Patina

Paul Schanen first became drawn to the prehistoric peoples of Wisconsin as a teenager, when he found his first projectile point at age 15. In the decades since, he has searched for and recorded archaeological sites across the state. While studying anthropology and geography at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, he examined and preserved thousands of artifacts, among them a broad range of Old Copper Culture pieces.

Schanen later co-wrote Native American Artifacts of Wisconsin, which devoted only a short chapter to copper objects. That limited coverage convinced him the subject needed a far deeper investigation, and Patina is the fuller study that grew out of that effort.