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Archaeology, WIS 57,
and the Door Peninsula

Beaudhuin Village Site

The Beaudhuin Village site was identified in 2000 during the archaeological survey of the WIS 57  project corridor. The site was situated on the southern slope of a large knoll, extending east of the old WIS 57 and west of Renard Creek. Investigations produced the over 270,000 artifacts and1,200 features (including house basins, pit features, and hearths or fireplaces).

North Bay Middle Woodland on the Door Peninsula

North Bay Middle Woodland groups lived on the Door Peninsula from A.D. 1 to A.D. 400. During the spring and summer months they hunted and fished from camps on the Door Peninsula shoreline and the western shores of Green Bay.

During the fall and winter months, North Bay people moved inland to hunt white-tail deer and small mammals. The Beaudhuin Village site is located well inland and appears to represent a fall and winter camp occupied about A.D. 200-300.

Overview photo of excavtion area		Photo of feature excavation

Lifeways at the Beaudhuin Village Site

North Bay potters produced some of the earliest pottery in northeast Wisconsin. The pots were large thick walled vessels tempered with coarsely crushed rock. These pots would heat slowly but hold heat for long periods. It is likely that these early pots were used to cook stews by dropping heated rocks in the pot to heat the contents.

Chipped Stone Technology

Archaeologists recovered a large number of chipped stone tools from the Beaudhuin Village site. Almost all were manufactured from locally available Maquoketa or Silurian chert. Chipped stone tools included projectile points, knives, scrapers, drills, and choppers. In addition to stone tools, the North Bay inhabitants of the Beaudhuin Village site produced awls, matting needles, and other items out of animal bone and native copper.

Subsistence

Animal and plant materials suggest that Beaudhuin Villagers  relied heavily on white-tailed deer as a dietary staple. Small mammal, fish, and bird bones were also present but in lower quantities. Plant remains included wild rice  as well as other edible plants.