The Minnesota Archaeologist
Volume 50 Number 2
1991
3 Clark A. Dobbs: The Application of Remote Sensing Techniques to Settlement Pattern Analysis at the Red Wing Locality
The Red wing Locality is a group of Middle Mississippi-related mound and village sites in southeastern Minnesota. Analysis of settlement patterns within the Locality is being used to evaluate the interaction between and influence of Middle Mississippian and local populations during the 12th and 13th centuries AD. A variety of techniques, including photogrammetric mapping, soil resistivity, and controlled surface collection are being employed to delineate the settlement plans of sites in the region. Investigations at the Energy Park Site (21GD562/GD158) and the Silvernale Site (21GD3/21GD17) illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of these methods at sites in the Upper Midwest.
47 Jerry W. Oothoudt: The Becker County "Red Ocher Burial" Revisited: Human Osteology and Comments
In 1935. two human graves were accidentally uncovered during road construction on the north side of Height of Land Lake, Becker County, Minnesota. The site was investigated by Otto Zeck, Director of the Becker County Historical Society Museum. Zeck concluded from the evidence he gathered that the graves were both culturally affiliated with American Indians, but not contemporaneous. The more "ancient" of the two graves, now known as the Becker County "Red Ocher Burial," contained layers of red ocher and the fragmentary skeleton of one individual, a male, who Zeck estimated to be about 45 years old at the time of death. There were no artifacts that Zeck could use to estimate a relative date for the grave. A recent osteological analysis of the fragmentary remains indicates that the individual was a male between 20 and 30 years of age. A review of the archaeological data and literature suggests that the Red Ocher Burial dates to the Archaic period (7,000 to 1,400 B.P.)
53 Michael K. Budak: The Function of Shell Temper in Pottery
Shell-tempered pottery was a widespread trait, both geographically and temporally, of early Native American cultures in eastern North America. While adding shell to the clay used to construct a ceramic vessel makes it more difficult to work with and adds steps to the process of manufacturing, it also makes the vessel more durable, water-tight, and transfers heat to the interior with greater efficiency.
© 1991 Minnesota Archaeological Society. All rights reserved.