MORNING PAPERS: NEW DEAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN ILLINOIS

Authors: Mary R. McCorvie (US Forest Service) and Mark J. Wagner (Southern Illinois University Carbondale)

Title: The New Deal in Illinois Archaeology: An Introduction

Abstract: This year marks the 75th anniversary of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA) program, which included the large-scale archaeological excavations throughout the Southeast and Midwest including Illinois. This paper presents an overview of the WPA archaeological program in Illinois by highlighting some of the people involved in the projects and the sites at which they worked. The WPA investigations, which were designed to provide work to Illinois's unemployed rural labor force, also laid the foundation for the much of our current archaeological knowledge by establishing field methods and techniques still used today as well as defining the basic cultural chronology of the state. WPA archaeological projects eventually occurred at a minimum of 17 larger sites in Illinois as well as a series of smaller satellite sites that had only limited testing programs.

Authors: Joyce A. Williams (Madison County Historical Society) and Meghan Jones (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Title: "52 Stone Celts, 67 Stone Axes, 219 War Arrowheads…": The WPA Inventory of the Madison County Historical Society Collection in 1938

Abstract: In 1938, the Madison County Historical Society was notified by telegram that a WPA project to "record descriptive date [data] exhibit books and newspapers.." had been approved. Works Progress Administration (WPA) was to list all of the items in the Historical Society's collection housed in a room at the County Courthouse in Edwardsville, Illinois. A large portion of these items derived from prehistoric and historic contexts gathered by Mr. John Sutter during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Besides being "neat" to look at, are the prehistoric items useful to the modern researcher? As the collection is reviewed, research questions can be answered as to material type, decorations, and most of all they are useful for the Museum to show the public many examples of the items usually stored in boxes in other Museums.

Authors: John E. Kelly (Washington University), William R. Iseminger (Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site), and Susanna Bailey (Washington University)

Title: The Role of Harriet Smith and the WPA in the History of Investigations at Cahokia Mounds

Abstract: Harriet Smith represented the first woman archaeologist to conduct archaeological investigations at Cahokia. These investigations were of a salvage nature; however, more importantly they were conducted as part of the WPA program in the Metro-east area of southwestern Illinois. This paper describes the context of these investigations and how the WPA was employed in this early salvage work at the site.

Authors: Brian M. Butler and Jessica R. Howe (Southern Illinois University Carbondale)

Title: The Prehistory of Southern Illinois: The WPA Connection

Abstract: Although it has not always been fully appreciated, the Works Progress Administration contributed significantly to the early stages of archaeological research in Illinois. In this presentation we describe the three major archaeological investigations of prehistoric sites in southern Illinois that used WPA labor. These include the University of Chicago's long running efforts at the Kincaid site, as well as two related projects: Moreau Maxwells' work in the Big Muddy River drainage near Carbondale and the little known excavations of J.P. Chamberlain at the Boulder site on the Kaskaskia River in Clinton County. Ironically, although the Chicago field program trained many of the students who came to direct New Deal archaeological projects across the Eastern Woodlands, its efforts at Kincaid received support only belatedly, even as its graduate students were being dispatched from the Kincaid project to supervise other excavations in the state and elsewhere.

Author: Clare Tolmie (Midwest Archaeological Research Services, Inc.)

Title: One Dam Project After Another: the CCC in Du Page County

Abstract: The CCC and WPA are well-known for the archaeological surveys, inventories and excavations undertaken during the Depression. The CCC also played an important role in creating archaeological sites through the modification of the landscape. In this paper I will describe archaeological surveys undertaken at Warrenville Grove and McDowell Grove dams in Du Page County. I will place the surveys in the context of local and regional history and in the context of the work undertaken by the CCC to provide urban populations access to parklands for leisure activities.

Author: Douglas Kullen (Allied Archeology, Aurora, Illinois)

Title: The Archeology of a New Deal Project: Batavia's Island Park in Kane County, Illinois

Abstract: In the 1930s, archeological work was conducted at several prehistoric and historic sites in Illinois, but the archeology of New Deal projects themselves can provide new perspectives and added insights into the lives and times of Depression Era Americans. Recent research undertaken for a Phase I Archeological Survey at the City of Batavia's Clark Island Recreation Area uncovered a wealth of archival material documenting park construction conducted under the auspices of state and Federal relief-work programs. Documentary evidence tells the story of how a small Midwestern town - due to a devastating national economic collapse -- finally got the city park it had always wanted. The story relates important lessons regarding the effectiveness of inter-governmental cooperation, the Common Good, and being careful what you wish for . . .

Author: Kjersti E. Emerson (Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program)

Title: The Fisher Site: The legacy of the W.P.A in northern Illinois

Abstract: The Fisher Mounds and Village site, located in Will County, Illinois, contained at least 12 burial mounds and over fifty house pit depressions before its destruction. Represented at the site were Late Woodland, Upper Mississippian, and historic Native American groups. Brought to the attention of the archaeological community by avocational archaeologist George Langford, the site was included in the projects of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1940-41 field season. Under the supervision of Gretchen Cutter, WPA crews excavated two small mounds and portions of the village, focusing their attention on the Late Woodland and historic burial mounds and one large Upper Mississippian house structure in particular. Their contributions have left us with detailed records, photographs, and maps of a site no longer in existence and crucial to our understanding of Native American cultures in northern Illinois.

