ILLINOISARCHAEOLOGICAL
SURVEY
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ILLINOIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY |
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| Midwest Archaeological Research Services, Inc. - MARS | Illinois Transportation Research Program - ITARP |
Cantonment Wilkinson (Helm) Site, Pulaski County, Illinois
Mark J. Wagner
Staff Archaeologist
Center for Archaeological Investigations
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
The CAI has been conducting archival and archaeological investigations into Cantonment Wilkinson (1801-1802) for the past two years through funding received from the Library of Congress (2003) and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (2004). Cantonment Wilkinson was a large U.S. Army base located in what is now Pulaski County from January, 1801, to April, 1802. “Cantonments” essentially were large temporary camps that lacked stockade or fortification walls. At its peak, Cantonment Wilkinson was the largest military base in the country containing approximately 1,500 Infantry, Artillery, and Dragoon (i.e., cavalry) soldiers. The cantonment had its inception in a late 1790s diplomatic crisis between the United States and France. The French had begun seizing American ships on the high seas and it appeared that all-out war was imminent. In response, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton developed a plan for a large American military base or cantonment in the Ohio River valley. Once the war started, troops from this “Reserve Corps” would move into the Mississippi River Valley and capture the river and New Orleans and from the Spanish who were expected to ally themselves with the French. General James Wilkinson was put in charge of this operation despite rumors that he was a traitor in the pay of the Spanish. Wilkinson ordered smaller posts such as Ft. Massac to be abandoned and added their garrisons to the Reserve Corps.
The crisis ended in late 1799 with the signing of a treaty between the U.S. and France. Despite this, ardent federalists such as Alexander Hamilton still hoped for war and plans for the cantonment continued. The first troops arrived at Cantonment Wilkinson in early January, 1801, and immediately began constructing log huts for shelter. According to an 1803 traveler’s account of the by then abandoned cantonment it contained “2 of 3 hundred logged houses…built for our army in regular streets as a post or place of arms”. As this description indicates, the cantonment essentially was a large camp of huts and other buildings used by the Army. The camp lacked a stockade wall with the boundaries of the camp instead patrolled by sentinels. Other features of the cantonment included quarter master supply buildings, hospital, bakery, brick works, powder magazine, commanding officer’s quarters, vegetable gardens, parade grounds, and a boat yard.
The cantonment reached its peak strength in summer, 1801, when it contained approximately 1,500 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians including laundresses, nurses, sutlers (i.e., peddlers), and boat men. During this same time a deadly illness struck the cantonment with a reported 70 soldiers dying from what appears to have been a combination of malaria and dysentery. These soldiers and the base commander Colonel David Strong, who died of an unrelated illness, were buried in the cantonment cemetery, the location of which is now unknown. The majority of the troops moved to the mouth of the Tennessee River following Colonel Strong’s death with Major Jonathon Williams, a grand-nephew of Benjamin Franklin and the later founder of West Point and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, left in charge of approximately 70 soldiers including those sick who could not be moved. The 2nd Infantry troops at the mouth of the Tennessee River returned to the cantonment in the fall of 1801, raising the garrison strength to approximately 800 men. Final abandonment of the cantonment appears to have occurred in April, 1802, following the election of Thomas Jefferson and his subsequent reduction in size of the U.S. Army. Following the departure of the last of the soldiers, approximately 200 Cherokee occupied the abandoned cantonment buildings for several years. These buildings appear to have gradually collapsed or been destroyed for their wood although scattered accounts exist that indicate the Cherokee burned the buildings. The last known account of still-standing structures at the abandoned cantonment dates to 1817. After that, the abandoned cantonment became the site of a small settlement named Wilkinsonville consisting of no more than a few buildings that appeared on maps throughout the early nineteenth century.
Work conducted by the CAI in 2003 succeeded in locating a field overlooking the Ohio River (which we subsequently designated the Helm site) that contained an extensive brick scatter that we interpreted as representing the plow-scattered remains of chimneys and hearths similar to those associated with early nineteenth century U.S. Army buildings at nearby Ft. Massac. In addition, controlled surface collection of a small area of the site as well as the excavation of sixteen 1 x 1 m units recovered small quantities of early nineteenth century nails, window glass, olive green bottle glass, possible creamware ceramics, a lead pistol ball, and a French-made gunflint. The unit investigations failed, however, to locate any intact subsurface features, raising the possibility that all structural remains had been destroyed and that the site now existed only as an artifact scatter within the plow zone. Although we assigned two feature numbers (features 1 and 2), both proved to be natural root stains upon excavation. Although we failed to find any subsurface features, the age and types of artifacts recovered by the 2003 investigations led us to conclude that the Helm site indeed did represent part of the remains of Cantonment Wilkinson.
We returned to the cantonment site in spring, 2004, to excavate two test units for inclusion in a video documentary that SIU-TV is producing on the archaeology and rebuilding of nearby Ft. Massac. One of these units, which was placed in the area of an artifact scatter identified in the field the previous summer, encountered a large intact refuse-filled feature that contained large amounts of brick and other items (Figure 1). The recovery of a bayonet socket and pewter uniform buttons conclusively identified the feature as being associated with the 1801-1802 cantonment. Upon being notified of this discovery, IHPA provided funding for the complete excavation of the feature and analysis of its content. Hand excavation of the feature (feature 3) revealed that it was a large refuse-filled basin that had been repeatedly used for burning. The feature contained thousands of broken bricks, leading us to surmise that it may have been filled with brick shattered by the tornado that heavily damaged the post in early 1801 (Figure 2). The feature also contained large amounts of broken animal bone, broken ceramics, gunflints, uniform buttons, and other items. This feature may represent a trash pit intentionally dug by the soldiers to dispose of trash during the fall of 1801. A fragmentary order book for the post, now housed at Indiana State University, contains repeated orders for the soldiers to sweep the post of trash once a week. The trash was to be discarded at the edges of the post or, if there was too much, the soldiers were to dig pits and burn the trash.
A rectangular feature (feature 4) that also showed evidence of repeated burning also was discovered less than 2 m south of feature 3 (Figure 3). In contrast to that feature, feature 4 contained clusters of broken dishes and other items that appeared to have been discarded into the feature in a single episode (Figure 4).
Following the excavation of features 3 and 4, IHPA provided additional funding for a magnetometer survey of that part of the site surrounding the two features (Figure 5). Conducted by Mike Hargrave, this survey succeeded in locating an additional five cantonment-related features. These features are distributed in an east-west alignment which suggests that they may represent the remains of a series of structures and other facilities once located along one of the streets of the cantonment. Two of the features (5 and 8) represent square to rectangular cellars once located beneath log buildings that extended from 1.4-1.5 m beneath the present ground surface (Figure 5). Partial excavation of both features revealed that they had been intentionally filled with architectural and domestic refuse after having been abandoned (Figure 6). Both features also contained evidence of multiple burning episodes, indicating that the abandoned cellars had been used for burning refuse.
Other features located by the magnetometer survey and completely excavated included a large oval basin (feature 6) similar to feature 3 that appeared to have been used for the discarding and burning of trash generated on the post (Figure 7), a hearth (feature 7a), and a rectangular shallow feature (7b) that also showed evidence of burning.
The most significant discoveries made by the 2004 investigations include that they revealed that intact military-related features from the 1801-1802 cantonment still exist at the site; that these features consist of several different types including deep cellars (features 5 and 8), large oval refuse-filled basins (features 3 and 6); a hearth (feature 7a); and two rectangular features (4 and 7b) that originally may have represented shallow cellars under sheds or outbuildings; and that these features were filled with large amounts of architectural, domestic (figure 9), and military (Figure 10) debris that can provide information on the daily lives of the soldiers who occupied this post for 18 months in 1801 and 1802. The discovery of the 1801-1802 cantonment features is particularly important in that some of the soldiers at the post were drawn from nearby Ft. Massac and returned to that post once the cantonment had been abandoned . As such, the Cantonment Wilkinson features can provide information on the lives of U.S. Army personnel that can be used to help interpret Ft. Massac during the American period (1795-1814) of its occupation. One such example is that the cantonment features contain large quantities of faunal remains, a type of information that no longer exists for Ft. Massac if it ever was collected in the first place,. that can be used to reconstruct the diet of 1801-1802 U.S. Army soldiers on the
This year the Shawnee National Forest is again hosting a conservation education day camp entitled Camp "I, too, am America." It is designed to raise the awareness of school children on the fragility of archaeological resources, teach them the correct methods in recovering archaeological information, and what we can learn from the recovered artifacts. In the process the also get to learn a whole lot about the local history of the area including the Underground Railroad in southern Illinois. Although the target audience is underserved populations, all school or 4-H groups are encouraged and welcome to participate. The work is accomplished through a Challenge Cost Share agreement with the University of Illinois Extension Service, through which a history interpreter is hired. The entire Forest Heritage Staff is involved in instructing the students, including SCEP, STEP, HACU, and HBCUCP students. Part of making sure the kids a have memorable time includes keeping them safe from poisonous snakes, ticks and poison ivy. We go through gallons of Tecnu! History lessons include hiking to Underground Railroad hideouts like Sand Cave and signal bluffs like Crow Knob. High atop Crow Knob or deep in Sand Cave, they learn how the Underground Railroad operated, who helped fugitive slaves and how Miller Grove, Sand Cave and Crow knob fit into the larger picture. They hear about actual runaways who traveled through the area, how they traveled and what wild food resources were available to them in southern Illinois. Hiking through two of more than 80 designated Natural Areas gives the kids an idea what natural resources are, and also instills the Leave No Trace ethic with them. At last count, we have had about 135 children and chaperones take advantage of this summer program. Our last program on for August 5, 2004 included not only 4-H club members but also several adult developmentally disabled individuals.
