An Experimental Analysis of Great Lakes Archaic Copper Smithing

Abstract

The Copper Complex of the Great Lakes region produced a number of innovative technical approaches to the utilization of native copper. Copper as a resource for functional tooling achieved popularity around 3000 B.C., during the Middle Archaic Stage. The focus of copper working seems to have gradually shifted from functional tools to ornamental objects by the Late Archaic Stage c. 1200 B.C. This article is based on the author's undergraduate senior thesis. It was designed to approximate the working environment and tool array available to Native smiths and documented the visual and audial cues that allowed them to successfully work copper into tool and ornamental forms. For the experiment native float copper pieces were heated in a hardwood fire, and worked with a stone hammer and anvil. The weight of each piece was taken before and after forging in order to garner some estimate of material loss during forging. Additionally, the research provided a lexicon of terms more appropriate to the discussion of metal-working and its processes.

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