Historic archaeology in Illinois, from its beginning in the early twentieth century, has followed an uneven path to the twenty-first century. Early interests in French colonial, historic Native American, and early frontier American history drove targeted, government-funded research on sites such as the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia, Fort Massac, Fort de Chartres, French Cahokia, and New Salem during the first half of the twentieth century. By the 1950s, this focus had dissipated. It was not until the late 1970s that historic archaeology reemerged in the state, again in the con-text of government-funded endeavors, but this time encapsulated in the framework of federal historic preservation and state land management
In the spring of 1987, archaeological excavations were conducted at the Ernat site (11LS267), a multicomponent occupation located in the Illinois River floodplain immediately east of Starved Rock State Park along State Route 71. Excavations yielded several pit and rock Read More …
The principal objective of the project was to provide BYU students with the experience of exploring Nauvoo using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in order to gain a better appreciation of early Mormon history from a geophysical and archaeological perspective. The objective Read More …
This report contains the results of a literature search of published and archival sources relevant to the Lower Rock River Valley in Rock Island, Henry, and Whiteside Counties, Illinois. A total of 611 locations of cultural interest were identified including Read More …
Our study summarizes the results of a program to test the application of three-dimensional ground-penetrating radar (3D GPR) for locating and understanding the buried archaeological resources of the 1840s Mormon settlement of Nauvoo. This advanced, non-intrusive technology allows for the Read More …
The major purpose of this thesis is to see what can be interpreted concerning the people and architectural features of the Chauncey Webb House Site, Nauvoo, Illinois, during the Mormon period (1839-1846).
Although public archaeology has become increasingly popular since the 1980s, there were archaeologists engaged with the public well before this time. Yet, there have been very few attempts to document these early examples of public archaeology in the United States. Read More …
In the spring of 1987, archaeological excavations were conducted within a portion of the Ernat site (11LS267), a multicomponent habitation located in the floodplain on the south side of the Illinois River immediately east of Starved Rock State Park. As Read More …
The idea that children’s activities may be seen through traditionally adult material culture is rarely explored in archaeological analyses. This paper advocates a more nuanced interpretation of assemblages in archaeological datasets that highlights children and their activities. Discussions of children Read More …
More from the Illinois Frontier summarizes and synthesizes archaeological excavations at several pre-1850, frontier-context archaeological sites in rural Illinois.