Itlrtoc

THEFLUTED

AXE

ByGale V. Highsmith

Author, and Publ isher2825 S. Burrell StreetMi lwaukee, Wl 53207

Privately Printed For ThePubl isher By

Palmer Publ icat ions. lnc.P.O. Box 296

Amherst. Wl 54406

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Copy r i gh t o 1985Ga le V . H ighsmi th

2825 S. Burre l l St reetMi lwaukee, Wl 53207

Al l Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cata log Number: 85-090966ISBN: 0 -9101 22 -82 -2

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The Aztalan occupants have been suggested as themakers of fluted axes. Aztalan is a 17 acre walled cityor stockade on the West bank of the Crawfish Riverabout f i ve mi les up f rom i ts junc t ion w i th the RockRiver at Jefferson near the center of Jefferson Co.

These people were or iginal ly bel ieved to have beenAztecs from Mexico or farther South. The prevai l ingthought is that they came here by way of the Rock Riverfrom the Cahokia Settlement near East St. Louis.

Fluted axes have been found in and near the walledarea which is some just i f icat ion for the considerat ion.But, the period of occupation is believed by some to datefo r on ly a b r ie f t ime around AD 1100-1200, wh ich ismuch too recent and too short a t ime span to warrant fur-ther considerat ion now. However, the subject wi l l bediscussed at greater length in a subsequent chapter.

The reconstruction of Aztalan shown on the previouspage is based on excavat ion data from the si te. Asearch failed to reveal the artists name.

The Etfigy Mound Builders are favored as the makersof the f luted axe by a major i ty of the few who haveexpressed an opinion. With the except ion of the verypopular Ohio serpent mound and a few examples extendinga c r o s s t h e s t a t e l i n e i n t o l o w a a n d l l l i n o i s , t h e s eanimal-shaped earthworks are uniqueto Southern Wiscon-sin. Linear mounds are general ly considered to be ofthe same culture as the animal shaped mounds. The coni-cals or domed mounds, though frequent ly occupying si teswith the effigies, have a much broader distribution andmay have been simply a covering or memorial for thedeparted. The Wisconsin conicals range in size from 10feet in dia. by 1Vz leel high up to 70 feet in diameterb y 2 5 f e e t . h i g h . T h e y a p p e a r i n l i n e a r g r o u p i n g s ,paral lel ing a stream and occasional ly dispersed amongor a t one end o f an e f f igy g roup. The e f f ig ies mayr e p r e s e n t t u r t l e s , t h e p r o f i l e o f b e a r , d e e r , w o l f ,buffalo, panther, or birds with wings extended as inf l igh t . The he igh t o f e f f igy mounds is usua l ly on lyone to four feet, but their length makes up for theirweakness in height. Deer, bear, wolf and buffalo arethe shortest; turt les, f rom head to t ip of tai l and thewing span of birds range to several hundred feet, withtadpoles, panthers and linears approaching 1000 feet inlength. Burials or artifacts may be found at a locationin the head or at the heart of the animal, but frequentlythe mound is sterile.

l.A. Lapham, who devoted a few years before and after1850 to surveying and studying eff igy mounds, commentedon their purpose in a round-about way. In commentingon fluted axes he stated-"The use or purpose of thef lutes is as myster ious as that of the eff igy mounds."Lapham's works were publ ished in 1855 by the SmithsonianI n s t i t u t i o n u n d e r t h e t i t l e A n t i q u i t i e s o f W i s c o n s i n .These eff igy mounds may have had some rel igious or magicsignif icance, or, l ike the tombs in the pyramids of Egypt,they were constructed as a burial place for an individualor family, but never needed. lt has been suggested thatthey were a clan or tr ibe totem; but i t doesn't seem

logical that so many different totem designs would occupyone s i te , as is the case in some instances, in v iew of theestimated l imited time span of The Effigy Mound Culture.Many sites, however, contain several examples ol only oneor two different animal or bird species.

