occupation at site 200N209. Locale B received 63 STU's, 62
of which were uniformly negative. A shovel testing survey assisted by metal detectors was
also conducted in Locale A, Locale B and the pit concentration area of the site. The

artifacts recovered during the shovel test surveys are shown in Appendix A.

Site Mapping Strategies

Topographic and plan-view mapping of site 200N209 was conducted using a
variety of surveying equipment and the professional expertise of Ottawa National Forest
land surveyors. The initial phase of site mapping utilized a survey-grade Global
Positioning System (GPS) to provide latitude, longitude and base elevation for two
benchmarks (datum l and datum 2), arbitrarily established at the site to serve as control
points for the 1996-1998 ﬁeld investigations. The GPS equipment used at site 200N209
is accurate to ﬁve centimeters for any point in geographical space and is a ﬁrlly acceptable
instrument for licensed land surveying (Patrick Leemon: personal communication).

Datum 1 is the Locale A datum that served as the control point for further
mapping and excavation unit layout (Figure 5.3). From this datum, an east-west baseline
was established to datum 2, located within the pit concentration area. The baseline
connecting datum points 1 and 2 was established using a Topcon GTS-300 total station
surveying instrument and stadia receiver. The merits of using powerful surveying

equipment in archaeological ﬁeld investigations have been touted in recent professional

67

literature (Rick 1996: 24-27). Once this baseline was established, a detailed mapping
system of the entire site area was possible ﬁ'om these two datum points.

The most difﬁcult aspect of mapping the site was determining how to effectively
portray the undulating nature and extent of the several hundred pits, trenches, and berms
within the pit concentration area. Time, budget and personnel constraints precluded
comprehensive topographic mapping of each pit and trench feature. Therefore, a sample
of 102 individual pit and trench features contained within a 60 meter radius of datum l in
Locale A was selected for detailed mapping. This sample is taken as an adequate
representation of the approximately 300 pit and trench features within the 200N209 site
area.

A two—tiered mapping strategy was utilized to map the sample of pit features
during the site mapping project. First, the author, assisted by twelve undergraduate and
graduate student volunteers from the Industrial Archaeology program at Michigan
Technological University, measured and sketched each pit along the maximum north-south
and east-west axes, and recorded the maximum depth of each pit below ground surface.
All measurements were taken with a compass and metric measuring tape, and the outline
of each pit was drawn to scale on graph paper. Once completed, each pit was given a
sequential number which was displayed on a pin ﬂag at the bottom of the pit.

The second phase of mapping was conducted with the total station transit
equipment and further assistance from Ottawa National Forest land surveyors. Once all of
the pits had been measured, drawn to scale and numbered, total station rmpping of all the
102 numbered pits was conducted. The survey instrument recorded the horizontal angle

and distance to each numbered pit relative to the datum 1 benchmark at Locale A. When

68

all pit and trench features were mapped, several measurements were conducted to outline
the extent of the pit feature concentration area at site 200N209 (Figure 5.2). Again, using
the total station transit, the outer perimeter of the pit concentration area was mapped
relative to the Locale A datum.

The survey data generated ﬁom the mapping project was incorporated by the
author into AutoCAD (trademark: version 14, 1998), a computer-assisted design and
graphics program used by the engineering and technical staﬂ‘ of the Ottawa National
Forest. Many of the maps and graphics throughout this thesis were generated with CAD
applications, or Geographic Information Systems (trademark: Arcview GIS) licensed to

the USDA Forest Service.

Test Excavation Methods

Limited test excavations were conducted at site 200N209 to determine the nature
of the archaeological deposit(s) and to retrieve contextual stratigraphic information from
the site. All areas of the site, including Locale A, Locale B and the pit concentration,
were subjected to limited test excavation. The methods employed during subsurface
investigations are described below. The results of excavations are presented later in this
chapter and in Chapter Seven.

Four one meter square excavation units were placed across Locale A, measured
from the datum 1 benchmark and along the east-west baseline established during site
mapping and hiyout (Figure 5.3). Three factors inﬂuenced the spatial arrangement of test

units in Locale A: 1) An attempt was made to focus test units proximate to, but not on

69

top of; productive shovel test units, 2) test excavation units were placed across the Locale
A landform to obtain a broad perspective of activities across the Locale, and 3) areas clear
of non-removable obstructions, such as standing trees, were selected for ease of
excavation.

All excavation was accomplished using 4.5 inch mason trowels and sifting all soil
matrix through .25 inch hardware mesh screens. Every test unit was excavated in arbitrary
3 cm levels with plan-view maps of artifacts, soils and natural anomalies recorded at the
base of each level. The base of each level was photographed with black and white prints
and color slides. Each photograph contained a labeled photoboard and north arrow for
scale and orientation. All depth measurements were taken by line level ﬁ'om the highest
unit corner, designated the unit datum. Thus, all depth measurements were equated to
depth below datum (bd).

During excavation all artifacts, ecofacts and non-cultural intrusions were piece-
plotted in three dimensions before being removed in the corresponding level. Recovered
artifacts were placed in a labeled plastic bag with the appropriate provenience information.
Fragile material, as well as all copper artifacts, were wrapped in aluminum foil to maintain
any adhering soil matrix. Identiﬁable pieces of wood charcoal, suitable for radiometric
dating, were placed in a labeled aluminum foil pouch using the point of the trowel to avoid
contact and possible contamination ﬁom human hands.

The completion of excavation was marked by the absence of cultural material for a
minimum of three consecutive levels and well within the sterile "B horizon" sands and
gravel. Each completely excavated test unit received at least two stratigraphic wall

proﬁles and corresponding photographs. Upon completion, pieces of plastic ﬂagging tape

70

were placed in the bottom of each unit to mark the base of excavations before being back-
ﬁlled with sifted soil ﬁom the excavations.

Two pit features were also selected for subsurface testing at 200N209. A single
one-meter square test excavation unit (TEU 5) was placed within pit #85, located on the
southern edge of the third remnant river terrace, 28.8 m from datum (Figure 5.3). TEU S
encompassed most of the pit depression and the extracted tailings on the south edge of the
pit. Test Excavation Unit 6 (TEU 6) is a one meter east-west by two meters north-south
excavation unit partially bisecting pit #6. TEU 6 is located immediately north of Locale A,
16.6 m from Datum 1.

The excavation techniques used in Locale A were not entirely conducive to the
excavation of material from within and around the pit features. Again, hand trowels were
the equipment of choice for excavation, which was a difﬁcult task in the tightly-compacted
till, gravel and cobble composition of the landform. The unique geological composition
encouraged excavation in natural (stratigraphic) levels, rather than arbitrary levels. All
excavated material was sifted through one quarter inch hardware mesh screens. The
artifacts recovered ﬁom excavation were measured in horizontal and vertical dimensions
and placed in the corresponding level bag labeled with all pertinent provenience
information. Upon completion of excavation, each pit received a proﬁle map along at
least one unit wall and photographed according to the aforementioned procedure.

Test excavations in Locale B were conducted in a 2 meter square “block” (TEU 7)
placed within a concentration of subsurface copper deposits indicated by the metal
detector survey. The Locale B excavation methods were identical to those employed in

Locale A, with the exception of using 5 cm arbitrary levels during excavation instead of 3

71

cm levels. Further discussion of the excavation strategies are presented in the results

section of this chapter.

Laboratory Procedures

Laboratory procedures for cleaning, sorting, cataloging and accessioning
recovered artifactual materials were conducted following ﬁeld investigations. Once in the
laboratory, all lithic materials were washed, dried and placed in new plastic bags with the
appropriate provenience information contained therein. Due to the unique preservation
properties of copper, all copper artifacts were closely inspected to determine if any
organic material was adhering to the surface before being placed back in the original
aluminum foil pouch, and subsequently into a new plastic bag.

Fragile material collected in the ﬁeld, primarily wood charcoal, was put into
almninum foil pouches and labeled with the appropriate provenience information at the
site. In the laboratory, these samples were left undisturbed to await radiometric dating
analysis by specialists in that ﬁeld. Besides wood charcoal, no other ecofacts or culturally-
associated organic materials were recovered during ﬁeld investigations. A two-liter soil
sample was collected from a possible cultural feature in the southeast corner of TEU 4.
The soil sample was subjected to ﬂotation and paleobotanical analysis by Kathryn Egan-
Bruhy, PhD. The results of this analysis are presented on Page 90 of the text.

Three general categories of artifacts (lithic, copper and groundstone) were
recovered during ﬁeld investigations at the site. These categories are comprised of: lithic

tools and debitage, copper tools, worked or hammered copper, unworked copper and

72

 

large groundstone implements. Ceramic materials have not been recovered at the site,
though only a small sample of the entire site area has been excavated. In the following

section, the artifact classiﬁcation strategy is deﬁned.

Lithic Tools and Debitage

A total of 15 lithic tools and 263 pieces of lithic debitage were recovered during
archaeological investigations at site 200N209. Classiﬁcation of lithic material was
conducted according to the following deﬁnitions, categories and subcategories of lithic

material.

Lithic Tools comprise a small (n=15) component of the total 200N209 lithic assemblage.
Included in the lithic tool category are patterned tools (bifaces, unifaces), non-patterned or
“expedient” tools (utilimd ﬂakes and retouched ﬂakes), and lithic cores. Metric attributes
of four tool variables were obtained during analysis. These interval-scale observations
include: maximum (max) tool length, max width, max thickness and tool mass. Raw
material (lithic source) type is a nominal category observed during the classiﬁcation and
analysis of the lithic tool assemblage.

The categories of lithic tools were further subdivided into patterned and non-
pattemed tool types. Retouched ﬂakes are identiﬁed as non-patterned tools that exhibit
ﬂake scars along a working edge that do not exceed one quarter of the entire tool width.

Utilized ﬂakes are also classiﬁed as non-patterned tools and are identiﬁed by close

73

 

examination of the ﬂake edges to determine if dulled, shattered or micro-ﬂaked working
edges, attributed to use-wear, are present.

Lithic cores were measured, weighed and catalogued in the tool category. Cores
are classiﬁed as one of three types based on the reduction technique to which the core was
subjected during tool manufacture. Irregular cores are unshaped blocks of stone ﬁom
which ﬂakes appear to have been randomly removed by freehand percussion. Polyhedral
cores exhibit a multifaceted pattern in which ﬂakes have been consistently removed along
one axis. Bipolar cores are common in the lithic assemblage of sites in the western Upper
Peninsula and are characterized by percussion trauma (crushing) on both the proxirml and
distal surfaces of the core, resulting from the negative force exerted upwardly by the use
of a harnmerstone and anvilstone technique.

Groundstone implements, such as hammerstones and anvilstones, are also assigned
to the tool category. Two hammerstones were recovered ﬁom the surface of Locale A
and one hanmierstone was recovered in situ during excavation of TEU 2. One anvilstone
was also recovered ﬁom TEU 4. Hammerstones are identiﬁed as a cobble or rounded
stone that exhibits crushed, pitted and/or abraded edges or ends. Anvilstones tend to be
larger than hammerstones and have a relatively level working surface that exhibits pitting,
crushing and abrasion - most likely due to impact during lithic and copper tool fabrication
activities.

Once sorted, every tool received a single accession number keyed to a catalog
index card ﬁom the Ottawa National Forest Heritage Resources Program. Each catalog

card details all pertinent ﬁeld provenience information, speciﬁc metric data of the artifact

74

 

and illustrations of the tool. All data from the catalog data cards was entered into a

computer database and spreadsheet program (MS Excel: version 7.0).

Lithic debitage dominates the lithic subassemblage with 263 pieces of lithic debitage
material. Debitage consists primarily of unmodiﬁed ﬂakes and ﬂake shatter with both
local and non-local chert and quartz raw materials represented in the assemblage. Initial
classiﬁcation of the debitage subassemblage began with separating the material into micro-
debitage and macro-debitage. Macro-debitage is identiﬁed as all lithic material larger than
.25 inches (.63 cm). Micro-debitage was sorted and weighed according to raw material
type. One collective accession number was provided for the entire micro-debitage
collection from each excavation unit level.