AFTERNOON PAPERS: CURRENT RESEARCH

Author: Miranda Yancey (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Title: Interpreting a Mississippian Landscape

Abstract: This paper presents an interpretation of a Mississippian landscape using archaeological data and the analysis of site locations and site relations between four Mississippian sites in the northern American Bottom uplands. These sites, 11MS1124, 11MS1108, 11MS1174, and 11MS341, are located within the Cahokia Creek drainage system. Site location was analyzed first by compiling GLO and current soil survey maps and then building one hour walking time catchments. The catchments were then used to gather and compare environmental data for each site. Possible site relations were investigated using viewshed analysis in combination with site catchment findings. All of the resulting information was then integrated into the archaeological data in order to interpret Mississippian space.

Author: Lenville J. Stelle (Parkland College, Champaign IL)

Title: Blood of the Ancestors Grotto (11SA557): Ritual Behavior

Abstract: The Blood of the Ancestors Grotto (11SA557) has proven to be a rock art site likely associated with female spirituality and healing. One yet unexplored avenue to a fuller understanding of the art centers on the evidence for repeated social behaviors identifying boundaries between the sacred and the profane and behavioral pathways for correct interaction/contact between the two. Some of these behaviors seem connected to natural rhythms and periodicities. Descriptions of these rituals and their possible ethnographically documented analogues in early historic populations are offered.

Author: Michael D. Conner (Dickson Mounds Museum) and Jodie O'Gorman (Michigan State University)

Title: New Excavations at Morton Village, an Oneota-Mississippian Site in the Central Illinois Valley

Abstract: In 2008, Michigan State University and Dickson Mounds Museum began a multiyear research project at the Morton Village (11F2). The site is presumed to be associated with the Norris Farms 36 cemetery, which dates to about A.D. 1300 and contains Bold Counselor phase Oneota burials. Limited excavations of Morton Village in the 1980s recovered both Oneota and Mississippian features and houses. The current project hopes to provide more evidence to understand the local Oneota occupation and its relationship to Mississippian groups. The 2008 excavations demonstrated that Oneota and Mississippian material are widespread at the site.

Author: Gregory Vogel (Center for American Archeology)

Title: Geophysical Remote Sensing and GIS at the Mound House Site

Abstract: In 2008 a field school track in GIS and geophysical remote sensing was added to the Center for American Archeology/Arizona State University field school at the Middle-Woodland period Mound House site. Soil resistivity and magnetometry surveys were conducted over more than 23,000 square meters of the site, and numerous archaeological and historic datasets were combined into site- and landscape-scale GIS models. This presentation focuses on the results of this work and its utility as an aid in interpreting the site's prehistoric and historic land use history.

Author: Terrance J. Martin (Illinois State Museum), Christopher Fennell (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), and Anna Agbe-Davies (DePaul University)

Title: Archaeology at New Philadelphia: A Review of the 2008 Season

Abstract: Founded in 1836 on a tract of land in west central Illinois owned by a formerly enslaved African American, New Philadelphia was envisioned to be an economic hub for an agrarian community. Lots were purchased by both European Americans and African Americans, and the town was occupied through the early 1900s. Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the 2008 field season marked the resumption of another three years of research directed at obtaining information on the entire community. Field investigations included additional architectural foundations, a large filled-in cellar, one of the former platted streets, and a search for a 19th-century schoolhouse.

Author: Corin C. O. Pursell (Southern Illinois University Carbondale)

Title: Five Years of Ongoing Excavations at Kincaid Mounds

Abstract: Serious archaeological reconsideration of Kincaid Mounds began in 2003, after a lengthy hiatus beginning when the University of Chicago field school left Kincaid in 1941. Since then, Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the Center for Archaeological Investigations have conducted an annual field school at Kincaid, pursuing a series of related goals, largely guided by new magnetometry images. These excavations and geophysical surveys, as well as new interpretations of the University of Chicago's previous excavation notes, have greatly changed our understanding of Kincaid. These changes include a significant expansion of the estimated site area and number of probable mounds, as well as the identification of multiple palisade lines at the western margins. Unfortunately not all the news from Kincaid is good; looting episodes have been occasionally noted at the site, and one of these coincided with the 2008 Field School.

Author: Brad Koldehoff, Joseph M. Galloy, Jeffery D. Kruchten, Patrick R. Durst, and Charles O. Witty (Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program)

Title: Recent Investigations in the American Bottom Region

Abstract: In this paper we summarize the results of recent Phase II and Phase III investigations undertaken for a number of transportation related projects and private developments. We highlight discoveries at the Janey B. Goode site that shed new light on the structure of this massive late prehistoric habitation area, and we highlight discoveries made in French Cahokia that not only shed new light on French Colonial lifeways but also underscore the excellent state of preservation that exists just beneath the surface of present-day Cahokia.

