Kent E Bakken

Narrative

Kent Bakken works primarily in the American Upper Midwest, and has some experience in the eastern US, Great Britain and Denmark.  Over the last several years his research has focused on lithic raw material resources in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, and on understanding raw material distributions in a glaciated landscape.  He is presently working on a model that examines changes in raw material use patterns in Minnesota and adjacent areas over the course of about 11,000 years.  Bakken originated the Elliot Park Neighborhood Archaeology Project, a publicly-oriented project that involves community residents in the excavation of urban historic sites in their own neighborhood.  He is also involved in the Mill Ruins Park public archaeology project, an initiative of the city of Minneapolis aimed at involving the public in the excavation of a part of the historic flour milling district along the Mississippi River.