Macro-debitage was classiﬁed into six categories. Primary ﬂakes are identiﬁed by
the presence of a cortical or weathered dorsal surface that lacks scars from previous
ﬂaking episodes. Secondary ﬂakes have a cortical surface apparent on part of the dorsal
surface, while the remainder of the dorsal surface exhibits scars from ﬂakes removed prior
to the secondary ﬂake. Tertiary ﬂakes tend to be small, thin ﬂakes with no cortex visible
on the dorsal surface. Bifacial reduction ﬂakes are a specialized type of tertiary ﬂakes
produced by thinning or resharpening a bifacial tool. Bifacial reduction ﬂakes are
identiﬁed by a thin, sharp lip occurring at the junction of the striking platform and the bulb
of percussion on the ventral surface of the ﬂake. Flake shatter consists of small, thin,
ﬂake-er fragments lacking a striking platform and/or bulb of percussion. Angular slmtter
consists of blocky, irregularly-shaped ﬁagments of lithic material that lack any deﬁnitive

ﬂake elements, such as a striking phitform or bulb of percussion.

75

All debitage assigned to the above categories were counted, weighed, catalogued
and accessioned together, as its own group. For example, all primary ﬂakes from a
particular test unit and level were catalogued together, as were all secondary ﬂakes,
tertiary ﬂakes, bifacial thinning ﬂakes, ﬂake shatter and angular shatter. A count and
weight for various raw material types was also noted on each accession card. This data
was then entered into the site data spreadsheet.

Along with the sorting and cataloguing system described above, an attempt was
made to document the raw material sources comprising the lithic assemblage. Based on
time author's experience in studying lithic material from prehistoric sites in the western
Upper Peninsula and assisted by a comparative lithic collection ﬁom the Ottawa National
Forest, lithic source types represented in the assemblage were identiﬁed. Recent
investigations at the nearby Duck Lake site (200N21) included Instrumental Neutron
Activation Analysis (INAA) of a portion of the lithic assemblage. This analysis was
conducted at the University of Toronto by Bury and Hancock (1997). The results of this
analysis have substantiated “subjective” visual assignations of raw material lithic sources
from prehistoric sites in the southern Lake Superior basin, including the lithic assemblage

from 200N209.

Copper Artifacts

The copper artifacts examined in this amlysis (n=47) include those recovered from
test excavation and shovel test units at site 200N209. Once in the laboratory, all copper

materials were closely examined for traces of organic material, such as textiles, adhering

76

 

to the surface. To begin the cataloguing process, the copper assemblage was sorted into
four broad categories, listed below. The categories used in this analysis include unworked

copper, worked copper, preforms and copper tools.

Unworked copper (n=1 3) refers to natural nuggets or pieces of native copper that have
not been subjected to human modiﬁcation. Unworked ﬂoat copper pieces recovered
during excavation and shovel testing at site 200N209 were catalogued in the same manner

as the other categories of copper materials listed below.

Worked copper. also referred to as "hammered" copper, comprises the majority of copper
materials recovered from investigations at the site (n=31). Worked copper is deﬁned as
pieces of native copper that have undergone hammering and shape modiﬁcation, without
resulting in an identiﬁable tool, ornament or deﬁnitive artifact. Also included in the
worked copper category are small, thin copper ﬂakes, often referred to as “waste ﬂakes”

(Clark 1989b, Hoxie 1980).

Cogper preforms (n=2) were also present in the 200N209 copper assemblage and
represent an intermediate step in the tool fabrication sequence. Copper preforms have the
morphological appearance of ﬁnished tools, though they usually appear thicker, shorter

and generally less "reﬁned" than the ﬁnished artifact.

Coppg tools (n=l) are the most readily identiﬁable, but least represented, artifact type

contained in the copper assemblage. Potentially, this category could include several

77

varieties of artifacts commonly assigned to traditional, albeit functional, designations.
Examples include various types of awls, needles, projectile points, ﬁshhooks, gorges, axes,
and several other copper tool types. Only one ﬁnished copper tool was recovered during

investigations at site 200N209.
Results of Archaeological Investigations

As previously described in this chapter, archaeological investigations at site
200N209 consisted of surface reconnaissance and site mapping, shovel testing survey and
limited test excavation. This section outlines the results and ﬁndings of these
investigations. Chapter Seven provides a quantitative summary of the data recovered

from these investigations.
Shovel Testing Results

On August 16, 1996, 17 shovel test units (STUs) were placed in 5 m intervals
across the Locale A landform. Of the 17 STUs, 8 contained prehistoric cultural material,
all in the form of lithic debitage and/or lithic tools. A cursory metal detector survey was
conducted across Locale A on September 28, 1996, recovering nine small pieces of
copper exposed on the surface of Locale A, or within areas of soil disturbance, such as
uprooted trees. This survey led to three additional shovel test units within this locale, each

of which produced a single piece of unworked copper immediately below the surface. The

78

 

 

 

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presence of positive shovel test units in Locale A provided the ﬁrst concrete evidence of a
prehistoric occupation at site 200N209.

A surface collection of Locale A was also conducted on September 28, 1996. The
surface collections at Locale A recovered two hammerstones, one quartz angular shatter
ﬂake and one tertiary ﬂake of Prairie Du Chien (PDC) chert.

Locale B was shovel tested on August l7-l8, 1996. Sixty-three STUs were
excavated in Locale B along four parallel transect lines, spaced at regular 5 m intervals
within and between individual STUs and transect lines. This survey produced only one
positive STU (STU#22), which contained one utilized ﬂake of Hudson Bay Lowland
Chert (HBLC).

The initial shovel testing survey in Locale B indicated an apparent low intensity of
prehistoric activity when compared to that of Locale A. A controlled metal detector
survey of the Locale, however, indicated a cluster of 14 positive "readings" within a 4 m
square concentration. This concentration area was located within the previous network of
shovel test units, but was missed altogether by STU’s spaced at 5 m intervals.

Two additional STUs were placed within this concentration of positive readings,
and one STU was placed to the irmnediate east. All three STUs produced copper
artifacts, including a large piece of worked copper (Figure 5.4), pieces of thin-worked

copper (Figure 5.5) and a bipointed copper awl (Figure 5.6).

79

Figure 5.4: worked copper from Locale B

 

80

Figure 5.6: bipointed copper awl ﬁom Locale B

 

The discovery of subsurface copper deposits in Locale B encouraged ﬁn’ther
investigation of this copper concentration area by controlled excavation. TEU 7, a 2 m x
2 in block excavation unit, was placed in Locale B during the 1998 ﬁeld investigations at
the site. All ofthe artifacts recovered from TEU 7, including those fromthe 1996 metal
detector survey, are presented in the master artifact data table in Appendix A.

A low-intensity metal detector survey was conducted in and around several dozen
pit and trench features to determine if native ﬂoat copper deposits are present in the
glacial till of the site area. This sm'vey, conducted on September 29, 1996, identiﬁed three
pieces of unworked ﬂoat copper ﬁom the tailings of three separate pit features. No

particular survey strategy was enacted during this cursory survey.

81

 

Test Excavation Results

TEU 1 is a l m x l m excavation unit which contains the Locale A datum point as
the southwest unit corner (Figure 5.3). This unit was excavated in 3 cm arbitrary levels
using the methods descrihed previously in the text. Eleven excavation levels were
performed in TEU l, with the bottom of excavations at 42 cm below datum. All cultural
materials were recovered between levels 2 and 7, (3-21 cmbd). The artifacts recovered
ﬁom TEU l are presented in Appendix A.

Test excavations at TEU 1 revealed evidence of copper working activities in
Locale A. Two worked copper artifacts were recorded in level 5 at 13 cmbd. The largest
copper artifact (Acc.# 96-E2-114) was recovered at 13 cmbd, within a small lens of ﬁne
silty-sand in a broader stratigraphic context of B horizon silty-sand (Munsell: SYR 4/4).

Another notable ﬁnding from TEU 1 is the presence of a north shore lithic raw
material, Jasper Silica (JSP) in the lithic debitage from TEU 1. The identiﬁcation of JSP
was made in the ﬁeld by the excavator of the unit, Matthew Thomas, on September 15,
1996. Other professional archaeologists practicing in northern Minnesota and Ontario
(Gordon Peters, William Ross and C.S."Paddy" Reid: Personal Communication)
concurred with Thomas' assessment of JSP. TEU 1 contains the only evidence of this
north shore lithic material yet recorded at the site.

The excavators of TEU I encountered only a few natural disturbances to
stratigraphic context and provenience. These disturbances appeared to have been caused

by remnant and existing tree roots, small rodent burrows and slight disturbances caused by

82

 

insects (beetles). Nonetheless, the cultural deposit in TEU I appeared to be relatively
intact.

Upon the completion of excavations in TEU l on September 29, 1996,
stratigraphic proﬁle mapping was conducted of the south and west tmit walls. These walls
were selected for proﬁle mapping because they are contiguous stratigraphic sequences in
opposite directions across the unit and they adequately represented the soil horizons
observed during excavation. The south unit wall was selected due to its location along the
Locale A east-west baseline. Additional test excavation units placed along this baseline
would provide a complete stratigraphic sequence across the Locale A landform. The TEU
lwall proﬁles are shown in Appendix B.

TEU 2 is a 1 m X] mexcavation unit located 12 meast ofdatum point 1 at the
end of the east-west baseline in Locale A (Figure 5.3). TEU 2 was excavated in 3 cm
arbitrary levels to a ﬁnal depth of 35 cmbd. All artifacts ﬁom this unit were recorded
between levels 1 and 5 (0-15 cmbd). The artifacts from TEU 2 are presented in Appendix
A.

The highlight of TEU 2 excavation was the recovery of a triangular bifacial point
made ﬁ'om quartz (Figure 5.7). The quartz bifacial point (Acc.# 96-E2-107) is
morphologically and metrically similar to the diagnostic Late/Terminal Woodland
"Madison Points" recorded throughout the Great Lakes and Eastern Woodlands regions
(Beld 1993, Bruhy and Potracke 1998, Justice 1987, Ritchie 1971, Salzer 1974). To date,
four Terminal Woodland sites investigated by Ottawa National Forest archaeologists in
the study area of this thesis have recovered Madison points in association with Terminal

Woodland radiocarbon dates. In the Northern Highland District of Wisconsin, Salzer

83

 

(1974: 49) concludes that the shift to small, triangular bifaciﬂ points crafted of locally-
availablequartzisahallmarkofthe LakesPhase, andrepresentsthe inceptionofthe bow
andarrowirinorthemWisconsinandtheUpperPeninsula.
InTEU2,acharcoalsamplewascollectedtwocentimetersﬁ'omandatthcsame
depthasthe Madisonpoint. Thissample wascareﬁrllycollectedwiththe intentionof
submission for radiocarbon dating, which was conducted by Beta Analytic Inc. on July 28,
1997. Charcoal sample (# 200N209 TEU 2 L3) was given an AMS date of 1190 +/- 50

BP (uncalibrated) or AD 705 to 980 calibrated at 2 sigma values (Beta-107725, 1997).

Figure 5.7: quartz Madison Point

   

The analysis notes of Darden Hood state the charcoal sample was subjected to an
acid/alkali/acid pretreatment with all measurements and age calculations proceeding

normally (Beta Analytic Inc.: September 15, 1997).

A granitic cobble harnmerstone (Acc.# 96—E2-152) was also recovered from the
same provenience level as the Madison point and charcoal sample (Figure 5.8c). The
harnmerstone exhibits evidence of use—wear abrasion along the ends of the cobble. A
quartz bifacial tool ﬁ'agment and an assortment of quartz and HBLC lithic debitage were
located proximate to the harnmerstone. The harnmerstone likely played a role in lithic
working activities at Locale A.

One unnatural disturbance was noted immediately outside of the TEU 2, and
adjacent to the south wall. An irregularly-shaped circular depression measuring
approximately 20 cm in diameter was observed along the south unit wall. Subsequent
excavation along the south wall revealed a relatively deep O/A stratigraphic horizon within
the vicinity of the disturbance. Further excavation indicated the actual disturbance (hole)
was immediately south of TEU 2, though humus and soil removed ﬁ'om this hole appeared
to have been deposited over the surface of the test unit. This disturbance feature could be
the result of previous artifact collecting activities in the early 1980's.