Author: Susanna Bailey (Washington University), Kathleen Stahlman (PARC), and John E. Kelly (Washington University)

Title: The Processes of Research and Preservation at the Washausen site

Abstract: This paper summarizes the last four years research at the Washausen site, a small late Emergent Mississippian and early Mississippian mound center, and the future work at the site.

Author: Steve Boles (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) and Tim Pauketat (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

Title: Two Recent Celt Cache Discoveries in the American Bottoms

Abstract: This discussion will detail the discovery of two celt caches from the American Bottoms that were recently brought to light. Previous celt caches from the region will also briefly be discussed to provide background on the significance of the two new celt caches and also to provide additional data for possible interpretations as to their function in Cahokia society.

Author: Jeffery Kruchten (Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program)

Title: Salvage Excavations at the Pfeffer Site

Abstract: Listed on the National Register, the Pfeffer site is a major early Mississippian upland mound center located 20 miles east of Cahokia on Silver Creek near Lebanon, Illinois. In June 2008, a large portion of the site was blatantly destroyed by a local developer to make way for a residential and commercial development. This paper summarizes the history of investigations at the site and outlines recent events related to site destruction and subsequent salvage efforts.

Author: John E. Kelly (Washington University)

Title: The Architecture of Cahokia's West Plaza: The 2008 Test Excavations

Abstract: In 1960 highway salvage excavations on the relocated Sand Prairie Lane were conducted under the direction of Dr. Warren Wittry of the Illinois State Museum. This resulted in an occupational sequence beginning with the late Emergent Mississippian or Late Bluff culture, the creation of Cahokia's West Plaza, and the areas return to a residential area during the Moorehead and Sand Prairie phases. This presentation summarizes the results to locate the west walls of one of the Plaza's large rectangular compounds.

Author: William Iseminger (Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site)

Title: SIUE Excavations of Cahokia's North Palisade

The SIUE Field School continues to pursue the route of one of the walls that is turning north to go behind Monks Mound, building on previous work done in the 1960s and 1970s, and more recently by Earthwatch Institute field schools. A brief review of the earlier work and a summary of the 2008 results will be discussed.

Author: James A. Brown (Northwestern University), Lori Belknap (CMVARI), John E. Kelly (Washington University), Lucretia S. Kelly (Washington University), Julieann Van Nest (New York State Museum), Kathleen L. Ehrhardt (Illinois State Museum), and Kathryn Parker (Great Lakes Ecosystem)

Title: The 2008 Investigations at Mound 34

Abstract: This presentation summarizes this summer's work at Mound 34 in continued pursuit of the copper workshop identified by Perino in 1956. Three major discoveries have emerged as the result of this effort. First, the workshop is limited to a small (15-16 sq. m ) area of worked copper and tools beneath the north end of the mound. Second, a large portion of the area beneath the work shop had been borrowed, refilled, and leveled. Third, the workshop area has a complicated sequential and ritual relationship to other features constructed on this reclaimed surface that represents a short moment in time.

Author: Lori Belknap (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Title: Copper Technology at Mound 34

Abstract: The extent of copper fabrication at Mound 34 is an important element in understanding the social complexity of Cahokia as well as connections to other Mississippian centers. The 2007 excavation at Mound 34 yielded many components associated with a copper workshop. It has been my research focus since the 2007 excavation to determine whether or not copper fabrication was done in that area. Though this is an ongoing project, I will present a brief summary of copper technology in North America and the methods and results of my research thus far, including new insights as a result of the 2008 excavation.

Author: Jamie Haines (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Title: Analysis of Historical Euro-American Skeletal Remains from the Old Darwin Cemetery, Darwin, Illinois

Abstract: In 1999, during a quarry excavation by the Clark county Highway Department in the Wabash River Valley in east-central Illinois, an unmarked historic cemetery was found containing 14 graves. Of these graves, the partial remains of approximately eight individuals were recovered and housed under the auspices of the Illinois Historical Preservation Agency at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The cemetery records were destroyed in the Clark County courthouse fire in the early 1900's and the headstones were missing, making individual identification impossible. There was a need for analysis of the remains due to the lack of information as to the identification of these individuals. Given lack of records, the only way to gain information on the individuals that might allow reconstruction of individual identity is bioarchaeological analyses of material.

Author: Julie Zimmermann Holt (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Title: Engaging Undergraduates in Illinois Archaeology

Abstract: The Illinois Archaeological Survey inaugurated a student paper competition in 2005 to honor Jeanette Stephens. Letters sent to anthropology departments in Illinois and emails sent to IAS members have encouraged faculty and other archaeologists to get students involved in Illinois archaeology. Despite the efforts of the Board to publicize the competition, we've received very few entries over the last several years. The purpose of this presentation is to publicize the paper competition, and to encourage faculty to get their undergraduate students involved in Illinois archaeology. As an illustration, I will talk about how we've been able to do this successfully at SIUE.