Howard Lake is located in Anoka County, MN, which is just north of the Twin Cities. The Howard Lake Mound Three comprises the Howard Lake Focus. There are three mounds, which were first investigated in 1934 by Lloyd Wilford and some students from the University of Minnesota. Wilford found some pottery close to that of closer to that of Hopewellian than any other site in Minnesota. From this they decided to determine if this was who had built these mounds. They received permission to dig and clear trees. Immediately after digging began a partial skeleton was found under the surface. Shortly after more skeletons were discovered. There was much difficulty in determining the sex of the skeletons due to high moisture content inside the mounds; one of the skeletons was even cremated. Most of the skeletons were barely intact, most disintegrated with the slightest bump. There were approximately 20 skeletons recovered, a couple were determined to be adolescent and children while the rest were adults. No artifacts were found only some red ochre. There was a large amount of potsherds found, 468 to be precise. They were characterized into Levels I-VI. Level VI represents the area around the central burial pit. The pottery is coarsely grit-tempered with some large inclusions. There are many water worn impressions in the pottery, which makes it difficult to determine if there are any impressions. There is a large amount of dentate stamping found with incised lines, punctates, and bosses. The rim sherds have more cord-wrapped stick and incised lines than dentate. Some of the artifacts found include chipped stone, projectile points, knives, end scrapers, side scrapers, and drills. Of the 13 points found, there are 8 stemmed, 3 notched, and 1 triangular without notches. The triangular is more characteristic of the Mississippian period. Most of the other items discovered were placed into the respective class due to their shape and size and presumed function. Other closely related sites are the Rainy River Aspect, the Malmo Focus, and the Southern Minnesota Aspect. All of these are part of the Middle Woodland period. Most of the pottery and aritifacts resemble the Hopewellian of Central Illinois. Some of the burials were intrusive. Some of the artifacts were found very close to the surface, which makes them suspicious.
Howard Lake Mounds (Unpublished MSS.), Dept of Anthropology, Univ. of Minn. 1955. Dr. Richard Strachan’s Office