March 6, 2007

Mackinaw City, Mich. - The archaeology team at Colonial Michilimackinac, led by Curator of Archaeology Dr. Lynn Evans, has released a preliminary report of its findings from the 2006 archaeology field season - the 48^th consecutive season at this site, an early 18^th-century French fort and fur-trading village.

Last year was the ninth season of excavation at the easternmost unit of the fort's South Southwest Rowhouse.

The team spent the summer excavating ‘deep features' of the rowhouse: the root cellar and the south wall. The main area of the cellar, first defined in 2000, finally hit bottom. A few remnants of wood planks showed that it had originally had a wood floor. Before it bottomed out, the cellar also yielded bone awls, a thimble, tinkling cones (cone-shaped pieces of brass used to adorn Native American leather goods), buttons, engraved Micmac pipe fragments, a knife blade fragment and a hawk bell. At the end of the season, Conservator William Fritz guided the team in packing in this portion of the root cellar for preservation as a possible exhibit when the South Southwest Rowhouse is reconstructed.

The most interesting discovery of the summer was that the cellar extended farther east than originally believed. At the beginning of the season, archaeologists removed a large horizontal timber believed to be associated with the fireplace mantle. Below that they found charred wood, probably associated with the hearth, and a large rock, possibly from the chimney being knocked down. Below the hearth material was more unburned structural wood, including a large post that lined up with the previously defined cellar wall. The possible tops of more posts that could be the remains of the east cellar wall were just starting to appear at the end of the field season. Many interesting artifacts were uncovered in this area, including a lead seal from trade textiles, a plain brass finger ring, an iron awl, a brass button, an oval strike-a-light and part of a beaver skull.

The final area to be examined in 2006 was the west end of the south wall. Half of the remaining area was excavated down to culturally sterile beach sand, and the doorway was encountered in the remaining five-foot square.

In the off-season, lab work - primarily artifact cleaning and cataloging - is being conducted by Dr. Evans. The excavation site has been packed under plastic sheeting and straw bales and will remain untouched until the 2007 season begins in early June.

The 2006 team included field supervisor Amy Roache, crew members Conrad Latuszek, Justin Baetsen and Tiffany Adams, and eight volunteers.

Mackinac State Historic Parks, a family of living history museums and nature parks in northern Michigan's Straits of Mackinac, is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Its sites - which are accredited by the American Association of Museums - include Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island State Park and Historic Downtown on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City. Visitor Information is available at (231) 436-4100 or on the Web at www.MackinacParks.com.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).