Public Archaeology at Kathio National Historic Landmark: Structure and Archaeobotany of a Burned Earthlodge

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Kathio National Historic Landmark, in east-central Minnesota, is an important place within the ancestral homeland of the Dakota Nation. Petaga Point (21ML11) is one of the contributing sites within the landmark, and excavations there in the 1960s were a primary source for the Woodland Tradition ceramic sequence of the Mille Lacs locality. Elden Johnson excavated a burned semi-subterranean house feature in 1967, describing it as one in a cluster of five or more. In 2006, we found what appeared to be one of the houses, and investigated it over the next decade in a series of public archaeology projects through the annual Kathio Archaeology Day event. We excavated one 1x1 meter unit each year, forming a cumulative block. We found remnants of undocumented archaeological units, but also intact portions of the house with a burn layer of charred material, and stratigraphy indicating that the structure was an earthlodge. The program was designed as a "public watching" event. One archaeologist conducted the excavation while another interpreted the research process and findings to visitors. Botanical remains include wood from the structure of the house, seasonal foods indicating mid-summer, and potentially medicinal plants. Geophysics indicated a network of footpaths within the village.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25741