This was our sixth year of archaeological excavations at Miller Grove. In the past these excavations have been aimed at uncovering bits and pieces of past life in this ante bellum Black ghost town. This year Forest Service Staff and nine PIT volunteers continued to excavate in and around the foundation remnants of Bedford and Abby Gill Miller's farm, but we also began a new project: researching the Miller Grove School and church. As with many rural communities, life at Miller Grove revolved around the Mt. Gilead African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church and school were housed in the same building. The first church was built of log and later replaced by a frame structure. In 1918 the frame building was burned as a result of arson, but was reportedly rebuilt nearby. It was named for the Biblical Mt. Gilead. According the Book of Genesis, Mt. Gilead is a hilly or mountainous country between slavery (for Jacob) and Canaan. That is a very accurate description of Miller Grove-in the Shawnee Hills between slavery in the South and freedom in Canaan land, an Underground Railroad code word for Canada. Education was also very important to these African American settlers, and their first priority was to set up a school within their community. Learning how to read was of primary importance. It was not only necessary to become financially successful, but it was a privilege that had been withheld by owners out of fear of slave insurrections. At Miller Grove, Julia Singleton was listed in the 1860 Census as a Black schoolteacher! We thought it was appropriate to celebrate this 50th anniversary of the landmark decision by the Supreme Court in the Brown vs. the Board of Education to begin archaeological explorations into the school system here at Miller Grove and uncover a little bit more of our African American heritage! This past June a small group of dedicated mentors traveled with their young charges to southern Illinois to help to excavate and recover another chapter of Illinois’ African American heritage as part of “I, too, am America,” our conservation education day camp. The young men and boys were all from single-parent households and were in need of a mentor or life coach. The mentors came together through a number of avenues, but most have become friends through church, while others became active through civil rights organizations and celebrations. The one thing they have in common is that they all volunteer their own time to these boys in an effort to teach them how to be men, to serve as a roll model, encourage higher education and just have a good time. The group got to bunk overnight at the University of Illinois’ Forest Resource Center and cook out over an open fire. Aside from learning how to do archaeology on Friday, they also got the opportunity to hike to the Shawnee National Forest’s Underground Railroad sites, Crow Knob and Sand Cave, and meet Terry Miller, a descendent of Bedford and Abby Gill Miller, whose farm they were excavating. That evening there was also a campfire visit from Harriet Tubman! The rest of the weekend they canoed around a cypress swamp, and toured southernmost Illinois with Shawnee National Forest Interpreter Sue Hirsch. They visited Millstone Bluff, Garden of the Gods and a few other local highlights like Cave-in-Rock, one-time home of the Ohio River pirates! This special trip all came about through a variety of contacts. Art King is one of the SNF’s most enthusiastic PIT volunteers at Miller Grove. He is also one of the 100 Men Association. We talked about this opportunity last year when he and his wife Marva (who is also an excellent quilter, and has contributed her time and skill to a number of our landscape quilts) were volunteering for PIT. Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe just happened to be performing for another conservation education program on the Shawnee National Forest called Fish Tales. Art and Marva and the other PIT volunteers tagged along to watch the show. Paul McNight, as the education coordinator for the University of Illinois Extension Service, is a major contributor and partner in both of the Shawnee National Forest’s conservation education programs. We all got to talking and the trip planning began! The 100 Men Association is already planning next year’s trip to southern Illinois! We are so glad we had the opportunity to be a part of this special weekend and would like to acknowledge the 100 Men Association for their hard work and dedication to these boys, helping to ensure a healthy life for each one of these young men.
Figure 1. Cantonment Wilkinson site looking toward the Ohio River following discovery of brick-filled basin (feature 3).
Figure 2. Feature 3 during excavation.
Figure 3. Rectangular feature 4 during excavation.
Figure 4. Pewter spoon, bottle glass, and pearlware bowl artifact cluster within feature 4.
Figure 5. Mike Hargrave conducting magnetometer survey, Ohio River in background.
Figure 6. Excavation of cross-trench through deep cellar (feature 5).
Figure 7. Artifact cluster—creamware plate, iron shutter hinge, and bottle base—found beneath brick rubble at base of feature 5.
Figure 8. Excavation of feature 6, possible trash basin with multiple burning episodes.
Figure 9. Hand-blown brandy/wine bottle recovered from base of cellar (feature 5).
Figure 10. Bayonet socket, gun flint, and late 18th/early 19th century pewter U.S. Army uniform button found in feature 3.
Shawnee National ForestMary R. McCorvie
Forest ArchaeologistSchool Children Explore the Underground Railroad in the Shawnee National Forest
Figure 1. Eurma Hayes Girls.
Archaeology of the Spirit: 2004 Passport in Time continues at Miller Grove
Figure 2. Miller Grove.
100 Men Mentors at Miller Grove
Figure 3. Father's, sons and families.
Recent research at the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College has uncovered excavation notes and maps relating to an excavation by the University of Chicago and Beloit College at the Shirland Mound Group (11Wo250) in May, 1937. Included with the notes are profiles of the excavated mound, a plan view of the burial encountered, a description of excavation techniques, and a record of artifacts encountered. This brief article describes what has been discovered so far about the 1937 excavation.
The Shirland Mound Group is located in the SE Quarter of Section 12, Township 28 North, Range 11 East (Shirland Township) within the Fourth Principal Meridian, Winnebago County, Illinois. The group lies on the bluff crest overlooking the north bank of the Pecatonica River approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 km) east of the Village of Shirland, on what was the property of H. Grunke in 1937. A now-abandoned railroad line runs west-east, north of the mound group. The site sits above a large bend on the Pecatonica River where the river begins to flow eastward.
A Beloit College engineering class mapped the group in the fall of 1936. At that time eighteen mounds existed: 7 conicals, 8 linears or ovals, and 3 mounds with projections (no clear effigy forms were present). Although a plowzone was encountered during the excavation, it is not known if the field was actively cultivated or had gone fallow.
The leaders of the investigation were Fay Cooper-Cole and Thorne Deuel from the University of Chicago and Paul Nesbitt and Madeline Kneberg of Beloit College. Students from both schools excavated. Excavations centered on a conical mound not identified by number in any of the field notes. Mound 8 is most likely the mound excavated because it appears to be the largest conical mound on the 1936 map, and a student report referred to the excavation taking place at the largest of the group (Brook and Clark 1937). The mound was described as "the conical type about thirty feet in diameter and perhaps five feet in height" (Brook and Clark 1937).
Stakes were placed in the mound and surrounding area at 5-foot intervals in order to help mapping of recovered artifacts. Test Pit #1 was excavated first, located approximately 5 feet south of the mound and slightly west of center (see Figure 1). This pit was dug in order to identify the natural soil horizons at the site. Sterile soil was identified 18 inches below the ground surface where broken dolomite was encountered. Two trenches were then dug into the mound, one running north-south between the 1R and 2R stakes and one running west-east between the 15 feet and 10 feet stakes. The two trenches intersected at the 15 feet and 1R stake (see Figure 1). A profile of every 5 feet length was photographed, but these photos have not been found. Records indicate that depths were taken on the artifacts collected, from below datum as well as below surface. Soil removed during the excavation was not screened.
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| Figure 1. Sketch Map of Mound and Excavations. |
Field notes record that a few artifacts including a hammerstone, clamshells, and a metal fragment, were recovered from the north trench. A possible limestone floor described as "two or three slabs of stone lying horizontally a few inches above the bed rock" was also identified within the north trench (Brook and Clark 1937. The clamshells were associated with the limestone slabs and with an intact clay pot, which was described as being in a poor state of preservation. The pot was removed along with the interior and surrounding soil attached. Areas of burned clay containing charcoal were also identified within the north trench.
Limestone slabs, occasionally overlying clamshells, also were found in the west trench; chert debitage and clamshell deposits also were recovered there. Burial 1 was encountered at the western edge of the west trench, probably within its north wall. The burial was flexed and was associated with a ceramic sherd, a triangular point, and a worked beaver tooth. No pit was associated with the burial and it was in a poor state of preservation. Field notes indicate that the left leg and both feet were missing. The bones were mapped and probably removed.
Excavation of the Shirland Mound Group ended after the burial was removed. Trenches were backfilled and planted to hay. A number of the stakes were left in the mound, driven level to ground surface. It is not known if the artifacts encountered during the dig were curated; none have been found at Beloit College, the University of Chicago, or the Illinois State Museum. It is believed that all the artifacts were kept since field notes contain catalog numbers for all the artifacts mentioned.
The recovery of a triangular point with the burial suggests that the mounds may date to the Late Woodland/ Mississippian period. Previous research on the Late Woodland period in North-Central Illinois has centered on effigy mounds (e.g., Boris 1984; Lange 1968). Most of the mound groups within Winnebago County contain only linear and conical mounds. Although Samuel Lathrop recorded many of these groups in the 1850's (Lapham papers, WHS) and Charles E. Brown in the first half of the twentieth century (Brown papers, WHS), they have not been recorded in the Illinois site files.
The present condition of the mound is not known, although cultivation of the site continued after the excavation. The original Illinois site form for the Shirland Mound Group was filled out in 1974 by Beloit College during the Illinois Historic Site Survey of the Pecatonica River. The site was within woods but no mention is made of how many mounds survive (Illinois site file).
References Cited
Boris, Carol A.
1984 Effigy Mounds in Northern Illinois: An Analysis of an Endangered Cultural Resource. Masters Thesis, Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University.
Brook, Bill and Bob Clark
1937 "Report on the Logan Museum-Chicago University Expedition to Shirland Illinois." Unpublished report on file, Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College.