Robert Ul r ich of Mayvi l le , a s tudent of the subject ,furn ished these dates. The cul ture began ca 400 AD,reached Hor icon ca 700 AD. and. s ince i t shows no ev idenceof the whi te man, was terminated pr ior to 1600 AD. Thetime span is more frequently placed at 700 AD to 1300 AD.Mounds of a l l types may have numbered to 5,000 or morew i th in t he s ta te . The d i s t r i bu t i on map shown he re i sf rom the Wisconsin Archeologist , Vol . 5 , No. 3-4, 1906,A Record of Wisconsin Ant iqui t ies by Char les E. Brown.A s ingle dome represents a domed or conical mound, a dotabove the dome s igni f ied an et f igy mound, and two jo in ingdomes represent a group of mounds. A s ingle group maynumber in excess of 100 ear th works, and many groups arenot represented on the map. Robert Ulrich reports thatDr. Increase A. Lapham, who for tunate ly in 1850 & 1851surveyed hundreds of mounds in Dodge Co. , for some un-known reason missed the extensive area East of the marsh,which inc ludes one of the largest numbers of ef f igy andother types of mounds in Wisconsin. Most of those Laphammissed were surveyed one hundred years later by Dr. E.G.Bruder of Mi lwaukee, ca 1951. Copies of some of h issketches are shown as representative mound groups.

Much thought and searching was directed toward a clueas to the reason lor the opin ions that the ef f igy moundbu i l de rs made the f l u ted axes o the r t han the be l i e fthat both belong to the late Woodland phase. No flutedaxe has been found in a mound, and apparent ly no l ink hasbeen established between the etfigy mound builders andgrooved axes of any type. Both coiled and crawling effigyserpents adorn the f lu ted axes, but th is author is unawareo f e f f i gy mounds o f e i t he r shape i n W iscons in . Twof luted spud- l ike ef f ig ies are known, 107 & 719, which, i fnot for their characteristic serpent type head, could belikened to the l inear or tadoole earthworks. Distribution-wise, there is some resemblance. The fluted axe territoryis a near rectangular area wi th Green Bay on the Northand Madison on the West. Effigy mounds extend Westwardto the Miss iss ippi , over some terr i tory where f lu ted axesare not found. But , they extend Northward only to theNorth end of Lake Winnebago. Ef f ig ies are abundantin the Hor icon-Mayvi l le f lu ted axe focus; but , on theother s ide of the p ic ture, they are complete ly lack ingin the Green Bay and Two Rivers fluted axe foci.

So , i n sp i t e o f t he be l i e f i n t ha t d i rec t i on , t he rehas been litt le indication that the builders of the effigymounds were the producers of the fluted axe. However, al i t t le log ic could, but not necessar i ly would, inverselyre late the two cul tures in the fo l lowing manner. Supposethat the f lu ted axe was a protect ive spi r i tua l dei ty ora sort of totem endowed with power to insure a group, clan,o r t r i be a cho i ce b l i nd i n t he happy hun t i ng g rounds .Someone had a vision or premonition that they should beusing the image of an animal instead of the f lu ted axe.A v igorous spi r i tua l reformat ion fo l lowed-The FlutedAxe People made the Effigy Mounds.

FLUTED AXE AGE AND PRODUCTION CURVES

The verlical scsle represenb lhe numbef ol recovered lluled axes concgivably madeduring lhe indicated 100 year period. The number of r€covered sp€cim€ns produced duringeach 1000 year period is indicated on lhe co(esponding curve segmenl. Curyes are basedon the 650 usable specimens, Catalog 1 thru 671, recorded at time ot iraking the curues.

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These curves were produced for three specific purposes. The first was to show in graphic form the age values previously arrived at lor thevarious types of f luted axes. The second was to plot a realistic production rate for each type against predicted time so as to compare theshape of the total production curve with what would be expected from a realistic pattern of moderately rapid cultural expansion within a slowlyincreasing and s lowly expanding populat ion. This second purpose proved to be somewhat d isappoint ing, in that the curve approached a st ra ightinc l ine. One would have expected a gradual ly increasing upturn ing curve of an exponent ia l nature l rom the beginning of the cul ture unt i lthe saturation point of distribution was approached, at which time the upward turning curve would reverse its direction of bend and level off.A miscalculat ion of the ages of f lu ted axe types or a cul tura l group decreasing in populat ion at an increasingly rapid rate may have con-t r ibuted to the unnatura l shape of the curve. However, i t seems more l ike ly that something of a re l ig ious or superst i t ious nature associatedwith the fluted axe restricted and directed its distribution along the straight and narrow path.

