| Midway Site (47LC19) | |
|---|---|
  Location in Wisconsin  Location in United States | |
| Location | in La Crosse County, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 43°57′25″N91°20′31″W / 43.95694°N 91.34194°W |
| Area | 11 acres |
The Midway Site (47LC19) is a prehistoric Upper Mississippian Oneota site in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. It is located about 10 miles north of LaCrosse near the juncture of the Black and Mississippi Rivers. [1]
The site was first excavated in the early 1920s by Dr. A.H. Sanford of the La Crosse State College (now the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse), and again in 1929 by W.C. McKern, under the auspices of the Milwaukee Public Museum. Further excavations took place in 1964 by Guy Gibbon under the auspices of the University of Illinois. [1]
Excavations at the site yielded Prehistoric artifacts, pit features, animal bone, plant remains and a burial. [1]
15 features were reported at the site, of which 14 were prehistoric (the 15th was a modern era pig burial). 12 were designated as “refuse pits” and contained animal bone, stone tools and debitage, pottery sherds and charcoal. There was also one burial and one mussel shell heap. [1]
Remains from several species were recovered from the site. The main species present were deer, beaver, porcupine, dog, bear, elk, bison, mussels, catfish and bowfin. [1] These remains were not modified into tools like the bone tools described in the Artifacts section below, and may be considered food remains or, in the case of the dog and bear, possibly the remains of ceremonial activities. Dog sacrifice and dog meat consumption was observed to have ceremonial and religious implications in early Native American tribes. Bear worship and ceremonialism has also been recorded in the ethnological record. [2]
Several fragments of food plant remains were recovered from the site, including maize, beans, acorn and hickory nut shell, and plum pits. Some wood charcoal taken from a pit feature was identified as oak. [1]
Archaeologists often find pottery to be a very useful tool in analyzing a prehistoric culture. It is usually very plentiful at a site and the details of manufacture and decoration are very sensitive indicators of time, space and culture. [3]
No whole or reconstructable vessels were recovered from the site, so the analysis was based upon examination of rim and body sherds. A total of 3,283 sherds was recovered, of which 98.3% were shell-tempered. The remaining 1.7% was grit-tempered and interpreted to be representative of the earlier Woodland period. [1]
The pottery consists of globular vessels with restricted orifices, smooth surface finish, everted rim profiles and rounded lips. Handles were sometimes present. Decoration was applied to the lip top, inside lip and the area from the neck to shoulder. Decorative techniques consisted of vertical and/or diagonal lines arranged in patterns such as chevrons, sometimes combined with punctates. [1]
Three pottery types were noted. They are described below: [1]
Non-pottery artifacts recovered from the site included: [1]
The non-pottery artifacts found at an archaeological site can provide useful cultural context as well as a glimpse into the domestic tasks performed at a site; ceremonial or religious activities; recreational activities; and clothing or personal adornment. [6]
Some of the most prominent and diagnostic non-pottery artifacts are presented here in more detail:
| Material | Description | Image | Qty | Function / use | Comments / associations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chipped stone | Small triangular points (aka Madison points) |  | 24 | Hunting/fishing/warfare | Also known as “arrowheads”; are thought to be arrow-tips for bows-and-arrows. The usage of the bow-and-arrow seems to have greatly increased during the Late Woodland, probably as a result of increased conflict. [7] [8] |
| Chipped stone | Biface blades/knives |  | 1 whole, 12 fragmentary | Domestic function / cutting applications | Typical of Upper Mississippian sites, particularly Huber and Oneota (Orr focus) |
| Chipped stone | End scraper |  | 92 | Domestic function / processing wood or hides | Typical of Upper Mississippian sites, particularly Huber and Oneota (Orr focus); at Midway they are far more numerous than projectile points [9] |
| Stone | Arrow shaft straightener |  | 4 | Domestic function / straightening arrow shafts for bows-and-arrows | Typical at Upper Mississippian sites [9] |
The Orr focus is a regional manifestation of the Upper Mississippian Oneota cultures which were present throughout the American Midwest in the late Prehistoric and Protohistoric to early Historic periods. The subsistence base of the Orr focus people, like most Upper Mississippians, was primarily agricultural supplemented by hunting, fishing and gathering. [4] [10]
