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Taxonomy | Minnesota Archaeology | Sites and Geology | Technology |
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The Rum River Focus is located south of Mille Lacs Lake and is associated with the Shakopee and Wilson Foci of the Late Woodland Pattern. There are four sites associated with the Rum River Focus; The Vineland Bay site is located on the southwestern corner of Lake Mille Lacs where the Rum River flows out. The Sawmill site is on the western shore of Lake Ogechie and the L.R. Cooper site is directly across from it on the eastern shore. The Petaga Point site in on the south end of Lake Ogechie at the outlet of the Rum River as it flows east towards Lake Shakopee.
The most studied site is Petaga Point which was occupied from The Archaic Period until the present. The Late Woodland occupation of Petaga Point was extensive. Recovered artifacts include small notched and un-notched stone points; end scrapers and gravers, sandstone shaft abraders, and Late Woodland pottery types. Six pottery series linked to the Late Woodland period are in evidence at Petaga Point. The six series, listed in order of the most numerous found are Onamia, Kathio, St. Croix Stamped, Ogechie, Sandy Lake, and Checked Stamp.
Two burials have been uncovered. One contained the remains of a forty-year-old female with one cord-marked pot sherd. The other burial contained the skeleton of an eight-year-old, and an infant, and were found with copper coils thought to be European trade goods. Both burials and one other single human phalanx can be linked to the Late Woodland period or early historic period.
Some of the more interesting features of the Petaga Point site have to do with processing the wild rice. These include ricing pits which were used to store the grain, jigging pits used for threshing, and a rice parching ring. These components are dated during the early historic period.
Bleed, Peter, The Archaeology of Petaga Point, The Preceramic Component, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, 1969