Old Copper Culture
Old Copper Culture refers to a subtradition of the Lake Forest Late Archaic culture that emerged around 3000 BCE in the region encompassing the Great Lakes, New York State, and the St. Lawrence River valley. This culture is notable for its utilization of local copper deposits, particularly in areas like northeast Wisconsin and the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. The inhabitants crafted a variety of tools and decorative items from copper, such as knives, spearheads, fishing hooks, and personal adornments, showcasing their advanced metalworking skills. The artifacts created by the Old Copper peoples reveal similarities to the slate tools used by their contemporaries, indicating a shared lifestyle among these communities.
As the Old Copper Culture evolved, burial practices grew more elaborate, often featuring red ochre and copper items as significant grave goods, which reflected the social status of the deceased. The trade of copper artifacts extended throughout the eastern Woodlands, highlighting their value in interregional exchanges. However, by around 700 BCE, the availability of copper diminished, leading to the decline of this cultural practice. Despite its disappearance, some traditional copper working persisted until European fur traders arrived in the area in the mid-17th century. Understanding the Old Copper Culture provides valuable insights into the technological advancements and social structures of prehistoric North American societies.
Old Copper Culture
Category: Prehistoric tradition
Date: c. 3000-700 b.c.e.
Location: Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Culture affected: Late Archaic
Approximately 3000 b.c.e., there appeared in the region from the Great Lakes to New York State and in the St. Lawrence River valley a culture known as Lake Forest Late Archaic. Within that cultural tradition, there was a subtradition known as Old Copper. In a few areas of the world, native outcroppings of relatively pure copper occur at or near the surface of the earth. One of those areas includes the Brule River basin of northeast Wisconsin, the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, and part of the northern shore of Lake Superior and its Isle Royale.
Approximately 3000 b.c.e., natives of that area began to exploit these natural copper resources and a wide variety of western Lake Forest peoples continued to use those resources for more than two thousand years, and even to some extent until the arrival of white fur-traders in the area after 1650 c.e. The copper was used to make a wide variety of items. These included axe and adze blades, gouges, ulus (curved blade knives), wood-splitting wedges, and many types of awls. Fishhooks and gorges, and even gaffs for landing the catch, have also been found. Most common in the early period were the socketed and tanged spearheads and arrow points and barbed harpoons of a hunting culture. Though made of a very different and usually superior material, these copper items bear a striking resemblance to the slate tools of the Lake Forest peoples. It is almost certain that the lifestyles of the groups were very similar.
The Old Copper peoples learned to quarry the relatively pure copper sheets and nuggets from under moderately thin layers of soil. They then heated the copper, just as stone was sometimes heated prior to chipping. The copper then would be hammered into the shapes desired. Since many of the recovered designs are quite delicate, the technical ability of the Old Copper metal workers must have been quite skillful. Finally, the material would be annealed—slowly cooled, probably in water to increase strength and reduce brittleness. Alternate heating and cooling, up to three or four times, renders copper quite useful.
The Old Copper culture exhibited one of the best evidences of transition from the Late Archaic period to the Early Woodland after 2000 b.c.e. Burial practices became much more elaborate, including a characteristic use of red ochre to cover the burial materials. This type of burial spread throughout the eastern United States, including to the celebrated Adena culture of Ohio. Copper axes and adzes became common burial items, and thousands of copper beads indicate personal decoration was quite important. These copper items were spread throughout the eastern Woodlands areas by trade routes that dominated that society. When the copper items appeared outside the immediate Old Copper area, they were highly prized, and the appearance of copper burial items is one of the best indications of the social prominence of the person being buried.
After about 700 b.c.e., the amounts of readily available copper decreased and the Old Copper subculture disappeared. Some items, however, were still being made of copper when the fur trade first reached the Lake Superior area in the 1650’s.