Some Significant Sites in Minnesota Archaeological
HistoryThe historical development of archaeology in Minnesota is a colorful story containing many different persons, places and things. As Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon", or remember for that matter. Minnesota's archaeological past is only recently being compiled, so any consensus as to where the discipline is headed, is scarcely a reality. On turning the mirror of analysis back upon the growth and development of this field, some events seem to be remembered by many archaeologists in a legendary manner. In the future it is certain that more facts will come to light. Minnesota archaeology is growing away from its birth stage, and is becoming more mature, organized and self-aware. This then, is the history of archaeology's development in the State of Minnesota.
The earliest accounts of persons gathering cultural information on the Native American populace in Minnesota, comes from French trappers, missionaries and explorers. This Euro-American contact was somewhat unorganized in New France, of which Minnesota was a part. Pierre Charles Le Sueur was one such explorer from France. He established two important forts from 1695-1700 A.D. One fort was located on Prairie Island in the Mississippi River; while the other was situated near the confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota rivers, being called Fort L'Huillier. The purpose of the French interest in the different "Scioux" (Sioux) peoples and other nations such as the Fox, Chippewa, and Mascoutens, was based upon economics beneficial to the French. The French sought to understand the life ways of the Americans, in order to be able to try and convince them to become farmers, so that they would cease their intertribal warfare which interrupted French trade in the area.
Almost 200 years later, the search for Native American cultural information started to focus more upon material remains, than on cultural narrative and observation. The "Northwestern Archaeological Survey", initiated in the late 1800s, was the first serious scientific study of ancient Minnesotans. Alfred J. Hill funded and directed these surveys, mostly consisting of cataloging the presence of burial mound groups across the state. Theodore H. Lewis was Hill's lieutenant and conduced the majority of the meticulous, detailed fieldwork over 20 years time.
In 1881, a mere 23 years after Minnesota was granted statehood, Newton Winchell, began a handwritten, "Catalog of Archaeological Specimens in the General Museum of the University of Minnesota". This catalog was an attempt to form a system of organization for the University's ever growing artifact collection. This collection currently resides in the Wilford Archaeology Laboratory in Minneapolis, at the University of Minnesota.. Many of the artifacts were collected by Winchell himself, and by a Colonel C.A. Lounsbury and others. At the same time that the Hill-Lewis survey was being undertaken, Newton Winchell and his assistant, Warren Upham, were prompted by a letter from the Minnesota Historical Society. They were asked to include the mound data that they encountered in the field, into their ongoing geological survey of Minnesota. Thus, a doubling and certification of data occurred which produced some overlap.
In 1911, the Hill-Lewis survey data and Winchell-Upham survey data, along with Jacob V. Brower's archaeological information on Northern Minnesota artifacts and sites was compiled (edited) by then State Geologist Newton H. Winchell. Winchell's atlas was published on the authority of the Minnesota Historical Society in, "The Aborigines of Minnesota". This book was the first major compilation of this archaeological survey data into one volume in Minnesota history.
In 1903, an event that would change the world's opinion of ancient archaeology was set in motion. A rich lord, by the name of Carnarvon, was involved in an automobile wreck. He was born into wealth in 1866, and did not have to work. He decided to go to Egypt to recover from the injuries he had suffered. About the same time, a young man by the name of, Howard Carter, was sent to Egypt by his English parents, to be a "monument inspector", whose job it was to copy the hieroglyphics from Egypt's monuments and temples. Carter's rich American sponsor, Theodore Davis, relinquished his control over Carter, and in 1917, Lord Carnarvon, became Carter's financial sponsor. Carter believed that a tomb of the young Egyptian King Tutankamen was in a certain area. He patiently looked for the tomb for over 5 years. Nothing was found and the crew planned to give up the search. For two days the workers' tents were folded up in early November of 1922. Just in time, a tomb was found. It was King Tut's Tomb. Howard Carter documented the opening of the tomb with photographs and narratives. The presence of 5,000 artifacts and gold items fascinated the American public. After November of 1922, archaeology became popular, and searches for specific cultural information dominated the field, even into Minnesota. When World War I ended, America again had the manpower and desire to investigate things of a worldly scientific nature. In 1918, the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota (U of M) in Minneapolis, was begun by Anthropology Professor Albert E. Jenks. Jenks had conducted research in the deserts of New Mexico and North Africa, before coming to Minnesota. When he arrived in Minnesota, other professors then wanted to come to the U of M, thereby making it the premier archaeology department in Minnesota. Jenks was particularly important for his role in starting annual Summer Field Schools. Under Jenks' direction, these field digs were led by his assistant, Professor Lloyd Wilford, and they were initiated in 1932. Funds were meager, but their summer students in these "archaeological field techniques" classes, proved to be an invaluable resource for obtaining statewide survey data and site tests. And of course the discovery of the "Brown's Valley Man" brought Jenks national notoriety. The Jenks and Wilford focus was more on discovering where the cultural data was located, than on undergoing large excavations.
