Stephen Kelly has created a database (Excel file) of Minnesota Archaeologist articles and authors from the Minnesota Archaeological Society’s (MAS) CD/DVD containing 50 plus years of past issues of the Minnesota Archaeologist (from 1935-1989).  The MAS CD/DVD has no search functions.  Kelly’s database will allow those who have purchased the CD to search for a specific article or author to learn where to look for it on the CD.   It also allows those researchers who have not yet purchased the CD to find the correct volume and issue for an older article.   The index does not include articles from the more recent issues beyond 1989.  You can download the database by clicking on the link above or here.

The schedule for the Lithic Material Workshop in Iowa City February 24th  and 25^th has been posted.  Click here to see it.

The Minnesota Office of the State Archaeologist has  posted three additional archaeological research reports to their website.  These projects were funded with monies from the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment.   These are edited versions of the original reports but are still fairly large files.  Clicking on the titles will take you to the documents. Continue Reading →

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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This week I received a flier announcing the dates for the Lithic Material Workshop at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.  It will be held Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25, 2012 in the Old Capitol Museum/Natural History Museum on the campus of the University of Iowa.  Check out this flier for additional information.  The workshop focuses on the subject of lithic materials and identification in the upper Midwest.  The event is sponsored by the Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist, the Iowa Archeological Society, and the University of Iowa Natural History Museum.

The Minnesota Office of the State Archaeologist has posted the report completed by the Duluth Archaeology Center (DAC) for the Legacy Amendment funded archaeological survey of Minnesota Archaeological Region 9, the Lake Superior Shore.   Points and Pits: Archaeological Investigations in Minnesota’s Region 9, the Lake Superior Shore, Carlton, Cook, Lake and St. Louis Counties, Minnesota will be a firm foundation for future research in the region.  As with other areas chosen for survey by the Advisory Board, Region 9 was represented by a relatively small number of recorded archaeological sites (a total of 34 prior to this survey).  The hope was to gain a better understanding of the region’s archaeology by increasing the number of recorded sites to provide a better sample for researchers. 

The question has always been, are there few recorded sites in the region due simply to a lack of survey or is the lack of sites due to small numbers of prehistoric inhabitants?  This investigation suggests the latter.  DAC’s survey visited previously recorded sites and looked for new ones using a GIS based survey methodology.    Hampered somewhat by the time frame inherent in the Legacy Amendment projects, which limited survey to late fall and spring, DAC located 6 new sites during field survey and verified an additional 20 based on informant reports and museum collections.  The report documents the activities conducted for the investigation and provides a summary of prehistoric archaeological sites known in Region 9.  Check it out.