Table Of ContentANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS
MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
NO. 32
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MICHIGAN ARCHAEOLOGY
BY
JAMES E. FITTING
JOHN R. HALSEY
H. MARTIN WOBST
ANN ARBOR
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 1968
© 1968 by the Regents of the University of Michigan
The Museum of Anthropology
All rights reserved
ISBN (print): 978-1-949098-15-0
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-951519-37-7
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FOREWORD
T
HIS volume, as originally conceived, was to have been entitled
"Contributions to the Archaeology of the Carolinian-Canadian
Edge Area in Central Michigan." In order to simplify, the title
was changed to Contributions to Michigan Archaeology. It presents
several of the longer research reports prepared under a National
Science Foundation Project Archaeological Investigations of the
Camlinian-Canadian Edge area in Michigan (GS-666) under my
direction and. is complementary to the series of survey reports
already published as Edge Area Archaeology in Volume 12, Num
ber 4 of The Michigan Archaeologist. It is not intended to be a
final report on the edge project. It is only a contribution toward
that end.
The three papers in this volume were prepared in different
ways and from different types of information. The first paper, by
Fitting, is a report on the Spring Creek site in Muskegon County,
excavated a decade ago by members of the Wright L. Coffinberry
Chapter of the Michigan Archaeological Society. It is an attempt
to analyze a large artifact sample with less than perfect proveni
ence data. Most of the report is descriptive and only in a few
instances can we deal with internal artifact distribution. Even
though this material must be presented almost as a surface col
lection, it does add something to our understanding of a key area
in western Michigan at a key time period.
John R. Halsey has prepared an analysis of the Springwells
Mound group in southern Michigan for the second section of this
volume. With the exception of materials uncovered during our
own brief 1965 excavations, Halsey too has had to work with notes
and maps prepared by other researchers. Much of his informa
tion had to be extracted from nineteenth century sources. He was
fortunate in having the collections and notes from the Aboriginal
Research Club of Detroit's excavation of the Fort Wayne Mound,
which took place over twenty years ago. This more recently ex
cavated comparative material was essential for his interpretation
of earlier accounts.
The Springwells Mound group is located to the south of the
transition region between the Carolinian and Canadian biotic prov
inces. It is also a burial site where we would expect to recover
iii
iv FOREWORD
little environmental data, but is key to the edge project. In
order to understand groups within the transition it is necessary
to understand cultural types and adaptations on either site of the
transition area.
Wobst was dealing only with his own excavations when he pre
pared the third report in this volume on the Butterfield site in
eastern Michigan. While this was a part of the edge project, he
was supported during actual excavation as a National Science
Foundation Research Participant (GE-6226) and most of his paper
was prepared during the academic year while he received support
from that grant.
Wobst has been able to apply techniques of soils and lithic
analysis to this site. He has not only prepared a report on a key
site for the edge project but, in my opinion, has established a
model site report for extracting maximum information from a
small amount of excavation.
One of the main features of this volume is that it demon
strates the importance of work by nonprofessional archaeologists
in Michigan. Without the dedicated efforts of men like George
Davis, Edward Gillis, Carl Holmquist, and Walter Schmidt these
papers could not have been written. These are men whose inter
est in expanding the horizons of Michigan prehistory far outweighs
their interest in building bigger collections. We in Michigan are
fortunate that they are not unique among the members of the
Michigan Archaeological Society.
Most of the specific acknowledgments for this volume are to
be found with the individual papers. I should like to make special
mention of Mrs. Linda B. Halsey and Mrs. Clara Johnston who
did the final editing of this volume. I should also like to express
my thanks to Dr. James B. Griffin, Director of the Museum of
Anthropology of the University of Michigan, for permitting its pub
lication by that institution.
James E. Fitting
CONTENTS
PART I: THE SPRING CREEK SITE
James E. Fitting
I. Preface. 1
II. Introduction ........ . 5
III. Ceramics ...••...... 11
IV. Lithic Materials ...................... . 32
V. Other Artifacts ..••..........•......... 50
VI. Faunal Remains. Megan Biesele ..•...••.•...••.•. 54
VII. Conclusions ................•............... 65
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4
PART II: THE SPRINGWELLS MOUND GROUP
John R. Halsey
I. Preface. 79
II. Early Reports and Excavations at Springwells, the Carsten
Mound, and the Great Mound at the River Rouge . . • . . . • . . . 81
III. The Fort Wayne Mound. ................. . 104
IV. The Central Mound .................... . 139
References .......................... . 145
Analysis of the Fort Wayne Mound Skeletal Remains. Richard
G. Wilkinson • • . . • . . . • • . . • • • . • . . . • • . . • • . . . • . • • 161
PART III: THE BUTTERFIELD SITE
H. Martin Wobst
I. Introduction ..... . 173
II. The Site . . . • . • • . 175
III. Lithic Industries . 193
IV. Pottery ...... . 247
V. Other Artifacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
References . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . 27 4
v
Part I
THE SPRING CREEK SITE, 20 MU 3, MUSKEGON
COUNTY, MICHIGAN
James E. Fitting
I
PREFACE
S
PRING CREEK is a site which has played an important part in
the understanding of Michigan prehistory for over a decade.
Unfortunately, it remained a type of esoteric knowledge, a site
known only to those few who had seen the collections. Many peo
ple have referred to it but almost nothing has actually been pub
lished on it. When the edge program was initiated in 1964 it be
came evident that the Muskegon River Valley in general and the
Spring Creek site in particular would play a key role in this proj
ect. Mr. Edward V. Gillis and Mr. George W. Davis of Grand
Rapids, Michigan, graciously made their collections available to
the Great Lakes Division of the University of Michigan Museum
of Anthropology for intensive study. The results of this study are
presented in the following pages.
We are heavily indebted to Edward V. Gillis and George W.
Davis for lending us their collections, photographs and field notes.
The Consumers Power Company deserves thanks for allowing ex
cavation on their lands.
There are many people who have assisted in the laboratory
work on this site over the past few years. Megan Biesele pre
pared the section on the faunal remains from the site as an NSF
USEP project under my direction. I was assisted in the analysis
of ceramics by Douglas Bridges, Katherine Livingstone and Mary
Hrones, all of w:1om put in more hours with this material than
they care to remember. Gary A. Wright assisted in the analysis
of chipped-stone materials and was to write part of the section
on these objects. Field work in Israel prevented his writing but
I have benefited much from an exchange of ideas over the past
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