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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2021

David P Pompeani Open the ORCID record for David P Pompeani [Opens in a new window] ,
Byron A Steinman ,
Mark B Abbott ,
Katherine M Pompeani ,
William Reardon ,
Seth DePasqual  and
Robin H Mueller
David P Pompeani*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Kansas State University, 108 Thompson Hall, 1428 Anderson Ave., Manhattan, KS66506, USA
Byron A Steinman
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, Heller Hall 229, 1114 Kirby Drive, Duluth, MN55812, USA
Mark B Abbott
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh, 200 SRCC, 4107 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA15260, USA
Katherine M Pompeani
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, 1603 Old Claflin Place, Manhattan, KS66506, USA
William Reardon
Affiliation:
1700 Open Acres Lane, Eagle River, WI54521, USA
Seth DePasqual
Affiliation:
Isle Royale National Park, 800 East Lakeshore Drive, Houghton, MI49931, USA
Robin H Mueller
Affiliation:
Keweenaw Community Foundation, 236 Quincy Street, Hancock, MI49930, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: dpompeani@ksu.edu.
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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.

Keywords

archaeometallurgyCopper Agegeoarchaeologypaleolakessediments
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 513 - 531
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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