The Orr focus is distinctive from other Oneota Foci mainly in terms of the pottery which is based on rectilinear (instead of curvilinear) decoration and frequent notching on the lip. This pottery was first noted at the Upper Iowa River Oneota Site Complex and was designated Allamakee Trailed. [4]
It has been pointed out that the Huber Phase pottery (from the Chicago area) very closely resembles Orr focus. Specifically, Huber Trailed is thought to be a very similar type to Allamakee Trailed. Huber Trailed has rectilinear patterns, lip notching and very similar vessel form to Allamakee Trailed. A detailed comparison of pottery from a Huber site (Oak Forest) and at the Midway site did reveal some differences between them: the lips on Orr pottery were almost always rounded, which Huber lips could be rounded, flattened or beveled; the rim profiles on the Orr pottery were almost always vertical while the Huber pottery more often had inward or outward curve; the Huber necks were more often angular while the Orr necks were more often curved; and trailed lines were more often to be combined with punctate decoration on Orr than Huber. [11]
Both Orr focus and Huber have been dated to the late Prehistoric to Protohistoric to early Historic periods. European trade goods have been recovered from the Upper Iowa River Oneota Site Complex, but not from Midway. Therefore, it is thought that Midway is slightly older than the Iowa River sites. There are no radiocarbon dates from Midway, but Gibbon estimated the occupation to be around A.D. 1500. [1] [4]
The Orr focus sites are located in the same area that the early French explorers and fur traders found the Ioway Native American tribe. Archaeologists are in general agreement that the Orr Phase pottery represents the Prehistoric cultural remains of the Ioway tribe, as well as the closely related Otoe tribe. [4]
The Midway Site is a late Oneota site affiliated with the Orr focus. The pottery at Orr focus sites differs from earlier Oneota such as Koshkonong focus and Grand River focus based on details in the pottery; Orr focus pottery has fine incised straight line decoration on smooth surface, compared to the earlier forms which are based on curvilinear patterns with wider lines.
The evidence from plant and animal remains was not enough to make a firm determination on the seasonality of occupation at Midway, but based on the presence of a bison scapula hoe and cultivated plants (maize and beans) it was thought to be at least a semi-sendentary village site, if not year-round. [1]
Oneota is a designation archaeologists use to refer to a cultural complex that existed in the Eastern Plains and Great Lakes area of what is now occupied by the United States from around AD 900 to around 1650 or 1700. Based on the classification defined in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book Method and Theory in American Archaeology, the Oneota culture belongs to formative stage. The culture is believed to have transitioned into various Siouan cultures of the protohistoric and historic times, such as the Ioway. A long-accepted ancestry to the Ho-chunk has yet to be conclusively demonstrated.
The Grand Village of the Illinois, also called Old Kaskaskia Village, is a site significant for being the best documented historic Native American village in the Illinois River valley. It was a large agricultural and trading village of Native Americans of the Illinois confederacy, located on the north bank of the Illinois River near the present town of Utica, Illinois. French explorers Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette came across it in 1673. The Kaskaskia, a tribe of the Illiniwek people lived in the village. It grew rapidly after a French mission and fur trading post were established there in 1675, to a population of about 6,000 people in about 460 houses. Around 1691 the Kaskaskia and other Illiniwek moved further south, abandoning the site due to pressure from an Iroquois invasion from the northeast.
The Upper Mississippian cultures were located in the Upper Mississippi basin and Great Lakes region of the American Midwest. They were in existence from approximately A.D. 1000 until the Protohistoric and early Historic periods.
The Plum Island Eagle Sanctuary is a 52-acre island in the Illinois River owned by the Illinois Audubon Society. It was purchased March 24, 2004, to act as a wildlife sanctuary and to protect foraging habitat for wintering bald eagles. It is close to Matthiessen State Park and adjacent to Starved Rock State Park.
