Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-20T10:05:00.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ON THE TIMING OF THE OLD COPPER COMPLEX IN NORTH AMERICA: A COMPARISON OF RADIOCARBON DATES FROM DIFFERENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2021

David P Pompeani Open the ORCID record for David P Pompeani [Opens in a new window] ,
Byron A Steinman ,
Mark B Abbott ,
Katherine M Pompeani ,
William Reardon ,
Seth DePasqual  and
Robin H Mueller
David P Pompeani*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Kansas State University, 108 Thompson Hall, 1428 Anderson Ave., Manhattan, KS66506, USA
Byron A Steinman
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, Heller Hall 229, 1114 Kirby Drive, Duluth, MN55812, USA
Mark B Abbott
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh, 200 SRCC, 4107 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA15260, USA
Katherine M Pompeani
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, 1603 Old Claflin Place, Manhattan, KS66506, USA
William Reardon
Affiliation:
1700 Open Acres Lane, Eagle River, WI54521, USA
Seth DePasqual
Affiliation:
Isle Royale National Park, 800 East Lakeshore Drive, Houghton, MI49931, USA
Robin H Mueller
Affiliation:
Keweenaw Community Foundation, 236 Quincy Street, Hancock, MI49930, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: dpompeani@ksu.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Old Copper Complex (OCC) refers to the production of heavy copper-tool technology by Archaic Native American societies in the Lake Superior region. To better define the timing of the OCC, we evaluated 53 (eight new and 45 published) radiocarbon (14C) dates associated with copper artifacts and mines. We compared these dates to six lake sediment-based chronologies of copper mining and annealing in the Michigan Copper District. 14C dates grouped by archaeological context show that cremation remains, and wood and cordage embedded in copper artifacts have ages that overlap with the timing of high lead (Pb) concentrations in lake sediment. In contrast, dates in stratigraphic association and from mines are younger than those from embedded and cremation materials, suggesting that the former groups reflect the timing of processes that occurred post-abandonment. The comparatively young dates obtained from copper mines therefore likely reflect abandonment and infill of the mines rather than active use. Excluding three anomalously young samples, the ages of embedded organic material associated with 15 OCC copper artifacts range from 8500 to 3580 cal BP, confirming that the OCC is among the oldest known metalworking societies in the world.

