OCONTO – On Thursday, Nov. 13, ancient artifact collector Richard Carey of Oconto was awarded the 2025 Historic Preservation Award by the Oconto County Historical Society at their annual meeting.
Carey has long been a supporter of the Copper Culture Museum, and this year alone has contributed over 40 ancient copper and stone artifacts to the museum. He believes that by making his amazing collection available for view to the greater community, he ensures that it will be kept together at the Museum in perpetuity. Carey shared that he likes knowing that the collection is there for anyone interested in knowing more about these Menominee ancestors and students studying the earliest known metal working by Native Americans in the western hemisphere.
The Copper Culture Museum at Copper Culture State Park is one of three museums operated under the auspices of the Oconto County Historical Society.
The Oconto (archaeological) Site, which the Copper Culture State Park boundary protects, is radiocarbon (C14) dated from 6,000 to 5,000 years old. Metal detecting is not allowed in Wisconsin State Parks.
The Oconto Site is one of only 6 such sites and is the only site with a museum dedicated to telling the story of these early metallurgists. The Old Copper Complex, as it is now referred to by archaeologists, ranged across the upper 3 Great Lakes Region from 9,000 to 5,000 years ago.
The earliest known piece of copper found in Wisconsin thus far (with datable embedded hardwood) is radiocarbon dated 8,500 years old.
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