The th i rd purpose in producing these curves was to have a ready-reference for establ ish ing re lat ive dates for the var ious f lu ted axesites, or zones. The manner in which the curves were used wil l be demonstrated in the chapter, Travel Routes of the Fluted Axe Culture.

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The Age of The Fluted Axe . . . appendage

This b i t o f in terest ing in format ion was unknown toyour author dur ing h is at tempt to d iscover Who Made theF lu ted Axe and a r r i ve a t The Age o f The F lu ted Axe .I t i s f r om a 90 page a r t i c l e , The Ind ian Au tho rsh ip o fW iscons in An t i qu i t i es by Geo . A . Wes t and pub l i shedin The Wisconsin Archeologist Vol . 6 , No. 4, 1907.

The purpose of the publ icat ion was " to sat is fy thenow rapid ly growing demand on the par t of Wisconsinc i t izens for accurate in format ion on the subject of theauthorship of our s tate 's ant iqui t ies" (mounds) .

Presented v/ere excerpts of publ icat ions and personalopin ions f rom scholars and statesmen such as Dr. Frankl in ,Thomas Je f fe rson , P res iden t S ty les o f Ya le co l l ege ,and Noah Webster , who were among the f i rs t lo advanceor ig in theor ies, and f rom numrous recent archaeologists .

Amongst those considered as bui lders of the moundswere the Span i sh exp lo re rs , To l t ecs , Az tecs , Pueb los ,Tar tars, Car ibs, Welsh, etc . Noah Webster was one oft h e f i r s t t o a t t r i b u t e t h e i r b u i l d i n g t o t h e I n d i a n s .B u t , " D r . B e n j a m i n S . B a r t o n , i n 1 7 9 7 , t h o u g h t t h e ywere the work of 'Lost Races, ' which has unt i l recent lybeen the most popular bel ie f wi th the publ ic in general . "Many used the term mound-bui lders and assumed them to bea prehistor ic race of people d is t inct f rom the Indians.

Howeve r , i t was Dr . l .A . Lapham who b rough t t heWisconsin mounds to the at tent ion of the general publ ici n h i s " A n t i q u i t i e s o f W i s c o n s i n " p u b l i s h e d i n ' l 8 5 5 .In i t he conc luded " t ha t t he mound-bu i l de rs o f W iscons inwere none other than the ancestors of the oresent t r ibeso f I nd ians . "

This is a quest ion f requent ly asked by professionala r c h a e o l o g i s t s o r b y i n d i v i d u a l s f r o m t h e a d j o i n i n gs ta tes o f l l l i no i s and M ich igan who rea l i zed tha t t hep redominan t l y W iscons in axe i s f ound i n t he i r s ta te .The l a te D r . Robe r t R i t zen tha le r asked the ques t i onmany t imes, and the answer he received was a lways thesame and in conf l ic t wi th h is bel ie f . He was apparent lyconvinced that a l l f lu ted axes were made by a par t icu largroup of Southeastern Wisconsin abor ig inees, some ofwhom moved to other s tates or to more d is tant Wisconsinlocat ions, tak ing thei r axes wi th them, and that othersca r r i ed t he i r p r i zed possess ions to d i s tan t l ands astrading stock.

The type of reasoning has been associated wi th manya r t i f ac t s . l f a f o l som- t ype po in t i s f ound i n W iscons in ,New York, or Tennessee, i t is assumed that a segmentof the fo lsom populat ion migrated to the area where i tw a s f o u n d . l t a p p e a r s t o b e t h e g e n e r a l c o n s e n s u stha t a l l t r a i t s , cu l t u res , o r comp lexes , have a ra the rl imi ted and sharply def ined temporal and spat ia l f ixat ionand tha t t he peop le i nvo l ved mys te r i ous l y appea r anddisappear wi th the cul ture.