The Summer Island site, designated 20DE4, is an archaeological site located on the northwest side of Summer Island, in Delta County, Michigan. It is classified as a stratified, multi-component site with Middle Woodland, Upper Mississippian and Early Historic/Protohistoric occupations. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
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.
The Moccasin Bluff site is an archaeological site located along the Red Bud Trail and the St. Joseph River north of Buchanan, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and has been classified as a multi-component prehistoric site with the major component dating to the Late Woodland/Upper Mississippian period.
The Rock Island II Site is an archaeological site located on the south side of Rock Island, in Door County, Wisconsin, United States, at the mouth of Green Bay, within the boundaries of Rock Island State Park. It is classified as an Early Historic site with occupations by the Potawatomi, Huron, Petun, Ottawa and Wyandot tribes. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2023. It is one of the best-preserved sites documenting early Native-European contacts in the Great Lakes region.
The Griesmer site (La-3) is located on the Kankakee River in Lake County, Indiana, about a mile southeast of Schneider, in Northwestern Indiana. It is classified as a Prehistoric, multi-component site with Middle Woodland, Late Woodland and Upper Mississippian occupations. The deposits were not stratified, but observation of the types of artifacts present, together with radiocarbon dates, helped to define the sequence of occupations at the site.
The Fifield Site (Pr-55) is located on Damon Run Creek in Porter County, north-western Indiana. It is classified as a late prehistoric, single-component Upper Mississippian Fisher village.
The Huber Site (11Ck-1) is located on Tinley Creek 2 miles west of Blue Island in Cook County, Illinois, near the city of Chicago. It is classified as a late prehistoric site with Upper Mississippian affiliation.
The Hoxie Farm site (11Ck-4) is located on Thorn Creek in Thornton, Illinois Cook County Forest Preserve in Cook County, Illinois, near the city of Chicago. It is classified as a late prehistoric to Protohistoric/Early Historic site with Upper Mississippian Huber affiliation.
The Knoll Spring site (11Ck-19), aka Au Sagaunashke village, is located in the Sag Valley, Palos Hills, in Cook County, Illinois, near the city of Chicago. It is classified as a late prehistoric site with Upper Mississippian Huber affiliation.
The Oak Forest Site (11Ck-53) is located in Oak Forest, Cook County, Illinois, near the city of Chicago. It is classified as a late prehistoric to Protohistoric/Early Historic site with Upper Mississippian Huber affiliation.
The Anker Site (11Ck-21) is located on the Little Calumet River near Chicago, Illinois. It is classified as a late prehistoric site with Upper Mississippian Huber affiliation.
The Fisher Mound Group is a group of burial mounds with an associated village site located on the DesPlaines River near its convergence with the Kankakee River where they combine to form the Illinois River, in Will County, Illinois, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. It is a multi-component stratified site representing several Prehistoric Upper Mississippian occupations as well as minor Late Woodland and Early Historic components.
The Carcajou Point site is located in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, on Lake Koshkonong. It is a multi-component site with prehistoric Upper Mississippian Oneota and Historic components.
The Upper Iowa River Oneota site complex is a series of 7 Iowa archaeological sites located within a few miles of each other in Allamakee County, Iowa, on or near the Upper Iowa River. They are all affiliated with the Late Prehistoric Upper Mississippian Oneota Orr focus. In some cases there are early European trade goods present, indicating occupation continued into the Protohistoric or early Historic period.
The Mero site is a stratified, multicomponent prehistoric site located on the south side of Marshall's Point on the Door Peninsula in Door County, Wisconsin. It was excavated in 1960 by Ronald and Carol Mason under the auspices of the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with financial backing from the landowner, Peter Mero.
The Walker-Hooper Site (47-GL-65) is a multicomponent prehistoric site complex located on the Grand River in the Upper Fox River drainage area in Green Lake County, Wisconsin. It consisted of at least 2 village sites and several mound groups. It was excavated by S.A. Barrett under the auspices of the Milwaukee Public Museum in 1921 and again in 1967 by Guy Gibbon of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The major component of the site is an Upper Mississippian Oneota palisaded village. Other components were also present, mainly Late Woodland but also including Archaic, Early Woodland and Middle Woodland.
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