Petaga Point Aspect

  Petaga Point is a multi-component habitation site located at the head of the Rum River in central Minnesota. There has been three major periods of occupation at the site.

1. The most recent and the most extensive use occurred in Late Woodland times.
2. A small Late Middle Woodland occupation, with possibly round double -ended copper awls.
3. The earliest dates from the pre-ceramic, Late Archaic period. A variety of hammered copper implements from native copper were found.

The bulk of the copper artifacts together with certain classes of stone artifacts tended to be found below the main potter-bearing levels. The copper artifacts are typical of those classified to the Old Copper culture.

Some of the implements of native copper that were found consists of ; several spear points, rolled conical points, awls and punches, a possible crescent knife and several nuggets. These are part of the Moore collection. They were found about the same time, so assumed part of a cache.

In 1966 an excavation of the Petaga Point site, 15 additional native copper artifacts were found and 13 small nuggets of waste copper. It seems that they were part of a single cultured tradition.

Several excavation sites throughout the Great Lakes area have shown that Old Copper tools are associated with lithic artifacts which do not fit clearly into a single cultured unit.

The Old Copper culture complex should refer to both the group of heavy utilitarian copper artifacts and to the culture of the people who are known to have first used these copper tools.

The cultural significance of copper artifacts in the Great Lakes area is only partially understood. If found in a complete cultured assemblage, it might link them to known archeological cultures.