Mr. George A. West, atter analyzing the numerousopin ions, s tated the fo l lowing "u l t imate conclus ions."

"1 . The en t rance o f t he p r i nc ipa l mound-bu i l de rs i n toWisconsin appears to have been f rom the South and South-west . Other t r ibes, who erected some of the more recentconical tumul i , entered f rom the North and East .

"3. The date of the erect ion of the o ldest moundgroups may safely be placed at not to exceed 3 centuriesprevious to the d iscovery of Amer ica by Columbus.

"6. That the authors of the ef f igy mounds were ofSiouan stock, probably the Winnebago, is a hypothesistha t appea rs t o be we l l f ounded . The au tho r p red i c t stha t i t w i l l be accep ted as an und i spu ted fac t , w i t h i nthe present generat ion.

"7. From the ev idence at hand, the occupat ion of Wis-consin soi l can be c lassed in but two pr inc ipal per iods.The f i r s t be ing the e f f i gy -mound bu i l d i ng e ra , du r i ngwhich a l l c lasses of ear thworks were constructed: second.the t ime e lapsing s ince the custom of erect ing imi tat ive(effigy) earthworks ceased.

" 8 . T h e p r i n c i p a l a n d o r i g i n a l a b o r i g i n a l c o p p e rminers were Wisconsin lndians, most probably the Winne-bago. The work ings of the Lake Super ior copper mineswas not begun unt i l a century or more af ter the advento f t h i s t r i b e i n W i s c o n s i n ( A D 1 3 0 0 o r l a t e r ) , a n dcopper mining ceased when it became unnecessary by reasonof the importat ion of European goods."

Mr. West d id not ind icate an age for the Fluted Axe;but , s ince copper has been considered Wisconsin 's o ldestcul ture, i t fo l lows that the ear l iest date for the FlutedAxe would as a resul t have been ca AD 1400 or la ter .The Fluted Axe has aged 9,000 years dur ing the past 77.

However, the point to be made is not that th is t ra ino f t hough t appea rs t o ta l l y unsound bu t ra the r t ha t i tdoes not or d id not apply to the f lu ted axe whrch hasbeen found in Northern Minnesota and Canada, as farEast as the State of Maine, as far South as the Stateo f V e r a c r u z i n O l d M e x i c o , a n d a c r o s s t h e A t l a n t i ci n Eng land .

On almost every f lu ted axe, adz, ce l t or gouge foundou ts ide the s ta te , o r even ou t o f t he Sou theas te rnoort ion of the state, there is some feature about thespecimen that ind icates one of two th ings-e i ther thati t i s no t a Sou theas te rn W iscons in t ype o r t ha t i t smater ia l and features f i t the area in which i t was found.Some of the more readi ly ident i f iab le examples are thef l u t e d M i c h i g a n C e l t , t h e G r a n d T r a v e r s e B a y A x e ,the barbed axe, the Canadian adz and gouge, the MainAdz, and the Keokuk type axe which is lound in lowaand l l l i no i s . A l l have been f l u ted , bu t none a re o l abasic type found in Wisconsin.

There is no ev idence that a s ingle f lu ted axe wascarr ied f rom Wisconsin-The ldea was carr ied.

HOW MANY FLUTED AXES WERE CARRIED OUT OF WISCONSIN?

566

M A I N E

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Travel Routes And Arrival Dates . . . continued

The s ta r t i ng po in t ( 1 ) i s t he p lace o f o r i g i n o f t hef lu ted axe cul ture ca 7500 BC, a long the shore of LakeMichigan at Molasses Creek, in the Two Rivers focusof Manitowoc County. Travel was by river & lake coast.

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

E A C H D O T . . . , .

L O C A T E S A

F L U T E D A R T I F A C T F I N D .

I T E M S W I T H O U T C O U N T Y

P R O V E N A N C E N O T S H O W N .