Brown, Charles E.
n.d. Papers, 1889-1945. On file, Wisconsin Historical Society.
Lange, Fredrick W.
1968 "The Excavation of the State-Line Mound Group (Ro-39), Beloit, Wisconsin," in TheWisconsin Archeologist, 49(3):109-125.
Lapham, Increase Allen
n.d. Papers, 1825-1930. On file, Wisconsin Historical Society.
NEW PHILADELPHIA PROJECT
In the summer of 2004, a collaborative project of the University of Maryland's Center for Heritage Resource Studies, the Illinois State Museum’s Research and Collections Center, the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the History Department of the University of Central Florida, and the New Philadelphia Association hosted the first Summer Fieldschool in Archaeology and Laboratory Techniques at the site of New Philadelphia, Illinois. This fieldschool is sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, is scheduled this summer from May 25 through July 30.
This fieldschool is part of a long-term, collaborative research project to study the growth and eventual demise of the town of New Philadelphia, known for its compelling and nationally significant character as the earliest town founded by an African American in the antebellum United States. Frank McWorter was the town founder and an African American who had earlier hired out his own time and established a saltpeter mining operation while enslaved in Kentucky. With the money he earned, he purchased his freedom, and in the early 1830s acquired lands in a sparsely populated area known as Pike County, Illinois, situated in the rolling hill region between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. He founded the town of New Philadelphia in 1836, subdivided it, and sold lots. McWorter used the revenue from these sales to purchase the freedom of additional family members. Both whites and blacks purchased property in New Philadelphia and the town existed as a demographically integrated community well into the twentieth century. By the 1880s the town was unincorporated, and by the early twentieth century only a few houses survived. Today, all of the buildings of the town are gone, and the landscape is covered with prairie grasses and agricultural fields.
Without visible signs of the preexisting landscape features, the archaeological research team used historic and topographic maps and aerial photographs to map the contours of the town site onto the current landscape. In 2002 and 2003, local farmers plowed the fields and a systematic, archaeological walkover survey of the town site was conducted. The walkover survey located over 7,000 artifacts, including pieces of ceramics, window glass, and nails, in discrete concentrations that indicated the location and remains of domestic houses and commercial enterprises dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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| New Philadelphia, Illinois archaeology project, 2004: areas of geophysical surveys (electric resistivity and electromagnetic) by Dr. Michael Hargrave are marked in blue and areas of excavation marked in red. |
An archaeological fieldschool has been conducted this summer, which includes geophysical surveying and excavations. Michael Hargrave (CERL, Army Corp. of Engineers) supervised electric resistivity and electromagnetic surveys at the site. Subsurface anomalies identified by Dr. Hargrave in the geophysical surveys were further investigated with soil core surveys and excavations. Paul Shackel (U. Maryland), Terry Martin (Ill. State Museum), and Chris Fennell (U. Illinois) conducted excavations with the assistance of three graduate students and nine undergraduate fieldschool students. The fieldschool excavations this summer included nineteen five-foot-square units, and uncovered several intact features, including the remains of foundation walls and storage spaces. Thousands of artifacts and faunal remains were recovered, along with soil samples for flotation analysis. Artifacts include architectural hardware (such as wrought and cut nails), ceramics, glass wares, kitchen utensils, sewing materials and implements, miniature figurines, clay marbles, and other personal items, all dating from the mid-1800s through later periods of occupation. Additional archaeological investigations will be carried out over the next two summers, with funding from the NSF-REU program. The project participants also plan to apply to have the entire town site added to the National Register of Historic Places.
ITARP CURRENT RESEARCH
The Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP) at the University of Illinois conducts archaeological surveys and excavations throughout the state of Illinois for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). In addition to the central ITARP office located at the University in Champaign, we have field offices and labs in Belleville and Wood River in the East St. Louis area (American Bottom Survey Division), Jacksonville and Macomb (Western Illinois Survey Division), Springfield (Springfield Research Lab), and Rockford (Northern Illinois Survey Division). Archaeological surveys and excavations conducted over the past several years have provided us with the opportunity to expand upon our knowledge of prehistory and history throughout Illinois. Below are summaries of a number of our more significant recent projects. For further updates on ITARP research, please look at the ITARP web site at www.anthro.uiuc.edu/itarp/
Champaign Office (SWSD)
By Doug Jackson, Leighann Calentine, and Jamey Zehr
Hoxie site (11CK4)
The Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), an extensive, intensively occupied, Upper Mississippian site located in the south suburban Chicago area, represents one of the largest archaeological site complexes in the Chicago area (Figure 1). Professional investigations at the site were first undertaken in 1953 by Elaine Bluhm when a portion of the site was found to be within the construction corridor of the I-80 Tollway. Additional excavations were conducted over the following decades by Forest Preserve District of Cook County personnel and also by Northwestern University. Unfortunately, the site, which is managed by the Cook County Forest Preserve, has also been the target of rampant looting and extensive areas of the site have been destroyed.
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| Figure 1. The Hoxie Farm site. |
Our investigations, led by Douglas Jackson, were conducted at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) between 2000-2003 following proposals by IDOT and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) to widen and modify the I-80/294 corridor. Initial testing identified the existence of a well-preserved midden overlying numerous subsurface features (Figure 2). This project provided the opportunity to conduct the first modern controlled excavations at this complex site resulting in the collection of a vast amount of material, subsistence, and community evidence. The project area can be conceived of as a "western zone" and an "eastern zone." The site investigations resulted in the excavation of over 2400 pits, postmolds, hearths, structures and fortification features. In the western zone the investigations encountered an artifact rich midden and dense concentrations of superimposed pit features. In addition to excavating the subsurface features, over 450 two-by-two meter hand excavation units were completed within the extensive midden. Significantly, portions of three longhouse structures were also uncovered.
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| Figure 2. Field excavations at the Hoxie site. |
The eastern zone is spatially separated from the western zone by an featureless space and consists of a densely occupied fortified village. Approximately 80 small, basin structures and hundreds of pit and hearth features were excavated. Based on evidence along the community’s west edge, the village was surrounded by 4 fortification ditches that ranged in width from 2 to 4 m. Their depth varied from 30 cm to nearly 1 m. On the village side of the ditch complex was a palisade comprised of a singleline of posts. This village is estimated to have covered approximately 4 ha (10 acres) based on excavations, and geophysical and soil probe investigations. The geophysical investigations were conducted by Dr.Michael Hargrave of the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. Hundreds of contemporary structures would have been present within this village. Debris totals are low from the village and it is thought to have been of a relatively short duration. This fortified village appears to be the basis for early historic accounts of a "fort" or "French fort" in the vicinity of the Village of Thornton.
Material remains from both the western and eastern zones of the project are easily assignable to the Upper Mississippian period. Madeline Evans and her staff have processed tens of thousands of lithic items with triangular projectile points, endscrapers, and an array of other bifacial and unifacial tools present (Figure 3). A variety of pipe styles were found, including the disc pipe form. Etched designs were found on a number of the pipes as well as on smoothed surface stones and pebbles. Copper, mainly decorative body and clothing items, was consistently found during the excavations. Tom Emerson and the ceramic analysts have noted that shell-tempered vessels with cordmarked surfaces and medium to wide trailing dominate (Figure 4), but plain surfaced examples, some with narrow trailing, are also present. Terrance Martin (ISM) is analyzing the faunal remains that were abundant from most of the western zone but less well preserved within the fortified village. Katie Egan-Bruhy (CCRG) observes that archaeobotanical remains seem to be fairly uniform across the site, but maize was observed more frequently within the village. A noteworthy find was numerous uncarbonized squash seeds and other botanical materials from water-saturated deposits at the base of one of the fortification ditches. Lee Newsom (Penn. State) is examining them as part of a broader study.
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| Figure 3. Examples of some of the artifacts from the Hoxie site. |
Many of the excavated remains can be associated with the late Fisher phase and there are likely occupations that may provide important information on the proposed transition of late Fisher to early Huber phase. The fortified village area appears to be early in the sequence while the western zone appears to consist of multiple re-occupations that span the late Fisher to early Huber phase time frame. A small number of radiocarbon dates have been obtained and the acceptable dates extend from the early 14th century to the mid 15th century. Additional radiocarbon samples will be submitted for dating in the future. Analysis on the various assemblages recovered from the site investigations at this important site is currently ongoing by multiple researchers.
Vermilion County Danville Beltline Project
Survey was undertaken in the 2001-2003 field seasons for the Danville Beltline project which is a proposed four lane road on the east side of Danville in Vermilion County. Pedestrian survey of the approximately 2870 acres of the proposed corridor resulted in the identification of 159 archaeological sites and an additional 91 finds. Find spots were defined, for the purpose of this survey, as archaeological locations with six or fewer artifacts and no temporally diagnostic materials.
There are several ways of measuring prehistoric activity in a locality from survey results; the two we have chosen here are relative number of individual components identified for the entire survey and the relative number of projectile points recovered for each time period. We believe that by using both indices we can achieve a rough estimate of relative human activity through time for this locality. Based on site distribution, it is evident that prehistoric people were utilizing the higher, rolling land between the Stony Creek and Lick Creek drainages on the Newtown Moraine more consistently than the more flat uplands located north and southeast of these drainages. Although nearly all components are represented by the sites identified during this survey, there is a remarkably higher frequency of Early Archaic and Late Prehistoric components (Figure 4). Analysis of the temporally diagnostic points of these two periods indicates a shift in chert utilization through time. Exotic chert, such as Burlington from western Illinois was utilized at a higher frequency during the Early Archaic period. In contrast, the locally available glacial till chert was the primary chert type during the Late Prehistoric period. Non-local Indiana chert types were utilized at about the same frequency during both periods. The shift in using exotic chert acquired from distant sources during the Early Archaic to utilizing more locally available glacial till chert during the Late Prehistoric is indicative of a difference in home range or trade networks.
