The Minnesota Archaeologist
Volumes 55-58 1996-99
Omnibus Issue
Dedication: In Memory of Riaz Ahmad Malik
Volume 55 1996
7 LeRoy Gonsior: Investigation of The Cedar Valley Chert Source Area in Minnesota: Patterns of Regional Use
Recent CRM investigations in the Root River basin of southeastern Minnesota identified a 275 hectare cluster of Cedar Valley Chert lithic procurement sites including the Chally/Turbenson site (21FL71) and the Mundform/Till site (21FL73). This paper discusses the source area and geologic context for and gives a detailed material description of Cedar Valley Chert. Review of regional projectile point collections indicate that Cedar Valley Chert was exploited continuously over the last 12,000 years. The distribution of Cedar Valley Chert in archaeological sites in the Midwest indicates use well beyond the source area.
14 A "Weighted" Methodology for Determining the Lithic Reduction Technologies at Six Galena Chert Acquisition Sites in Fillmore County, Minnesota
Six precontact American Indian archaeological sites were discovered in Fillmore County, Minnesota, from 1990 to 1992 consisting of over 90 percent Galena Chert debitage. In order to place them more accurately within an organized technological system, a "weighted" lithic reduction technology analysis was conducted on 24 total subareas. Evidence indicates that these subareas were most likely short-duration middle-stage lithic acquisition/reduction camps. Further work on other lithic-dominated sites should strive to enhance the sensitivity of the methodology.
35 James M. Collins: Reflections on Keyes Phase Subsistence and Ideology: Insights from Justin Hamann (13AM337), a Lower-Echelon Site
The Justin Hamann site (13AM337) lies just outside the boundary of Effigy Mounds National Monument, Allamakee County, Iowa. Recent excavations at Justin Hamann documented the presence of a late Woodland Keyes phase chert-resource procurement and processing station. The Keyes phase represents Effigy Mound culture in Iowa. The Keyes phase component at Justin Hamann is important because it adds information concerning local and regional cultural history, settlement and resource procurement patterns, lithic technology, and how local populations budgeted time and energy in an increasingly complex social and ideological universe.
Volume 56 1997
51 Kent Bakken: Lithic Raw Material Resources in Minnesota
This paper provides a synthesis and overview of current knowledge concerning lithic raw material resources in Minnesota. A large part of the state is covered with glacial drift that served as a diffuse source of raw materials. Primary geological sources such as outcrops and lag deposits also served as raw material sources in some parts of the state. Three raw material resource regions are defined and described, each containing a different set of raw materials and types of raw material sources. Strategies for conducting a raw material analysis within this context are discussed, including both identifying individual materials and interpreting the significance of a lithic assemblage. A cross-referenced list of raw materials found at regional sites is included.
Volume 57 1998
85 Robert F. Boszhardt: Newly Discovered Lithic Resources in Western Wisconsin
For over a century Hixton Silicified Sandstone (orthoquartzite) has been recognized as the premier lithic raw material from western Wisconsin and has been traced in exchange networks ranging from Paleoindian to Oneota. Recent investigations have identified numerous other orthoquartzite outcrops of varying quality in the region, creating an uncertain macroscopic identification as "Hixton". Analytical techniques such as thin-section petrography and oxygen-18 isotope assay have begun to provide "signatures" of these various orthoquartzites. In conjunction with these investigations, varieties of the previously unrecognized Cochrane Chert family have been identified. The latter includes the Chocolate site (47TR306), an intensive upland workshop, and this residual chert family is related to Root River Jasperoid/Cedar Valley Chert/Root River Residuum from the Challey/Turbensen complex in southeastern Minnesota.
99 David Mather, Thor Olmanson, Kelly Gragg-Johnson and Lynn Schuster: The Washington Creek Site (21ME14) and the Archaeology of the Prairie-Forest Border
The cultural role of the prairie-forest border is a recurring topic in Minnesota archaeology. The Washington Creek site (21ME14) is within this setting in Meeker County, an area of the state where relatively little archaeological research has been conducted to date. The site was the subject of data recovery excavations from May through August 1993, prior to the reconstruction of Trunk Highway 12. The investigations were carried out by the Archaeology Department of the MN Historical Society and documented an American Indian habitation site with evidence of intermittent occupations throughout the Middle and Late Woodland Traditions. Because of its largely undisturbed setting and wide range of habitation debris, including little-known pottery types, well-preserved animal bone and shell, plant remains, lithic debitage, finished stone tools, and fire-cracked rock, the site is considered to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
Volume 58 1999
134 Riaz Malik and Kent Bakken: Bradbury Brook (21ML42): A Late Paleoindian Lithic Workshop in East-Central Minnesota
The Bradbury Brook site (21ML42) is a Late Paleoindian lithic quarry and workshop in east central Minnesota. In 1989 and 1990, controlled surface collection and excavation of 125 square meters revealed three artifact concentrations: two workshops and one related habitation area. although the site had been plowed, a remnant of one workshop was found intact beneath the plowzone (BPZ). It included patterned deposits of anvilstones, hammerstones, tools in various stages of reduction, and large volumes of flaking debris. The primary activity represented was bifacial preform production. The predominant lithic raw material was siltstone, a marginal quality material found locally in glacial drift. Refitting and other evidence suggests a limited period of utilization. Charcoal recovered from a debris filled pit in one workshop was dated by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to 9220 +/- 75 B.P. The base of a stemmed Alberta point from the habitation area dates to the same general period. Other tools recovered included a chipped stone adze, keeled scrapers, blade tools, and scrapers with denticulate, graver, or spur elements.
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