The Morrison Mounds are located in Otter Tail County. Four mounds (mounds1,2,12, and 13) were excavated from June 25 to July 10, 1937. They were excavated by A. E. Jenks with the assistance of a party from the University of Minnesota. They are currently being preserved by the Minnesota Historical Society.
The earliest dated Woodland site in Minnesota is a burial mound
in the Morrison group which is dated to approximately 800 BC. During this
period, important members of the group were given elaborate funerals. The
members were buried with very expensive materials, often brought from great
distances. These items were placed in mounds of various sizes and shapes.
Mound 1 has a diameter of 33 feet. A shallow burial pit was found in this mound. It was a primary burial on a gravel floor. The skeleton was a young adult whose bones were badly disintegrated. No artifacts accompanied the burial and no cultural objects were found in the mound fill.
The diameter of mound 2 was plotted at 31 feet. Scattered bones and fragments of charcoal were found in the mound fill. A total of five skeletons were found in Mound 2. The bones had not been exposed very long, and several of the bones were still held together in proper anatomical articulation.
Mound 12 was measured at 30 feet in diameter. This mound featured three pits. Human bones were discovered in the first pit. The bones were found in a circular portion of the mound A nearly complete skeleton of a young child, approximately two or three years old was unearthed in the first pit. The second pit was a single primary burial of a adult male. The bones of this pit was poorly preserved. At the base of the third pit a small amount of red ochre was scattered, but no bones of any kind were found.
Mound 13 was staked at 34 feet in diameter. Some animal bones and shell fragments were found which suggests that the mound was constructed over a area of habitation. Also found in Mound No. 13 were lumps of charcoal and 10 skeletons that were poorly preserved. Skull fragments including teeth, parts of two femurs, parts of one tibia, one humerus, and one innominate were also present.
The only pottery found were two matching body cherds with very coarse grit temper. They had a smooth, black interior and a smooth exterior of a beige color. The average thickness was 0.8 cm.
Lloyd Wilford, Burial Mounds of Central Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Prehistoric Archaeology Series, St. Paul, 1969.
Eldon Johnson, The Prehistoric People of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Prehistoric Archaeology Series, St. Paul, 1969.
Michael Scullin, Prehistory of Southern Minnesota, Department of Anthropology, Mankato State University, 1987.
www.mnhs.org.
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