Title

Archaeological Artifacts

Description

Artifacts found during the 2017-2018 Pope County Archaeological Survey.
Twenty items were found at 21PO61.
Lithics include a flake tool of unidentified chert, and a flake of Animikie silicate. The tool is a large flake with retouch at distal end, possibly a scraper element. There is also obtuse retouch along one lateral margin. Apparent use wear can be seen along a thin edge between the two retouched areas, and possible light use wear along the opposite lateral margin. The surface of the artifact is worn, and even lightly polished in spots (e.g., on ridges between flake scars); it appears to have been in an abrasive environment.
Historic artifacts included a post-1870, two-part pressed steel button that was probably lost from work
clothing in the late 19th or early 20th century. A small glass fragment is unidentifiable and non-diagnostic, though it is possible it represents a waste flake from lithic tool manufacturing methods. Two cut nails were recovered during a metal detector survey of the area in and around the depression. The nails date to the 19th Century and are non-diagnostic. A modern machine-made wire was also recovered during the metal detector survey.
Faunal materials include 18bone fragments. The surviving elements are incredibly fragmented, making identifications difficult. Three mandible fragments and a thoracic vertebra fragment were identified as belong to the genus Odocoileus sp. (white-tailed deer or mule deer). The remaining elements belong to a mixture of large mammal and undifferentiated mammal, and one ulna fragment belongs to a small bird. The only remains to demonstrate cultural modifications of the 18 total elements are six calcined bone fragments and a spiral fractured bird ulna (n=38%). If the remaining elements were culturally modified, those portions have decayed over time. Spiral fractures are created by a fresh break, indicating it was broken open soon after death for meat and marrow processing.