BLM LIBRARY 88000247 BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT EASTERN STATES OFFICE THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TWO LAKES IN MINNESOTA by Christina Harrison CULTURAL RESOURCE SERIES NO. 2 Cover drawing by Shelly H. Fischman. Copies of this report may be obtained from the Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States Office, 350 South Pickett Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22304, or National Technical Information Services, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161, (703)487-4650. BLM/ES/PT-85-001-4331 # w*^ •Ml THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TWO LAKES IN MINNESOTA By Christina Harrison BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LIBRARY Denver, Colorado 8866624? Richard Brook General Editor 1985 Management Bureau of Land Center BR Denver Federal Denver, CO 80225 FOREWORD This report combines under one cover the results of archaeological investigations conducted along two Minnesota lakes — Birch Lake Reservoir in the north, along which 21-SL-165 [gator, Ms. Christina Harrison and her assistants. The BLM is very appreciative of the excellent work. The excavation program at SL-165 was part of the BLM compliance requirements for approval for public sale of the parcel on which the site is located. By contrast, the investigation of BE-4A, The settlement picture at BE-44 confirms an existing and more clearly elucidated pattern characteristic of late Archaic-early Woodland occupation in this part of Minnesota. Generally, during this time period, groups ^ *._.._ j ~ J -r„i„_j„ j ___j i i± a. «. _ „i in i_i j .. _ j The contractor has outlined several management recommendations to be considered in reducing or alleviating the erosion problems on BE-44. The mitigation measures that are eventually implemented will require a cooperative effort between the BLM and the eventual recipient (i.e. Blue Earth County) to ensure protection of the remaining scientific values. It is with pleasure that we offer the second volume in the Eastern States Office (ESO) series of BLM cultural resource monographs. We feel confident that the publication will be of value and interest to the professional community at large, as well as to members of the general public curious about archaeology. It is particularly our hope that the latter audience will share in our concern to protect the vast number of cultural resources found not only on public domain but also on private lands. Richard Brook ESO BLM State Archaeologist Alexandria, Virginia September, 1985 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ten persons participated in one or several of the field investigations at 21-BE-44 and 21-SL-165, all of them either active graduate students in Archaeology or graduates with a major in the field at/from one of the fol- lowing institutions: University of Minnesota (UM), Hamline University (HU), St. Paul, Minnesota, Carleton College (CC), Northfield, Minnesota, Univer- sity of Colorado (UC) or University of Hawaii (UH). As field assistants: Blythe Williams Carlson (UC) , Stephen Wickler (UH) and Randall Withrow (UM); as crew members: Suzanne Dickerson (CC), Matthew Masotti (CC), Leigh Mazion (UM), James Myster (UM), Susan McCanna (UM), Marcia Regan (HU) and Sue Thurs- ton (HU). I am grateful to them all for their good, hard and careful work. I would also like to thank the following individuals: Richard Brook, BLM - Eastern States Office; Dr. Laila Haglund, of Haglund & Associates, Sydney, Australia, who volunteered her expertise at the work on 21-BE-44 and drew the lithic artifacts from that site; Dr. Christy A.H. Caine, State Archaeo- logist, and Gordon Peters, Forest Service Archaeologist on Superior National Forest, Duluth, Minnesota, who both read through and commented on parts of these manuscripts; Steve Michel and his staff at the Blue Earth County High- way Department who assisted us in many ways during the work at 21-BE-44, and Ken and Linda Hupila whose assistance and hospitality we enjoyed during our work at 21-SL-165. Last, but not least, I am very much indebted to Nikki Lamberty, who typed the manuscripts and endured and deciphered numerous last minute revisions with impressive equanimity and efficiency. Christina Harrison Principal Investigator REPORT ON EXCAVATIONS AT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE 21-SL-165, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MINNESOTA, PERFORMED DURING OCTOBER 1983 AND JUNE 1984 By Christina Harrison Prepared by Archaeological Research Services, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, under Contract ES-910-MC3-002 ABSTRACT In July 1983, during a Cultural Resource Class III inventory of eight pub- lic domain tracts in Minnesota, a prehistoric site was identified in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) tract St. Louis 023, on a series of rock ledges overlooking the Birch Lake Reservoir, St. Louis County. The site, 21-SL-165, appeared to have considerable research potential and importance for the re- construction of