Archaeological materials have been analyzed and a draft report by Leighann Calentine, Dale McElrath, and Jamey Zehr was completed in January 2004. Additional invaluable information about this area is being obtained from analysis of the John Henry collection that was recently donated to the University of Illinois. John Henry is a former Danville resident who published an article with Al Nichols on Paleoindian from Vermilion County. He has a long history of articulating with professional archaeologists. Some of the sites collected by John Henry overlap this project area and analysis of these materials will be incorporated into the final Danville Beltine report.
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| Figure 4. Triangular Cluster of projectile points. |
Testing at 11V894
Large amounts of FCR and some collared rim ceramics were recovered from shovel tests during testing for a proposed borrow pit at this site in Vermillion County. Subsequent investigations entailed machine excavation of three trenches. Additional hand excavation was completed of three 2 x 2m test units within one of the trenches as well as a number of possible features represented by FCR concentrations. In total, 33 lithic tools were recovered, representing Late Archaic and Late Woodland periods. Of those tools, at least seven projectile points are diagnostic to the following types: 1 Karnak Unstemmed, 2 Merom Expanding Stem, 1 Mo-pac, 1 Triangular Side-Notched, and 2 triangular points. The majority of ceramics recovered are grit-tempered, cord-marked body sherds. Some decoration in the form of lip notching occurs on some of the collared rims. In addition to those prehistoric artifacts, many beads were recovered from a single flotation sample (Figure 5). In light of the archaeological material recovered from this project area, a new borrow pit location was selected.
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| Figure 5. Historic beads from 11V894. |
American Bottom Survey Division (ABSD)
By Joe Galloy, Don Booth, Chuck Moffatt
Northern American Bottom
Testing was conducted at fourteen sites in 2003 in advance of FAP-310, the northern extension of the FAI-270 corridor through Madison County. The identification of subsurface features at two of these, Ray’s Bluff (11MS526) and H. Brush (11MS957), led to mitigation this past summer.
Ray’s Bluff (11MS526)
Ray’s Bluff is located near Wood River on the bluffs overlooking Smith Lake (now drained). This large site encompasses three ridges along the bluff edge and extends eastward away from the edge. Subsurface features were found in small, distinct clusters across two of the ridges, while the third was disturbed by recent borrowing activities and was thus devoid of features. Eight features were associated with a mid-19th century farmstead. The remainder included six postmolds and 39 dispersed clusters of prehistoric pits that likely reflect an intermittent Late Woodland (Patrick phase) occupation. The absence of ceramics in seven pits may reflect an Early Archaic component which was originally identified from surface material.
H. Brush (11MS957)
H. Brush is on the bluffs overlooking the West Fork of Wood River Creek. Mitigation within the 15 meter ROW revealed three single-post structures (two circular and one oval), three wall-trench structures (two were rebuilt), and 35 prehistoric pit features. A Ramey Incised sherd recovered from one wall-trench structure, and shell-tempered sherds from the single-post structures indicate the presence of Late Woodland through Mississippian occupation.
Loyd site (11MS20)
Ongoing excavations for a commercial development have uncovered a buried Terminal Late Woodland (probably Loyd phase) settlement at the remaining portion of the Loyd site (11MS20), located along the margin of the American Bottom floodplain. The Loyd site was largely destroyed by soil borrowing in 1963, following salvage excavations conducted by the Robert Hall and Patrick Munson, then associated with the Illinois State Museum. ITARP excavated several possible house basins, roughly 35 pit features, and one post pit, all of which were capped by nearly 1 m of prehistoric and historic slope wash.
Pinga’s Pup (11MS1970)
In the interior uplands, statewide testing was performed at eight sites along the proposed County Highway 75/Governor’s Parkway corridor that would serve as a southern bypass for Edwardsville. One site, Pinga’s Pup (11MS1970), produced Lohmann phase Mississippian features, including one structure and four pits. These appear to represent the margins of a larger community destroyed by an adjacent housing subdivision. The artifact assemblage suggests non-residential, specialized workshop activities involving the working of basalt, quartz crystal, and galena.
Central American Bottom
The proposed New Mississippi River Crossing (NMRC) in the East St. Louis vicinity has spurred some of the largest scale investigations in the American Bottom since the FAI-270 project.
Janey B. Goode (11S1232)
Data recovery began in 2002 at the dense, complex Janey B. Goode ("JBG") site (11S1232), a six ha occupation along the southern margin the Horseshoe Lake meander just north of the East St. Louis Mound Group (11S706). The site abuts an active railroad yard, and is capped by ~0.5 to 1.5 meter layers of historic railroad debris and fill. By the end of the 2003 field season, approximately 22 percent of the site was stripped and nearly 2,200 prehistoric features have been excavated.
To date, the largest occupations at JBG are from the Late Woodland Patrick phase and early Terminal Late Woodland Loyd phase. Also present are more widely scattered late Terminal Late Woodland (Merrell or Edelhardt phase), Stirling phase, and late Moorehead or Sand Prairie phase Mississippian features. Numerous single-post and wall-trench structures have been excavated. Pit features are abundant and diverse, and several large post pits with extraction ramps have also been excavated. One of the more interesting and puzzling discoveries of the 2003 season is a linear ditch-like feature about 2 m wide and 50-70 cm deep (Figure 6). A 30-m long segment of the ditch has been excavated, with no evidence for internal or external posts. Its end points have yet to be uncovered. It extends northward from an old Cahokia Creek meander and exhibits multiple episodes of siltation and prehistoric re-excavation (maintenance). Possibly used for drainage and/or defense, the ditch fill is laminated, suggesting that it frequently held water. Superimposition of this ditch by Loyd phase pit features indicates an association with JBG’s earliest occupations. On the western flank of the site, a swale approximately 75 m long, 20-25 m wide and up to 2.5 m deep appears to have been deliberately filled. Most of this landscape modification was apparently performed during the Terminal Late Woodland occupations. The ditch construction and the swale filling required substantial labor investments, hinting at a previously unrecognized level of social complexity during the Terminal Late Woodland period in this area of the American Bottom.
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| Figure 6. Profile of ditch - Janey B. Goode. |
The preservation of faunal and floral remains at JBG is excellent due to a general abundance of limestone within the features. Features with large quantities of fish bones, scales and mussel shell (some modified into artifacts) reflect the site's location near aquatic resources. Bone artifacts, especially awls, pins, and fish hooks are common, and several features produced unusually well-preserved plant materials, including charred cordage. Also, it appears that the inhabitants of JBG were involved in extraregional interaction throughout its occupation. A Stirling phase pit excavated in 2002 yielded 36 intact conch and whelk shells, a bison scapula, and two-dozen Marginella shells (Figure 7). Other features produced marine shell disc beads and pendants, Marginella beads, shark teeth, copper, nonlocal and/or unusual ceramic vessels, and worked quartz, galena, hematite, and basalt.
Investigations at Janey B. Goode will make a significant contribution to our knowledge of Late Woodland to Mississippian populations occupying the area of the East St. Louis Mound Center vicinity. Up to this date, very little has been known about the occupation of this area, particularly during the Late Woodland.
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| Figure 7. Janey B. Goode (11S1232) – Stirling Phase feature with row of conch shells and Bison scapula. |
East St. Louis Mound Center (11S706)
Another NMRC project investigation related to rail realignment was performed in 2003 in the CSX railyard north of I-55/70, within the limits of the East St. Louis Mound Center (11S706). A program of extensive stratigraphic coring by Mike Kolb, StrataMorph, for NMRC detected thick natural source fill deposits in the railyard under a thin mantle of cindery fill (Figure 8).
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| Figure 8. Mike Kolb at CSX Railyards- East St. Louis Mound Center. |
Some of these natural source fills resembled the "buckshot" prehistoric mound fills previously encountered by ITARP in the railyard adjacent to the interstate. However, trenching for NMRC revealed that the buckshot fills were deposited during the middle to late 1800s during construction of the railyard. These fill zones, which contained Mississippian cultural debris and engineered soils, overlie a historic trash layer (Figures 9 and 10). It was likely deposited as part of the city land filling projects in the late 1800s when many of the nearby mounds were leveled. A prime candidate is the Cemetery Mound from the East St. Louis Mound Center, which was destroyed circa 1870. The presence of redeposited mound fills within the East St. Louis group locality is common and has incorrectly led some to interpret these deposits as intact mounds.
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| Figure 9. Profile from CSX Railyard showing the historic fill at the top, the redeposited mound fill in the middle, and a thin brick layer right on top of the buried natural soil. |
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| Figure 10. Profile map from CSX Railyard showing the historic fill at the top, the redeposited mound fill in the middle, and a thin brick layer right on top of the buried natural soil. |
Canaday School (11S1525)
Other investigations in East St. Louis were conducted for a new elementary school building. In 2002, construction workers digging the new building foundation at the site of the old Canaday school at Lynch and 15th Street discovered human remains from the forgotten 19th century Illinois City Cemetery (recorded by ITARP as the Canady School site, 11S1525). ITARP was requested by the school district to test the area to resolve the contexts of the human remains. Two hundred graves were identified within three excavation blocks; estimates for the entire cemetery range from 2,000-5,000 graves (Figure 11). In addition to the historic cemetery, Early Woodland pottery was recovered from grave shafts suggesting a disturbed earlier prehistoric component was also present. Due to the prohibitive cost of mitigation and IHPA’s desire to preserve the cemetery in place, a new school location was chosen two blocks to the northeast. ITARP’s survey of the new location revealed silty clay swale fill throughout the project area, and no prehistoric or significant historic materials or deposits were encountered during testing. A portion of the East St. Louis Mound Center has been identified about 1.5-2 city blocks to the northwest of the project area; this part of the mound group appears to be associated with a north-south running topographic high which appears to extend to the old Canaday school location.
