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

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.

Situating Copper Crescents

This report considers copper crescent-shaped objects from Ontario, contextualizing them within broader archaeological discussions of the Old Copper Complex. I focus on a small assemblage of antiquarian-collected crescents from the Royal Ontario Museum. A literature review comprises the bulk of this report; crescents recovered from sites located in the center of the Old Copper Complex, in current-day Wisconsin and Michigan, help to situate examples in the antiquarian collection. I discuss crescents in terms of their chronological and geographic breadth, their formal variation, and the different depositional contexts in which they are found. Three examples from the antiquarian collection represent novel forms of copper crescent that are not represented in the accepted typology. Two of these, collected approximately 1,600 km apart from one another, closely resemble stone and copper ulu knives, each with a unique copper handle that once bore a haft. By situating this particular collection within broader discussions of native copper, this report demonstrates the continued importance of thinking through poorly-contextualized archaeological collections while remembering the limitations of rigid, typological thinking.

The Old Copper Complex: An Archaic Manifestation in Wisconsin

It seems appropriate, particularly in the light of the recent radiocarbon dates for an Old Copper site, that the accumulated information about the Old Copper complex be summarized for the use of those interested in the prehistory of the Northeast. While some of the data presented here have been previously published in greater descriptive detail, they are briefly reviewed because they represent the factual basis for the definition of the complex as a local cultural variant in the Archaic period. The radiocarbon dates and certain new data add materially to the basis for the interpretation of the remains of these early inhabitants of Wisconsin. We use the term “Archaic” to refer to a time period rather than a cultural assemblage, although we shall discuss the cultural traits that appear to fit into this time period in the locale under discussion.