Oconto County Historical Society
Spring Meeting
Thursday, May 13, 2010
7:00, p. m.
Oconto City Hall
 
    The Oconto County Historical Society will host its Spring Meeting Thursday, May 13, 2010, at 7:00, p.m., at Oconto's City Hall, 1210 Main Street, Oconto.
    Guest speaker will be Dave Overstreet who will present a program on his archeological work for the Menominee Tribe.  Investigations begun on the Menominee Reservation in 1999 provided impetus for new interpretations of late prehistoric communities found there.  Following initial work at the Joe Dick Road site, survey and testing efforts were expanded to include the Big Eddy, Sepaxticum and Katkwatch and other localities.  All appear to represent substantial summer agricultural villages and include groups of linear and conical mounds, garden beds, and storage facilities.  Both shell tempered (Mero complex) wares and cordmarked grit-tempered pottery (Point Sauble Collared) are found at these sites. Investigations have expanded into Oconto and Marinette Counties and fit well with several sites located in Forest, Florence, and Vilas counties and the perceived pattern is widespread, extending into Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Many questions remain--absolute chronology is not precise and radiocarbon dates range from approximately A.D. 1000-1500; ethnic affiliation is uncertain; reasons for a population collapse on the verge of historic contact is not fully understood.
    Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to attend this event.