Looking Closer at Those Dots on the Map: Documenting Mound Sites at St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

Summary

Over the last four years, the Midwest Archeological Center has been conducting a project designed to gather information on mound and earthwork preservation across the Midwest Region of the National Park Service. St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, is one of several parks included in the study. The St. Croix and Namekagon river valleys are home to mounds and earthworks of a variety of shapes and sizes. Some have been dated to the Late Woodland period and others are of unknown age. Part of our work at the park has involved revisiting recorded mound sites to determine their locational accuracy, in addition to simply clarifying which sites are on federal versus private land. A more significant portion of our work at the park has been devoted to conducting magnetometer surveys at three sites where mounds are extant. The magnetic data clearly indicate that subsurface portions of mounds and other types of earthworks are present at each site. While ground disturbing efforts at exploring these features is not recommended or planned, these data form a critical component of properly preserving, protecting, and interpreting these valuable archeological and ethnographic resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21075