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| Figure 11. Canaday School Site. |
Fingers (11S333)
Ongoing investigations in the Sauget Business Park, a development 12 km southwest of the Cahokia site along the Goose Lake Meander, continue to yield new information about rural Mississippian lifeways. This mitigation is being carried out under an agreement between IDOT, HUD, and the Village of Sauget. Ongoing excavations at the expansive Fingers site (11S333) have uncovered many clusters of Mississippian period structures and pits that appear to represent farmsteads and hamlets. Earlier in the excavations an isolated Mississippian cemetery was identified. Under an agreement between the various parties the cemetery was set aside and a green area established to protect it from future development. While the majority of the features within the project date to the Stirling and Moorehead phases, Lohmann phase and Terminal Late Woodland period features also have been excavated.
Visitor’s Center – Patti Will (11S654) and Edging (11S658)
On the bluffs overlooking Pittsburg Lake, IDOT-funded investigations were conducted between 2000 – 2002 for a proposed I-255 Visitor’s Center (Figure 12). Nearly 800 Archaic, Late Woodland, and Mississippian features were excavated at two sites, Patti Will (11S654) and Edging (11S658). Of particular importance is a Sand Prairie phase farmstead at Patti Will, represented by two burned structures, and the Middle and Late Archaic components at Edging, which are represented by hundreds of features. The Mississippian component at Edging is represented by roughly two-dozen rectangular and circular structures and appears to represent a rural Stirling phase civic node.
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| Figure 12. Crew excavating feature at the Visitor’s Center. |
Frank Scott Parkway East Extension
Near Shiloh in the St. Clair uplands, testing was performed at six sites for the FAU 9330/Frank Scott Parkway East Extension, and two more sites await access. Two sites, both less than 1 km to the east of the well-known early Mississippian Grossmann site (11S1131), contained features. These include four Late Woodland pits at Isosceles (11S1512) and three Mississippian pits at Ste. Francois Green (11S1551). The latter site is of interest, because like Pinga’s Pup in Madison County (see above), basalt debitage was recovered from the site surface and a quartz crystal was recovered from a pit.
Harry Billhartz #1 (11CT255)
Farther inland, a proposed borrow pit for FAS 783/County Highway 8 near Damiansville in Clinton County resulted in testing a previously reported site, the Harry Billhartz #1 site (11CT255). Six narrow excavation blocks revealed 28 prehistoric features, about a dozen of which were excavated before backfilling, and an alternate borrow area was chosen. The excavated features include a Late Woodland keyhole structure with Sponemann-like ceramics, several Patrick/Sponemann phase pits, and one Terminal Late Woodland pit. A Middle Woodland component is indicated by several body sherds recovered from Late Woodland features. A story about these investigations made the local news, and subsequent interest by national and international news outlets reported this site as a highly significant find.
Southern American Bottom and Southern Illinois
Statewide survey projects resulted in testing nine sites in ABSD’s southernmost reach. In Randolph County near Prairie du Rocher, testing was performed at one site in advance of the County Highway 7/Bluff Road Realignment.
11R579
Seven excavation blocks were placed within the reported limits of 11R579, a previously recorded site at the Mississippi bluff base backed by high limestone cliffs (Figure 13). Although five of the blocks contained no features, 20 Patrick phase pits were found densely packed within one 5 x 5 m excavation block, completely buried under 2 m of colluvium. A Mississippian wall trench superimposed by a pit feature was found in the corner of another block at a depth of about 1 m. All of the exposed features were excavated.
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| Figure 13. General view of 11R579. |
IL 13/27 (FAP 42)
In Perry and Jackson Counties, proposed widening of IL 13/27 (FAP 42) from Murphysboro to Pinckneyville resulted in testing of seven sites, with an eighth site to be tested after IDOT acquires the property. Two sites along the uplands around Beaucoup Creek yielded cultural features. The Perrackson site (11PY198), divided by the county line, included three Mississippian wall trench structures with associated pits and an early 19th-century cellar, all of which were excavated.
Debera site (11J1183)
Testing was conducted at the Debera site (11J1183) for the proposed expansion of Southern Illinois Airport. Debera, 2 hectares in area, is situated on the bluffcrest overlooking the Big Muddy River. Roughly 100 features were exposed within about 10 percent of the site area, including several structures. Only one of the features was excavated due to heavy rains and continuing bad weather at the end of the 2003 field season. The excavation blocks were backfilled and IDOT is considering whether the project will continue or be modified to miss the site. Surface and/or subsurface components may be from the Early, Middle, and Late Woodland, as well as Mississippian time periods. Additional investigations will be necessary if the site is to be impacted.
Western Illinois Survey Division (WISD)
By Dave Nolan, Rich Fishel, Robert Mazrim
During the past two years the Western Illinois Survey Division conducted excavations at a number of archaeological sites in west central Illinois as part of several different IDOT compliance projects. These excavations were undertaken under the direction of David Nolan, Rich Fishel, Robert Hickson; Robert Mazrim, ITARP’s historic resources specialist, co-directed the investigations at the historic period sites. All of the prehistoric sites are dominated by Woodland-age components, whereas the intact historic American remains primarily date to the 1830s and 1840s.
Prehistoric Sites
Sinucide site (11MC158)
Limited testing of the Sinuscide site (11MC158), which is located north of New Boston on a high terrace remnant positioned near the Mississippi Valley wall, produced a small number of pit features, including one with Early Woodland ceramics that fall within the range of variation ascribed to Marion Thick. The other features from the site failed to produce temporally sensitive materials, although a variety of Archaic and Late Woodland diagnostics were recovered from the plowzone and site surface.
Missed Point site (11MG175)
The Missed Point site (11MG175) is located southwest of Jacksonville on the southern bluff line of Brushy Fork Creek. A single Middle Woodland feature cluster comprised of nine individual pits was excavated in advance of construction for a major four-lane highway (FAP 310/US 67) (Figure 14). Although most of the features proved to be generally shallow and had few cultural inclusions, the ceramics recovered from the site appear to have more in common with regional Havana/Hopewell wares than those that typify the local Massey phase. The data recovered from this and other contemporary sites excavated as part of this project (Spoon Toe [11MG179], Spoon Creek [11MG181], and Buffalo Chip [11MG162]), suggest that the upper reaches of the Sandy Creek drainage was the scene of more varied, and perhaps complex, Middle Woodland settlement and social interaction than previously believed.
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| Figure 14. Middle Woodland lithics from 11MG175. |
Buffalo Chip site (11MG162)
The aforementioned Buffalo Chip site (11MG162) was subjected to large-scale excavation during the summer of 2002 as part of the project mentioned above (Figure 15). Buffalo Chip is located on the southern bluff line of Sandy Creek, between 11MG175 and Massey (11MG15), the type-site for the Middle Woodland Massey phase. A 2.5-acre area, which represents the majority of the project-specific portion of the site, was subjected to machine aided plowzone removal resulting in the mapping and excavation of 123 subsurface features (Figure 16). These features proved to be exceptionally large on average and were distributed among at least nine spatially segregated pit concentrations or household areas. The majority of the pit concentrations appear to be attributable to the early Late Woodland period based upon the recovery of Ansell/Mund style points and cordmarked ceramics exhibiting close affinities with Weaver and White Hall wares. However, at least one subsurface feature concentration is attributable to the Middle Woodland period based upon the presence of Havana/Hopewell ceramics, lamellar bladelets, and distinctive corner notched points.
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| Figure 15. Crew shot from 11MG162. |
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| Figure 16. Profile from Feature 40. |
Janice Cook site (11A1577)
Small scale machine stripping for a recent borrow pit investigation in northern Adams County resulted in the excavation of 16 later Late Woodland Adams variant pit features at the Janice Cook site (11A1577). These features extended from the apex of an upland ridge spur down onto its steeper slopes (>25%), which appears to be a recurrent distributional pattern in western Illinois during this particular temporal span (AD 600-1000) (Figure 17). Unlike other sites where this phenomenon has been observed (e.g.: 11F163, 11MG180, Lafe Lamb), the 11A1577 pits are located on a west-southwest facing slope instead of the more typical south-southeast facing exposure. A number of the features discovered on the more steeply sloping topography exhibited elongated oval to rectangular shaped plans, near vertical side walls, and flattened bases (Figure 18). This type of habitation feature, which is informally referred to as a "bathtub-shaped" pit, is only found with regularity in western Illinois on sites dating to the later Late Woodland period. Although clearly distinctive, the function of these pits remains enigmatic.
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| Figure 17. View of ridge slope. |
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| Figure 18. Plan view Feature 12. |
Ed Walch site (11A1542)
Excavations at the Ed Walch site (11A1542), located on the northern bluff line of Pigeon Creek near Payson, encountered the remains of a single later Late Woodland household comprised of nine features, including a small sub-rectangular structure basin measuring 2.3m in length, 1.7m in width, and 0.2m in overall depth. Little evidence for either internal or external posts was found, although a shallow sunken hearth, some burned limestone, and several carbonized timbers were identified on or near the structure floor. The ceramics recovered from the extramural pits represent the remains of thin-bodied cordmarked jars exhibiting rounded shoulders and lips adorned with cordwrapped stick decoration. The upper rim area of the most complete jar in the assemblage is also decorated with an unusual punctated design that is most similar to ceramics found in Fall Creek and Poisson phase contexts in the adjacent Sny Bottoms locality of the Mississippi River.
