ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA RECOVERY AT 47GT0693 (BEND IN THE CREEK SITE), USH 151 CORRIDOR (BELMONT TO DICKEYVILLE), GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN

In April through October of 2004, Great Lakes Archaeological Research Center, Inc. conducted Phase I and II archaeological evaluations and Phase III data recovery operations at the Bend in the Creek site (47GT693) on behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Federal Highways Administration as part of the reconstruction of USH 151, Dickeyville to Belmont, Grant and Lafayette counties, Wisconsin (WisDOT Project ID #1209-02-00). This archaeological investigation was conducted in conjunction with the Phase III excavation of the nearby Kieler I site (47GT593).
Over 12,000 artifacts were recovered from the site, most during the Phase III component. The vast majority of this cultural assemblage consisted of lithic waste flakes,most of those of local Galena chert. Formal and informal chipped stone tools, ground stone tools, fl oral and faunal material, and a very small amount of prehistoric pottery were recovered. Based on the projectile point assemblage, repeated site occupations occurred between the Early Archaic (8000/5500 BC – 4000 BC) and the Early Woodland (500 BC – AD 100). These occupations were likely limited to short-term logistical camps.

Following the Phase III excavations, the Bend in the Creek site was largely obliterated by the USH 151 reconstruction process.