2024 Review of Ancient Pottery, Cuisine, and Society at the Northern Great Lakes, by Susan Kooiman. Indiana Magazine of History 120(2) 157-158.
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2024 Miskwabik’s Journey Beyond Minong: The Life History of Native Copper Production Among Archaic Hunter-Gatherers in the Northern Lake Superior Basin. in From Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Metal Tool Production and Use by Indigenous Hunter-Gathers of North America (Under Review).
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2024 "Lake Superior's Native Copper Industry: Archaic Copper Production Systems and Values in the Northern Lake Superior Basin. Unpublished Ph.D., Indiana University, United States -- Indiana.
Abstract:
My dissertation examines Archaic copper production systems in the northern Lake Superior Basin 4,000 to 6,000 years ago during the Nipissing high paleo-lake level event. I address three central themes: 1) the locations of copper production sites during the Archaic period, 2) the organization of copper production systems in the northern Lake Superior Basin, and 3) what the organization of copper production systems tells us about how people interact with and value metallurgical materials. I combine traditional archaeological methods and Indigenous knowledge systems, emphasizing collaboration with government agencies, research institutions, and private collectors. Geospatial and morphological analyses contribute to identifying and understanding copper production stages, while lead isotope analysis enhances source utilization patterns. I examine the relationship between the production and value of native copper to identify the impact of the organization of technological systems on human-metal relationships. I focus on people producing copper items by examining the technological and spatial relationship among production sites. By focusing on production sites, I address how humans, their material culture, and the environment interact through an assemblage to understand how value is embodied in the production system. I challenge conventional views of metallurgical development, asserting that copper working in the Great Lakes was a sophisticated and culturally relevant system, distinct from the trajectory of Old-World metallurgy. By examining human-metal relationships, I contribute to the global understanding of early metal use, emphasizing the unique nature of the Great Lakes Native Copper Industry and challenging notions of progressive evolution in vii metallurgy. My findings demonstrate that patterns in stages of production reflect values people attributed to native copper because of copper’s material relationship with humans.
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2024 “Lead Isotope Analysis of Native Copper Deposits in the Lake Superior Basin” Archaeometry 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12962.
Abstract:
This paper is a pilot study using lead isotope analysis to source native copper in the Lake Superior Basin.
Forty Pb isotope samples are sampled from native copper deposits across the Lake Superior Basin and analyzed via MC-ICP-MS at Indiana University’s Metal Isotope Lab. The result of this analysis demonstrates that there is a significant overlap between Pb signatures of native copper sources within the Lake Superior Basin. As a result, lead isotope analysis is not recommended as an alternative for sourcing native copper within the Lake Superior Basin.
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2023 “Cold Hammered Archaeology: An Experimental Archaeometallurgy Approach to Native Copper Working in the Lake Superior Basin” Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Vol 48 No. 1.
Abstract:
Experimental archaeometallurgy has allowed for the reconstruction of past metal-production processes by utilizing local and regional materials and tools that had been available to Indigenous people. The re-creation of these past production processes allows for the creation of comparative collections that can be used to help interpret the archaeological record. In this article, I examine the by-product created in the production of native copper tools and ornamentation in North America’s native copper industry. Native copper is 99% pure metallic copper that was worked through a process called “cold hammering” and annealing that allowed for the manipulation of metallurgical material without the aid of melting or smelting. Cold hammering instead works the copper at or near room temperature, with periodic annealing to recrystallize the metallurgical structure. Throughout this process, waste materials are generated. My goal is to create a preliminary classification of copper waste produced during the production process as a reference for comparison of small dubious copper artifacts found on archaeological sites. This classification system aims to provide the framework for researchers to better understand copper production evidence found on archaeological sites. By understanding what copper waste looks like, researchers will be positioned to more accurately identify evidence of purposeful
copper production versus evidence of the corrosion of larger copper pieces
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2022 “Maritime Least Cost Path Analysis: Archaic Travel Routes in the Upper Great Lakes” Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Vol 47 No 2.
Abstract:
The use of the Cost Path tool in geospatial technologies has allowed for the creation of digital models that can predict past behaviors and movements. While often applied to terrestrial landscapes, these models have gained increasing popularity in modeling movement across maritime and composite
landscapes. The methods used in this article, first laid out by Gustas and Supernant, allow for the creation of a model not reliant on known origin and destination points but rather utilize a matrix of points placed arbitrarily around the edge of the study area. This article applies the principles of maritime
least cost path analysis to create a predictability model for travel in the upper Great Lakes during the Nipissing high paleolake level event. The result of this paper is a heat density map that can identify (1) high probability travel corridors and (2) coastal areas of high probability travel.
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2019 “Integrating the Mixed Materials of the Angel Mounds Collection” thedirt
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2018 (Wright and Peterson) “Pointing to the Past” Beaver Island Historical Society News Journal
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2017 “Tacks in the Sand” Beaver Island Historical Society News Journal
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