Revisiting the mounds of Lake Benton: An archival and geospatial examination

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, several mounds were reported in the vicinity of Lake Benton, Minnesota. Accounts by Warren Upham and T.H. Lewis provided both complementary and conflicting accounts of these mounds, complicating our understanding and interpretation of the sites. This paper presents the results of a re-examination of the mounds, drawing on historical documentation, visual inspection, and modern geospatial methods to resolve some of the conflicting information. Consequently, we present an updated contextualization of the mounds as components of a broad cultural landscape surrounding Lake Benton. This research serves as a case study attesting to the importance of field reconnaissance and the review of Minnesota’s alpha sites using modern geospatial tools to provide information benefiting the archaeological record so that such sites can be better managed by Tribal members and cultural preservationists.