Comment by topspin
4 days ago
"Weeds" are likely to be the main reason the topography was preserved. Without the plant roots fixing the soil in place, these sites would have washed away.
The surviving patches are small: 10's of meters on a side. The title language and figures cited make it appear this was a large scale farm operation. Instead, it looks like a collection of household farms scattered around the bottomland.
And while this is the UP of Michigan, it's actually at the southern-most point of the UP, right on the 45th parallel. It's not Florida, but it's also not exactly the Arctic either: the growing season is months shorter, but it does exist, there is ample precipitation, and the soil is often excellent. There are many farms operating at this latitude and further north today, although not much further north.
it would have been slash and burn agriculture to start, so there is the likelyhood of fiding artifacts assosiated with charcoal and other evidence, as these people were probably hunter/farmer/gatherers a particular tool kit is going to be definitive, hunting ,fishing and birding points, wood and hide tools, plus agricultural tools, picks, shovles, and hoes,and cythe blades that show up in early agriculture elsewhere with layers of identifiable pitholiths still adhering to them......possibly allready found, but missidentified. also living at the 45'th parallel does require substansial winter prep and strurdy housing as it's still frozen solid for months every winter