Illinois
Archaeological Survey
The Annual Meeting of the Illinois Archaeological
Survey and Workshop on Illinois Archaeology for 2000 was held at the Cahokia
Mounds Interpretive Center, on December 1st and 2nd.
Organized by Brad Koldehoff and Bill Iseminger, the meeting was hosted by
Cahokia Mounds Museum Society, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, the Illinois
Transportation Archaeological Research Program, and the Department of
Anthropology, UIUC.
The morning session of the Annual Workshop on
Illinois Archaeology featured papers on current research. The topics included
Clovis and Archaic site excavations, rock art in southern Illinois, and
research into the Underground Railroad in Illinois. Ten papers were presented
summarizing current research at Cahokia and other Mississippian sites in both
the American Bottom and the uplands to the east. In the afternoon there was an
informal workshop on the Early Mississippian Uplands, featuring displays of site
maps and ceramic artifacts from recent excavations at a series of early
Mississippian sites in the uplands around Cahokia.
Current Research - Abstracts
Alt, Susan M.
Not Quite Cahokia: Identity, Tradition and Non Conformity in
Cahokia’s Uplands
Investigations at several upland communities, all
within a days walk of Cahokia are providing new insights into the maintenance
of identity and traditions by people who must also accommodate the
unprecedented events and transformations that were occurring with the rise of
Cahokian Mississippianism. Part of this
is evident in the differences seen in the material culture and economic
activities, as well as in the technology and architecture seen in each unique
settlement. Reflecting back to Cahokia
from these villages we can also better judge the reach of the Cahokian polity
into the lives of people in the extended American Bottom region.
Arntzen, Kristen K.
Beneath the Sandstone: A New Vantage on Mid-Holocene Cultural
Change from the Allscheid Rockshelter (11MO932), Southwestern Illinois
Current models of mid-Holocene economic
intensification highlight the importance of subsistence reorganization in
climate-enriched floodplain settings, but have not been well tested for many
areas of the Midwest and Southeast. The
Allscheid Rockshelter in the southern American Bottom region offers a robust
stratified upland record spanning 7000-4500 BP. Because of its location, long sequence, and preservation of
subsistence remains, work at the shelter is well poised to test several aspects
of these models.
Butler, Brian M. and Mark J. Wagner
Dispatches from the South: Current Research at SIUC
This presentation will summarize recent and on-going
research projects by the Center for Archaeological Investigations, to include U.S.
Route 51 investigations near Carbondale (early Late Woodland), this summer’s
work of the SIUC field school at the Hayes Creek site (Millstone Bluff Project)
in Pope County, test excavations at the Giant City Stone Fort (Late Woodland)
in Jackson County, and excavations at the John A. Logan home (ca. 1824 to 1870)
in Murphysboro.
Finney, Fred A.
The East St. Louis Mound Center
Revisited
In 1999-2000 ITARP investigated the East St. Louis
Mound Center, second largest Mississippian mound center in the American
Bottom. Excavations took place near its
central plaza area. Approximately two
meters of historic fill was removed to reveal a stratified, heretofore
unrecognized Mississippian plaza and mound complex. Elements of this complex are over 220 features comprising mound
bases, rebuilt plazas, wall trench and single post structures, post-pits, pits,
and posts positioned outside the structures.
The bulk of the archeological deposit date to the Stirling phase. A Lohmann phase occupation occurs at the
base of the plaza area. The youngest
materials excavated in 1999 are Moorehead phase in age.
Hamlin, Jenna M., John E. Kelly and
James A. Brown
Re-excavating
Cahokia’s Mound 34: The Archaeology of
Archaeology
In the 1950’s, Cahokia’s Mound 34 was the focus of
investigations by the University of Michigan and the Gilcrease Institute. Those projects revealed the first and only
evidence of engraved shell cups and other related Southeastern Ceremonial
Complex materials at Cahokia. After
three seasons of fieldwork by the authors, a 14-meter long section of Perino’s
west profile wall has been exposed date of this mound and mapped. This profile enables us to evaluate the
sequence of construction and the use of the locale prior to and during mound
construction. Exposure of backfill
deposits allows us to draw some conclusions regarding Perino’s work and
post-Perino trenching. In addition, a
small shell cache located this summer replicates, in a modest fashion, the
offerings placed in the large mortuary mound at the coeval Mitchell Mound
Center. This paper summarizes the work
of the past three years and implications regarding the Moorehead phase.
Hargrave, Michael L., Susan M. Alt
and Timothy R. Pauketat
Geophysical
Investigations at the Hal Smith and Pfeffer Sites
Geophysical surveys were conducted at the Hal Smith
site in 1999 and at the Pfeffer site in 2000.
These surveys were conducted to assess the usefulness of electrical
resistivity and magnetic gradiometer techniques in the investigation of late
prehistoric habitation sites.
Subsequent large-scale excavations at both sites demonstrated that many
of the magnetic anomalies were associated with late prehistoric structures and
pits. Methodological issues and
implications of the geophysical surveys for future archaeological
investigations are discussed.
Jackson, Douglas K.
The
Grossman Site: A Mississippian
Community in the Richland Creek Uplands
The Grossman site is a late Lohmann/early Stirling
phase occupation situated east of the American Bottom in the uplands of the
Richland Creek drainage basin, one of a group of early Mississippian
communities to be identified and excavated in recent years in this region. Investigations were conducted at this site
in 1998 by ITARP personnel. Surface
data and extensive excavations indicate the presence of a substantial,
multi-courtyard community. The site
features examples of specialized architecture, spatially discrete craft
activities, and a diverse ceramic assemblage which generally mirrors that of
the American Bottom.
