The Stone Quarry Cottage Site: Mid-Nineteenth-Century Settlement on Grand Island

Abstract

Archaeological testing was recently conducted at the Stone Quarry Cottage Site on Grand Island, Michigan. The site is a mid-nineteenth-century homestead situated on the shore of Lake Superior. The recent rehabilitation of the cabin by the United States Forest Service allowed the placement of archaeological excavation units within the footprint of the cabin. The site has produced a distinct pattern of artifact deposition that has provided baseline data for ongoing studies of the mid-nineteenthcentury settlement on the island. Despite its provisional nature, the data generated at the Stone Quarry Cottage identified patterns of site occupation reflecting domestic and transient use of this site, for the island as a whole, and possibly for other nineteenthcentury frontier settings. This paper outlines the results of the archaeological testing and offers a discussion concerning the interpretation of the site.