Editing History of Minnesota (section)

=== Prehistory ===
The oldest known human remains in Minnesota, dating back about 9,000 years ago,{{sfn|Radzilowski|2006|p= 15}} were discovered near [[Browns Valley, Minnesota|Browns Valley]] in 1933. "Browns Valley Man" was found with tools of the [[Clovis Point|Clovis]] and [[Folsom point|Folsom]] types.{{sfn|Anfinson|1997|pp=30–32}} Some of the earliest evidence of a sustained presence in the area comes from a site known as [[Bradbury Brook]] near [[Mille Lacs Lake]] which was used around 7500 BC.{{failed verification|date=March 2022}}<ref>{{cite web | work=TimePieces | title= 9,200 years ago: Work site| url=http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=577 | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society | access-date=February 17, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221115122/http://events.mnhs.org/Timepieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=577|archive-date=February 21, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Subsequently, extensive trading networks developed in the region. The body of an early resident known as "[[Minnesota Woman]]" was discovered in 1931 in [[Otter Tail County, Minnesota|Otter Tail County]]. [[Radiocarbon dating]] places the age of the bones approximately 8000 years ago, approximately 7890 ±70 [[Before Present|BP]]{{failed verification|date=March 2022}}<ref>{{cite web | publisher=University of Minnesota Department of Anthropology | url=http://anthropology.umn.edu/labs/wlnaa/history/academic.html |title=Academics Archaeology, 1932 to the 1970s}}</ref> or near the end of the Eastern [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic period]]. She had a conch shell from a snail species known as ''[[Busycon|Busycon perversa]]'', which had previously only been known to exist in Florida.<ref>{{cite web | work=TimePieces |title= By 8,600 years ago: Trade | url=http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=533 | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society | access-date=February 17, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041106001141/http://events.mnhs.org/Timepieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=533|archive-date=November 6, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several hundred years later, the climate of Minnesota warmed significantly. As large animals such as [[mammoths]] became extinct, native people changed their diet. They gathered nuts, berries, and vegetables, and they hunted smaller animals such as deer, bison, and birds. The stone tools found from this era became smaller and more specialized to use these new food sources. They also devised new techniques for catching fish, such as fish hooks, nets, and harpoons.<ref>{{cite web | work=TimePieces |title= 8,000 years ago: Warmth| url=http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=559 | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society | access-date=March 25, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041107160502/http://events.mnhs.org/Timepieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=559|archive-date=November 7, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref> Around 5000 BC, people on the shores of [[Lake Superior]] (in Minnesota and portions of what is now Michigan, Wisconsin, and Canada) were the first on the continent to begin making metal tools. Pieces of ore with high concentrations of copper were initially pounded into a rough shape, heated to reduce brittleness, pounded again to refine the shape, and reheated. Edges could be made sharp enough to be useful as knives or spear points.<ref>{{cite web | work=TimePieces |title= 7,000 years ago: Copper| url=http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=554 | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society | access-date=February 17, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050105225516/http://events.mnhs.org/Timepieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=554|archive-date=January 5, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref>