Archaeologist Sue Mulholland with Todd Lindahl at the Cook County Historical Society Museum, looking at a fur trade-era ax believed to be British. It is one of the artifacts in the Cook County Historical Society collection, which also includes a fully grooved stone believed to be a carpentry tool as old as 3,000 years and a copper tool found in Grand Marais in the 1920s, believed to be as old as 6,000 years.
What kinds of ancient artifacts might be buried just under the surface of Cook County? Thatis a question Sue and Steve Mulholland of the Duluth Archaeology Center would like to investigate.
With funds from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund of the 2009 Minnesota Legacy Amendment, the Office of the State Archaeologist has hired the archaeologists from the Duluth Archaeology Center to survey areas along the North Shore and a bit inland in Carlton, St. Louis, Lake, and Cook counties where glacial lakes were carved thousands of years ago. They are targeting “areas of high potential,” mostly flatter slopes near water.
In October, Dr. Mulholland asked the Cook County Board of Commissioners for permission to survey numerous sites under county jurisdiction. Surveys are conducted by handdigging holes about 18 inches in diameter and as deep as can be dug practically. Tests at an individual site are conducted about 50 feet from each other depending on the topography. The researchers hand-screen the dirt, looking for things like shards and tools made of stone. Thedirt is then replaced in the hole and tamped down to leave the ground as level as possible.
Any artifacts would be curated at an approved facility such as the Minnesota Historical Society after being analyzed. The primary objective is to find prehistoric artifacts, but later historical artifacts would be noted as well.
Commissioner Jim Johnson wondered whether the use of a piece of land would be restricted in ways that could harm the county if artifacts were discovered. If any federal oversight or funding were involved in development of a piece of land, Mulholland replied, this type of survey would need to be conducted anyway. If they dug and found nothing, developing the land would be easier because the survey had already been done. If they found something, potential developers would know what they were dealing with before spending money pursuing the development.
Lake and St. Louis counties had already approved surveys on their land. Mulholland said she is licensed and would only survey land that the landowner had given them permission to survey.
The funding requires a final report to be sent in by next May, so fieldwork was planned for this fall or right after it thaws in the spring.
With Commissioner Jan Hall absent, the board voted unanimously to approve the survey. “Hopefully it works out for everybody,” Commissioner Johnson said.
Only 19 prehistoric sites have been identified along the North Shore between Duluth and Grand Portage, Dr. Mulholland told the county board. “I’m really hopeful that there are prehistoric archaeological sites in this area,” she said.
According to its website, dulutharcheology. qwestoffice.net, the Duluth Archaeology Center (DAC) is a cultural resource management consulting company specializing in prehistoric archaeology and geomorphology, or the formation of the earth’s topography. Both Sue and Steve Mulholland worked for the University of Minnesota- Duluth Archaeometry Lab until it closed in 2000.
The Duluth Archaeology Center asks people who know of archaeological sites to provide information for recording new sites. Contact them by emailing archcenter@aol.com or calling (218 ) 624-5489.
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