21SL55

Last updated
Archeological Site 21SL55
LocationAddress restricted [1] , Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Area406.4 square metres (4,374 sq ft)
Built700–1500 C.E.
NRHP reference No. 88000989 [2]
Added to NRHPJuly 8, 1988

21SL55 is a precontact Native American archaeological site in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, United States. It was occupied by the Blackduck culture of the late Woodland period sometime between 700 and 1500 C.E. Located on a small island in what is now Voyageurs National Park, the site is known only by its Smithsonian trinomial. It contains well-preserved faunal remains, a possible ricing jig, and other subsurface features. [3]

Contents

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 under the name Archeological Site 21SL55 for its local significance in the theme of prehistoric archaeology. [4] As an island site occupied exclusively during one cultural period in what is now a protected area, 21SL55 was nominated for its potential to illuminate regional subsistence patterns of the late Woodland period. [3]

Description

The site is on a small island in Namakan Lake. The artifact assemblage covers only about 400 square metres (4,300 sq ft). The cultural occupation layer is a sandy loam between 5 and 15 centimetres (2.0 and 5.9 in) thick under 9 to 11 centimetres (3.5 to 4.3 in) of humus. Artifact density at the site is relatively low. Artifacts documented at the site consist of ceramics, stone tools including a hammerstone, lithic debitage, and animal bones. [3]

A distinctive feature left behind by the occupants is a pit 92 centimetres (36 in) across and 20 centimetres (7.9 in) deep lined with a silty clay not found anywhere else at the site. Archaeologists have tentatively identified this as a jig for processing wild rice, a staple food in the region. [3]

As of the site's 1988 National Register nomination, only 2.5% of its area had been excavated, and no radiocarbon or thermoluminescence dating had been conducted, so its dating to the late Woodland period derived only from the surface treatment of the ceramic sherds, a projectile point, and the suggestion of intensive wild rice use. [3]

Use

It is uncertain whether Blackduck people occupied 21SL55 seasonally or year-round, but the thick cultural layer suggests use over many years. Only a small number of people could have dwelt there at a time given the size of the island. They left behind artifacts such as chipped stone tools, lithic debris, and ceramics. Faunal remains consist of beaver, lynx or bobcat, and moose bones. The moose were likely taken by hunting parties, while the other species were likely caught with traps or snares. These mammals comprise the majority of the faunal remains, but the inhabitants also left behind bones from double-crested cormorants. As these birds migrate away in the cold season, 21SL55 cannot have been exclusively a winter camp. The site may have been a hunting and trapping camp, as projectile points are proportionally more common here than most other precontact archaeological sites in Voyageurs National Park, but this remains speculative pending further research. [3]

Significance

Many archaeological sites contain remains from multiple periods, leaving a complex puzzle for modern researchers, so 21SL55 is valuable as a site containing a clean record from just one period. This is particularly valuable as the late Woodland period is poorly understood in the Boundary Waters. 21SL55's location emphasizes that even very small islands played a role in the region's pattern of human settlement. Finally, as archaeological sites are compromised or destroyed by modern development, sites like 21SL55 within national parks form a critical reserve of intact windows on the past. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Lamoka Site, or simply Lamoka, is an archaeological site near Tyrone, in Schuyler County, New York that was named a National Historic Landmark in 1961. According to the National Park Service, "This site provided the first clear evidence of an Archaic hunting and gathering culture in the Northeastern United States ".

Folsom Site Archaeological type site

Folsom Site or Wild Horse Arroyo, designated by the Smithsonian trinomial 29CX1, is a major archaeological site about 8 miles (13 km) west of Folsom, New Mexico. It is the type site for the Folsom tradition, a Paleo-Indian cultural sequence dating to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC. The Folsom Site was excavated in 1926 and found to have been a marsh-side kill site or camp where 32 bison had been killed using distinctive tools, known as Folsom points. This site is significant because it was the first time that artifacts indisputably made by humans were found directly associated with faunal remains from an extinct form of bison from the Late Pleistocene. The information culled from this site was the first of a set of discoveries that would allow archaeologists to revise their estimations for the time of arrival of Native Americans on the North American continent.

The Mooney site is a precontact Native American archaeological site on the Red River Levee in Norman County, Minnesota. It is a multicomponent site consisting of remains from both the Archaic and Woodland traditions. No diagnostic Archaic artifacts were found. However, animal remains and lithic materials recovered from one meter below the Woodland artifacts returned a carbon 14 date that provided the basis for the Archaic classification. The Woodland tradition is defined by a vertical scatter of materials, dated to about 1000 using thermoluminescence methods. Many animal bones were found at the site, reflecting a great emphasis on a wide range of hunting activity that focused on bison. Artifacts such as local and exotic lithic materials were found, as well as a wide variety of pottery and other ceramic remains. Much of the pottery followed the Sandy Lake model; however, some artifacts were placed in a new class of artisanship known as Red River Ware.

Martins Pond Site United States historic place

The Martins Pond Archeological Site is an archaeological site near Annapolis in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It is a Middle-Late Woodland period site, with lithic, floral, and faunal remains.

Book Site Archaeological type site in Pennsylvania, United States of America

The Book Site is an archaeological site in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, United States. Consisting of the remnants of a burial mound and a prehistoric village, the site lies on both sides of Camp Resort Road in Beale Township, near the community of Beale.