11MC71
In November 2003 the Western Illinois Survey Division of ITARP, under the direction of Richard Fishel, completed a 10-week data recovery program at 11MC71, a Weaver habitation located in the Mississippi River flood plain of Mercer County (Figure 19). A total of 1350 m2 of site area was investigated, revealing a 15-cm-thick artifact-laden midden buried beneath 0.4–1.2 m of prehistoric flood sediments which were likely deposited in a single episode. Midden artifacts, which will easily number in the hundreds of thousands, include copious amounts of Weaver ceramics, lithics, floral, and faunal material. The majority of the ceramics are Weaver Plain; decorations, which occur in small numbers, include cord-wrapped stick notches and diagonal slashes. Approximately 10 near-complete vessels were recovered from the midden (Figure 20). Projectile points consist primarily of Steuben points, but Snyders cluster points, contracting-stemmed points, and straight-stemmed points are also present. Excellent bone preservation has permitted tentative identification of some of the fauna in the assemblage, including deer, possibly elk, dog, fish, turtle, rodent, and bird. A large number of bone tools are also present, consisting primarily of bone awls and antler batons. Two drilled turtle carapaces were also found. Surprisingly, given the close proximity to the Mississippi River, no mussel shell was recovered from the site.
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| Figure 19. Crew shot. |
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| Figure 20. Large section of vessel in situ. |
Exotic items identified thus far include ten copper beads, four copper awls, and a single piece of obsidian. While these exotic items may be associated with the Weaver component, a few Middle Woodland ceramics were also recovered, suggesting an ephemeral Middle Woodland component may be present. Other short-lived components that may be present at 11MC71 include Early Woodland (represented by several Morton-like ceramics) and late Late Woodland (represented by single-cord impressed ceramics and arrow points). The Middle Woodland material was found scattered throughout the Weaver midden, while the Early Woodland and late Late Woodland material were found in isolated pockets at the site edges.
One hundred and eighty-five Weaver features were encountered below the midden. Feature types include large, deep, basin-shaped and bell-shaped storage pits, shallower processing facilities, and post molds (Figure 21). The fill within the pits suggests that most features were open and abandoned before the flooding occurred. Unfortunately, compared to the midden artifact density, the overall feature artifact density is sparse. Only one pit exhibited in situ material on the feature’s base.
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| Figure 21. Profile of Test Unit 8. |
One of the more interesting discoveries is an arc of 10 post molds, representing a possible structure, extending south out of the project area. The diameter of the structure – as measured between the western-most and eastern-most post – is 15 meters. These posts are large, averaging 40 cm in diameter and 35 cm deep, and are spaced 1.8
–2.0 m (average = 1.85 m) apart except for a 4-m-wide north-facing "opening" where no posts appear. While the function of this facility is unknown, its large size suggests it may have not been residential in nature.The excavations of 11MC71 will provide invaluable information about the Weaver phase occupation in this area of northwestern Illinois of which very little is currently known.
Illinois 29 Survey
During 2002 and 2003 the WISD began a multi-year survey under the direction of Richard Fishel of a 58-km-long stretch of Illinois Route 29 along the Illinois River between Mossville and Interstate 180 in Peoria, Marshall, Putnam, and Bureau counties. To date, 3700 acres have been surveyed and 208 sites and 333 find spots encompassing the entire time frame of human occupation of the Illinois Valley have been recorded. Two sites within the proposed improvements to Illinois 29, Steuben (11MA2) and Taliaferro Cabin (11PM62), were tested in conjunction with this survey. Additional investigations of these sites will follow in the upcoming field seasons, assuming these sites remain within the project ROW. The Taliaferro Cabin site will be discussed in the Historic Sites section.
11MA2
In the summer of 2002, the WISD investigated the Steuben site (11MA2), a 5-ha late Hopewell and Weaver occupation along the Illinois River in Marshall County. Steuben is known for producing copious amounts of cultural material, but this surface material, however, has never been collected in a systematic manner. To remedy this, a grid of 70 20-x-20-m collection units measuring 280 m north-south and 100 m east-west was established across the main portion of the Steuben village in order to facilitate a total surface pickup of the site. Recovered artifacts from this total surface pickup number in the thousands and include pieces of copper, Havana, Hopewell, and Weaver ceramics, approximately 40 projectile points, and large quantities of fire-cracked rock, flaking debris, and faunal material. After the total surface collection was completed, the excavation of four 1-x-2-m test units revealed a 70-cm-thick, artifact-laden, midden. Five cultural features ranging from small storage pits to a cluster of fire-cracked rock were also encountered within these test units.
Historic Sites
Taliaferro Cabin (11PM62)
In March 2003 the WISD investigated the Taliaferro Cabin site (11PM62), a recently-discovered EuroAmerican occupation in Putnam County dating to the 1830s. This site was recorded during an intensive archival and pedestrian search for the village of Senachwine, a Potawatomi chief in the early 1800s. A pedestrian survey of a possible location of Senachwine’s village recovered five tiny white-pasted earthenware fragments within an agricultural field consisting of dense corn debris with only 10 percent ground surface visibility. A grid of 80 22-cm-diameter hand-dug auger tests was established in 5 and 10-m intervals across and beyond the surface scatter area.
Forty-four of the 80 systematic auger tests within the surface scatter area produced cultural material, including pieces of decorated and undecorated white-pasted earthenware, nails, glass, a kaolin pipe bowl, and a pewter or whitemetal button that was manufactured between 1750 and 1815. Three of the auger tests encountered sub-plowzone remains that were likely historic features. Random metal detector surveys conducted across the site area recovered two larger pieces of iron, a probable harness ring, five pieces of kettle brass, three brass buttons, six lead balls that range in diameter from .37–.51 inches, and numerous nails.
Eight 1-x-2-m test units were excavated in the area where two of the possible features were recorded. These test units uncovered four cultural features: a cellar, cistern, probable vegetable storage pit, and a probable privy vault. Recovered artifacts include two brass buttons, two bone buttons, a bone lice comb, ceramic pipe fragments, 27 brass straight pins, a brass-backed pocket mirror, three slate writing styluses, a French blade gunflint, faunal elements from birds, fish, rodents, deer, and pig, as well as numerous pieces of pearlware, white earthenware, and porcelain. Decorative types include shell edge, hand-painted, dipt, and dark blue, red, brown, and black prints. Based upon the artifact assemblage, the feature morphologies, and archival information, site 11PM62 is associated with James Taliaferro, the first EuroAmerican settler in Putnam County west of the Illinois River, who moved to this location in 1835.
The results of the ITARP testing at 11PM62 indicate that the site dates primarily to the later stages of the pioneer period (1781–1840) in Illinois settlement, a period little known archaeologically in Illinois history when the cultural landscape was changing from Native American to EuroAmerican. The site’s occupation is short term, likely not lasting longer than 10 years, and is affiliated with a single family. Site 11PM62 has the potential to yield significant new information about pioneer-age settlement and subsistence, as well as technological and architectural practices, in north central Illinois.
Hinsey site (11T412)
The Hinsey site (11T412), located south of Pekin in rural Tazewell County, is believed to have been occupied by the Albert Hinsey family between 1832 and 1837, and the Ansel Haines family from 1837 to 1845. Testing at this short-term farmstead encountered two substantial features: an unlined cistern and a brick lined well. The cistern contained a sample of 1830s and early 1840s domestic debris, including an abnormally large quantity of smoking pipes, and an unusual faunal assemblage containing imported whitefish and Atlantic cod (Figure 22).
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| Figure 22. Pipe Fragments from 11T412. |
Frozen Ground site (11MG268)
The Frozen Ground site (11MG268), located west of Jacksonville in Morgan County, is thought to have been the home of the Hansel House family, circa 1832 to 1837. Excavations at the site produced several substantial features, including a large sub-floor cellar and an early-context "keyhole" cellar (Figure 23). Like the Hinsey and Taliaferro sites, the Frozen Ground site produced an important sample of artifacts dating to the close of the frontier period in Illinois.
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| Figure 23. Blading in progress. |
Black Top Ridge site (11MC7)
The Black Top Ridge site (11MC7), located in rural Mercer County overlooking the Mississippi Valley, was briefly occupied by an unknown individual or family during the late 1830s and early 1840s. Testing at the site produced a number of "archetypical" features including a pit cellar, sub-floor depression, unlined cistern, and a lime-slaking pit (Figure 24). The artifacts recovered from the site represent a very short-term occupation dating to the depression that followed the Panic of 1837.
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| Figure 24. Profile of Feature 8: a lime-slaking pit. |
Stafford site (11SG1309)
The Stafford site (11SG1309) is located in rural Sangamon County, south of the town of Rochester. The site was occupied as early as 1821 by the Oliver Stafford family. Stafford’s great-great uncle was executed in England during the late 17th century, accused of plotting to kill the King of England. The Stafford’s immigrated to Rhode Island and moved to Sangamon County via Vermont. Small-scale testing encountered a suite of pit features closed by the mid 1830s, as well as a large sub-floor cellar and exterior keyhole cellar abandoned shortly after the Civil War. See Figures 25 and 26 for examples of some of the artifacts recovered during the investigations.
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| Figure 25. Refined Ceramics from 11SG1309. |
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| Figure 26. Brass pins from 11SG1309. |
Northern Illinois Survey Division
By Shane Vanderford and Jennifer Shaller
Current research in northern Illinois has centered on archaeological testing at an Early Archaic site and an Upper Mississippian site in the northern Illinois region. A large pedestrian survey for a road extension in Will County, Illinois has also added to our knowledge of prehistoric land use in this region.