TEU 2 excavations were completed on September 29, 1996 at 35 cmbd. Two unit
walls (south and west) were selected for proﬁle mapping. The south wall was selected
due to its location along the east-west baseline. The west unit wall proﬁle was also
selected as a contiguous unit wall with accurate representation of the stratigraphic
conditions observed during excavation. The TEU 2 wall proﬁles are presented in

Appendix B.

85

Figure 5.8: hammerstones ﬁ'om Locale A, “c” is third from leﬁ

 

TEU3 isa 1 mx 1 mtestexcavationunitcentrallylocatedalongtheeast—west
baseline, 5 mfromdatum l andequidistant fromTEU l andTEUZ (Figure 5.3). TEU3
was strategically placed at the center of the baseline to provide a continuous
representation of archaeological and stratigraphic deposits across Locale A. TEU 3 was
excavated to a ﬁnal depth of 25 cmbd, utilizing 3 cm arbitrary excavation levels. The few
(n=4) artifacts recovered during excavation were found in levels 1-5 (3-15 cmbd). These
artifacts are presented in Appendix A.

Two of the four artifacts recorded in TEU 3 are small, thin, worked copper ﬂakes
(Acc.#‘s 96-E2-88 and 89). Both of these copper pieces were recorded in level 5, the
lowest level inwhichculturalmaterialwasobservedintheimit. The othertwo artiﬁacts

from the unit were small pieces of lithic debitage.

 

 

The excavators of TEU 3 noted minimal disturbances, natural or otherwise. Upon
completion of excavation on August 19, 1997, the south and east unit walls were selected
for proﬁle mapping. Again, the south unit wall was selected because of its location along
the east-west baseline, in keeping with TEUs 1 and 2. The cast wall was also selected as a
complement to the south wall proﬁle, and its representation of the observed stratigraphic
sequences. The TEU 3 wall proﬁles are presented in Appendix B.

TEU 4 is another 1 m x 1 111 test excavation unit located within Locale A (Figure
5.3). The unit is located 3 111 north and I m east ofdatum l. The decision to place atest
unit 03 the baseline was inﬂuenced by the identiﬁcation of cultural deposits recorded
during the August 16, 1996 shovel testing survey. TEU 4 was placed proximate to
positive STUs 2 and 3, which yielded lithic tools and debitage. Excavation of TEU 4
continued to 50 cmbd, utilizing 3 cm arbitrary levels and the methods previously
described. All artifacts were recorded between levels 5 and 14 (IS-42 cmbd). The
excavation of intact soil did not occur until level 4 (12 - 15 cm bd) due to an extremely
dense humic overburden caused by a dead tree. The TEU 4 artifacts are presented in
Appendix A.

TEU 4 produced the greatest number and variety of lithic debitage ﬁ'om any single
excavation unit at site 200N209. While lithic debitage dominates the unit assemblage,
lithic tools are conspicuously absent. The only artifacts classiﬁed as tools are a large,
heavily-abraded anvilstone and an HBLC core exhibiting evidence of bipolar reduction
(Figure 5.9 and 5.10). The anvilstone was initially noted in situ in level 6 and was
removed in level 10, at 30 cmbd. The HBLC bipolar core was recorded and removed in

level 9, at 27 cmbd.

87

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The lithic assemblage ﬁ'om TEU 4 is dominated by local-variety lithic sources:
HBLC (n=107, 70%) and Quartz (tr-'22, 14%). Non-local lithic sources, though low in
ﬁ'equency and proportion, are identiﬁed in the TEU 4 debitage assemblage and include:
Glmﬂint Silica (GFS n=1), Knife River Flint (KRF n=1) and Prairie Du Chien/Galena
cherts (PDC/Galem n=4). KRF and PDC have been documented at prehistoric sites in the
Ontonagon River watershed with the assistance of INAA (Bury and Hancock 1997).
Gunﬂint Silica, as with Jasper Silica, are north shore lithic materials represented at site
200N209. To date, site 200N209 is the only known south shore site to contain these

particular lithic raw materials in its artiﬁict assemblage.

Figure 5.9: TEU 4 anvilstone

 

Two very small pieces of unworked copper were recorded at the base of excavat'mns in
levels 14 and 15. Both pieces were situated within the gravelly-sand base of the B
horizon, and are believed to be naturally-deposited, unmodiﬁed pieces of ﬂoat copper. No

other artifacts or cultural features were noted within these bottom levels.

88

Figure 5.10: TEU 4 HBLC bipolar core

 

At 39cmbd inthesoutheast cornerofTEU4, apossible subsurfacefeaturewas
encormtered. The excavators noticed an intrusion (lens) of B horizon silty-sand (Munsell:
IOYR 5/2) juxtaposed in the dominant B horizon gravel-sand (Munsell: 7YR 4/4). Within
this lens, a concentration of slightly darker B horizon sands (Munsell: IOYR 4/3) of more
compact silty-sand was noted. It was decided to excavate the southeast corner as a
possibleculturalfeature,anda35 cmsquareareawasdesignatedasFeature 1. Soilmatrix
excavated ﬁ'om Feature 1 (Feature levels 1-2) was carefully excavated and saved for
ﬂotation and paleobotanical analysis. Feature 1 was excavated separately in 3 cm levels.
Excavation of this feature proceeded from 39 cm to 48 cmbd. Unfortunately, all pieces of
charcoal in Feature 1 were too small for collection and submission for radiocarbon dating.

Feature 1, level 1 (39-42 cmbd) contained three small pieces of HBLC debitage.
Feature 1, level 2 (42-45 cmbd) also contained three pieces of HBLC debitage and one
piece of quartz microshatter. At the base of Feature 1, Level 2 (45 cmbd), the intrusive E

horizon lens was no longer apparent. Feature 1, level 3 (45—48 cmbd) was also excavated

89

 

as part of the feature. No stratigraphic anomalies were noted, so no soil samples were
collected from this level.

Feature 1 excavations were closed at 48 cmbd, at which point a deﬁnitive cultural
feature was still not evident. It is possible that the southeast corner of TEU 4 was on the
periphery of an intact cultural feature in adjacent, unexcavated units.

A 2.0 liter soil sample was collected from Feature 1 and subjected to
paleobotanical analysis by Kathryn Egan-Bruhy, Ph.D., professional consultant with the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin (Egan-Bruhy 1999). Unfortunately, the results of
the Feature 1 paleobotanical analysis do not conﬁrm the presence of a cultural feature.
Egan-Bruhy reports:

The only ﬂoral identiﬁed in the sample was wood charcoal. I recovered 28 pieces

of wood charcoal (>2 mm), weighing .21 g. The density of wood charcoal is

consistent with collections ﬁ'om late prehistoric refuse pits. Only six of the 20

ﬁagments of wood charcoal, that were examined, could be identiﬁed to taxon.

They were all white pine (pinus strobus). Two specimens were identiﬁed as

conifer, but could not be classiﬁed according to genus. The other specimens, that

were examined, were “carmelized.” This type of structural deformation is
characteristic of conifers and green wood.

Excavation of TEU 4 proceeded normally with only a few minor sources of
disturbance noted during excavation. The ﬁrst four levels of excavation were slowed by
the presence of a dense mat of humic overburden created from a decayed tree. Once
intact soil deposits were encountered in levels 5-6, excavation went smoothly. The ever-
present root disturbance is noted throughout most levels of the unit, as well as in the
proﬁle walls. The B horizon gravel-sand contained a tremendous amount of rock, cobble

and gravel - representative of the glacial till deposits along this stretch of the East Branch

 

Ontonagon River. Fortunately, the cultural deposit did not extend deeply into the lower
portions of the B horizon in the Locale A landform.

TEU 4 excavations were completed on October 13, 1996. Since TEUs 1, 2 and 3
provided continuous stratigraphic proﬁles across the 12 m Locale A baseline, the selection
of proﬁle walls for TEU 4 was rather arbitrary. The west unit wall was selected to
maintain consistency with the west unit wall from TEU l, 3 m to the south. The east wall
was also selected as it contained evidence of Feature 1. The TEU 4 proﬁles are shown in
Appendix B.

TEU 5 is a 1 m x l m exploratory excavation unit encompassing Pit #85 in the
Terrace 3 pit concentration area (Figure 5.3). TEU 5 (Pit #85) is located 28.78 m from
the locale A datum. Pit #85 was selected for excavation because it is a fairly typical pit
feature, with a well-deﬁned oriﬁce and surrounding talus pile. The morphology of Pit #85
was 2.4 m north-south x 2.2 m east-west x .7 m deep. The scale of this pit feature was
conducive to a l m x l m TEU that centrally bisected the pit and encompasses a portion of
the talus (Figure 5.11).

TEU 5 was excavated in natural (stratigraphic) excavation levels, as opposed to
the traditional methods employed in the Locale A TEUs. Only two well-deﬁned
stratigraphic horizons were identiﬁed in TEU 5 - a thin O horizon constituting level one
and a compacted rocky-till constituting level 2. The excavation of TEU 5 was extremely
difﬁcult throughout the glacial till deposit. All rock and soil removed ﬁ'om TEU 5 was
siﬁed through .25 inch hardware mesh screen. No artifacts or cultural features, aside from

the pit itself, were recorded in TEU 5.

91

The absence of artifacts ﬁom TEU 5 was predictable given the presumed ﬁmction
of the pits as quarry features. Nonetheless, TEU 5 provided important information about
the stratigraphic and geological structure of the pit features at site 200N209. TEU 5
excavations demonstrate that the pit features were, in fact, dug directly into the glacial till
which dominates the local landscape. The stratigraphic proﬁle from TEU 5 reﬂects the

thin O/A horizon atop the dense glacial till rock and cobble, as shown in Appendix B.

Figure 5.11: TEU 5 prior to excavation

 

Exacavation of TEU 5 ceased at 80 cmbd - the bottom of the pit feature.
Unfortunately, no pieces of charcoal were identiﬁed in archaeological context, thus no
samples were collected for radiocarbon dating. It was also observed that the rock and
cobbles removed from the pit feature were deposited immediately around the south and

east edges of the pit oriﬁce, as the talus pile was still visible on the ground surface.

Archaeological excavation of the TEU 5 pit feature was laboriously accomplished
with hand trowels and buckets. A number 2 spade shovel was used with minimal success.
Trial and error showed that troweling around the rock cobbles and removing them by hand
was the most efﬁcient method of excavation. In hindsight, a mattock or "sharpshooter"
shovel, used judiciously, would have been more useful in excavating the pit features.

TEU 6 is a 2 m (north-south) x l m (east-west) test excavation unit located 16.7 m
from datum in the concentration of pit features (Figure 5.3). TEU 6 bisects Pit #6, a 1.8
m north-south x 1.8 m east-west x .7 m deep feature. Archaeological excavation methods
employed in TEU 6 were the same as those in TEU 5.

The excavations recovered two artifacts within the actual pit feature, an
unexpected surprise. Artifact #96-E2-29 is a rather large worked and shaped copper
artifact (Figure 5.12). The copper artifact was recorded in situ at 23 cmbd, 3 cm below
the ground surface of the pit. This worked copper artifact was situated atop the sandy
gravel in the south end of the unit. Artifact #96-E2-l45 is a lithic bipolar core crafted
ﬁ'om an agate (Figure 5.13). The agate core was recovered from approximately the same
depth and general location as the worked copper piece. No other artifacts were recorded
in TEU 6, although the stratigraphic proﬁles also indicated the pits were dug directly into
the glacial till deposit. The east and south wall proﬁle maps are presented in Appendix B.
These proﬁles show a thin O-A horizon atop the glacial till, except for the deepest
portions of the pit feature where humus was more deeply accumulated (Figure 5.14 ).

Charcoal samples suitable for radiocarbon dating were not obtainable ﬁ'om the TEU 6 pit

feature.

93

 

TEU 7 is a 2 m square block excavation unit located in Locale B. Speciﬁcally,
TEU 7 is located 5.5 m east of the locale B datum point established during the 1996
metal detector survey (Figure 5.2 ). TEU 7 was strategically placed to cover
approximately one halfof the "copper concentration area" identiﬁed during the metal
detector survey. As previously discussed, the metal detector survey recovered several
pieces of tmworked copper, worked copper and a bipointed copper awl from three STUs
within this concentration of copper readings. One of these STU’s is located within the
TEU 7 excavation block and is designated as “7-MD.” The artifacts recovered ﬁ'om this

STUarediscussedaspartoftheentireTEU7unitassemblage.

