Humans inhabited the area which is now northern Iowa and southern Minnesota for at least 11,000 years.  During this time the area experienced profound climatic and ecological changes. The influence of these environmental changes on human inhabitants has been a matter of considerable and unresolved debate. Analysis of artifacts found in this area provides information that suggests these environmental changes coincided with dramatic cultural changes and thus had a significant influence on the region's ihabitants. Evidence suggests that population levels were also affected by environmental shifts. Evidence of this comes from an archaeological analysis of the extensive artifact collection of the late Owen Johnson, from the region. Although I currently live in Alaska, I was born and reared in southern Minnesota and have maintained a lifelong passion for the archaeology of my home. The Owen Johnson Artifact Collection Owen Johnson collected Indian artifacts from southern Minnesota and northern Iowa for over fifty years. He was a rural mail carrier from Albert Lea, Minnesota. Mr. Johnson surface hunted for artifacts mostly along lakeshores within fifty miles of Albert Lea. In 1975 Mr. Johnson donated his collection to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which had built an interpretive center for the collection at Myre-Big Island State Park, just east of Albert Lea. The collection numbers over 28,000 artifacts. Each was numbered and cataloged, based on where it was found.  The analysis was conducted by the Archaeological Department of the Minnesota Historical Society. This analysis included measuring, classifying, and identifying raw materials and cataloging each artifact in the collection. The collection included over 6000 projectile points, of which 4000 were classified into 105 different types (Clouse, 1992). This was the largest private collection analysis project ever undertaken in Minnesota.   Information from this analysis provides evidence on changing cultural patterns and population levels corresponding to significant environmental changes.  It also provides information on cultural influences from other geographical areas.   12,000-9,000 Years Before Present,  Climate and Ecology  The Des Moines lobe of the Wisconsin glacier which covered the area around Albert Lea began to recede about 14,000 years ago, and by 12,500 years ago the area was ice free. As the ice retreated, it was followed by a narrow band of tundra inhabited by woolly mammoth, musk ox and caribou. The tundra was soon replaced by a boreal forest of spruce, tamarack and sedge.

Paleo points, top: Clovis point and a Holcombe point, from Houston and Fillmore Counties in Minnesota. Below: Maynes Creek (Agate Basin variant) from Worth County, Iowa and a Plainview point from Fillmore County, Minnesota. >Page15>