From (1) south to Two Rivers and to the mouth oft he Man i towoc R ive r , 6500 BC; t o Bowmanv i l l e (2 ) i nCh icago , l l l . , 5500 BC; t o Cook Co . and down the l l lRiver to the Kankakee and into Indiana (3), 4500 BC.

T E X A S

G E O R G I A

F L O R I D A

S A M E S C A L E

AS ABOVE MAP

l " : 1 5 5 M I L E Sele"w LoNGtruDE\-, '- \I T H I S L I N E B I S E C T SI t v t t l w a u x r E I B R o w N c o s .

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Travel Routes And Arr iva l Dates . . . cont inued

From (1) around the Door Co. Peninsula to the FoxRiver (4) , 6000 BC; up the Eastern coast of Brown Co. ,5000 BC;to the t ip of Door Co. (5) , 4500 BC.

From (4) up the Fox to the North shore of LakeWinnebago (6 ) , 5500 BC; up the Fond du Lac R ive rand down the Rock to the Hor icon-Mayvi l le focus (7) ,3500 BC; down the Rock, up the Crawf ish past Azta lan(Z) , 3500 BC; to Beaver Dam River & Lake (8) , 3000BC; down the Rock to Lake Koshkonong and the lowerBark River (9) , 3000 BC; down the Rock and up the Ya-ha ra t o t he Fou r Lakes reg ion o f Dane Co . (10 ) ,2000BC; down the Rock and up Tur t le Creek in to WalworthCo . (11 ) , 1000 BC; and down the Rock i n to W innebagoC o . , l l l . , ( 1 2 ) , 0 0 1 B C , w h e r e a f l u t e d a d z , c e l t , a n dsoud were found.

From (6) Lake Winneago, nor th up the Wol f Riverto (13) ,5000 BC; S.W. up the Fox to the Vy ' isconsin at

Po r tage (14 ) , 4000 BC; up the W iscons in t o (1S) anddown to t he M iss i ss ipp i ( 16 ) ,2500 BC; up the M iss . t oi t s sou rce i n M inneso ta (17 ) ,2000 BC; and down to i t sj unc t i on w i th t he l l l . & M issou r i R i ve rs , a t S t . Lou i s(18 ) , 1500 BC; up the l l l i no i s R . t o (19 ) , 1000 BC; upthe r ivers in Missour i (20) , 1000 BC; down the Miss is-s i pp i t o t he Oh io (21 ) and up the Oh io and i t s t r i bu -tar ies, perhaps as far as the Susquehanna & DelawareRivers in Pennsylvania (22) , 500 BC; down the Miss.t o t he Gu l f ( 23 ) and a long the Gu l f coas t t o McA l l en ,Texas, on the Rio Grande (24\ , 500 BC; and on to Vera-cruz on. the Bay of Campeche 200 mi les east of MexicoCity (25), 001 BC.

From (4) the Fox, nor th to Pesht igo & MenomoneeR ive r s i t es (26 ) , 3000 BC; eas t v i a Lake M ich igan toS t . l g n a c e ( 2 7 ) , 3 0 0 0 B C ; a r o u n d t h e U . P . t o S a u l tS te Mar ie (28 ) , t o Hough ton , M ich . (29 ) , and Wiscon -s in ' s Apos t l e l s l ands (30 ) , 3000 BC. These may havebeen rest s tat ions on min ing expedi t ions to ls le Royale.

From (27) St . lgnace, down Lake Michigan's EastCoast to Grand Traverse Bay focus (31) , 2000 BC; toSouthern Michigan (32) , 1500 BC. From (27) v ia LakeHuron to the Saginaw Bay (33) , ca 001 BC. From (27)t o H u r o n ' s N o r t h C h a n n e l t o G e o r g i a n B a y ( 3 4 ) ; t oTo ron to (35 ) , 1500 BC; a long Lake On ta r i o coas t t ot h e S t . L a w r e n c e R i v e r t o M o n t r e a l ( 3 7 ) , o r , l r o m( 3 4 ) u p t h e F r e n c h R i v e r t h r u L a k e N i p i s s i n g , e t c . ,inc luding a 1-mi le por tage, to the Ot tawa River (36) to(37 ) ; t he S t . Lawrence to Quebec (38 ) ; up Chaud ie re& Lin iere Rivers to Portage Lake at the Maine border ,w i t h a 1 - m i l e p o r t a g e t o P e n o b s c o t L a k e ( 3 9 ) , t h esource of the Penobscot River ; East and South downt h e r i v e r t o O l d T o w n n e a r i t s m o u t h , t o D e e r l s l ein the Penobscot Bay (40) , ca 1500 BC-1000 BC.

