High and Dry: A Look at the Relict Nipissing Shoreline of Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

Summary

Isle Royale, located in northern Lake Superior, is a freshwater archipelago and home to Isle Royale National Park (ISRO). Though the antiquity of Isle Royale’s prehistory is well-established, identification and excavation of sites has historically been difficult due to the remoteness of the island and its rough terrain. Over the past several years, these efforts have been greatly enhanced by the use of GIS predictive modeling, which has allowed ISRO archaeologists to target surveys and manage archaeological sites more effectively. Though existing models have been in part based on geological research and environmental conditions, they have largely been ‘intuitive’ models. There are further opportunities to refine the existing models to benefit management and to expand their use as substantial research tools by creating more formal system and applying these models to questions beyond predicting site presence/absence. Following the most recent season of fieldwork along Isle Royale’s relict Nipissing shore, work has begun to make comparisons between differences in shoreline use during the Archaic and Woodland periods. This paper presents some of these new directions in thinking about Isle Royale throughout the Archaic/Woodland transition and its larger role in Great Lakes archaeology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage