Although the site structure, with occupational debris spread along a lake margin, is very different from the classic circular villages of Bowen, Clampitt and Cox's Woods, the density of occupational debris indicates it was something more than a farmstead or hunting camp. In many ways, the situation of 12 Jo 289 is similar to that of Bundy-Voyles. The site is located in the floodplain of a major watercourse, Sugar Creek, about 100 meters east of the modern channel. Sugar Creek and the Big Blue River join to form the Driftwood River a little more than 2 km downriver from the site. The floodplain on the east side of the river is broad, but uplands are easily accessible just to the west of the river.
Sugar Creek is shallow and easily crossable near the site.
Thus, both upland and floodplain resources would have been readily available. Till Plain physiographic zone but is near the southern boundary of the Wisconsin glaciation and the Norman Upland physiographic zone. The soils in the area of the Sugar Creek-Big Blue confluence are complex and reflect the many channels cut through the area over the millennia. The site itself is located mostly on Fox series soils, with some interfingering by Genessee soils. Fox soils are well-drained, moderately deep soils over sand and gravelly loamy sand.