| Sand dunes commonly occur along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Most of these dunes occur in large fields that are prominent on topographic maps and aerial photographs. A variety of much smaller dune fields also occur, however, which have yet to be studied, thus their history is largely unknown. This study fills a portion of that void by focusing on a small dune field at the Antrim Creek Natural Area in northwest Lower Michigan. The goal of the study is to reconstruct the geomorphic evolution of the dunes within the context of an emerging geoarchaeological model associated with coastal dunes.;Geomorphic analyses indicate that the dunes at Antrim Creek consist of three foredunes with distinct ridge and swale topography. In order to determine the age of these dunes, OSL samples were taken from each dune crest in a study transect across the field. Results indicate that dune formation began after 1900 ka. Previous archaeological research on the dunes yielded artifacts associated with the Late Woodland (1500-400 cal. yrs. BP) and possibly Late Archaic (∼4000-2000 cal. yrs. BP) periods. This study is a contribution to the developing geoarchaeological model of coastal dunes because it suggests that Late Woodland and younger sites may be preserved in small foredune complexes, whereas Archaic sites are not. |
