Minnesota Prehistory

La Moille

The La Moille Rockshelter is located in Winona County, southeast Minnesota, near Trout Creek and the Mississippi River. One of the earliest Woodland sites ever excavated in Minnesota, it is of interest because of its age (1500 B.C.) and the depth of the deposit. Formed from a pocket in the limestone bluffs facing the river, the shelter contained fifteen feet of sediment at the time of excavation.

Features and artifacts uncovered at the site include fire hearths; charcoal; burned bone fragments and ceramics. Stemmed and unstemmed points were also in evidence. The presence of large numbers of fish bones and clam shells suggests that the shelter was used as a fishing camp. The relatively small number of animal remains also indicates that the shelter may have been used as a temporary or seasonal camp. There is no indication as to what time of year the shelter would have been occupied.