The Schmidt Site, also designated 20SA192, is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

located just south of the Cass River near

Bridgeport, Michigan Bridgeport is an unincorporated community in Bridgeport Charter Township, Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. The population was 7,849 at the 2000 census. Bridgeport ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1973.

History

The Schmidt Site was settled in the Archaic period, at a time approximately 6000 to 4000 years before the present.( The data suggest that the site was inhabited year-round over a number of years. The location of the Schmidt Site was first noted in modern times in the late 1950s. The first excavations were conducted by Bernard Spencer in 1962. In 1964, James Fitting from the

University of Michigan Museum of Natural History The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The museum recently moved to a new location at 1105 North University Avenue, in the University of Michigan Biological Sciences ...

continued the excavations. Work was continued in 1971 by Richard Mock of

Saginaw Valley State University Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) is a public university in University Center, Michigan in Saginaw County. It was founded in 1963 as Saginaw Valley College. It is located on in Saginaw County's Kochville Township, approximately north of ...

. It was revisited again in 1973 and 1977 by staff from

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. Stone, stone tools, and animal bones were recovered from the site, as well as charcoal.( The bones primarily represented deer, but fish bones were also recovered.

Description

The Schmidt Site is located on a rise just south of the Cass River, overlooking the marshy floodplain of the river. This rise would have been the shore of the prehistoric Lake Nippissing, or the earlier glacial

Lake Algonquin Lake Algonquin was a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed in east-central North America at the time of the last ice age. Parts of the former lake are now Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Nipigon, and Lake Nipissing ...

. The site itself borders an agricultural field, although much of the site has never been farmed. Material from the site is scattered about, covering an area of over 40 acres. Much was recovered from relatively deep

middens A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

References

External links

Images of Schmidt site artifacts
{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Saginaw County, Michigan Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan