Younge Site

About this property

The Younge Site is an archeological site located in Goodland Township, Lapeer County, Michigan. It is classified as a prehistoric Late Woodland site and was designated as a Michigan State Historic Site on October 29, 1971. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 29, 1976. The Younge Site is located on a level plain about a mile wide, near Imlay Channel, a tributary of Mill Creek, which is a branch of the Black River, emptying into Lake Huron. The site itself spans about three acres, and contains remnants of two separate enclosures. A preliminary excavation of the site was completed in 1934 by W. B. Hinsdale. This proved promising, and more extensive excavations were completed the next year by Emerson Greenman of the University of Michigan. Almost thirty years later, James Fitting did a pottery typology and Late Woodland cultural chronology for southeast Michigan based on findings at Younge and other sites. The remains of two enclosures were found, each made from poles set into the ground. One was about 585 feet long and 25–30 feet wide. The second was 252 feet long and 25 to 30 feet wide. Both contained human burials, pit features and fireplaces, plant and animal remains, and prehistoric artifacts dating to the Late Woodland period. 88 pits were excavated along with several fireplaces. Three of the pits contained the remains of maize. Some of the crania had drilled perforations (2) or removal of circular discs from the cranium (7) On some specimens, the leg bones were also modified to support the body when suspended from a pole in an ossuary, which was observed—although not firsthand—in the accounts of the earliest European settlers. Based on the locations of burials within enclosures, and the presence of grave goods with some of the skeletons, it was suggested that the structures were part of a burial ceremony similar to those observed in the Huron tribe in early Historic times (i.e. the Huron Feast of the Dead). Remains from several species were found in the pits or in the topsoil. They were not quantified in the site report but the main species present were beaver, marten, red fox, muskrat, wild turkey, walleyed pike, largemouth black bass and several species of mussel. These remains were not modified into tools like the bone tools described in the Artifacts section below, and may be considered food remains. Plant remains were not systematically collected in the excavations. However, the remains of maize were recovered from 3 of the pits, indicating agriculture was practiced at the site. Pottery (1,500 sherds) – described in detail below

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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