Collecting Copper and Systematic Archaeological Analysis

Summary

The Old Copper Complex is represented by tens of thousands of copper artifacts recovered from locations widely scattered across the landscapes of the Western Great Lakes. Many of these artifacts continue to be collected and curated by avocational archaeology enthusiasts with characteristically poor contextual information. Traditional scholarly study of this complex has been restricted to the consideration of copper as a symbolically potent object and the construction of artifact typologies. This has resulted in a lack of emphasis on the role that copper played in the subsistence and economic systems of the people who depended on it. This research addresses the acquisition, use, and discard of copper artifacts through the systematic study of the Jim Bussey Collection from both northern and southern Wisconsin localities. Morphological artifact types, their relative distributions through space and time, LA-ICP-MS based sourcing data, and use-wear patterns are used to develop an archaeologically useful dataset despite poor provenience.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Developing Approaches in the Study of Prehistoric Copper in North American Archaeology

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15543