New Bridge Reveals Prehistoric Shakopee

For eons, the Minnesota River valley has been a hive of activity for humans. Now, a new bridge project connecting Shakopee to Chaska is revealing pieces of the area's prehistoric past.

According to the Chanhassen Villager, a team of archaeologists has been combing the areas construction crews will later dig up to make the foundations of a new Highway 101 bridge. In the process, they've made some very significant finds. Because the area has been little disturbed by plows and other human digging, the tools, pottery, and spearpoints found during the dig exist within a much more complete archaeological context.

The finds come from a range of eras, from 6000 B.C. to around 800 B.C. A small amount of pottery found provides clues to how people were living on in the area between 700 and 1000 A.D., as well.

The paper quotes archaeologists who paint a picture of native groups living in the Minnesota Valley bottom 7,000 years ago as a hive of activity, including hunting, gathering, and interacting with other native groups from as far away as Wisconsin.

Read the rest in the Chanhassen Villager

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