Figure 5.12: TEU 6 worked copper artifact

 

 

Figure 5.13: TEU 6 bipolar agate core

 

Figure 5.14: TEU 6 East Wall Proﬁle

 

Prior to the layout of TEU 7 on July 29, 1998, a brief metal detector

reconnaissance of the area surrounding the subsurface copper deposit was perfomied.

95

 

Each "reading" ﬁom the metal detector was marked with a pin ﬂag. Fourteen readings
were identiﬁed within a small (4 m) square cluster along the upper terrace of Locale B.
TEU 7 was placed within this concentration to encompass approximately one-half of the
deposit. Consideration for future archaeological investigations in Locale B also inﬂuenced
the placement of this block unit. Thus, TEU 7 was situated within the deposit so that a
future (adjoining) 2 m x 2 m TEU could encompass the other halfof the copper
concentration. The 1998 investigations focused entirely on TEU 7, the artifacts of which
are shown in Appendix A.

TEU 7 was excavated to a ﬁnal depth of 25 cmbd (level 5) using 5 cm arbitrary
levels and piece plotting all cultural and natural material along x-y coordinates and depth
below datum. The archaeological data recovered from the 1996 shovel test unit and the
1998 TEU 7 excavations recovered a total of 19 copper and 12 lithic artifacts ﬁom TEU
7. All of the copper artifacts recovered from TEU 7 exhibit evidence of being worked and
shaped. Eighteen of the 19 copper artifacts are classiﬁed as worked copper, and one
artifact (Acc.# 96-E2-21) is classiﬁed as a copper tool preform (Figure 5.15).

The TEU 7 copper assemblage includes an interesting assortment of very thin-
worked copper artifacts that are "foil-like" in cross section (Figure 5.16). Excluding the
copper tool preform ﬁom the unit assemblage, the mean thickness of the 18 remaining
worked copper artifacts from TEU 7 is 1.68 mm. The ﬁagility of such thin-worked pieces
of copper would preclude their use as "tools" capable of performing even the most
moderate of tasks. Possibly, the intended function of these foil-like pieces of copper
represent an early stage in the fabrication of ornamental items, such as rolled beads, cones,

crescents, etc. Items of personal adornment crafted from copper are commonly recorded

96

 

I""—

 

in the copper assemblages of Terminal Woodland Period sites in the Upper Great Lakes
region (Clark 1991, Hoxie 1980, McPherron 1967, SR Martin et al. 1993, SR. Martin

1994, Salzer 1969).

Figure 5.15: TEU 7 copper tool preform

 

TheTEU7lithicassemblageiscomprisedprimarilyofHBLCandQuartz
debitage, with one HBLC retouched ﬂake tool recorded in level 2. Aside ﬁ‘om the
concentration of worked copper in the excavation unit, no other deﬁnitive features or
diagnostic artifacts were recovered in TEU 7. One piece of wood charcoal was collected
in level 2 at 8 cmbd, ﬁom a charcoal mottled E horizon of silty-sand (Munsell: 10YR 4/2).
Unfortunately, the charcoal sample is not associated with or adjacent to any artifacts or
features, but was the only suitable sample ﬁom TEU 7 to collect for radiocarbon dating.

The sample will be submitted for analysis in October of 1999.

97

Figure 5.16: TEU 7 thin hammered copper “foil”

 

The excavator notes and records ﬁ'om TEU 7 indicate the excavation unit is
relatively ﬁee of natural disturbances to the stratigraphic and cultural deposits. The most
obviousdisturbanceto theunit istheremnant (1996) STU locatedintheNunarterof
the unit. Fortunately, the entire STU was encompassed within TEU 7, and subjected to
careful archmological excavation in and around the shovel test disturbance.

Upon completion of TEU 7 excavations on August 6, 1998, the south and west
walls were selected for proﬁle napping. Both walls are representative of the stratigraphic
sequences observed and recorded during excavation. The south wall proﬁle, shown in
Appendix B, indicated one anormlous disturbance: a completely buried O-A humic
intrusion measuring approxirmtely 15 cm in diameter. Possibly, this intrusion, complete
with organic duﬂ; roots and some mottled A horizon silty-sand, is a remnant metal
detector probing hole ﬁom circa 1986. Another plausible exphnation is a remnant animal

burrow.

98

The west wall proﬁle shown in Appendix B reveals an uninterrupted stratigraphic
sequence across the entire unit, with the exception of a 20 cm intrusion of a stained A
horizon into the B horizon strata. There is nothing observable in the wall proﬁles to
indicate any natural or unnatural disturbances or cultural features present within TEU 7.

This chapter has provided a detailed description of the methods and results of
archaeological investigations at site 200N209. The history of site discovery, a discussion
of the research strategies and methods utilized, as well as the ﬁndings of these
investigations, have thus been described. The remaining chapters of this thesis expand the
information brought forth in this chapter and provide additional insights from these
investigations. The following chapter (Chapter 6) summarizes the artifact assemblage
recovered from site 200N209 and addresses the research questions advanced as part of
the overall research design. The ﬁnal chapter (Chapter 7) expands into a consideration of
how site 200N209 functioned within a Terminal Woodland Lakes Phase settlement and

subsistence system manifested throughout the southern Lake Superior basin.

 

Chapter 6
200N209: Data Summary, Conclusions and
Directions for Future Investigations

In this chapter I draw conclusions ﬁom archaeological investigations at site
200N209 and address the two research questions posed in the Introduction. First, the
artifact assemblage ﬁom the site is summarized in tabular and graphic forms. This
provides a foundation for discussion of the research questions. The ﬁnal section of the
chapter outlines a research agenda for further investigations at site 200N209 and

additional studies of prehistoric copper procurement and use in the Lake Superior basin.

Lithic Debitage

The ubiquitous byproduct of lithic reduction and stone tool manufacture is
debitage and, not surprisingly, the 200N209 artifact assemblage is dominated by this
material. Two hundred sixty three pieces of lithic debitage were recovered during
investigations at the site, and have been assigned to the following debitage categories:
microdebitage, angular shatter, ﬂake shatter, bifacial reduction ﬂakes, tertiary ﬂakes,
secondary ﬂakes and primary ﬂakes. The raw material composition reﬂects a variety of
local and non-local lithic types, including: Hudson Bay Lowland Chert (HBLC), Quartz,
Cortical/Unidentiﬁed Chert, Jasper Silica (JSP), Galena, Prairie Du Chien (PDC), Gunﬂint
Silica (GF S) and Knife River Flint (KRF). All debitage categories and raw material types,
sorted by frequency (11) and proportion (%), are listed below (Tables 6.1, 6.2 and Figures

6.1 and 6.2). Appendix A is the master artifact data table and contains the individual

100

 

variables, interval scale observations and accession number for each artifact and/or artifact‘

set.

Table 6.1: 200N209 Material Assemblage

Debitage Category Frequency (11) Proportion (%)
Microdebitage 55 20.9

Angular Shatter 52 19.8

Flake Shatter 47 17.9

Bifacial Reduction Flakes 37 14.1

Tertiary Flakes 36 13.7
Secondary Flakes 27 10.3

Primary Flakes 9 3.4

TOTAL 263 100

Figure 6.1

 

 

200N209 Lithic Debitage Categories

 

 

 

 

 

 

    
       

 

 

 

 

Frequency and Proportion
300«
263 D Fun-=7
250 I m
2004
150<
100«
55 52 47
50: 19.8 37 36 27
IO 3 9 3 4
0- am: — .21-5'.- . . - fr- ‘
Mierodeb. Angular Flake Shatter Bifacial Tertiary Secondary Primary
Shatter Reduction Flekee Flakes Fiekee

 

 

101

Table 6.2: 200N209 Raw Material Frequency and Proportion

Raw Material Type Frequency (n) Proportion (%)
HBLC 141 53.6
Quartz 72 27.4
Cortex/Unidentiﬁed Chert 22 8.4
Jasper Silica 17 6.5
Galena 6 2.3
Prairie Du Chien 3 1.1
Gunﬂint Silica 1 0.38
Knife River Flint 1 0.38
TOTAL 263 100
Figure 6.2

 

200N209 Lithic Raw Material Type
My end m

 

263

 

 

 

100

  

8.4 '7 6.5 6 . ”7."

04 3.“ -FL.T_L.——ZJ '_3_l.l . r 0.38' l 0.38 . 1:,

HBLC Quartz CortJUnid. Jeeper Geiene Prairie Du Gunﬂint Knife River TOTA
Silica Chien sme- Flint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tools

The tool subassemblage consists of 20 individual artifacts identiﬁed as: lithic
cores, bifacial tools, utilized ﬂakes, hammerstones, retouched ﬂakes, unifacial tools,

anvilstones and ﬁnished copper tools. Tools within these categories are made of the

102

 

following raw material types: HBLC, Quartz, PDC, Agate, Ground Stone and Copper.
The ﬁ'equency and proportion of each tool type are listed below (Tables 6.3, 6.4 and

Figures 6.3, 6.4).

Table 6.3: 200N209 Tool Assemblage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tool Category Frequency (11) Proportion (%)
Lithic Cores 5 25
Utilized Flakes 3 15
Hammerstones 3 15
Unifacial Tools 3 15
Retouched Flakes 2 10
Bifacial Tools 2 10
Anvilstone l 5
Copper Tools 1 5
TOTAL 20 100
Figure 6.3
200N209 Tool Categories
m money-ammo» "0
13 PM
80‘ I Pronto»
‘°‘ 15 '3
20‘ 5 3 '5 3 '5 3 is 2 1° 2 w I 5 n 5 1° .
° Lithic Utilized Hemmer Uniteciel Retouch Bibciei Anvil Copper tom
Coree Moe etonee Tooie Flekee Tooie stone tooie

 

 

103

Table 6.4: 200N209 Tools and Raw Material Frequency and Proportion

 

Tool Raw Materials Frequency (11) ‘ Proportion (%)
HBLC 7 35
Quartz 6 30
Ground Stone 4 20
Prairie Du Chien 1 5
Agate 1 5
Copper 1 5
Total 20 100
Figure 6.4
200N209 Tool Raw Materials

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oases?

 

 

 

Copper

The copper subassemblage of 200N209 consists of 47 individual pieces of copper
assigned to the following categories: worked copper, unworked copper, copper tool

preforms and ﬁnished tools. The subassemblage is dominated by worked and unworked

104

 

copper pieces, with a low frequency of complete or nearly complete objects.l All aspects
of copper working activities, ﬁ'om direct procurement to tool fabrication, are identiﬁed in
the subassemblage. The frequency (11) and proportion (%) of the copper subassemblage is

presented below (Table 6.5 and Figure 6.5).

Table 6.5: 200N209 Copper Assemblage

 

Copper Category Frequency (n) Proportion (%)
Worked Copper 31 66
Unworked Copper 13 27.7
Tool Preforms 2 4.3
Finisbd Tools 1 2.1
TOTAL 47 100
Figure 6.5
200N209 Copper Sobmblege
m In! Pom

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

' At least one copper tool, a bipointed awl, was removed M the site in the early 1980’s (Dinsmore 1986:
ONF site ﬁles). The artifact currently resides at the Ontonagon County Historical Society Museum in

105

 

Observations and Conclusions from 200N209

One avenue of inquiry has been sadly neglected, however. No archaeologist has
conducted extensive excavations of sites utilized by prehistoric copper miners.
This lack of direct evidence has led to uncertainty and speculation about the
identity of the people who did the mining. It is unclear whether procurement of
therawmaterialwascarried out bytheﬁnalusersofthe artifacts, bymining
specialists, or by year-round inhabitants of the mining region (P.Martin 1993: 132).