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Travel Routes and Arr iva l Dates . . . cont inued

ILL INOiS

II LAY

MI

O W M A N -V I L L E

B

T h e N o r t h A m e r i c a n M a p h a d i n s u f f i c i e n t d e t a i lf o r desc r i b i ng cu l t u ra l t r ave l a l ong the Lake M ich iganshorel ine. The area numbers of the two maps coinc ide.

S ta r t i ng on the Anhapee R ive r a t A lgoma (A ) i nKewaunee Co . , t h i s g roup da tes l i ke t ha t o f Sou the rnDoor Co. , 4500 BC; the Kewaunee Group (K) , tho fewi n n u m b e r , c o u l d d a t e t o 6 0 0 0 B C - t h e f i r s t t r i pa round the Door Co . Pen insu la t o Green Bay and theFox R ive r . The Two Creeks (2 -CR) s i t e i s t he mos trecent in the area 4500 BC. Next in order is the p laceo f o r i g i n o l t he f l u ted axe (1 ) 7500 BC, f o l l owed byTwo Rivers (2-R) and Mani towoc 6500 BC.

The cu l t u re moved uo the Man i towoc R ive r t o i t ssource in the SE corner of Calumet Co. where i t foundi t s way to t he uppe r ha l f o f t he Sheboygan R ive r (S )a round 4000 BC. The cu l t u re a t S tockb r i dge on theEastern shore of Lake Winnebago (6) apparent ly camef rom the Fox (4 ) 3500 BC. F rom the Eas t b ranch o f

t he Rock R ive r wh i ch f l ows th ru t he Ho r i con -Mayv i l l efocus (7 ) , t he cu l t u re moved to t he M i lwaukee R ive r(M i l ) sou rce 2000 BC. l t moved down the M i lwaukeeto i ts junct ion wi th the Menomonee River (M) 1500 BC;up the Menomonee to i ts source, where the t ra i t was p ickedup at the source o l the (Southern) Fox 1000 BC. Theidea t rave led down the Fox to Kenosha Co . 500 BC:f rom the Fox , nea r t he cen te r o f Waukesha Co . , t hecul ture t raveled up the Pewaukee River to PewaukeeLake (P) and the upper end of the Bark River aboveLake Nagaw icka 1000 BC. Bu t , i n t he NW co rne r o fWaukesha Co. , a 90 square mi le area Northwest of andi n c l u d i n g L a k e N a g a w i c k a , c o n s i s t i n g e s s e n t i a l l y o fOconomowoc River Lakes, dates wi th the Hor icon-May-v i l le focus (7) at 3500 BC. These lakes are so c lose tothe Upper Ba rk spa t i a l l y , ye t so f a r away tempora l l y .The axes i nd i ca te a cu l t u ra l t ime gap o f 2500 yea rs f o r a2 to 3 m i l e geog raph i ca l sepa ra t i on o f r i ve rs , g i v i ng1000 years of t ime d i f ference per mi le of separat ion-A Cul tura l Gap Problem.

A CULTURAL GAP PROBLEM

The need for th is chapter became apparent dur ing thewr i t ing of the last paragraph of the previous chapter .The 2500 years cultural difference between peoples l ivingalong r ivers about2V2 mi les d is tant posed an unexpectedp rob lem. l t was obv ious tha t t he re we re no phys i ca lobstac les between the r ivers requi r ing 1000 years tonegot iate each mi le of d is tance. However, there werethree easy ways of so lv ing the problem. The sponge couldhave been tossed in with a decision that all these datecalculations were for naught, since dates were not partof the in i t ia l publ icat ion p lans.

