Cote
Nom et localisation du dépôt
Niveau de description
Titre
Date(s)
- 1970s-2011 (Création/Production)
Importance matérielle
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Birk took an interest in the French presence in Minnesota early in his career, stemming from early projects for the MHS including testing at the site of Fort Saint Charles in 1974. As early as 1982, probably inspired by the discovery of 21MO20, Birk began considering a "major study" of French activities in the region that would synthesize archaeological investigations at various fort sites with the written historical record. Birk gathered material for this study throughout the 1980s and 1990s and published multiple articles and studies of limited scope with the intent of incorporating them as eventual book chapters in the larger study. By the late 1990s this planned study had the working title "The History and Archaeology of the French Regime in Minnesota." Birk seems to have worked on this project only sporadically following the collapse of the IMA and no extensive draft of the final manuscript is known.
Portée et contenu
This large series includes fieldwork from the sites of various French era forts in Minnesota and Wisconsin, artifact studies, and extensive copies of primary and secondary source material. Birk built this series throughout his career and the records span from the early 1970s to the early 2000s. Secondary sources are particularly well represented, with many copies of conference papers and articles as well as an extensive set of index cards referencing published works. Links exist between the topics covered in this series and multiple other series in group 2, including series 6: fur trade artifacts, series 7: fur trade journals, and series 10: LEHP sites.