Archaeologists in the Upper Great Lakes region have long grappled with the

paucity of contextual data linking prehistoric copper procurement sites with intact

 

occupations, as described so clearly by Martin. The questions raised by Martin refer to F
the mining of primary copper deposits from the south shore copper range, but certainly

apply to the procurement of secondary copper sources as well. Martin’s questions

stimulate further discussion about procurement strategies and frame one of the main

research questions of this thesis:

Is there evidence of prehistoric occupation(s) associated with the large concentration of
pit and trench features along the East Branch Ontonagon River? If so, what is the

nature of the occupation(s).

Archaeological investigations at site 200N209 answer this research question
through examination of three spatially and functionally distinct areas of the site: Locale A,
Locale B and a concentration of pit and trench features adjacent to the two loci

Subsurface testing of these three areas was conducted by systematic shovel testing and

 

Ontonagon, Michigan.

106

limited test excavation. This section discusses the intrasite composition of 200N209
through data and observations from Locales A and B. A detailed discussion of the pit and
tnench features will be presented later in this chapter.

The results of subsurface testing in Locale A indicate this locale ﬁmctioned
primarily as an occupation area adjacent to the concentration of pit features. The unique
landform of Locale A is ﬂat and welldrained due to the deposition of sand, silt and soil.
Eight STUs and four 1 m x 1 m TEUs in Locale A produced lithic debitage and tools,
along with worked and unworked copper pieces. A radiocarbon sample ﬁ‘om this Locale
yielded a date of AD 705 to 980, calibrated at 2 sigma. This sample was recovered in
direct association with a complete quartz Madison projectile point, giving the site a
Terminal Woodland temporal signature.

The lithic subassemblages (debitage, tools) of Locale A represent the ephemeral,
low intensity nature of Terminal Woodland lithic assemblages throughout the subregion
(Bruhy and Potaracke 1998, Clark 1991, Hill 1995, Salzer 1974). As expected, the
200N209 lithic assemblage is dominated by locally-available lithic raw materials (HBLC
and Quartz). A notable variety of non-local lithic sources, though low in frequency and
proportion, are also represented at the site. Jasper Silica (n=l7, 6.5%) is the most
frequent non-local lithic type identiﬁed in the assemblage. To date, site 200N209 is the
only prehistoric site in the southern Lake Superior basin to contain in situ evidence of
Jasper and Gunﬂint Silica. These materials are found in primary and secondary contexts
along the north shore of Lake Superior, and commonly occur on prehistoric sites along the

north shore and on Isle Royale (Clark 1991: 63). Other non-local lithic sources identiﬁed

107

at 200N209 include: Prairie Du Chien and Galena cherts from southwestern Wisconsin
and northern Illinois, and Knife River Flint from western North Dakota.

The composition of the lithic debitage subassemblage suggests a relatively low
intensity of occupation at the site. Limited data recovery at the site ins to date produced
263 pieces of lithic debitage. The evidence of lithic reduction activities at site 200N209
displays a relatively even distribution of microdebitage, angular shatter, ﬂake shatter,
bifacial reduction ﬂakes and tertiary ﬂakes, as shown in Figure 6.2. Primary and
secondary ﬂakes are the least represented at 10.3% and 3.4%, respectively. If one
assumes "early" stages of lithic reduction include primary and secondary decortication as
well as angular and ﬂake shatter; and "late" stages of reduction include tertiary, bifacial
reduction and microdebitage, then the evidence supports the observation that all stages of
lithic reduction are occurring relatively equally at site 200N209. Given that HBLC and
Quartz resources are abundant in and around the site area and particularly along the
shoreline of the East Branch Ontonagon River, observing a complete sequence of lithic
reduction activities is not surprising.

A total of twenty artifacts were assigned to the tool category , seventeen of which
were recovered from Locale A. Informal tools, including retouched and utilized ﬂakes,
account for 5 of the 15 lithic tools (33%), while patterned tools (n=10), including bifaces,
unifaces and lithic cores, account for the remaining 67%. As predicted, the majority of
lithic tools are crafted from HBLC and quartz, with only one tool made ﬁom a non-local
raw material (PDC).

Without question, the tool sample size is too small to draw deﬁnitive conclusions

about lithic tool fabrication and use at site 200N209. However, the most frequent lithic

108

tool is lithic cores (n=5) followed by utilized ﬂakes, unifacial scrapers and hammerstones,
all represented at three tools each. Retouched ﬂakes and bifacial tools are each
represented by two artifacts; one copper tool and anvilstone are also recorded. This
evidence, meager as it is, suggests the inhabitants of site 200N209 were not favoring
certain tool categories over others. The low frequency of ﬁnished lithic and copper tools
indicates a seemingly limited role or need for these materials in the ﬁmctions and inner
workings of the site. Despite the infrequency of ﬁnished tools recovered from the site, a
certain amount of lithic tool reduction/production is observed at the site. The lithic
workshop recorded in Locale A, deﬁned by a relatively dense accumulation of debitage,
bipolar HBLC cores and a distinctive anvilstone, can be taken as indicative of extraneous,
possibly subsistence-related activities, occurring in this part of the site.

Archaeological investigations at Locale B revealed that it has different functional
characteristics than Locale A, including a spatially distinct copper fabrication. While
other areas of the site show evidence of copper working and tool fabrication, Locale B
contains greater quantity and variety of copper artifacts. Excavations within this Locale
recovered a spectrum of copper working activities, ﬁom unworked nuggets of ﬂoat
copper, to thinly-harmnered pieces, to preforms and a ﬁnished tool. To date, only one half
of the copper concentration feature has been excavated, the other halfremaining intact and
available for further professionally-guided investigations.

In Locale B, lithic debitage and tools are lower in ﬁequency and proportion than
those in Locale A. A single retouched ﬂake of HBLC and one HBLC bipolar core are the
only lithic tools identiﬁed in TEU 7. The lithic subassemblages (debitage and tools) from

Locale B are consistent with those from the Locale A occupation area in that locally

109

 

 

available raw materials dominate. Only one piece of PDC microdebitage is represented in
the lithic subassemblage of Locale B.

No intact subsurface features were identiﬁed in Locale B, but this is not surprising
given the limited extent of excavations. One isolated sample of wood clmrcoal was
collected in situ (TEU 7) and will be submitted for radiocarbon dating in October, 1999.
Even without radiocarbon dates, it can be said that the copper working area of Locale B
appears to be a short-term manifestation, spatially removed from the main occupation area
of Locale A but directly adjacent to the concentration of pit and trench features.
Similarities in lithic artifacts, depositional contexts, and seemingly low-density occupations
in both loci suggest contemporaneity between the Locale B copper working area, the
Locale A occupation area and associated pit features.

The results of arclmeological investigations at Locale A and Locale B clearly
demonstrate that lithic and copper working activities were taking place at the site.
Furthermore, these results indicate an in situ occupation area in Locale A, and a copper
working and tool fabrication area in Locale B. The material data, in the form of lithic
tools and debitage, seems to typify the ephemeral nature of Terminal Woodland
occupations in the southern Lake Superior basin. Site 200N209 is unique in that the
occupational evidence is directly associated with evidence of copper procurement and
fabrication activities within the same site. The remainder of this section will further
establish the context of copper procurement activities at the site, guided by the following

research question:

110

 

 

Is Site 200N209 a prehistoric copper procurement site? If so, does the occurrence of
several hundred pit and trench features along the East Branch Ontonagon River

demonstrate a procurement strategy focused on secondary gloat) copper resources?

To date, site 200N209 is the only prehistoric site in the Lake Superior basin to
make evident the procurement of native copper from secondary deposits. The impressive
concentration of pits, trenches and berms in and around the site highlights the importance
of the East Branch Ontonagon River as a source area for these deposits. Before
embarking on ﬁeld investigations at site 200N209, thorough preﬁeld investigations were
conducted to determine if any natural or historic activities produced such a visibly altered
landscape. These investigations involved queries of various archival sources, including
property deeds, title abstracts, mining related documents, GLO survey notes and historical
site ﬁles from the Ottawa National Forest and the State of Michigan Bureau of History.
Specialists in forestry, soil science, hydrology and wildlife biology were also consulted, all
having spent decades of their professional careers working in and around the East Branch
Ontonagon River. Four copper collectors ﬁom the Mass City area were interviewed, one
being the collector of the previously-mentioned copper needle. The results of these
preﬁeld investigations indicated the concentration of pit features in and around the site
were not created by natural forces, nor is there evidence of historic (ground-disturbing)
activities having occurred in this location.

Archaeologists in the Upper Great Lakes region have long suspected secondary
copper deposits as having played a role in the strategies of prehistoric copper procurement

and use. Whittlesey's 1863 account of possible copper quarry pits in the glacial drift of the

11]

 

 

Keweenaw Peninsula and professional investigations at the Old Fort site on Isle Royale
hint at the signiﬁcance of secondary copper deposits, but, as previously stated, these sites
failed to give a prehistoric signature to the pit features. The data and conclusions drawn
from site 200N209 are thus valuable in that they address signiﬁcant gaps in the existing
knowledge base of regional copper studies.

From the earliest stages of ﬁeld investigation, the presence of lithic and other
cultural material conﬁrmed prehistoric activity at site 200N209. Excavation revealed
copper working was a signiﬁcant activity that took place at the site. A cursory metal
detector survey around only a dozen of several hundred pit features recovered three pieces
of unworked native ﬂoat copper from the talus of three individual pits. In addition, one
large piece of worked copper was found in an archaeologically-excavated pit feature.
These ﬁndings suggest the pit and trench features at 200N209 were dug in search of ﬂoat
copper embedded in the glacial till along the banks of the East Branch Ontonagon River.

Test excavations of two “typical” pit features were conducted to examine the
morphology of the pit features, and to see what data might be found within a quarry pit
feature. Speciﬁcally, these pit excavations were conducted to determine if intact strata
could be identiﬁed within the pits and adjacent talus. Despite the challenge of excavating
through tightly-compacted glacial till, two pits were careﬁrlly excavated and stratigraphy
was observed and recorded. One of the pit features provided unexpected surprises in the
recovery of a worked copper artifact (Figure 5.12) and a bipolar agate core (Figure 5.13).

During the archaeological excavation of the pit feattu'es it became obvious the
original excavators of the pits must have utilized some form of digging implement that

could effectively dislodge the tightly-compacted till. A considerable volume of till was

112

or

on

originally removed from the pit and/or trench features, based on large number of pit and
trench features at the site. Digging implements have not yet been recovered at the site,
most likely because they were made of wood. Whittlesey (1862: 8), for example, describes
and illustrates wooden “shovels” resembling canoe paddles found in the Waterbury mine
of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Also from the Keweenaw Peninsula, Grifﬁn (1966: 130-133)
describes a cache of preserved organic materials allegedly removed from the Calumet
Ancient Pit in 1865, which contained fragments of wooden shovels, bowls, and other
items.

Archaeological investigations of the pit features conﬁrm that the original
excavators of the hundreds of pit and trench features at 200N209 employed a quarrying
strategy that "snaked" randomly into the existing glacial till deposits along the banks of the
East Branch Ontonagon River. In many places at the site, quarrying is so intense that it is
difﬁcult to determine where individual pit and/or trench features begin and end. Intuitively,
it appears the only selective criteria for digging the quarry pits was easy access to the
glacial till deposits. No pit features appear to have been dug in or around the areas of the
site where soil deposition is well-established. This is a signiﬁcant observation, given the
occupation and copper working Locales A and B are located only in areas of the site that
exhibit intact, well-formed soil stratigraphy.

At the site-speciﬁc level, the focal activity at 200N209 appears to be copper
procurement, with a less signiﬁcant range of subsistence-related activities also having
occurred at the site. A low ﬁequency of lithic debitage and tools, coupled with the
absence of ceramic evidence and few intact subsurface features, suggest a short-term or

seasonal occupation of the site with the primary objective being copper procurement.

113

d.

C?

P:

re:

While the concentration of pit features at the site is at ﬁrst glance extensive, this alone
does not indicate the number of site occupants and “quarriers.” Bastian's (1963: 58)
experimental replication of mining on Isle Royale has demonstrated the cumulative effect
of several individuals could generate a tremendous amount of mining activity and evidence
in a relatively short amormt of time. This could well be the case at 200N209, begging

ﬁrrther exploration of Bastian’s model in future research efforts at site 200N209.

