Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1960s-2015 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Biographical history
Doug Birk’s investigations of mounds in Minnesota began in the 1970s but was renewed in the early 1980s when he and Elden Johnson became interested in new, non-destructive methods of studying mounds. Birk continued work on mounds throughout the 1990s and beyond with many other colleagues. Areas with mounds covered by this series include Cass, Morrison, LeSueur, Aitkin, Carlton, Koochiching, St. Louis, Itasca and Crow Wing Counties; Mississippi Headwaters; Pillager Gap; Pine River; Mille Lacs; Various lakes such as Gull, Leech, Cross, Norway and Rice; Also Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Records include IMA mound investigations; project planning material; various articles in relation to mounds; archaeological reports; site, survey, inventory and National Register forms; pamphlets; early mound observations by J. V. Brower and personal accounts; maps, slides and photos; memos, notes and newspaper clippings; and Aborigines of Minnesota sources. Additionally, there are material that do not relate directly to mounds including Minnesota History magazines, Indian fish trap sources, excavation methods essays, and Minnesota shipwreck studies.