Keywords

archaeometallurgyCopper Agegeoarchaeologypaleolakessediments
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 513 - 531
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abbott, MB, Stafford, TW. 1996. Radiocarbon geochemistry of ancient and modern lakes, Arctic lakes, Baffin Island. Quaternary Research 45:300–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bebber, MR, Eren, MI. 2018. Toward a functional understanding of the North American Old Copper culture “technomic devolution”. Journal of Archaeological Science 98:34–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beukens, RP, Pavlish, LA, Hancock, RGV, Farquhar, RM, Wilson, GC, Julig, PJ, Ross, W. 1992. Radiocarbon dating of copper-preserved organics. Radiocarbon 34(3):890–897.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, LR. 1962. Radiometric analysis of bone material from Oconto Site. The Wisconsin Archeologist 43(2).Google Scholar
Blakemore, DR, Sparks, RE, Bos, NH. 2017. Concentration of metals associated with the native copper deposits of Northern Michigan. The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon 88(4).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradford, M. 2013. Research note: Radiocarbon date for the Old Copper component at site 21ak11. The Minnesota Archaeologist 72:5–14.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon. 51(1):337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, CP. 1987. Archeological survey of the Rock Harbor area, Isle Royale National Park, 1986. In: 14 CRMRN, editor. Houghton: Michigan Technological UniversityGoogle Scholar
Clark, CP. 1995. Archeological survey and testing Isle Royale National Park 1987–1990 seasons. In: Interior USDo, editor. Lincoln, Nebraska: National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center.Google Scholar
Clark, CP. 1996. Old Fort and Old Copper: The search for the Archaic stage on Isle Royale. Kalamazoo, Mi: Western Michigan University New Issue Press.Google Scholar
Crane, HR. 1956. University of Michigan radiocarbon measurements i. Science 124(3224):664–672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, HR, Griffin, JB. 1959. University of Michigan radiocarbon dates iv. American Journal of Science Radiocarbon Supplement 1:173–198.Google Scholar
Crane, HR, Griffin, JB. 1964. University of Michigan radiocarbon dates ix. Radiocarbon 6:1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, HR, Griffin, JB. 1965. University of Michigan radiocarbon dates x. Radiocarbon 7:123–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crema, ER, Habu, J, Kobayashi, K, Madella, M. 2016. Summed probability distribution of 14C dates suggests regional divergences in the population dynamics of the Jomon period in eastern Japan. PLoS One 11(4):e0154809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dean, WE. 2009. Holocene records of major and trace components in the sedimens of an urban impoundment on the Mississippi River: Lake Pepin, Minnesota and Wisconsin. U.S Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009–1238.Google Scholar
Devièse, T, Stafford, TW, Waters, MR, Wathen, C, Comeskey, D, Becerra-Valdivia, L, Higham, T. 2018. Increasing accuracy for the radiocarbon dating of sites occupied by the first Americans. Quaternary Science Reviews 198:171–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, BL, Blanco-González, A, Lillios, KT. 2016. Regional demographic dynamics in the neolithic transition in Iberia: Results from summed calibrated date analysis. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 24(3):796–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehrhardt, KL. 2009. Copper working technologies, contexts of use, and social complexity in the eastern woodlands of native North America. Journal of World Prehistory 22(3):213–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbon, G. 1998. Old Copper in Minnesota: A review. Plains Anthropologist. 43(163):27–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillman, H. 1873. Ancient works at Isle Royale, Michigan. Appleton’s journal. New York: D. Appleton and Company. p. 173–175.Google Scholar
Graney, JR, Halliday, AN, Keeler, GJ, Nriagu, JO, Robbins, JA, Norton, SA. 1995. Isotopic record of lead pollution in lake sediments from the northeastern United States. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 59(9):1715–1728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halsey, JR. 2018. Prehistoric copper mining in Michigan: The nineteenth-century discovery of “ancient diggings” in the Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Museum of Anthropology, The University of Michigan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, MA. 2006. The Duck Lake site and implications for late Archaic copper procurement and production in the southern Lake Superior Basin. Midcontinental Journal of Achaeology 31(2):213–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, MA. 2009. The benefit of the gift: Exchange and social interaction in the late Archaic western Great Lakes. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University.Google Scholar
Hill, MA. 2012. Tracing social interaction: Perspectives on Archaic copper exchange from the Upper Great Lakes. American Antiquity 77(2):279–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerfoot, WC, Urban, NR, McDonald, C, Zhang, H, Rossmann, R, Perlinger, JA, Khan, T, Hendricks, A, Priyadarshini, M, Bolstad, M. 2018. Mining legacy across a wetland landscape: High mercury in Upper Peninsula (Michigan) rivers, lakes, and fish. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 20(4):708–733.Google ScholarPubMed
Kuehn, SR. 2002. Defining the temporal boundaries of the Middle Archaic: Old and new evidence from southern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Archeologist 83(1):19–44.Google Scholar
Laronge, M. 2001. An experimental analysis of Great Lakes Archaic copper smithing. North American Archaeologist 22(4):371–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, TV, Koenig, JQ. 1994. Wood smoke: Emissions and noncancer respiratory effects. Annual Review in Public Health 15:133–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, JA, Tallis, JH. 1973. Regional and historical aspects of lead pollution in Britain. Nature 245:216–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levine, MA. 2007. Overcoming disciplinary solitude: The archaeology and geology of the native copper in eastern North America. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 22(1):49–66.Google Scholar
Libby, WF. 1954. Chicago radiocarbon dates v. Science 120(3123):733–742.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, SR. 1993. 20ke20: Excavations at a prehistoric copper workshop. Michigan Archaeologist 39(3, 4):127–193.Google Scholar
Martin, SR. 1999. Wonderful power; the story of ancient copper working in the Lake Superior Basin. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State Press.Google Scholar
Martin, SR, Pleger, TC. 1999. The complex formerly known as a culture: The taxonomic puzzle of “Old Copper”. In: Williamson, RF, Watts, CM, editors. Taming the taxonomy: toward a new understanding of Great Lakes archeology. Toronto: Eastend Books and the Ontario Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Mason, RJ, Mason, CI. 1961. The age of the Old Copper culture. The Wisconsin Archeologist 42(4):143–155.Google Scholar
McKern, WC. 1942. The first settlers of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Magazine of History 26:153–169.Google Scholar
Morris, GK, Steinbring, J. 2020. Radiocarbon dates for Old Copper in Rusk County, Wisconsin. Central States Archaeological Journal 67(1):20–22.Google Scholar
Pleger, TC. 2001. New dates for the Oconto Old Copper culture cemetery. Wisconsin Archeologist 82:87–100.Google Scholar
Pleger, TC, Stoltman, JB. 2009. The Archaic tradition in Wisconsin. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Pompeani, DP. 2015. Human impacts on the environment over the Holocene in Michigan and Illinois using lake sediment geochemistry [dissertation]. University of Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Pompeani, DP, Abbott, MB, Bain, DJ, DePasqual, S, Finkenbinder, MS. 2015. Copper mining on Isle Royale 6500–5400 years ago identified using sediment geochemistry from McCargoe Cove, Lake Superior. The Holocene 25(2):253–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pompeani, DP, Abbott, MB, Steinman, BA, Bain, DJ. 2013. Lake sediments record prehistoric lead pollution related to early copper production in North America. Environmental Science & Technology 47(11):5545–5552.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reardon, B. 2014. Oldest carbon-14 dated copper projectile points from Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Archeologist 95(1):86–87.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Ramsey, CB, Buck, CE, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M et al. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1869–1887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renberg, I. 1986. Concentrations and annual accumulation values of heavy metals in lake sediments: Their significance in studies of the history of heavy metal pollution. Hydrobiologia 143:379–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reyes, AV, Cooke, CA. 2011. Northern peatland initiation lagged abrupt increases in deglacial atmospheric CH4 . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108(12):4748–4753.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, M, Suess, HE. 1956. U.S. Geological Survey radiocarbon dates iii. Science 123(3194):442–448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schroeder, DL, Ruhl, KC. 1968. Metallurgical characteristics of North American prehistoric copper work. American Antiquity 33(2):162–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoltman, JB. 1997. The Archaic tradition. Wisconsin Archeology 78.Google Scholar
Whittlesey, C. 1863. Ancient mining on the shores of Lake Superior. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution; [accessed 12/8/2011]. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1690.Google Scholar
Winchell, NH. 1881. Ancient copper-mines of Isle Royale. Popular Science Monthly. p. 19.Google Scholar
Wittry, WL, Ritzenthaler, RE. 1956. The Old Copper complex: an archaic manifestation in Wisconsin. American Antiquity 21(3):244–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodruff, LG, Cannon, WF, Dicken, CL, Bennett, JP, Nicholson, SW. 2003. Bedrock, soil, and lichen geochemistry from Isle Royale National Park, Michigan. USGS Open-File Report 2003-276 Reston, Virginia.CrossRefGoogle Scholar