Laurel Aspect

  As part of a group of closely related, upper Great Lakes cultures of the middle Woodland age, Laurel culture did not interact with the Hopewellian culture to the south (Stoltman, 112). Instead, Laurel culture was prevalent in the central part of extreme northern Minnesota from approximately 2100 to 1200 or 1400 b.p. (Stoltman, 1).

Although evidence is lacking which would indicate that plant resources were utilized by the "Lake Forest Middle Woodland peoples," Stoltman maintained on page 113 that wild rice and maple syrup may have already begun to be harvested because of the importance of these resources during historic times. However, adaptive strategies were largely based upon a hunting and gathering way of life. This meant that seasonal movement in order to find game and plant products was important for survival (Stoltman, 3).

Among the variety of large and small game animals that were hunted by Laurel culture inhabitants, moose and beaver were two of the most important (Stoltman, 113). The abundance of end-scrapers, stemmed and notched projectile points, beaver incisor tools, and hunting implements such as perforated antler harpoons found on laurel sites is an indication of the prevalence of hunting (Stoltman, 3). Also, the toggle-headed antler harpoons found emphasize the importance of fishing during the warmer months of the year (Stoltman, 113). Noticeably absent from Laurel sites are tools that would indicate agricultural activity, such as the buffalo scapula, that were found on Mississippian culture sites (Wilford, 141).

According to Stoltman on page 3 of "The Laurel Culture in Minnesota," Laurel sites are "characterized by the earliest ceramics of the area." The grit-tempered pottery of Laurel sites indicates that the culture is older than Mississippian culture because of the shell-tempered pottery found on many sites except those of the older Cambrian culture (Wilford, 138). Pottery of the Laurel culture is distinguished by its smooth exterior surfaces and the variety of dentate stamps that decorate the upper rim areas of the vessels (Stoltman, 78). Some other noticeable aspects of Laurel culture are the total lack of axes found on Laurel sites, the frequency of burial mounds and the evidence of "postmortem" tapping of human skulls and long bones (Stoltman, 114)."

Bibliography

Stoltman, James B. "The Laurel Culture in Minnesota." Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, 1973. Minnesota Prehistoric Archaeology Series, no. 8.

Stoltman, James B. "An Examination of Within-Laurel Cultural Variability in Northern Minnesota." Aspects of Upper Great Lakes Anthropology, Papers in Honor of Lloyd A. Wilford. Minnesota Historical Society. 1974. Minnesota Prehistoric Archaeology Series no. 11.

Wilford, Lloyd A. 1941. "A Tentative Classification of the Prehistoric Cultures of Minnesota." American Antiquity, vol. 6