Naomikong Point Site
Divers at Naomikong Point
Naomikong Point Site is located in Michigan
Naomikong Point Site
Naomikong Point Site is located in the United States
Naomikong Point Site
LocationNaomikong Point, Bay Mills Township, Michigan[1][2]
Coordinates46°29′0″N 84°56′0″W / 46.48333°N 84.93333°W / 46.48333; -84.93333
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1850
NRHP reference No.71001020[3]
Added to NRHPApril 16, 1971

The Naomikong Point Site, also known as 20CH2,[2] is a Late Woodland period Laurel site[4] archaeological site located in Bay Mills Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[3]

Description

The Naomikong Point Laurel complex site is located on a small point[2] on the south shore of Lake Superior in what is now a low meadow, but was a pine forest at the time the site was used.[5] Some of what was once occupied area is now under the water slightly offshore.[6] The site contained refuse and storage pits, as well as evidence of post molds thought to be from fish drying racks.[5] This, along with other evidence, strongly suggests the people living here relied heavily on fishing.[5] Radiocarbon dating indicated the site was populated at some point between about 100 CE and 900 CE.[5] The site was likely used seasonally.[5]

Archeological History

Pottery offshore

The Naomikong Point Site was brought to the attention of archaeologists by Charles Sprague Taylor, a lumberman and historian from Newberry, Michigan.[6] It was surveyed by James Fitting in the 1960s, including underwater exploration just off shore in 1964.[6] Additional work was done by Donald E. Janzen in 1967.[2] Over 100,000 potsherds was recovered from the site,[4] which came from at least 288 different vessels.[5]

References

  1. ↑ The NRIS gives the location of the Naomikong Point Site as "Address Restricted." However, the WSU collection specifies that the site is located on Naomikong Point, which "defines the eastern boundary of Tahquamenon Bay and the southwestern part of Whitefish Bay." Geocoordinates given are approximate.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Naomikong Collection". Wayne State University. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 John H. Steinbring (1970), "REVIEW: The Naomikong Point Site and the Dimensions of Laurel in the Lake Superior Region", American Anthropologist, 72 (6): 1555–1556, doi:10.1525/aa.1970.72.6.02a00990
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Human Relations Area Files, inc (2002), Peter Neal Peregrine; Melvin Ember (eds.), Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Arctic and Subarctic, Springer, p. 67, ISBN 978-0306462566
  6. 1 2 3 George I Quimby (August 1965). "Exploring an Underwater Indian Site". Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin. 36 (8): 2–4.

Further reading

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