The Oconomowoc and Bark Rivers are closer togetherthan Hor icon and Mayvi l le , so they could have been lumpedand referred to as the Ocono-Bark focus wi th a star t ingdate of 3500 BC. Why they were separated for this pro-ject we wi l l never know. But , had they not been separ-ated, th is problem and future problems i t created wouldnot have ar isen. Or, i t could have s imply been concludedtha t t he Oconomowoc R ive r T r i be mys te r i ous l y d i s -appeared ca 3500 BC and that some other group from anunknown land appeared on the Upper Bark River 2500years la ter . Just the thought of another such conclus ionforced out several hours of mind searching for a pract ica land verif iable answer to the problem.

The Ashippun and Rubicon Rivers, which were by-passed on the in i t ia l dat ing, are about three mi les tothe nor thwest of the Oconomowoc and L i t t le Oconomo-woc Rivers. They were checked as a possib le p lace thesepeople could have moved to; but Rubicon and v ic in i tydated at 3500 BC-3000 BC, which merely compoundedthe problem by indicat ing that th is group d isappearedalso by 3000 BC.

Then, as the o ld saying goes, l ightn ing st ruck thecorn cr ib- i t was recal led that the most imoortant s i teo f a l l , t h e s o u r c e o f t h e f l u t e d a x e s , t h e M o l a s s e sCreek s i te in Mani towoc Co. , was in the same predica-ment wi th a star t ing date of 7500 BC and no p lace to gofrom there.

The Old Copper Bridge

Knowing that the largest known copper s i te is betweenTwo Rivers and Two Creeks and by stretching dates tothe i r l im i t , ha l f t he Mo lasses Creek se t t l emen t cou ldhave stayed on unt i l 4500 BC, prov ided that the otherhal f moved to Two Rivers ca 6500 BC and remained t i l l4500 BC. But, where was the entire group after 4500 BC?

Somet ime later , whi le your author was seeking a wayto d isappear as other pr imi t ives repor tedly have done,there was a g l immer of l ight . S ince i t had been deter-mined that most l ike ly the Old Copper Cul ture developedlater than and was copied from the Fluted Axe Culturei t would a lso be l ike ly that Old Copper was developedto t he exc lus ion o f i t s l i t h i c coun te rpa r t s , t he f l u tedand non-f lu ted grooved axes. That so lved the problem at

Molasses Creek.

Next on the agenda was to consul t the Old Copperdis t r ibut ion map for the ac id test . The test was mostrewarding. A copper s i te at the source of the Rubicon,Ashippun, Oconomowoc and Bark Rivers is shown on themap and is near ly as large as the Two Rivers-TwoCreeks site.

From these d iscover ies i t was concluded that theMolasses Creek s i te which star ted wi th f lu ted axes ca7500 BC was into copper ca 6500 BC and complete ly con-verted from stone to copper by 5000 BC, where it may haverema ined t i l l a te p reh i s to r i c t imes . The Oconomowoc- B a r k R i v e r a r e a i n S . W . W a s h i n g t o n C o u n t y w a ssol id ly in copper between 3000 BC and 1000 BC-th iscul tura l gap was spanned by The Old Copper Br idge.

Since several other copper concentration points werenoted on the d is t r ibut ion map, i t was then decided to gomore thoroughly over each f lu ted axe area. This t ime,instead of looking only for a starting date for the site,i t was decided to look for cont inuum interrupt ions . . .t h a t i s , b r e a k s i n a c o n t i n u o u s F l u t e d A x e C u l t u r ewhich would show up as an ear ly and a la te star t ingdate with a gap between.

To ta l d i s t r i bu t i on i n W iscons in o f t he O ld Coppe r a r t i -f ac t s i n t he co l l ec t i on o f The Museum o f The S ta teH i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y , M a d i s o n ; T h e N e v i l l e P u b l i cMuseum, Green Bay ; and The Pub l i c Museum o f TheCi ty of Mi lwaukee. Each dot represents a specimen.