Carcajou Point site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Carcajou Point Site |
|
|---|---|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Location | On the north shore of Lake Koshkonong in Jefferson County, Wisconsin |
| Area | Up to 240 acres |
The Carcajou Point site (also called Carcajou village or White Crow's village) is a very important archaeological place. It is found in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, right on the shore of Lake Koshkonong. This site is special because it shows signs of different groups of Native Americans living there. It includes evidence from the prehistoric Upper Mississippian Oneota culture and also from more recent historical times.
Native Americans lived at this site as late as the 1820s and 1830s. During that time, the Winnebago tribe made their home there. It was known as "White Crow's village," named after their chief.
Contents
Discovering Carcajou Point's Past
For many years, people knew that Carcajou Point was a place with old Native American and early European objects. An archaeologist named W.C. McKern mentioned the Carcajou Village site in 1945. He listed it as a place that needed to be studied.
Digging for Clues at Carcajou
In 1957, archaeologists started digging at the site. This work was done by the Wisconsin Archaeological Society. Later, in 1962, a researcher named Robert Hall wrote a report about what they found. He also compared their discoveries to other Oneota sites in Wisconsin. This helped everyone understand more about the people who lived there long ago.
Why Carcajou Point is Important
The discoveries at Carcajou Point helped us learn a lot about the Oneota culture. The pottery found there was very special.
Unique Pottery and Culture
The pottery had unique curved designs and was made with crushed shells mixed into the clay. This type of pottery showed a clear connection to other important sites from the Middle Mississippian culture. Robert Hall used these findings to help define a specific group within the Oneota culture, which he called the Koshkonong Focus.
Dating Ancient Life
The site also provided the first radiocarbon dates for this area. Radiocarbon dating is a scientific way to find out how old something is. These dates were very helpful for archaeologists. They allowed them to create a timeline for the Oneota culture, showing when these people lived and how their culture changed over time.