Franktown Cave United States historic place

Franktown Cave is located 25 miles south of Denver, Colorado on the north edge of the Palmer Divide. It is the largest rock shelter documented on the Palmer Divide, which contains artifacts from many prehistoric cultures. Prehistoric hunter-gatherers occupied Franktown Cave intermittently for 8000 years beginning about 6400 B.C. The site held remarkable lithic and ceramic artifacts, but it is better known for its perishable artifacts, including animal hides, wood, fiber and corn. Material goods were produced for their comfort, task-simplification and religious celebration. There is evidence of the site being a campsite or dwelling as recent as AD 1725.

Magic Mountain Site United States historic place

The Magic Mountain Site is an Archaic and Woodland village site in Jefferson County, Colorado dating from 4999 BC to 1000 AD. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Mountain Lake Site United States historic place

The Mountain Lake Site is an archaeological site in Mountain Lake Township, Minnesota, United States. It is a deeply stratified village site spanning the precontact era from the late Archaic to an Oneota occupation, with a particular concentration of Woodland period ceramics. The site is atop a hill that was formerly an island in a lake. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for its state significance in the theme of archaeology.

Juntunen Site United States historic place

The Juntunen Site, also known as 20MK1, is a stratified Prehistoric Late Woodland fishing village located on the western tip of Bois Blanc Island. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Carlston Annis Shell Mound United States historic place

The Carlston Annis Shell Mound is a prominent archaeological site in the western part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located along the Green River in Butler County, this shell midden has been declared a historic site because of its archaeological value.

Gentle Site United States historic place

The Gentle Site (44-MD-112) is an archaeological site in Shenandoah National Park, in Madison County, Virginia, United States.

White Site Archaeological site in Kentucky, US

The White Site is a prehistoric archaeological site located northeast of Hickman in Fulton County in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Discovered in the 1980s, it was occupied during a long period of time by peoples of multiple cultures, and it has been named a historic site.

Beaver Meadow Brook Archeological Site United States historic place

The Beaver Meadow Brook Archeological Site is a prehistoric Native American village or camp site in New Hampshire. Located near Sewall's Falls on the west bank of the Merrimack River, the site includes evidence of occupation during Middle and Late Archaic periods, as well as during the Woodland precontact period. Finds at the site include a stone axe and numerous tools for working stone, as well as projectile points and bone fragments. The site also has several hearths, evidence of significant occupation during the Woodland period.

Hidden Valley Rockshelter United States historic place

The Hidden Valley Rockshelter (44-BA-31) is a significant archaeological site located near the community of Warm Springs in Bath County, Virginia, United States. A large rockshelter located near the Jackson River, it has been occupied by humans for thousands of years, and it has been named a historic site.

Swan Point Archaeological Site United States historic place

The Swan Point Archeological Site is located in eastern central Alaska, in the Tanana River watershed. It is one of a collection of sites in the area that have yielded the oldest evidence of human habitation in the state, and provide the only evidence to date of megafauna no longer found in Alaska, including extinct varieties of wapiti (elk), bison, and mammoth. Finds colocated with human artifacts at the site have given radiocarbon dates of 14,000 years, indicating the site was occupied around 12,000 BCE.

The Schilling Archeological District is a prehistoric Native American archaeological site on private property on Lower Grey Cloud Island in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, United States. It consists of a habitation site and mound group with artifacts that date from the Early Woodland Period to the Late Prehistoric Period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 for having state-level significance in the theme of archaeology. It was nominated for its rare Early Woodland component, Middle Mississippian cultural influences, and potential to show climatic adaptations over time.

The St. Croix River Access Site is a prehistoric Native American archaeological site on the St. Croix River in Stillwater Township, Minnesota, United States. It consists of a habitation site with a large quantity of stone tool artifacts, occupied from roughly 800 to 1700 CE. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for having local significance in the theme of archaeology. It was nominated for its scientific potential to illuminate Late Woodland period cultural relationships, lithic technology, and resource use.

Upper Hay Lake Archeological District United States historic place

The Upper Hay Lake Archeological District is a prehistoric Native American archaeological site in Jenkins Township, Minnesota, United States. It consists of about 75 linear mounds—including one of the state's longest at 725 feet (221 m)—plus the sites of a village and a portage. The mound grouping has also been dubbed Fort Poualak. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 for having local significance in the theme of archaeology. It was nominated for indicating an area of substantial activity during the Blackduck phase of the Late Woodland period.

The Sebre Lake Site is a prehistoric Native American archaeological site in Fort Ripley Township, Minnesota, United States. It has yielded habitation and burial features accumulated over 4,000 years of intermittent use from the mid-Archaic to the early Late Woodland period. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for having local significance in the theme of archaeology. It was nominated for being one of the richest archaeological sites in the Nokasippi River Valley.

The King Coulee Site is a prehistoric Native American archaeological site in Pepin Township, Minnesota, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 for having state-level significance in the theme of archaeology. It was nominated for being a largely undisturbed occupation site with intact stratigraphy and numerous biofacts stretching from the late Archaic period to the Oneota period. This timeframe spans roughly from 3,500 to 500 years ago. The site yielded the oldest known evidence of domesticated plants in Minnesota: seeds dated to 2,500 years ago from the squash Cucurbita pepo.

References

  1. Federal and state laws and practices restrict general public access to information regarding the specific location of this resource. In some cases, this is to protect archeological sites from vandalism, while in other cases it is restricted at the request of the owner. See: Knoerl, John; Miller, Diane; Shrimpton, Rebecca H. (1990), Guidelines for Restricting Information about Historic and Prehistoric Resources, National Register Bulletin, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, OCLC   20706997 .
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Masters, Cathie (1988-03-03). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: 21SL55. National Park Service.
  4. "21SL55". Minnesota National Register Properties Database. Minnesota Historical Society. 2009. Retrieved 2019-08-11.