Welcome to the
Minnesota Archaeological Society
MAS invites you to share with us exciting discoveries from Minnesota’s past.
Cover photo of Jeffers Petroglyphs courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
Welcome to our website
The Society, established in 1936, is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of archaeological resources in the Upper Midwest. All persons with an interest in archaeology – those just beginning to explore the field as well as avocational archaeologists and professionals – are welcome. MAS members volunteer their time and energy to participate in Society programs, helping to protect Minnesota’s rich heritage and learning something about themselves in the process.
Bound by Earth: Archaeology in Minnesota
Watch the documentary below and download lesson plans on our resources page
Bound by Earth: Archaeology in Minnesota focuses on the science and new technology archaeologists use to uncover and preserve archaeological resources in a non-invasive way, and how remaining evidence, such as Indian burial mounds, are still significant to Native people today. Produced in partnership with the Minnesota Archaeological Society with funding from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Letter from the President
July 2023
The letter from the MAS President is intended as a vehicle to inform the general
membership of the Minnesota Archaeological Society of recent Board of Directors
activities. The following is a brief recap of the events, discussions, and decisions that
transpired during the past quarter and future plans.
Volume 80 of the Minnesota Archaeologist was sent out in August and is a general volume
on Minnesota Archaeology. We are working on editing Volume 81 which will be a memorial
volume to Doug Birk. There are seven great articles that highlight Minnesota Archaeology in
the spirit of Doug Birk. Danielle Kiesow, the Editor of the Minnesota Archaeologist, has
now completed her fifth volume since joining the editorial board and fourth volume as Sr.
Editor. We would like to thank her for her leadership as editor of our journal
Mike Nowack is stepping down this year after four years of being the MAS treasurer. Mike
has done an outstanding job, transitioning the role of treasurer to fully utilize on-line
banking management tools and reporting. We would like to thank Mike for the great job he
has done as treasurer. Replacing Mike will be Justin Olson who has been on our board
serving in outreach and awards committee. As part of the transition, we had an audit of the
books conducted by past President, Walt Grivna and audit team member Jessie Sauer. They
concluded our books, and the role of treasurer are in great shape to pass on to Justin Olson.
Thank you to Walt and Jessie for conducting the audit.
We had two events this summer. We co-sponsored an event with the Houston County
Historical Society that focused on southeastern Minnesota Archaeology. Tom Trow had a
talk on the Grand Meadow Chert quarry. MAS had a table for membership and a display of
southern Minnesota lithic raw materials. MAS representatives got a chance to talk with two
dozen local artifact collectors about the importance of maintaining the provenience of their
finds and working with archaeologists to document their finds. MAS also co-sponsored the
Pine City Knapp-in and Copper Pound with the Minnesota Historical Society and The
Northern Lakes Archaeological Society. There were demonstrations of copper tool
manufacturing by Northern Lakes President, Larry Furo. Other stations included atlatl
throwing, pottery making, trade axes and of course flint knapping.
September will be Archaeology Month. MAS will participate in Archaeology Day events at,
Fort Snelling, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Jeffers Petroglyphs and Mille Lacs Kathio
State Park, please follow us on Facebook and our website for event specific news.
September will also be our MAS annual meeting which will be held on Friday September
22nd, at the Minnesota Historical Societies Archaeology offices at the Kellogg Center.
Thank you to Jennifer Rankin and Mandy Wintheiser for stepping forward to plan and
organize Minnesota Archaeology Month.
We will be presenting the 2023 Hill Lewis award at the annual meeting in September. This
year’s recipient is Great Lakes explorer and historian Randy Beebe. Randy has discovered
and documented several Great Lakes shipwrecks and has done numerous talks about his
research on the Great Lakes shipping
MAS lectures have become a virtual gathering point for our community to discuss regional
archaeology topics. Thanks to Michael Michlovic for planning and Mandy Wintheiser for
moderating these meetings. In January, David Briese gave a virtual tour of the Jeffers
Petroglyph site. In April, Katie Mulrude gave a talk on Cambria Ceramics and Community.
Please check or you tube channel for these archived meetings. Follow Facebook and our
website for future programs.
Dan Wendt
President