Directions for Future Research

The archaeological investigations conducted at 200N209 from 1996-1998 lay the
Work of a multi-year research design that will explore other facets of prehistoric
copper procurement and use throughout the Ontonagon River watershed. It is hoped this
thesis brings attention to the historical signiﬁcance of this watershed within the larger
context of regional studies. In the near future, I will be providing the Ottawa National
Forest with a site management and conservation strategy for 200N209 and the East
Branch Ontonagon River. Fortunately, part of this strategy has ah'eady been realized. In
1999, the Ottawa National Forest will begin acquiring and purchasing property
immediately adjacent to site 200N209. I have personally inspected these land parcels and
observed additional concentrations of quarry pit features adjacent to the East Branch
Ontonagon River.

The Ottawa National Forest Heritage Resources program is also working with GIS
modeling programs to explore landscape-level analyses of prehistoric and historical

resources along this important watershed (M. Hill: personal communication). The results

114

of these investigations will enable signiﬁcant contributions to be made to the management
of archaeological resources within the Ottawa National Forest, and to related prehistoric
studies in the Upper Great Lakes region.

Another suggested research avenue involves extensive archaeological survey along
the East Branch Ontonagon River to document additional quarry sites and occupations.
Future surveys should include the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to speciﬁcally
pinpoint other quarry and occupation areas along the East Branch Ontonagon River.
Using traditional survey methods with the assistance of metal detectors, this research
project would identify potential areas for future excavation, and provide a more
comprehensive perspective of the extent of quarrying activity throughout the Ontonagon
River watershed.

Prior to further test excavations at site 200N209, non-destructive methods of
subsurface investigations through remote sensing should be considered. Remote sensing
equipment could be used to identify intact cultural features in the well-formed
stratigraphic deposits of Locale A and B. These methods could potentially locate hearths,
middens or additional copper working activity areas, which could then be excavated to
obtain additional radiocarbon dates, evidence of subsistence and seasonality, as well as
relevant contextual information.

A fascinating application of future research would involve designing and
performing experimental studies that replicate the processes and techniques of prehistoric
quarrying ﬁ'om secondary deposits. Analogous studies of prehistoric hardrock mining
have been successfully performed by Bastian (1963) on Isle Royale. Using these earlier

studies as a model of comparison, similar studies along the East Branch Ontonagon River

115

could investigate quarrying techniques, labor requirements, volume of copper removed
ﬁ'om the site(s), and other interesting avenues of inquiry.

It is widely accepted that prehistoric copper artifacts from the Great Lakes region
were fabricated using a combination of cold hammering and annealing (Vernon 1990).
Metallurgical analysis could prove helpful in closely examining the techniques of copper
artifact manufacture and the processes of prehistoric metal working ﬁ'om 200N209.
Pioneering eﬂ‘orts into the metallurgical examination of the microstructure of Lake
Superior copper artifacts have been conducted by S.R. Martin and Lawrence Sutter at
Michigan Technological University (Sutter 1993: 166-170). Sutter and Martin examined
the 20KE20 copper subassemblage, providing baseline data for comparisons with other
prehistoric sites from the south shore subregion. Metallurgical analysis of the 200N209
capper subassemblage could supplement the existing data and provide ﬁrrther information
about Terminal Woodland copper working in the upper Great Lakes region.

Another scientiﬁc avenue of inquiry is trace element sourcing or “ﬁngerprinting” of
copper deposits (Levine 1995, Rapp et al. 1990). Worked and unworked copper samples
from 200N209 could be submitted for trace element sourcing to establish a “ﬁngerprint”
for East Branch Ontonagon copper deposits, adding an additional source to the existing

database of known copper sources in the Upper Great Lakes region.

116

 

Chapter 7
Beyond 200N209: Regional Context and Discussion
The archaeological investigations conducted at 200N209 revealed an intact
Terminal Woodland occupation along the East Branch Ontonagon River, directly
associated with procurement activities focused on secondary copper deposits. This ﬁnal
section of the thesis discusses how site 200N209 ﬁts into the broader context of regional
prehistory, through comparison with other known and recorded Terminal Woodland
arclmeological sites of the southern Lake Superior basin. The procurement and
subsistence patterns of those who occupied the site are discussed as components of a
Lakes Phase cultural system.
With few notable exceptions (Bruhy and Potaracke 1998, Clark 1991, Hoxie 1980,
SR. Martin et a1. 1993, McPherron 1967), archaeologists have tended to minimize the
role of copper throughout the latter stages of the Woodland period in the Upper Great
Lakes region. Due in part to the compelling nature of Archaic "Old Copper," regional
Woodland studies have tended to dismiss these copper subassemblages as only minor
components of Woodland material culture. Salzer (1974: 49) argues the declining
ﬁ'equency of copper tools and ornaments observed in Lakes Phase sites throughout
northern Wisconsin represents a decline in the use of copper during the Terminal
Woodland period in his study area. Recent investigations at Terminal Woodland Lakes
Phase sites throughout the southern Lake Superior basin, however, indicate this is
deﬁnitely not the case (Bruhy and Potaracke 1998, Clark 1991, SR. Martin et a1. 1993,

Moﬂat 1992).

117

To date, most of what is known about Terminal Woodland copper procurement
strategies in the Lake Superior basin are documented in Bastian’s (1963) and Clark's
(1991, 1995) investigations at mining sites on Isle Royale. These investigations identiﬁed
seven prehistoric mines assigned to the Terminal Woodland stage. Spurious evidence of
Archaic period copper mining on Isle Royale is presented by Drier (1961: 5), though the
validity of these dates has been contested by Bastian (1963: 54) and Clark (1995: 54). All
things considered, prehistoric mining on Isle Royale appears to be a Woodland period
manifestation. Archaeological investigations at the Old Fort site (201R6) - the only
possible secondary copper procurement site identiﬁed on the island - failed to recover
cultural materials to substantiate procurement from secondary sources, despite exhaustive
attempts to do so (Clark 1995: 44-45, Ferguson 1923).

As mentioned in Chapter One, few professional investigations at prehistoric copper
procurement (mining or quarrying) sites have been conducted in the southern Lake
Superior basin. One notable exception is a single radiocarbon date from an alleged cache
of prehistoric artifacts in the Calumet Ancient Pit in the Keweenaw Peninsula, reported by
Grifﬁn (1966). This copper mine, located approximately 70 km northeast of 200N209,
yielded a calibrated date of AD 770 +/- 140 (M-1776). The 200N209 radiocarbon date
(AD 705-980), calibrated at 2 sigma, is thus coterrninous with the date obtained ﬁom the
Calumet Pit.

Much of the professional literature pertinent to regional prehistoric copper studies

is based heavily on the recovery of copper ﬁom mortuary contexts (Baerreis et al. 1954,
Hruska 1967, Ritzenthaler 1957a, Ritzenthaler and Wittry 1957), or from sites far

removed from the primary source deposits (McPherron 1967). The well-documented

118

 

"Old Copper" cemeteries of Wisconsin - Oconto (Ritzenthaler and Wittry 1957), Osceola
(Ritzenthaler 1957b), Riverside (Hruska 1967) and Riegh (Baerreis et a1. 1954) - have
contributed to a perception that prehistoric copper was of social and ideological, rather
than utilitarian, importance.

Under the rubric of a systemic approach to evaluating rmterial culture, Binford
(1962: 217—225) discusses an apparent shift through time in prehistoric copper artifacts,
from primarily utilitarian in earlier time periods, to non-utilitarian in “later” contexts.
More recent investigations at prehistoric sites throughout the southern Lake Superior
basin have shown that copper was an ubiquitous raw material of utilitarian signiﬁcance to
the Woodland occupants of this subregion (Clark 1991, SR. Martin et al. 1993, ONF site
ﬁles).

Substantive temporal and cultural comparisons can be made between site
200N209 and four other southern Lake Superior basin sites assigned, at least in part, to
the Terminal Woodland Lakes Phase: 470N27/47L11 (Robinson), 47FR76 (Hemlock
Cathedral), 20BG14 (Sand Point), and 20KE20 (Lac La Belle). All four of these sites are
located within a 100 kilometer radius of site 200N209 and the Ontonagon River

watershed, and provide subregional context for further discussion.

4 70N2 7/4 7L]! 3 The Robinson Site

The largest Terminal Woodland site identiﬁed and investigated in the southern
Lake Superior basin is the Robinson site, located in southern Oneida and northern Lincoln

Counties, Wisconsin (Figure 7.1). Salzer's archaeological survey and testing in the

119

 

 

 

 

 

can 9: 5 88:85. 8% E 2:9”.

am .5252“.

 

 

120

Northern Highland Lakes District (hereafter “Northern Highland”) identiﬁed over 90
prehistoric sites during the initial phases of this survey. Twelve of these sites were
subsequently examined through subsurface testing (Salzer 1969: 362). According to
Salzer, 11 of the 12 tested sites contained some component identiﬁable as Lakes Phase. In
addition, of the 90+ sites identiﬁed during the surface survey, approximately one half of
these sites demonstrated a Lakes Phase component. While earlier temporal components
are identiﬁed at the site, the Lakes Phase component is the most intensive, and internally
complex, occupation at the Robinson site.

The Robinson site contains a diverse array of cultural materials (lithic, ceramic and
copper) and numerous intact cultural features within and adjacent to a complex of 31
burial mounds (Salzer 1969: 27). Salzer estimates the site area to be in excess of 40 acres,
though the actual boundaries of the site are yet unknown and may actually be closer to
100 acres (Salzer 1969: 25). Unfortunately, no radiocarbon samples were analyzed ﬁom
the Robinson site. However, Salzer argues for temporal control over the site based on
carefully-recorded stratigraphic occupation zones and relative dating of diagnostic
artifacts, especially ceramic styles, ﬁom other archaeological sites with reliable
radiocarbon dates.

The lithic assemblages from the Robinson site led Salzer to deﬁne a distinctive
Lakes Phase lithic industry that is prevalent throughout the Lake Superior basin. A
tremendous amount of lithic debitage and tools were recovered during excavations at the
Robinson site. The lithic debitage subassemblage is dominated by local raw materials,

with quartz, quartzite and a category Salzer calls "basalt" accounting for 86% (n=9133) of

121

 

the total debitage (Salzer 1969: 98—99). Salzer deﬁned this basalt2 category (1969: 99) as

follows:

The 3913 specimens included in the "basalt" category are generally of a light grey
color, although the range is considerable from tan to a very dark grey. The
material is quite ﬁne-grained and seems to have good workability characteristics.
The lithic tool assemblage at the Robinson site is also a deﬁning characteristic of D
regional Lakes Phase sites. Seventy—ﬁve small, triangular, bifacial projectile points were

recovered at the Robinson site (Salzer 1969: 106-107). The artifact morphology and

 

metric observations indicate that the ubiquitous Terminal Woodland Madison point is U
deﬁnitely a familiar component of the Lakes Phase lithic industry. Forty-ﬁve of the
seventy-ﬁve triangular points recovered ﬁom the Robinson site were crafted ﬁ'om quartz.

In reference to this projectile point style, Salzer argued (1969: 105):

There is abundant evidence, in Wisconsin and adjacent area of the midwest, to

support the placement of small triangular projectile points in Late Woodland or

Mississippian temporal and cultural contexts. In fact, such tools can be used as

horizon markers and can be employed as a test of the ceramic debris and

associated soil strata

This prophetic statement certainly applies throughout all of the southern Lake
Superior basin. The fact that all of the known, recorded Terminal Woodland period sites
in the western Upper Peninsula (including 200N209) contain quartz Madison style

projectile points attests to the signiﬁcance of this particular tool type.

 

2 Without the beneﬁt of direct observation, I wonder if the “basalt” specimens Salzer deﬁnes are what
archaeologists in the area currently call Hudson Bay Lowland Chert? The description provided by Salzer
does indicate this could be the case.

