Congolmerate Mining in the Keweenaw

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the inaugural season of the Keweenaw Copper Research Collective (KCRC), excavations at the Delaware Copper Mine in the Keweenaw peninsula conclusively demonstrated pre-contact Indigenous mining in conglomerate rock formations. Archaeologists revealed the conglomerate formation along the Hogan copper vein, recovering banded and expedient hammerstones along the way before landing in various mining pits. These consisted of sloping pits, or dives, in the formation as well as a circular pit with a depth reaching greater than 1.5 meters. Charcoal samples, often found in association with both varieties of hammerstones, were taken from the excavation areas. The results have yet to be returned, though expect to yield dates congruent with pre-contact mining.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40163.0