Courtesy Photo | Copper items found in past archaeological digs at Fort McCoy, Wis., are shown July 26,...... read more read more
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There is a long history of archaeological investigations at Fort McCoy, dating back to the early 1960s. In fact, six of the first seven archaeological sites recorded in Monroe County lie within the installation boundary.
These investigations span the efforts of hundreds of individuals who very carefully dug thousands of holes by hand across tens of thousands of acres.
Of the hundreds of thousands of artifacts recovered from these investigations, some of the rarest finds were prehistoric tools made out of raw copper; 11 prehistoric copper artifacts have been recovered from nine separate sites separated by more than 12 miles across the installation.
Native Americans had mastered the technology of hammering, rolling, cutting, drilling, joining, and decorating copper long ago. They began making tools such as fish hooks, knives, and projectile points out of native copper more than 6,000 years ago using a process often referred to as cold hammering.
Copper is a malleable (easily bent) material which can be shaped with a stone used as a hammer and then strengthened by heating and rapid cooling or “quenching,” which is simply dunking the heated material into cold water.
The first copper artifact recovered at Fort McCoy was the most complete tool when compared to subsequent finds. This tool was identified as a tanged knife (#1) and was likely hafted to a handle or hilt made of bone or wood. Another of these copper artifacts (#2) was likely affixed to the end of a spear to serve as a projectile weapon.
Other copper artifact discoveries included tool fragments and items (#3 and 4) which could have been used in the later stages of stone tool manufacture, and two were described by researchers as folded copper.
Other copper items (#5 and 6) may represent decorative items.
The use of copper by Native Americans changed in focus over time, with more recent copper artifacts which would have dated from 1,500-1,000 years ago to more recent times.
Copper beads or tinkling cones (#5) area unique copper artifact, frequently recognized as ornamental items. They were nicknamed “tinklers” because of the jingling sound they made when they hit against each other and adorned clothing or special costumes in large numbers to make this sound.
They were made from sheet copper that was rolled into a cone and were also attached to pouches, knife sheaths, moccasins and clothing.
All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was sponsored by the Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Division, Natural Resources Branch.
Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals.
Any individual who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any historic or prehistoric site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.
The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.
(Article prepared by Colorado State University’s Center for the Environmental Management of Military Lands and the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.)
| Date Taken: | 07.26.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2019 09:50 |
| Story ID: | 333177 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 313 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort McCoy ArtiFACT: Prehistoric copper, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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