Each year, archeologists from the National Park Service's Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, unearth the buried past of prehistoric visitors to the Indiana Dunes. These professional archeologists have found projectile points, pottery fragments, scrapers, fire cracked rock and other materials during annual investigations associated with park construction or demolition activities. Under the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act, the park is required to consider the effects of federal actions on archeological sites to encourage their preservation. "The destruction of an archeological site can be compared to removing a page from a book, making it more difficult to understand the complete story," wrote Mark Lynott, MWAC chief. "If enough archeological sites are lost, reconstruction of past events and cultural patterns may be impossible."

The national lakeshore contains more than 240 known archeological sites. The earliest artifacts found in the park were projectile points dating from the Late Paleoindian period (8,800 to 8,400 BC). Late Paleoindian sites in the Great Lakes suggest a focus on hunting large game such as caribou and bison. The more sedentary, trade-oriented and ceremonial society of hunter-gatherers of the Archaic Period traversed the national lakeshore between 7000 and 1000 BC, leaving some notched projectile points behind. People of the Woodland Tradition (1,000 BC to the historic period) left the greatest known archeological mark on the park, including many fragments of earthenware pottery. Woodland people led an even more sedentary lifestyle than their predecessors with elaborate burial customs (mound construction) and movement toward an agricultural economy.

Late 17th century contact between native people, French fur traders and early explorers preceded European settlement of Northwest Indiana. In 1822 British Canadian fur trader Joseph Bailly purchased a tract of land on the south shore of Lake Michigan along the Little Calumet River near the Great Sauk Trail now within national lakeshore boundaries. The 19th century removal of the Miami and Potawatomi from Northwest Indiana plus a series of treaties and land cessions favored establishment of the Bailly Homestead. Several archeological studies at the Bailly Homestead, a National Historic Landmark, have shed some light on the Bailly history. For example, the few early to mid 19th century transfer printed ceramics collected at the site indicate that the Bailly family was prosperous but not wealthy, according to archeologists. In addition, studies conducted at the homestead have revealed the presence of buried features including remnants from a well house, windmill, and many brick walkways.

Each year archeologists continue to probe the archeological record of Indiana Dunes, one shovel at a time.

Links to other information:

NPS Archeology

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

Indiana Historical Society

Indiana SHPO

Midwest Archeological Center