Archaeology around Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Madison (2014) (original) (raw)

Introduction to "New Light on the Northern Lakes: Revisiting the Archaeology of Northern Wisconsin"

Midwest Archaeological Conference, New Light on the Northern Lakes: Revisiting the Archaeology of Northern Wisconsin Symposium, 2009

From 1965 through 1968, the North Lakes Project ushered in the modern era of systematic archaeological research in northern Wisconsin. The Paleo-Indian through Historic phase sequence defined by Robert Salzer continues to serve as the region’s standard culture-historical and human-ecological framework. Every archaeologist working “up north” knows of and cites the now-classic literature that reported and synthesized the North Lakes Project’s results (Salzer 1969, 1974). Yet few archaeologists realize that the 1967 and 1968 field seasons were not included in those reports. Collections from all 88 investigated sites and associated documentation (over 13 linear shelf-feet) from the entire project are housed at Beloit College. These collections have been rehoused over the past three years, providing an opportunity for a complete review and evaluation of project materials. Significant new data and interpretations emerge from this work. This session (1) spotlights the recent curatorial efforts and collections-based research results, (2) updates the archaeology of northern Wisconsin in light of the collections work and fieldwork that has been conducted in the region over the past 40 years, and (3) assesses current resource management issues in the region.

Embracing the Antiquities: Archaeology at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, A History to 1976

Technical Report Series No. 2019-0002, State Archaeology and Maritime Preservation Program, 2019

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin (SHSW) is the oldest learned society in the state with continuous involvement in archaeology, whether through collection, exhibit, publication, site (mostly mound) preservation, and research, and over the course of its history has helped to shape the institutional landscape of Wisconsin archaeology. Archaeology has been a part of the mission of the SHSW since it was first organized in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory. This paper foregrounds archaeology, detailing the vicissitudes of its development and role within the SHSW over its first 130 years.

STRANGERS IN THE UPLANDS TEST EXCAVATIONS AT THE DENNIS SITE (47MO-0667), MONROE COUNTY, WISCONSIN

The Wisconsin Archeologist Vol. 93, No. 1, 2012

Excavations at the Dennis site (47MO667) in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin offer new information on the Initial Late Woodland period (A.D. 500–750) in the region. The Dennis site represents a small, upland habitation and lithic workshop site in a drainage-head setting. The discovery of a previously unrecognized pottery type, Rullands Creek Incised, indicates greater cultural diversity in the Driftless Area during the Initial Late Woodland period than offered by prior models. These unique ceramics and associated cultural materials were recovered from an upland drainage-head landform, capped by as much as 75 centimeters of post-settlement alluvium (PSA). We suggest that the Dennis site has the potential to alter our present understanding of the Late Woodland period chronology and ceramic sequence and may serve as a useful model for developing a more general survey strategy for comparable sites within the Driftless Area. We present the results of test excavations at the site and discuss its unusual landscape position, artifact content, and geomorphic setting.