In 1937, Lloyd Wilford earned his doctoral degree from Harvard. A subject of his paper was on the Round Mound in Traverse County. After Jenks' retirement in 1937, Lloyd Wilford took over the University of Minnesota's field excavations and archaeology program. The small summer field schools continued at the U of M until 1959, except for a break caused by wartime necessity during World War II. Wilford's efforts yielded a plethora of archaeological data relating to Minnesota's prehistory. For Lloyd Wilford, these surveys were also the groundwork in understanding Minnesota's prehistoric chronology. Wilford developed a famous taxonomic system to classify cultural changes through time in 1939, and he revised this contextual classification in 1955.
The 1950's were also a time when the Science Museum of Minnesota, in Saint Paul, got into conducting Minnesota archaeology. It was a time when much of the state's archeological data was collected at the University of Minnesota and grouped by counties. Other institutions have sent some of their collections to the U of M archaeology lab, which has become the largest repository of archaeological notes and artifacts in Minnesota, for a research resource. Archaeology is the means of understanding the life and culture of ancient peoples, made possible by either land excavation or underwater exploration to find, preserve, and interpret any remaining fragments which are significant because of their age and association with the past. Minnesota recognized the importance of preserving the archaeology of the state by the passage of the Field Archaeology Act of 1963. This act establishes the Minnesota Historical Society as the official agency of the state to direct and administer archaeology programs. Archaeological activities in Minnesota have been financed from foundation and private grants, the University of Minnesota, funds from the 1963 Omnibus Resource Act, and the state of Minnesota.
Archaeological sites are places mostly commonly associated with the occupation of Minnesota in both this prehistoric and early historic periods. They may be mounds, village sites, trails, portages or a number of other remains which establish the habitation of Minnesota by ancient peoples. Archaeological research in southwestern and west-central Minnesota began in the late nineteenth century with the Northwestern Archaeological Survey directed by Alfred Hill and carried out largely by Theodore Lewis. Lewis worked primarily south of the Minnesota River in the 1880s and north of the river in the 1890s. Some archaeological data also were recorded by Newton Winchell and Warren Upham for the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota. Most of the archaeological data from the Hill-Lewis surveys and Winchell-Upham were published in Winchell's book, The Aborigines of Minnesota (1911).
In Minnesota, the first intensive work in serious excavation was launched in 1931 by Professor Albert E. Jenks of the University of Minnesota. He initiated an annual field-research program at the university, and his assistant, Professor Lloyd A. Wilford, continued the program after Jenks retired in 1937. The University of Minnesota began archaeological work in the Prairie Lake Region in 1934. Albert Jenks and his assistant, Lloyd Wilford, excavated several mounds and a possible Paleo-Indian site in the Lake Traverse vicinity. Another site in the area was the Brown's Valley Site in Traverse County, MN. On October 9, 1933 W. H. Jenson of Brown's Valley, Minnesota, was laying new gravel in his driveway when he discovered bone fragments and a flaked blade in the gravel. This prompted Jenson to go to the gravel pit and search for more. Not being a trained archaeologist Jenson did not chart his work, he instead had a friend film him sifting through the gravel. His hours of work produced more flaked blades and bone fragments, which made up an adult male named Brown's Valley Man. The blades were of particular value because they gave insight to the time period and cultural background of the Brown's Valley Man. The occupation time of the Brown's Valley site is estimated to have been 8000 to 10,000 years ago.
Minnesota archaeology in recent years is developing into otherwise ignored areas. In June of 1997, the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) put forth a new plan for the protection of previously underevaluated resources of underwater artifacts, sites and wrecks. The MHS expects that the waters of Minnesota contain a great amount of cultural data from paleoindian times through the historic. The Minnesota Legislature funded this study, called "Beneath Minnesota Waters: Minnesota's Submerged Cultural Resources Preservation Plan". Maritime archaeology in the state is in its infancy. At the University of Minnesota, Professor Janet Spector is leading the pack in presenting feminist archaeology. This is a new area within the field of prehistoric Minnesota archaeology. She is on interdepartmental boards at the U of M, aimed at teaching the University community of feminist items and the presence of women in archaeology data. Another area which is starting to get notice, is the lack of detailed studies into sites documented many years ago. As Scott F. Afinson says, "no Paleoindian sites have been subjected to controlled studies", and he cites a presence of "sparse archaeological data". Also, data summaries are lacking in much of the state. We have data, but little is put together to form overall frameworks of practical understanding.
Some Significant Sites in Minnesota Archaeological
HistoryClick on the image make at right to learn about some significant sites in Minnesota Prehistory
Sources
University of Minnesota, Department of Anthropology
Lord Carnavon and Howard Carter Center
http://www.bsfcs.org/catherinesmiley/howardlord.htm
KingTut's Tomb Entrance