Kelly, John E. and Gina Powell
Potential
Implications of the New Whiteside School Investigations of an Early
Mississippian, Lohmann Phase Village
Pauketat’s work in the uplands east of Cahokia have
provided some exciting glimpses into the cultural dynamics between early
Cahokia and the populations to the east.
Excavations conducted this past summer at the Lehman-Sommers site, a
Lohmann phase village and farmstead, as part of the mitigation for the new Whiteside
School in Shiloh, will augment this picture.
This presentation provides a brief glimpse of the organization of the
village, the spatial distribution of certain artifact classes and the
implications that these patterns have on our understanding of early
Mississippian ritual and its social context.
Kozuch, Laura
Marine shells from the Cahokia site have yielded
evidence of shell-working technology.
Ramey Field and Mound 34 are shell reduction areas. Recent research on shells from these areas
reveal that shell beads made from the columella portion of sinistral shells at
times required the use of fire to separate the columella from shell body. A columella bead manufacture reduction
sequence is presented. No beads were
made from dextral shells.
Loebel, Thomas J.
Northern
Illinois Paleoindians: An Update of
Continued Work at the Hawk’s Nest Fluted Point Site (11L344)
Earlier reports of work conducted at 11L344, a fluted
point site located northwest of Chicago, are updated. Controlled surface collections from 1992-1999 have produced 152
chipped stone tools, 6 cores, 10 channel flakes, and 604 waste flakes mainly
diagnostic of the Gainey Complex, a Clovis variant found around the Great
Lakes. Test excavations of 70 square
meters in 1999 prior to development produced an additional 11 chipped stone
tools, 6 channel flakes, and 458 waste flakes.
Additional surface collections and 77 square meters of excavation in
Fall 2000 produced an additional 17 chipped stone tools and 336 waste
flakes. While most of the artifacts are
contained within the plow zone, materials recovered beneath the plow zone
suggest small pockets of relatively undisturbed Clovis artifacts may remain.
McCorvie, Mary R.
The passage of the National Underground Railroad
Network to Freedom Act of 1998 has given impetus to historical research
recording and documenting the Underground Railroad in the Eastern United
States. However, the great majority of
these sites are aboveground architectural remains. Little attention has been given in the past to documenting these
sites archaeologically. As a result
many are investigating mid-nineteenth century African American communities that
are likely to have been sympathetic to runaway slaves and possible havens of
refuge on their long journey to freedom in the North. Many of these sites are located among the freed slave communities
that dot the rural landscapes of southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio that are
now included in our nation’s National Forests.
In addition, much of the area included in Underground Railroad travel
routes extended across harsh landscapes such as densely forested swamps,
riparian areas, and karst regions which have afforded excellent hiding places
for runaway slaves but might leave no permanent trace to indicate their
previous use. Although these sites
cannot be linked definitively, there is a strong case for each one. All of thse areas and others need to be
explored archaeologically, as well as through the collection of oral histories,
to determine the actual routes of the Underground Railroad through the states
north of the Ohio River.
Moffat, Charles R.
The Late Woodland and Emergent
Mississippian Occupations at the Bluebell Site, Carlyle Reservoir, Clinton
County, Illinois
The Bluebell Site is located on a loess-covered
upland ridge spur extending into the Kaskaskia River floodplain. Excavations preceding lodge construction
uncovered nine prehistoric house basins and 156 pit features. One Emergent Mississsippian an two Late
Woodland occupations were identified, but mixing between the components caused
problems with some radiocarbon dates.
Ceramics associated with the major component were related to the
Emergent Mississippian Merrell phase in the American Bottom. Evidence for connections with the American
Bottom included six Madison County shale paste potsherds, as well as pieces of
galena, hematite, Crescent Hills chert, and hoe flakes of Mill Creek chert. In contrast to the American Bottom, a number
of vessels with folded rims were present.
Pauketat, Timothy R.
Over the last five years, survey and excavation in
Greater Cahokia’s upland fringe have provided a wealth of data that conflict
with the standard model of bottomland adaptation. The construction sequences of over 200 houses at 13 sites are
compared to derive an estimate of population levels and to propose a model of
village resettlement coeval with the rise of Cahokia. The upshot of the results not only changes
current views of Cahokia, but is suggestive of a renewed processual emphasis on
an old idea – population displacement and localized migrations.
Trubitt, Mary Beth
Summer
2000 marked the third field season on the Cahokia Palisade Project, research
funded by the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society and run under the auspices of the
Central Mississippi Valley Research Institute.
Work by field school students from Henderson State University and
volunteers included electrical resistivity surveying, 5 cm diameter soil
coring, mapping, and excavation to locate the west wall of Cahokia’s palisade
or stockade. In past seasons, excavations
have yielded palisade wall trenches associated with constructed earthen ridges
along the western edge of the Grand Plaza.
Several ridge locations were tested this season, and an additional wall
trench feature was identified.
Wagner, Mark J.
Austin Hollow Rock is a large petroglyph-covered
stone block located near a spring in Jackson County that contains numerous
prehistoric images including human footprints, hands, ogees, and maces. The creation of rock art at this location
may be linked to nearby spring as many Native Americans regarded springs as
entrances to the Underworld and the dwelling places of piasa-like creatures
such as the Underwater Panther.
Prehistoric Native Americans may have may created the images at the site
both as an acknowledgement of the power contained within the spring as well as
to obtain a portion of that power for themselves.