Occasionally while excavating an archaeological site in Minnesota the archaeologists come across an especially unique and interesting feature.  In 2009 while excavating a site in Beltrami County the archaeologists from Two Pines Resource Group uncovered a fragmentary late woodland ceramic vessel that contained a large amount of fish bone.   This was unusual for a couple of reasons.  First, fish bone is so fragile it is often not preserved and second to actually have the recognizable contents of a vessel still present is a rare occurrence.   The only other similar occurrence I’m aware of here in Minnesota happened about twenty-five years earlier at another site on Forest Service land in an adjacent county where Hohman-Caine & Goltz recovered another Blackduck vessel with fish remains sandwiched between broken rim and body sherds of the vessel.
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The Gopher State Archaeological Society will host its annual Fall Artifact Show at the Holiday Inn in Lakeville, Minnesota on Sunday, October 2, from 9 am to 3 pm.  The Holiday Inn is located just off of 35W, east and north of Exit #81 (20800 Kenrick Avenue).  There is a nominal admission fee.

On Saturday, September 24, 2011 the Northern Lakes Archaeological Society (NLAS) is hosting a presentation by Dave Norris, of Western Heritage Services, Inc.  Norris  has been excavating a large archaeological site just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario.  The lecture is titled Archaeology in Thunder Bay:  How Modern Day Travel Corridors are Finding Ancient Ones.  The event will be held in the Superior Public Library, 1530 Tower Avenue, Superior, Wisconsin at noon.  For those who are geographically challenged, Thunder Bay, Ontario is just 40 miles from the Minnesota border and Superior, Wisconsin is across the bay from Duluth.

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This coming Friday, June 24th and Saturday, June 25th the annual Pine City Knapp-In will be held at the North West Company Fur Post , 1.5 miles west of I-35 at the Pine City exit.  This annual event has been taking place for a couple of decades, allowing flintknappers, archaeologists, collectors, and the interested public a chance to see and discuss how stone tools are made.  The event is co-sponsored by the North West Company Fur Post and the Minnesota Knapping Guild. 

If you are a flintknapper of any skill level you are welcome to bring yourequipment, and a chair, and join in.  There are usually knapping tools and raw stone for sale.  The public is encouraged to watch and ask questions and to bring artifacts they have found for identification.  There is an admission fee to the site, but the Knapp-Inn is free.  Bring your family and spend some time touring the reconstructed fur post and then sit a spell, and watch, and visit with the flintknappers.

If you are looking for something to do this weekend and the snow doesn’t get too deep, the Gopher State Archaeological Society will host its annual Spring Artifact Show at the Clarion Inn in Rochester, Minnesota on Sunday, April 17, from 9 am to 3 pm.  The Clarion Inn is located at 1630 South Broadway.  There is a nominal admission fee.

The Lake Superior Basin Workshop will be held this Friday and Saturday, March 18th and 19th at the Northwest Company Fur Post near Pine City, Minnesota.   The workshop is a rather informal gathering of archaeologists, avocational archaeologists, collectors, and the general public with lots of hands on opportunities to view artifacts and hear about ongoing projects.  Something of a last hurrah before the field season begins, the focus has traditionally been the archaeology of the Lake Superior Basin with archaeologists from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada in attendance.  It has gradually expanded to include any regional topic and has facilitated collaboration between archaeologists from different states and countries.  Continue Reading →