Archaeological Sites, Northeastern Plains, Polk County, Minnesota

Summary

In 2004, GLARC conducted archaeological data recovery operations at two open air prehistoric Native American sites in the Northeastern Plains (Polk County, Minnesota). Both sites define pre-contact Native American bison kill and processing areas located at the confluence of the Red Lake River and Heartsville Coulee. Site 21PL72 represents an Middle Woodland early winter bison kill and processing locale that dates to circa A.D. 770 to 990. Site 21PL74 represents an Middle Woodland bison kill and processing locale that harbors two components: an earlier component dates to circa A.D. 340 to 650, and a later Laurel complex component that dates to circa A.D. 860 to 1030.in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin.

The sites have since been largely obliterated by the construction of a flood control project. The final reports on the archaeological excavations have been published and exist in a .pdf format. The archaeological records and materials have been submitted for long term curation. The inventory and analysis data for each site exist within an Microsoft Access database.