11OG234
Previous investigations of 11OG234 along the Rock River floodplain were comprised of pedestrian survey and minimal oakfield coring. One hafted biface temporally affiliated with the Early/Middle Archaic was previously located during pedestrian survey. Given the close proximity to a large mound group and the high probability for intact subsurface features based on the presence of diagnostic material and a large quantity of chert debitage, backhoe trenching within the site area was undertaken for the proposed realignment of IL2. Our subsequent investigations revealed two Early Archaic pit features and an intact living surface.
The Early Archaic living surface,located approximately 40 to 50 cm below ground surface within a 3.5 x 4.5 m area, was identified by the presence of high concentrations of chert debitage (n=1047) and two Early Archaic Kirk Corner-notched points (Figure 27). Dense chert debitage concentrations were noted during excavation and may represent discrete activity areas resulting from a single depositional episode. Three broken bifaces of the most ubiquitous chert were also located during shovel skimming.
Unfortunately, no carbonized botanicals to date have been recovered from flotation samples to submit for radiocarbon dating. Dated Kirk horizons, as well as other dated Early Archaic sites, are absent from northern Illinois. Other Kirk Horizons from sites in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States have produced radiocarbon dates from 9450 to 8600 B.P. uncorrected, and is likely the approximate age range for 11OG234.
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| Figure 27. Hafted bifaces from 11OG234: (a)Kirk Corner-notched; (b) Kirk variant. |
11WT216
An archaeological survey for the FAU 5548 (Lynn Blvd) extension for IDOT was undertaken by ITARP in the summer of 1988. Surface collections on a previously recorded multi-component site - 11WT216 – indicated a Middle to Late Archaic concentration of materials in the western half of the site and Upper Mississippian (Langford) materials throughout the eastern portion. The site is located on a west-facing terrace overlooking Elkhorn Creek, six meters above the floodplain. Testing of approximately 627 sq m (4%) of 11WT216 in the summer of 2003 revealed eight moderate to shallow basin features within the site boundaries. The site has been subjected to severe erosion due to farming activities on the terrace. The shallow nature of the features and the soil profiles of the excavation blocks clearly demonstrated the severity of the erosion at 11WT216.
The investigations confirmed the temporal affiliation of 11WT216. One large section of a Langford trailed globular shaped vessel was uncovered within Feature 4 (Figure 28). The remaining features yielded sparse quantities of lithic and grit-tempered ceramic material that conform to the characteristics of the Langford tradition; however, diagnostic lithic material was not recovered from any of these features.
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| Figure 28. Langford Trailed globular shaped vessel. |
Caton Farm/Bruce Road (FAU0292)
ITARP personnel have initiated field investigations for the four-lane road, bike trail, and bridge alignment in Will County. The project involves a new crossing of the Des Plaines River, Sanitary & Ship Canal, and I&M canal from U.S. 30 and Caton Farm east across the river valley to an undetermined location and north to IL 7. To date, seven alternative alignments have been designated within this 240 acre project. Pedestrian survey has been completed on all but two alignments. Two hundred acres have been surveyed and 35 sites and 29 find spots have been recorded. Seventeen of these sites are prehistoric unknown. The remaining sites are temporally affiliated with the following; one Paleoindian, three general Archaic sites, six Early Archaic sites, one Middle Woodland site, one Middle to Late Woodland site, and three Late Woodland to Mississippian sites (see Figure 29).
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| Figure 29. Hafted Bifaces from Will County: (a) St. Charles; (b) Kirk Corner-notched; (c) Lowe Flared Base; (d) Triangular. |
During the spring of 2003, Alan Harn began a two-year reconnaissance project documenting archaeological sites on The Nature Conservancy’s 6,700-acre Illinois River floodplain tract near Dickson Mounds Museum. This extensive farm will be developed in 2005 as a part of the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, its dominant feature to be the restored 7-km-long Thompson Lake. The initial survey phase of mid- and high-priority physiographic zones within the tract produced 55 archaeological sites of predictable cultural affiliation. Although one Mississippian arrowpoint was found, along with an Early Archaic point perhaps buried by the alluvial fan, site diagnostics were dominated by Matanzas points of the Late Archaic Helton phase. Aside from one village strategically located at a stream inlet, the small site sizes and thin occupational scatters suggest short-term habitations by all groups. The unpredicted locations of many sites within the physiographic mosaic will be analyzed with respect to varying water levels during and after lake restoration.
Recent test excavations directed by Dr. Steven Ahler of the Illinois State Museum recovered freshwater mussel shell from prehistoric cultural deposits at five caves and rockshelters in the Ozark Highlands of south-central Missouri. All five sites are located in the Roubidoux Creek drainage system at Fort Leonard Wood in Pulaski County. Shell was relatively abundant at the Martin Cave site (23PU218), but was less common at the other four sites. People living in these enclosures evidently gathered mussels as a food resource, as indicated by the presence of charred shell and a complete absence of worked shell in the sample of identifiable valves.
Thirteen species are represented in the Roubidoux Creek mussel assemblages. The three most abundant taxa are the ellipse (Venustaconcha ellipsiformis), the spike (Elliptio dilatata), and the Wabash pigtoe (Fusconaia flava). Habitat preferences of the species represented at Martin Cave indicate that people living there gathered mussels from a small river or large creek with shallow water, a slow to swift current, and a gravelly or sandy substrate. In contrast, the habitat scores of shell samples from two other caves in the Roubidoux Creek drainage area (Davis Cave, Joy Cave) suggest that some sections of the creek had swifter currents and coarser substrate materials. These two habitat models correlate with two different types of stream environments evident in the area today: (1) a braided stream channel with shallow bedrock and coarse substrate material (near Davis and Joy caves), versus (2) a singular stream channel with alternating riffle/pool habitats (near Martin Cave and most other sites in the area). The geographical correlation between prehistoric mussel faunas and recent channel types indicates that people who lived in Ozark Highland caves and rockshelters gathered mussels from stream reaches located very near their cave occupations.
Compositional variation is present among the mussel faunas of caves and rockshelters located in the Roubidoux Creek drainage area. Nevertheless, the mean habitat scores of the Roubidoux Creek samples differ significantly from the habitat scores of four cave sites located in the nearby Big Piney River drainage (Big Freeman Cave, Little Freeman Cave, Miller Cave, Sadie’s Cave). Rarefaction plots of species diversity versus sample size also show differences between mussel faunas from the two drainages. These contrasts evidently reflect the fact that, in prehistory, Big Piney River had a greater discharge and higher mussel diversity than Roubidoux Creek, just as it does today.
MIDWEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH SERVICE, INC.
Thurston Cemetery
M. Catherine Bird
MARS, Inc. facilitated the removal of human skeletal remains and grave artifacts related to nineteen burial features at Thurston Cemetery in Oak Brook, Illinois. Grading prior to the installation of a retaining wall impacted Rows 1 and 2 of the cemetery in 2001. The road construction crew dumped the graded material (containing human remains, casket parts, and headstones) over a culvert immediately south of the cemetery.
Prior to development of Butler Company's Brook Forest residential subdivision (circa 1964), Paul Butler relocated eighteen graves to his private cemetery, Butler Cemetery. Nonetheless, MARS, Inc. noted ten burial features containing human bone and coffin hardware exposed in the face of the road cut; nine additional burials were uncovered within the county r-o-w. The burial population included ten juveniles, eleven adults, and one individual of unknown age at death. Six sets of remains were female, two male, and thirteen of unknown sex. Four discrete burials date to circa 1840 through 1860 (Episode I), seven date to circa 1860 through 1870 (Episode II) and ten date to circa 1870 through 1900 (Episode III). Laboratory analysis and background research together with the recovery of partially readable name plates allowed the author to identify three individual burial features. The available evidence suggests the identity of five additional individuals.
MARS, Inc. reburied all remains and grave furniture on 23 August 2003 in Butler Cemetery, Oak Brook, Illinois. Descendants and friends of the York Township pioneer settlers attended to honor their memory and to commemorate their contribution to the settlement of southeastern York Township. The lengthy Phase III data recovery report is available from MARS, Inc.
The angel buttons (31 recovered) shown here fastened the burial garment of Candace Emily Franke, who died aged 16 years of typhoid fever on 24 January 1888.
Norge Ski Hill
M. Catherine Bird
MARS, Inc. completed the data recovery at the Norge Ski Hill on 15 October 2003. The Norge Ski Club built scaffolding to support a ski jump in 1911 and disturbed twelve sets of human remains. Construction workers, utilizing a backhoe to remove the old concrete piers, unearthed additional human remains on 10 September 2003 during foundation preparation for a replacement ski jump at the Norge Ski Hill in Fox River Grove McHenry County, Illinois (see the photograph below). The four individuals disturbed in 2003 include partial remains of three juveniles and one adult.
The Illinois Archaeological Survey recorded mound site 11-Mh-18 at the ski hill based on review of Albert Scharf's early twentieth century notes and maps. Clearly, the September of 2003 removal of the piers and the November of 1911 digging of pier supports impacted the same burial population. The disposition of the 12 sets of human remains removed in 1911 is unknown.
Norge Ski Club identified four areas as footings for the replacement ski jump: three 14 ft. by 14 ft. piers which will be placed on the ground surface and stabilized with imported fill, and one 9.0 m by 9.0 m ell-shaped footing in the vicinity of the recently impacted burials. MARS, Inc. excavated seventeen 1 m by 1 m units along the footprint of the ell but did not recover any additional skeletal material or associated artifacts from the construction zone.
The McHenry County Coroner had suggested that the condition of the teeth and the presence of cut nails at the site identified the remains as Euro-American. MARS, Inc. has identified all nails recovered at 11-Mh-18 as wire nails. Further, the presence of shovel-shaped incisors within the burial population identifies the individuals as Native Americans. Additionally, those who owned the parcel on which the ski hill is situated, are buried elsewhere. Wire nails are ubiquitous at the site. The final report will be submitted within six months as indicated in the data recovery plan.
