"Minnesota is a superb laboratory for research into human cultural adaptation. It has widely divergent environmental areas offering different resources and even different climates."
- Elden Johnson
1931 – Jenks and Wilford study the remains of a skeleton near Park Rapids MN. This skeleton is later referred to as the Minnesota Man.
1932 – Jenks and Wilford establish an archaeological research project at the University of Minnesota to study the Minnesota Man and to classify burials in Minnesota.
1939 – Wilford and State Representative Retzek of Stearns County push for legislation regulating burial research. The (Minnesota) State Antiquities Act of 1939 prohibits archaeological activity on lands without a permit from the state. However, this mandate was not funded.
1963 – Minnesota enacts the Field Archaeology Act establishing the position of a State Archaeologist. The Minnesota Historical Society along with the University of Minnesota become the primary state agencies for state archaeological research.
Complete text of the Field Archaeology Act of 1963.
According to McGimsey, this act was virtually the first of its kind in the nation. The state was now involved with preserving archaeological resources. The Field Archaeology Act also required that permits be issued by the Minnesota Historical Society for any archaeological activity on "a land or water area, owned by or subject to the paramount rights of the state." This clause also impacts underwater archaeology in Minnesota. Alan Woolworth mentions in the Minnesota Report that another act passed around the same time affects lost or abandoned property on state lands, making the state sell "abandoned" property and apply the profits to the state general fund. This abandoned property act discourages treasure hunters from excavating state lands for profit. This act has been revised several times, including revisions in 1965, 1969 and 1971.
1965 – The Historic Sites Act set aside funding for the preservation of historic sites in Minnesota. State-sponsored research projects at some Minnesota Historical Society sites were part of this act.
1972 – The Minnesota Outdoor Recreation and Resources commission was responsible for funding some public archaeology in Minnesota in the late sixties and early seventies. In 1972, a 1¢ tax was added on each pack of cigarettes to fund state outdoor projects including archaeology programs.
1975 – The Minnesota Private Cemeteries Act or Private Burial Act set up new procedures for dealing with burials in Minnesota. This act reshaped Minnesota archaeology, creating a need for funding the state archaeologist beyond appropriations to the University of Minnesota.
Minnesota also has a strict law prohibiting the excavation of human burials -- except under extremely rigid guidelines. Such excavations of burials outside platted cemeteries are directed by the Minnesota state archaeologist and a Native American advisory council (II Johnson 32).
1997 - 1998 – The Minnesota Legislature changed the wording in the job description of the State Archaeologist. Now the State Archaeologist must be a qualified professional archaeologist instead of only a qualified archaeologist. The state archaeologist’s salary and expenses for 1997 was $187,000 and $190,000 in 1998. $30,000 was also set aside in 1997 for burial mound research and classification.
Anfinson, Scott F. Southwestern Minnesota Archaeology. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul; 1997.
I. Johnson, Elden. An Archaeology Program For Minnesota. Report submitted to the Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Resources Commission prior to 1965. Department of Administration, State Capitol, St. Paul.
II. Johnson, Elden. The Prehistoric Peoples of Minnesota, Third Edition. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul, 1988.
McGimsey, Charles. Public Archaeology. 1972
Nystuen, David W. Minnesota Historical Society Historic Site Archaeology. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1969.
Woolworth, Alan R. "The Minnesota Report." 1972.
Laws of Minnesota; State Copy 1998
Laws of Minnesota; State Copy 1997
Laws of Minnesota; State Copy 1975
Laws of Minnesota; State Copy 1971
Laws of Minnesota; State Copy 1965
Laws of Minnesota; State Copy 1963
Author: Ryan Dorland