Beach Party: A Review of Previous Relict Shoreline Surveys, and Excavations in the 2016 Field Season at McCargoe Cove, Isle Royale National Park

Summary

The Relict Shoreline Survey is the longest running intensive study of ancient shorelines and beaches ever done at Isle Royale National Park. Within the five years it has been implemented, the number of known Archaic sites on the island has more than doubled. Government agencies, universities, private museums, and volunteers have all played vital roles in the success of this study. This presentation will briefly review past Relict Shoreline Surveys and elaborate on the most recent findings of the project at McCargoe Cove. The cove itself is home to the oldest precontact copper mine in North America dated to the Middle Archaic. However, up until recently, there were no known associated habitation sites from the same time period. In 2015, the Relict Shoreline Survey identified eight new sites on relict beach benches thought to be the closest temporal association to the mine. For the 2016 Relict Shoreline Excavation, two of these sites were excavated. The excavated sites were then compared to previously discovered Archaic sites on the island with a known use in order to aid in determining the function of the new sites. Information presented will be the preliminary findings and interpretations of the artifacts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17371