122

 

 

 

In general, Lakes Phase ceramics are thin-walled vessels with evidence of cord
marking and/or decorated rims by a cord wrapped object (Hoxie 1980, Salzer 1969).
Salzer's descriptive analyses of the ceramic assemblage from the Robinson site
demonstrates a series of inﬂuential styles ﬁ'om diﬁerent subregional and regional cultural
groups. Examples of these stylistic inﬂuences are Oneota, Heinz Creek, Madison Plain
and Madison Cord Impressed wares, as well as a variety of Mississippian shell-tempered a
ceramic types. Lake Phase ceramics were recovered from several Terminal Woodland #

sites in the Northern Highland, including the Squirrel Dam site, Cookstove Point,

 

Mohawk Point, Bukatabon Dam and Strawberry Island (Salzer 1969). The amalgamation J
of ceramic inﬂuences at the Robinson site and other Lakes Phase sites throughout the -
region indicate Lakes Phase populations were involved in a network of extra-regional
contact and social relationships.
Salzer's investigations at the Robinson site document what appeared to him to be a
relatively insigniﬁcant copper industry. A total of 39 pieces of worked and unworked
copper "wastage" was recorded by Salzer, in combination with nine complete copper tools
and ornaments. The ﬁnished copper artifacts consist of awls, beads, a knife and chisel
(Salzer 1969: 121-122). In combination with the sparse copper assemblage recorded at
the Squirrel Dam site, another Lakes Phase site in the Northern Highland, Salzer makes
the following argument about the role of copper during the Terminal Woodland (Lakes

Phase) (1974: 49-50):

Copper tools were also made during this phase. Usually these are simple awls,
although bent ﬁshhooks, small ﬂat leaf-shaped projectile points, and tanged
”butterknife" knives are also occasionally recovered. Copper-working debris is

123

 

 

always present, but never abundant, and seems to reﬂect a declining role of this

industry in the over—all technology.

More recent archaeological investigations in the southern Lake Superior basin
have documented that the Lakes Phase copper industry was diminishing as thought by
Salzer. Thirty years have passed since Salzer mentioned a diminishing Terminal
Woodland copper industry. Since then, several archaeological sites have been recorded
within the Northern Highland and western Upper Peninsula that demonstrate the
continuation of a well-developed copper industry employed by the Terminal Woodland

inhabitants of the southern Lake Superior basin.

47F R 7 6: The Hemlock Cathedral Site

The Hemlock Cathedral site (47FR76) is a multicomponent Initial and Terminal
Woodland site situated within a composite of 30 distinct prehistoric sites around Butternut
Lake in Forest County, Wisconsin (Figure 7.1). Recent investigations of the Lakes Phase
component of the site by Bruhy and Potaracke (1998) included the recordation of several
intact cultural features (ﬁre hearths, middens, house ﬂoors), reliably dated from AD 546
+/- 50 years to as recent as the 14th century AD (Bruhy and Potaracke 1998: 24). A
temporally diagnostic Madison style projectile point was also documented in the Terminal
Woodland artifact assemblage ﬁom the site.

Bruhy and Potaracke (1998) believe the site functioned primarily as a ﬁshing
station by residential Lakes Phase inhabitants. This evidence is supported by the

identiﬁcation of several smoking/roasting pit features, a basalt net sinker, a copper

124

 

 

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harpoon and a copper ﬁshhook recovered at the site (Bruhy and Potaracke 1998: 24-26).
In addition, a series of reliable radiocarbon dates from several intact cultural features
support a Terminal Woodland afﬁliation.

The researchers describe a material assemblage typical of Lakes Phase
occupations. The lithic debitage and tool subassemblages are dominated by locally-
available quartz and quartzite raw materials, with a small frequency and percentage (2%)
of non-local chert types represented in the lithic subassemblages (1998: 30-36). Lithic
tools are dominated by informal quartz ﬂake tools (1998: 24) - arguably the deﬁning
characteristic of all Lakes Phase sites within the southern Lake Superior basin.

In addition to the discovery of several intact cultural features at the site, the most
salient observation at 47FR76 is the presence of a well—deﬁned Lakes Phase copper
industry. This observation led Bruhy and Potaracke to the following conchisions

(1998:25):

First, there does not appear to be a decline in the utilization of copper by Terminal
Woodland (Lakes Phase) populations in comparison to copper use by Initial
Woodland (Nokomis Phase) populations. Secondly, the importance of copper
throughout the Woodland Tradition may suggest tlmt Northern Highhnd
populations had stronger social and economic ties to the Lake Superior Basin
cultures to the north, those who lived closest to the primary source areas of native
copper, than they had with more southerly cultures. Thirdly, some copper tool
forms previously assumed to be the products of Archaic (01d Copper Complex)
populations in the Northern Highland may well be attributable to Woodland
Populations.

125

 

 

208614: The Sand Point site

An impressive example of a developed south shore Terminal Woodland copper
industry is represented at 20BG14, the Sand Point site, in Baraga County, Michigan. The
Sand Point site is located on the shore of Lake Superior in Keweenaw Bay, approximately
45 km northeast of 200N209 (Figure 7.1). Large scale archaeological investigations
were conducted at the site by Western Michigan University in the early 1970's, resulting in
the identiﬁcation and recovery of cultural materials and human remains (Cremin 1980: 15).
Most of the radiocarbon dates from the site cluster around AD 1000 to AD 1220, with at
least one earlier date, AD 330, considered to be inconsistent with the artifact assemblage
(Dorothy 1980: 67). Nonetheless, site ZOBGl4 certainly falls within the range of Lakes
Phase occupation. Portions of the material assemblage from the site are indicative of
Lakes Phase occupation, though other archaeological manifestations at the site suggest

Sand Point was not a "typical" Lakes Phase occupation. According to Cremin (1980: 15):

In two seasons on the site, ﬁeld crews excavated approximately 128 square meters
of occupation area and 187 cubic meters of mound ﬁll, resulting in the recovery of
the following kinds of information: (1) a minimum of 117 human burials, all but 2
of which were found in contexts associated with the raising of three mounds; (2)
almost 40,000 sherds, exhibiting many diagnostic attributes useful in ascertaining
the cultural aﬂiliation(s) of the site's inhabitants; (3) a rich and diversiﬁed lithic and
copper assemblage, consisting of more than 1,000 tools, vast quantities of
knapping and copper-working debris, as well as examples of the raw material
(quartzite and chert cobbles, ﬂoat copper nuggets) from which the tools were
fabricated; and (4) a small but still valuable sample of the ﬂoral and faunal
resources which were utilized to sustain the occupation of the Sand Point site.

126

 

Sand Point is the only Lakes Phase site in the western Upper Peninsula that
exhibits evidence of a substantial population, complete with dense accumulations of
cultural refuse and mortuary evidence. It appears that signiﬁcant comparisons could be
made between the Sand Point and Robinson sites with respect to burial features, ceramic
assemblages and intrasite morphology. Unfortunately, no comparative studies between
Sand Point and the Robinson site have yet been conducted.

As of this date, the lithic assemblage ﬁ'om the Sand Point site Ins not been
analyzed or reported. Based on the information provided by Cremin in the Sand Point
report (Hohnan and Martin 1980), the lithic assemblage appears to be substantial and may
be more diversiﬁed than that of any Lakes Phase sites in the western Upper Peninsula. I
have made arrangements with Dr. Cremin of Western Michigan University to conduct a
preliminary analysis of the Sand Point lithic assemblage in the ﬁrture, and I hope to publish
the results of this analysis as the materials become available for review and analysis.

The diversity of ceramic wares represented at Sand Point is unparalleled anywhere
else in the western Upper Peninsula, though it closely mimics the ceramic assemblage from
the Robinson site in north central Wisconsin. Dorothy’s (1980: 3986) analysis of the
extensive Sand Point ceramic assemblage indicated stylistic inﬂuences ﬁ'om an extremely
large geographic sphere, including a trans-superior connection in the form of Juntunen and
Blackduck wares and an incipient ceramic style tentatively deﬁned as Sand Point ware.
Extra-regional ceramic styles are also represented at the site, including Oneota and
Mississippian shell and grit tempered vessels (1980: 63). As previously mentioned, a
comprehensive analysis of Lakes Phase ceramic types would be a welcome addition to

regional prehistoric studies.

127

 

 

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The Sand Point copper assemblage consists of a variety of worked and unworked
copper pieces and several artifacts classiﬁed as tools and ornaments (Hoxie 1980: 25-38).
According to Hoxie (1980: 25), 232 pieces of copper were recovered from the site. One
hundred and twenty-one of the two hundred and thirty—two pieces (52%) in the copper
assemblage are worked copper "wastage," 64 pieces ( 28%) are unworked copper
nuggets, and 47 (20%) pieces are classiﬁed as ﬁnished tools and/or ornaments. Twenty-
eight of the forty-seven ﬁnished artifacts are classiﬁed as tools, the majority of which are
given the functional terms "awls" and "barbs." Other copper tools represented in the
assemblage include an unique "twist drill," ﬁshhooks and two copper projectile points
(Hoxie: 1980: 27—29). The copper ornaments (n=17) are comprised of twelve copper
beads, one crescent, a necklace, a ﬂat spiral head, a tinkling cone and three beads on a lace
(Hoxie 1980: 26).

Hoxie states the Sand Point c0pper assemblage coincides with a re-emergence of
Terminal Woodland copper working in the Upper Great Lakes region, an observation
advanced previously by McPherron ﬁ'om his investigations at the Juntunen site in the
eastern Upper Peninsula (McPherron 1967: 279). According to Hoxie, the copper
industry at Sand Point is developed and intact by AD 1150, predating the Juntunen Phase
copper industry by only about 50 years.

McPherron (1967) identiﬁed a shiﬁ in the cultural and temporal sequences at the
Juntunen site, with an earlier Mackinac Phase and a later Juntunen Phase. It is during the
Juntunen Phase (post AD 1200) that McPherron noted a resurgence in (Late) Woodland
native copper use. Thus, the Sand Point site and the Juntunen Phase copper assemblages

appear to be relatively contemporaneous - both demonstrating copper utilization to be a

128

signiﬁcant activity in the Terminal Woodland period and both lending credence to
McPherron’s idea of a Terminal Woodland copper resurgence.

In reference to the methods of copper procurement employed at the Sand Point

site, Hoxie concludes (1980: 29—30):

There is little if any evidence, however, to support the contention that the copper
utilized here was obtained through the laborious activity of mining and then
transported back to the site for further processing. Since no large pieces of ore
were found and since the copper chips and nuggets recovered tend to be smaller
than the ﬁnished artifacts, it is suggested that ﬁagments of ﬂoat or drift copper
commonly found along beaches and streams in the area were collected by
aboriginal craﬁsrnen as primary source materials.

20KE20: The Lac La Belle Site

Site 20KE20 is a multicomponent Archaic/Woodland site or sites located in the
Keweenaw Peninsula, approximately 70 kilometers northeast of site 200N209 (Figure
7.1). Archaeological investigations at the site were conducted in response to impending
site destruction by property development and ongoing copper artifact collection by local
metal detector enthusiasts (S.R. Martin et. al. 1993). Site 20KE20 is noted for the
professional documentation of an unique suite of copper artifacts removed ﬁom the site by
collectors and avocational archaeologists. A remarkable account of a “copper cache” is
given by S.R. Martin (1993: 148-165), with detailed descriptions of copper beads, awls,
nuggets, bead preforms and rare organic textiles contained within a leather bag. Reliable

radiocarbon dates place the copper cache within a temporal range of around AD 360 - 600

129

sil

C1

(P. Martin 1993: 132) - just prior to the (AD 600) onset of the Terminal Woodland stage,
as designated by Salzer (1969). The dated copper cache is from a Woodland component
of the site, but several other radiometric dates suggest an earlier Archaic occupation of the
site as well.

Prior to archaeological investigations at the site, S.R. Martin et al. (1993) outlined
a research strategy that emphasized the need for archaeologists to examine prehistoric
copper sites within and proximate to the primary sources of south shore copper deposits
0’. Martin 1993: 130 - 134). This research design addressed a signiﬁcant void in the
existing body of knowledge concerning the strategies and techniques of copper
procurement, a void which disabled archaeologists ﬁom forming important conclusions
about the temporal and cultural afﬁliation of those who quarried, mined and fabricated

copper artifacts in the Lake Superior basin. In P. Martin’s words (1993: 188):

One critical set of arguments regarding prehistoric use of copper pivots on the

cultural identity of the miners and the makeup of the groups that did the mining.

Were these year-round residents, who traded the copper products to outsiders, or

did the outsiders merely visit the area seasonally to exploit the unique mineral

resources?

Site 20KE20 held great potential to address these and other unanswered questions.
Documenting private collections of local copper collectors, which included the copper
cache, organic textiles and assorted copper artifacts from the site, raised high expectations
for investigations at the site. Professionally guided archaeological data recovery, however,

produced a sparse lithic assemblage, few cultural features and a lack of contextual

130

evidence of a clearly deﬁned cultural manifestation. As P. Martin (1993: 188) concluded

about investigations at 20KE20:

The transitory nature of the feature evidence suggests that no substantial
occupation occurred here. The total lack of pottery, combined with the nearly
complete absence of bone, supports an argument that no sustained, long-term
occupation took place. These and other bits of negative evidence support a view
of short-term, specialized use of this place by small-scale, perhaps specialized
groups over a long span of time.

Synthesis and Discussion

The research questions outlined by Martin et al. (1993) have inﬂuenced the
research direction of this thesis, which in many respects is a pioneering venture into the
study of prehistoric copper procurement strategies in the Upper Great Lakes region. Site
200N209 is the only prehistoric site in the region to provide tangible evidence of a copper
procurement strategy focused on secondary copper deposits. Moreover, the procurement
quarry identiﬁed at 200N209 is associated with distinct occupation and copper working
activity areas.

Based on the temporal and cultural evidence brought forth in this thesis, the
ephemeral, low-intensity nature of the material assemblage from site 200N209 appears to
be representative of the Terminal Woodland Lakes Phase. Lakes Phase sites, as deﬁned
by Salzer (1969) and adopted by archaeologists of this region, exhibit similarities in their
material assemblages. A hallmark of Lakes Phase sites is a lithic tool industry adapted to
locally-available raw materials such as HBLC and quartz. In addition, and contrary to

Salzer's generalizations (1974: 49-50), Lakes Phase sites contain a well-deﬁned copper

131

 

industry, demonstrating the lasting inﬂuence of copper resources throughout all stages of
prehistory in the Upper Great Lakes region.

From their investigations at the Hemlock Cathedral site, Bruhy and Potaracke
(1998) conclude the Lakes Phase inhabitants of the Northern Highland had interpersonal
ties with contemporary, yet distinct, cultural groups living a short distance to the north in
the Ontonagon and south shore copper range. Strictly for emphasis, these conclusions are

restated:

The importance of copper throughout the Woodland Tradition may suggest that

Northern Highland populations had stronger social and economic ties to the Lake

Superior Basin cultures to the north, those who lived closest to the primary source

areas of native copper, than they had with more southerly cultures.

Another plausible explanation is that a distinct Terminal Woodland population(s)
did not reside permanently within the Ontonagon River watershed or south shore area, but
are rather an extension of the Northern Highland Lakes Phase populations. The data from
site 200N209 suggests that Terminal Woodland cultural groups who quarried copper in
the Ontonagon River watershed are the same Lakes Phase peoples that seasonally
inhabited the western Upper Peninsula. These groups appear to have had more
concentrated population aggregates in the Northern Highland region of Wisconsin.
However, signiﬁcant primary and secondary copper sources in the Ontonagon River

watershed and the south shore copper range are found within 100 kilometers of the “core”

of the Lakes Phase expression in the Northern Highland Lakes District of Wisconsin.

132

The Sand Point site (20BG14) is currently the only example of a sizable Lakes
Phase occupation along the south shore of Lake Superior in the western Upper Peninsula.
Other Terminal Woodland sites in this area tend to be small, low-intensity, seasonal
occupations with material assemblages and radiocarbon dates congruent with the
Wisconsin Lakes Phase. Three Terminal Woodland sites recently investigated within the
Ottawa National Forest have material assemblages in which the lithic material, ceramics
and radiocarbon dates ﬁt the temporal and cultural proﬁle of discrete Lakes Phase
occupations within the south shore and Ontonagon river watershed (ONF: 1995).

Based on the investigations at site 200N209 and comparative contextual
information from other Terminal Woodland sites throughout the subregion, a seasonal
round of procurement and subsistence appears to have been practiced by the Lakes Phase
populations of the southern Lake Superior basin. This observation borrows largely from
the concept of an "embedded” procurement strategy which, according to Binford (1979),
argues tlmt the procurement of raw materials functioned within a broader range of
seaso ~regulated subsistence activities. In other words, copper procurement activities
such as those that took place at 200N209 should be viewed as components of larger
subsistence and economic systems employed by Lakes Phase inhabitants.

Clark (1991) argues that Terminal Woodland copper procurement strategies
observed on Isle Royale are simply a component of an extant subsistence economy.
Though Clark does not call it an "embedded" procurement strategy, this is, in fact, what
he advocates. According to Clark (1991: 181), the data from Isle Royale does not
support the contention that copper procurement was a specialized activity, nor was it the

only reason for travel to and ﬁom Isle Royale. Simply put, copper procurement was one

133

 

 

of several other subsistence related activities occurring on the Island throughout the
Terminal Woodland period.

Cleland’s Focal-Diﬁirse Model of subsistence and settlement (1966, 1976)
introduced a “diffuse adaptation” strategy which appears to be applicable to Terminal
Woodland Lakes Phase populations. According to Cleland (1976: 64), the key to diffuse
adaptation is “movement between resources in time and space”— a necessary adaptation in
areas of high ecological diversity and resource variability. Ecological diversity and
variability certainly characterize the spatial range of the Lakes Phase in northcentral
Wisconsin and the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. An expression of diﬂirse
adaptation is a subsistence economy based on the seasonally-scheduled use of available
resources.

Mobility, adaptability, and ﬂexibility in response to variable resources and
conditions are three key features of a diffuse subsistence strategy (Cleland 1976). Lakes
Phase populations seem to embody all three of these features. For example, it appears that
Lakes Phase populations consistently relied on the lithic raw materials quartz and HBLC,
both of which were found in abundance throughout the Lakes Phase range. These
materials dominate the lithic assemblages of virtually all Lakes Phase sites, and represent
what appears to be an adaptive response to meeting subsistence needs in a variety of
conditions.

Archaeological evidence suggests that larger Lakes Phase population aggregates
existed in northcentral Wisconsin throughout most of the year. As such, small groups
appeared to seasonally migrate north from these population centers into the south shore

area, establishing at least one local "center" at Sand Point. The availability of copper

134

 

 

resources was probably one of several features attracting these small groups to the
Ontonagon River and south shore area. Certain procurement sites, such as 200N209,
likely functioned speciﬁcally for the acquisition of copper resources by Lakes Phase
p0pulations. The ephemeral character of the material assemblages ﬁ'om these sites,
coupled with a lack of substantial cultural features and nriddens, yet exhibiting clear
evidence of quarrying and/or mining activities, lend support to this observation. In the
broader social context, these procurement sites were linked temporally and culturally to
south shore Lakes Phase sites, such as Sand Point, and the larger Lakes lese aggregates
of Wisconsin’s Northern Highland District, which appear to have served in a larger
capacity to Lakes Phase peoples.

The people who quarried south shore copper resources at sites like 200N209
appear to have been engaged in all stages of copper utilization, ﬁ'om procurement of the
resource to the production and nmintenance of ﬁnished tools. This serves to answer some
of P. Martin’s (1993: 132) questions as to whether the procurement of south shore copper
resources were conducted by the same people who ultimately fabricated the ﬁnished
products. The evidence from investigations at site 200N209 suggests that the entire
sequence of copper procurement, copper working and tool fabrication were conducted by
the same group(s) of people who occupied the site.

The Sand Point copper assemblage contains a variety of unworked and worked
copper and ﬁnished tools and ornaments, and Hoxie (1980: 29—30) suggests that the
copper rmterial used to fabricate these artifacts could have been directly procured from
nearby secondary (“ﬂoat”) copper deposits. The copper assemblages ﬁ'om the Robinson

and Hemlock Cathedral sites also exhibit a range of unworked, worked and ﬁnished

135

 

 

copper artifacts (Bruhy and Potaracke 1998, Salzer 1969). Site 20KE20 also contains
evidence of direct procurement, copper working and ﬁnished tool and ornament
fabrication (S.R Martin 1993). The archaeological data from these sites suggest that the
people quarrying and mining south shore copper resources were engaged in all stages of
utilization, including direct procurement, copper working and, ultimately, fabrication of
copper tools and ornaments.

The Terminal Woodland copper procurement activities observed in the south shore .

 

copper range appear to be seasonally “embedded” components of a larger Lakes Phase
subsistence system. These procurement activities involved quarrying copper ﬁom I
secondary deposits of the Ontonagon River watershed, and probably mining from primary

deposits of the south shore copper range. The evidence is supportive of small “task

groups” breaking off from the larger Lakes Phase aggregates to visit known procurement

sites such as 200N209. Without question, the procurement sites examined in this thesis

bear evidence of specialized procurement activities. Whether this makes the people who

conducted those activities “mining specialists," as questioned by P. Martin (1993: 132), is

more a matter of semantics than practice.

Conclusions

This research has focused primarily on the inner workings of the Terminal
Woodland Lakes Phase through the lens of copper resource procurement. When viewed

beyond this narrow scope, these southern Lake Superior basin inhabitants functioned

136

within a matrix of distinct, yet related cultural groups throughout the Upper Great Lakes
region.

The acquisition and utilization of prehistoric copper stretched far beyond the Lake
Superior basin Within the Upper Great Lakes region, similar procurement-subsistence
strategies were expressed on Isle Royale by north shore Terminal Woodland groups
(Clark 1991) and, though spatially removed from substantial deposits of native copper,
Terminal Woodland Juntunen Phase people were actively involved in acquiring copper
through direct procurement or established trade and exchange networks (McPherron
1967)

While it is common to pigeonhole cultural groups as uniquely separate entities
outside of the larger system, it is necessary, ﬁom time to time, to step back and "see the
forest through the trees. " The prehistory of the Upper Great Lakes region was comprised
of various populations classiﬁed by archaeologists as distinct cultures, phases, and groups.
Although spatially and culturally distinct, these groups interacted within a sphere that
encompassed a tremendous geographical area. The archaeological record of the Upper
Great Lakes region indicates these groups shared similarities in material culture,
subsistence and settlement patterns, and cultural practices and traditions.

Through original and comparative research, this thesis has demonstrated that one
particular group of people, identiﬁed as Lakes Phase, practiced a subsistence and
settlement strategy that, in part, involved quarrying of native copper resources ﬁ'om along
the south shore of Lake Superior. A component of this system likely involved small
groups leaving the larger p0pulation to obtain native copper from concentrated source

areas such as the secondary copper deposits along the East Branch Ontonagon River.

137

 

These procurement forays were an initial step in a well developed Terminal Woodland
copper industry in the Upper Great Lakes region.

To date, archaeological investigations conducted at site 200N209 provide the
most comprehensive documentation of a prehistoric copper procurement strategy focused
on secondary copper deposits in the Lake Superior basin. An additional contribution of
this research effort is the identiﬁcation of a Terminal Woodland copper industry tlmt I
highlights the complexity of a settlement and subsistence strategy that was practiced by

Lakes Phase inhabitants along the southern shore of Lake Superior. My hope is that this

 

thesis will elevate our level of understanding of prehistoric copper acquisition and use in
this region and stimulate further studies of resource procurement. Just as I was challenged
by the research questions posed by Martin et al. in 1993, I challenge other archaeologists
to critically examine the processes through which Lake Superior’s native copper came to

be a signiﬁcant component of the archaeological record.

138

APPENDIX A

SITE 200N209 MASTER ARTIFACT PROVENIENCE AND ACCESSION DATA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fm ad ......................... “ tranmwﬁ .w ........... NE... ..F.EE. .........
dc F again. a F F
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139

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Na Nd e mi: .xdFmH F. N N
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NF 5 N5 J3EE N F N
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140

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a no. c mo“. m8 F F N
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3 NF. . o .N FF
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N Nd : rag .xddmmmaF NF N
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N 3 : gm: .xddm F NF N
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84 Nd : NF N
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152

APPENDIX B

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REFERENCES CITED

 

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