James and Jane Walker Cabin/Edgar Doud Farmstead
Clare Tolmie In July and August 2003 MARS, Inc. undertook Phase III mitigation at 11-Wi-2624, the James and Jane Walker Cabin/Edgar Doud Farmstead, located southwest of the Village of Plainfield, Will County. Four features were present on the site: Feature 1, the cellar of a mid-nineteenth century farmhouse associated with the Doud and later occupations; Feature 2, the cellar of an earlier cabin associated with James and Jane Walker; Feature 3, a cistern probably constructed in the mid-nineteenth century, and Feature 5, a feature of unknown function adjacent to and possibly associated with the Walker cabin. Documentary records show that James Walker came to the Plainfield area in 1828 or 1829 with his father-in-law Jesse Walker to organize a Methodist mission to a nearby Potowotami village. Walker filed a pre-emption claim on the parcel containing 11-Wi-2624, and owned the land until 1839. The property was then owned by land speculators and was sold to Edgar Doud sometime before 1860. It appears that the earlier cabin had been abandoned and demolished and there is no evidence for reuse of the structure during the later occupation. The later farmhouse was owned by Edgar Doud until around 1868, and after that time was occupied by tenants of absentee landlords. The farmstead was demolished sometime between 1883 and 1892. The demolition is part of a larger pattern of farm consolidation that occurred in the Plainfield area at that time. The artifact assemblage clearly supports two separate phases of occupation with the Walker cabin containing artifacts that predate 1850 (primarily 1830-1840), and the Doud cellar containing artifacts that postdate 1850. Walker's cabin represents the first permanent Euro-American settlement in the Plainfield area, and formed the nucleus of an early scattered settlement known as Walker's Grove. Artifact analysis is ongoing. Documentary research will be undertaken to substantiate Walker's association with the earlier cabin and to establish the duration of his occupation at the site. Other research will focus on the evidence (archaeological, ethnohistorical and documentary) for interactions between the Native American and Euro-American population at the site. The site also presents an opportunity to examine the differences in material culture and socio-economic status between the early settlers and later inhabitants of the Plainfield area. The Phase III report should be available early next year. One-Room Schoolhouses
Carrie Koster-Horan The one-room schoolhouse, once a prominent feature on the Illinois landscape, is now a rarity. Some now stand as abandoned reminders of past educational and community activities in rural Illinois, others have been moved and/or renovated for other uses, but perhaps most are now archaeological sites. Archaeological data on one-room schoolhouses is extremely limited within the state of Illinois. In 2002, and 2003, MARS, Inc. conducted Phase II archaeological investigations at the Tamarack School site located in Wheatland Township, Will County, Illinois and the Mead School site located approximately 12.0 miles to the south of Tamarack in Aux Sable Township, in Grundy County, Illinois. The Phase II investigations at the Tamarack School identified 11 subsurface features (four privies, four possible midden remnants, a possible utility trench, two possible gate posts) and forty-seven possible post holes were uncovered. The artifacts recovered from the site range in date from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. These dates correspond to the building, use and abandonment of the school. Among the artifacts recovered are a variety of whole or almost whole ink bottles (paneled, conical, circular, square, and octagonal. A few whole ink wells, other school related artifacts (slate pencils and tablet fragments, pencil erasers, and a calligraphy pen tip), toys and other personal items were also present. The Tamarack School was part of the rural crossroads community of Tamarack founded by immigrants from Scotland. Today, only the post office/store building, currently being used as a private residence remains standing. Based on the photographs, archival documentation, interviews conducted, and artifacts recovered, the Tamarack School seems to have been typical of what one-room schoolhouses were like in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The following is an undated photograph of the Tamarack school. The Phase II investigations the Meade School identified three subsurface features; Feature 1 - possible cellar, Feature 2 - well, and Feature 3 - possible well. No privies were found. The artifact assemblage ranges in date from the mid/late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Artifacts recovered are primarily architectural and container glass. The Meade School yielded very few specifically school related artifacts; there are very few personal items and no ink well or ink bottles. Only one iron desk part was recovered from the backdirt. Unfortunately, at least 1/3 of the site was destroyed by gas line construction. Excavations at SMA in the Macktown Forest Preserve (2003 Field School)
Sara Pfannkuche MARS, Inc. returned to the Macktown Site (11Wo256) in Winnebago County, Illinois for its 2003 Field School. The focus of this year's work was SMA, a large shell accumulation visible for approximately 75 meters along the southern bank of the Rock River directly downstream of its confluence with the Pecatonica. The site is a primary food processing center specializing in freshwater mussels and associated riverine resources. Approximately 25 cm of the riverbank at SMA is eroded yearly due to boat traffic on the river and other environmental stress. A 4 meter by 2 meter block excavation, dug in natural soil and cultural levels, was excavated across the floodplain to the edge of the bluff’s toeslope. A buried A horizon (Zone 3) covers the floodplain below more modern deposits. Feature 9, a pit feature containing a Madison ware vessel, was present within the buried A. This zone also contained mammal and turtle remains. Turtle and mammal remains were also found within the shell deposits, a 10 to 25 cm thick zone (Zone 5) which extended across the entire floodplain within the excavated block. In addition to faunal remains, large concentrations of ceramics, the largest containing 425 sherds, were found within the shell layer; the majority of these ceramics appear to be Early Woodland Prairie Series. Faunal remains, mostly fish, were also recovered in an alluvium deposit below the shell and on top of a paleo-sand bar. Three features, charcoal concentrations with burnt shell, were also identified. Excavation units were placed south of SMA, on the bluffslope terraces. Three pit features were found on Terrace 2: Feature 1 was filled with freshwater mussels, Feature 2 contained small bone fragments, and Feature 17 was associated with a Steuben point and a Middle Woodland rim sherds. Two post holes were also found directly south of Feature 1. While no features were located on Terrace 3, two trade items (a flat brass blank and a clear glass trade bead) were found within the upper levels of one unit. Another unit contained a lithic concentration that may be Middle to Late Archaic in date. This concentration was found between 65 and 95 cm below ground surface. Thirty-four % by count, 60% by weight, of all the lithics recovered from the terrace excavations were found within the Archaic lithic concentration. A similar concentration was identified by Loyola University in their excavations on Terrace 2 in 1998 and 1999. At the end of the season, the Macktown Forest Preserve District planted oak trees as part of its effort to re-create an oak savannah that existed in the area at the time of Euro-American settlement. Holes for the trees were excavated by a tree spade, but MARS, Inc. staff screened all of the soils from the holes and inspected the holes for traces of features and soil stratigraphy. A socketed antler handle that was also used as a pressure flaker was recovered near a shallow pit feature (Feature 18) lined with shells. The handle is 10.5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide on the proximal end; the socketing groove measures 0.6 cm wide. Analysis of the artifacts recovered this year are ongoing. Photographs of the ceramic concentration and the antler handle are shown below. Data Recovery from the Chen Site (11-Wi-2514)
Andrew Higgs The Chen site is located on a knoll on the south bank of the Du Page River in Will County, Illinois. The knoll appears to have been the focus of repeated occupations by mobile hunter-gatherers. Only the portion of the site within an area slated for residential development was mitigated. The entire artifact assemblage consists of 17,000 pieces of lithic production debris and cores, bifaces at various stages of reduction, biface points, flake tools, fire-cracked rock and a few pebble tools. The notched biface points represent Late Archaic and Early Woodland periods. Artifacts recovered reflect tool production and maintenance activities within small activity zones on the periphery of a much larger site that once existed on the bluff. The bulk of the debitage, core, and biface fragments comprise Harmilda chert most likely obtained from local bedrock sources or stream cuts along the Des Plaines and DuPage rivers. Artifact density in the core excavated area is primarily the result of biface reduction. Another artifact concentration several meters south of this core appear to be another lithic reduction area with diffuse refuse from other domestic activities. Unfortunately, no floral or faunal remains were found in good, datable context. The results of Phase III investigations at the site will be available early in 2004. The Cement Pond Site
Richard Johnson Phase III field work at Cement Pond (11-Wi-2533) was conducted by Midwest Archaeological Services, Inc., staff archaeologists in the fall of 2002. The site occupies the southern slope of a small knoll in a picnic area on the grounds of the Hillcrest Amusement Park in Romeoville, Illinois. This site location is near the outer edge of the Valparaiso Moraine at the pre settlement boundary of upland prairie and a narrow band of mixed deciduous forest bordering the north side of the lower Des Plaines River valley. A swimming pool forms the western border of the site. The discovery of prehistoric artifacts in fill along the concrete pool surround suggests that a portion of the Cement Pond site was destroyed by pool building activities. The remaining site area covers 300 m2 of the picnic area. Over 7,000 pieces of tool-making debris and twenty-two prehistoric tools, including projectile point fragments, scrapers, bifaces and cores were recovered from forty, one m2 excavation units. Almost all of the cores, debitage, and tools from Cement Pond are made of chert taken from Silurian dolomite outcrops found in drainage downcuts along the Des Plaines River bluffs Phase III investigations at the Cement Pond site revealed two debitage concentrations representing knapping activity areas where cores were reduced to more refined bifaces and flakes were fashioned into small scrapers. Some flake tools in the assemblage were used without edge preparation. The most likely use for these tools given the site's location at the prehistoric forest/prairie ecotone would be for the processing of meat and hides from game such as deer. No floral or faunal material was recovered in good context. Fragments of Matanzas and Brewerton Eared Notched points were recovered indicating that the Cement Pond site was a Late Archaic processing camp.
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