the regional prehistoric sequence. In order to fully evalu- ate its significance and possible eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), the site was subjected to more intensive testing during October-November, 1983. The results indicated the presence of a num- ber of features interpreted as fire basins as well as a consistent scatter o f lithics in distinctive distribution patterns. Subsequently, the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and BLM agreed that the site ap- peared to be eligible for the NRHP and that a "no adverse effect" determi- nation related to the proposed sale of the parcel would be contingent upon data recovery in accordance with a detailed research design, a decision concurred with by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. This third and most intensive of the investigations took place during June of 1984. This report details the results of all three investigations. After a brief description of the site area and the environmental setting, as well as a summary of the results of past cultural resource investigations in the sur- rounding region (Chapters II and III), Chapter IV describes the research approach and the field methodology, while Chapters V and VI describe and discuss the cultural evidence. Briefly, the excavation data indicate the presence of three subareas within the boundaries of 21-SL-165, two of which feature the remains of fire basins and surrounding activity areas, while the third appears to represent a lithic workshop. Of nearly 850 lithic items retrieved from the site, most represent flaking debris produced during tool manufacture or tool maintenance, while a rather small number of completed implements suggest the importance of such activities as fishing, the trap- ping of small animals, hide, meat and fiber processing as well as some bone and wood working. Several of the lithic raw materials represented in the assemblage come from known sources located at a considerable distance from the site, a fact which indicates the existence of a fairly extensive lithic procurement system. The tabulated relationships between attributes such as the type of lithic item, the type of raw material and the prove- nience, suggest various patterns of clustering or differentiation the site. These are discussed, as are problems involved in determining date of the site and its place in the regional prehistoric sequence. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. DESCRIPTION OF SITE AREA AND ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING 4 Physiography 4 Past and Present Flora and Fauna 8 III. PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS - CULTURAL BACKGROUND 12 IV. FIELD INVESTIGATION - METHODS 27 Phase I (Reconnaissance Survey) 7.5.1983; Phase II (National Register Evaluation) 10.10-14 and 25-29.1983 27 Phase III (Mitigation), 6.2-14.1984 34 V. FIELD INVESTIGATION - DESCRIPTION AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS 36 Description of Test Units and Cultural or Possible Cultural Features 36 Description and Interpretation of Lithic Evidence 45 Organic Evidence 68 Summary of Comments 68 VI. EVALUATION AND INTERPRETATION OF SITE EVIDENCE FROM A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE 73 VII. REFERENCES CITED 78 VIII. APPENDICES A. Minnesota State Site Form for 21-SL-165 84 B. Correspondence Relating to the Status and Treatment of 21-SL-165; Data Recovery Plan 86 C. Maps and Profiles for Positive Excavation Units 98 D. Lists of Lithic Evidence, Areas A-C 105 Ill LIST OF FIGURES 1. 21-SL-165, Location and General Surroundings 2 2. 21-SL-165, Topographic Setting (Composite of USGS Quads for Babbitt, MN, and Bear Island, MN) 3 3. Physiographic Regions of Northeastern Minnesota 6 4. Prehistoric Sites Around the Birch Lake Reservoir and Its Confluence with the South Fork Kawishiwi River 25 5. 21-SL-165, Schematic Total View of Areas A, B and C 2 8 6. 21-SL-165, Area A 29 7. 21-SL-165, Area B 30 8. 21-SL-165, Area C 31 9. Composite Plan View Map of Area C, FT5 with Extensions (Lithics and Features) 40 10. Composite Plan View Map of Area C, FT5 with Extensions (Features) 41 11. Composite Plan View Map of Area C, FT5 with Extensions (Lithics) 42 12. Area C, FT5 with Extensions, Selected Wall Profiles 43 13. Composite Plan View Map of Area C, FT7 with Extensions ( Lithics and Feature) 46 14. Composite Plan View Map of Area C, FT7 with Extensions (Feature) 47 15. Composite Plan View Map of Area C, FT7 with Extensions (Lithics) 48 16. Lithic Artifacts from 21-SL-165 66 17. Lithic Artifacts from 21-SL-165 67 IV LIST OF PLATES 1. 21-SL-165, View from Area A southeast across Birch River 10 2. View from Area B towards Area C 32 3. View southwest across Area C 32 4. Area C, View towards the south across Birch River 33 5. Area C, View northeast back towards Area B 33 LIST OF TABLES 1. Climatic and Vegetational Changes in Post-Glacial Times 9 2. Raw Materials -- Type and Frequency of Occurrence within Specific Lithic Categories 52 3. Lithic Raw Materials, Type and Provenience (two tables, 3a and 3b) 53 4.