St. Croix River Access Site

The St. Croix River Access Site (Smithsonian trinomial 21WA49) is a prehistoric Native American archaeological site on the St. Croix River in Stillwater Township, Minnesota, United States. It consists of a habitation site with a large quantity of stone tool artifacts, occupied from roughly 800 to 1700 CE. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for having local significance in the theme of archaeology.^[3] It was nominated for its scientific potential to illuminate Late Woodland period cultural relationships, lithic technology, and resource use.^[4]

The St. Croix River Access Site was discovered during an archaeological field survey for the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 1983. 21 excavation units were dug, which showed that the center of the site had been destroyed by industry in the 1930s but that archaeological deposits to either side remained intact. 100 ceramic sherds were found. These were identified with four different cultural complexes—the Kathio–Clam River, St. Croix, Sandy Lake, and Madison—indicating that the site had been occupied by different cultures over the span of the Late Woodland Period. Fire-cracked rocks suggested a hearth. Most significant, though, were pieces of animal bone and 886 stone tool fragments and lithic flakes. The lopsided ratio of lithic artifacts to ceramics suggests that groups utilized the site temporarily for a specific purpose, such as for bone or hide processing.^[4]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Minnesota

References

Late Woodland cultures Mound builder (people) List of archaeological periods (North America) Sites Baum site Beattie Park Mound Group Book Site Bowen Site (12 MA 61) Brinsfield I Site Brokaw Site Clampitt Site (12-LR-329) Fisher Site Hoye Site Little Maquoketa River Mounds State Preserve Man Mound Memorial Park Site Nottingham Site Ormond Mound St. Croix River Access Site Sommerheim Park University of Tennessee Agriculture Farm Mound Cultures Alachua culture Clemson Island culture Manahoac Monongahela culture Oliver Phase Springwells Phase Weeden Island culture Related topics Steuben point Belle Glade culture Extreme weather events of 535–536 Fort Ancient culture Mississippian culture Oneota St. Johns culture

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