donald r raab Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. The mystery is based on what is observed.
> Possiby tons of copper mined and NO local (even
> continental) evidence of its use.

"...It is estimated that there were approximately 500 burials at the Osceola Site. The major contribution of the Osceola Site was the demonstration of a cultural complex that included Old Copper Complex artifacts. The Osceola Site tied Old Copper Complex artifacts to a distinctive chipped stone industry and burial complex..."

"...It was not until June of 1952 that another Old Copper Complex site was discovered, this occurred on the western edge of Oconto, in Oconto County, Wisconsin, near the Oconto River. Thirteen year old Donald Baldwin was playing in an abandoned gravel pit when he found human skeletal remains. Initial investigation by the Oconto County Historical Society revealed numerous burials accompanied by copper artifacts. The site was soon more extensively examined by staff from the Wisconsin Historical Society and Milwaukee Public Museum. It was found that a major portion of the original burial site had been removed by commercial gravel operations in the 1920s but 45 burials were identified as remaining. Associated with these burials were Old Copper Complex artifacts in the form of 7 awls, 4 crescents, 3 clasps, 1 socketed spearpoint, 1 fish-tail spearpoint, 1 ovoid spearpoint, 1 fishhook, 1 coiled copper bead, 1 bracelet, and 1 spatulated artifact. Awls were found to be the most frequently occurring artifact, just as they had been at the Osceola Site..."

"...In 1953, A Late Old Copper Complex site (approximately 3000BP) was discovered in Algoma Township, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, on the south shore of Lake Butte des Mortes, on the farm of Matt Reigh. The Reigh Site, like the Oconto Site, was uncovered in part by commercial gravel operations. Burials of 43 individuals were uncovered along with copper artifacts identified as Old Copper Complex. Prior to the archeological investigation being undertaken, as with the earlier Oconto Site, an unknown number of burials had been destroyed by commercial gravel mining operations..."

"...These three sites, with their in situ skeletal remains, distinctive chipped-stone artifacts and Old Copper Complex copper artifacts, support the unbroken continuity of indigenous peoples in the Upper Great Lakes. Thus, demonstrating that the Old Copper Complex, a culture, or cultures, of indigenous people, was responsible for the copper artifacts being found, rather than being the product of a visiting "foreign" culture, or cultures..."


"...Evidentiary finds at sites in Canada support the findings at the Wisconsin sites. Old Copper Complex artifacts have been found at sites in the Canadian Provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.The Morrison Island-6 Site, located on an island in the Ottawa River, was found to contain 18 burials and 276 copper artifacts, including a spud, projectile points, knives, and others. Also of interest was the discovery of worked and unworked copper scraps, indicating copper implement and weapon manufacture on the site. A carbon-14 date places this site at 4700BP, clearly an Old Copper Complex Site. The Caribou Lake Site contained a cremation pit with skeletal fragments and tooth enamel remains, along with copper artifacts. Carbon-14 dating placed this site at 3900BP..."

"...From the 1870s through the 1920s workshop sites were found that contained large quantities of copper chips and fragments, partially finished and some finished tools and implements. Some of these include sites at Two Rivers (Manitowoc County), 4 sites along the Fox River (Marquette County), a site on the Black River south of Sheboygan, several sites in Waupaca County, sites along Green Bay in Oconoto and Brown Counties. Since the 1960s numerous workshop sites have been identified in Vilas and Oneida Counties. Workshop sites have also been identified in Michigan at Osceola near Calumet, Chassell, on the Portage Lake Canal, at Dollar Bay, and Hancock, all in Houghton County..."

"...Old Copper Complex artifacts have been found from Alberta in the west to Quebec in the east in Canada, and as far west as North Dakota, as far east as Delaware and as far south as Kentucky in the United States, but the center of the Old Copper Complex is generally agreed to be in Wisconsin. How did Old Copper Complex artifacts come to be scattered so far afield? The answer to this question is obviously trade. The presence, in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, of many specific types of stone and shell artifacts not indigenous to Wisconsin demonstrate that widespread trading took place throughout North America. This is evidenced by the presence of Wyoming obsidian and salt water shells in the Lake Superior Region..."


[copperculture.homestead.com]

Charlie Hatchett