blog posts

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  ISAS supports Arthur Johnson Foundation’s mission of ‘hope, vision, and positive direction.’

  The Illinois State Archaeological Survey recently assisted with an archaeological survey for the new Arthur Johnson Foundation Center in East St. Louis, Illinois. The Foundation’s mission is to “give hope, vision and positive direction to our youth through the medium of athletics” and to rebuild inner-city communities by inspiring youth and assisting families experiencing crises.

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  Ed Duling arrowhead collection donation

  Ed Duling's lifelong passion for collecting Native American artifacts has found a lasting legacy at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). His collection, painstakingly gathered over decades, is more than a mere assortment of arrowheads; it’s a testament to the rich tapestry of our heritage. Inspired by his unwavering dedication, his family, Sheryl Ketner and Noelle Walton, made a heartfelt decision – to contact ISAS to preserve their father's legacy and share it with the world.

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  ISAS collaborates with landowners in Whiteside County to document pre-contact village site

  The Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) recently collaborated with landowners in northwest Illinois to investigate a pre-contact village and associated mound using non-invasive geophysical survey. Originally recorded in 1961 as a Late Woodland site, a brief revisit to the McKeown site in 1974 showed that the site actually dates to the Upper Mississippian Langford Phase and contains not only a mound, but intact house pits and other features.

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  George Johnson donation: projectile points with a lasting impact

  Our Northern Illinois Field Station (NIFS) recently had a friendly visit from a familiar face – George Johnson!  Johnson, who donated an important projectile points collection to ISAS many years ago, stopped by to donate more artifacts to his collection. Johnson's donated collection is a major hotspot on the projectile points database.

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  Climate change threatens to erode Illinois' archaeological record

  Large swaths of the state—areas where the soil is easily eroded, where farm field slopes are particularly steep, and where there are many cultural sites of historic significance—are poised to suffer significant impacts in the coming decades. And with every fraction of an inch that washes downstream, the farmer’s plow goes a little deeper each year.

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  Counting on the future to save the past

  When one thinks of excavations taking place in the blazing summer sun, most people don’t realize how much discovery occurs in the cool, dark collections spaces that curators like Tamira Brennan, section head of curation at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) and her colleagues care for.

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  FPCC groups learn more about Cook County archaeology

  ISAS staff recently conducted four days of training and outreach activities to introduce several Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) resource management groups to the archaeological history of the Cook County Forest Preserves.

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  The past feeds the present

  The WIFS Macomb Fieldstation is currently home to the ISAS flotation laboratory, where flotation samples from projects across the state are processed. Leftover sediments have been repurposed in the on-site staff vegetable garden, once again enriching the local soils for a new food crop.

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  Jacksonville lab tour

  Members of the Illinois College summer student scholarship cohort met with staff from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) at the Western Illinois Field Station in Jacksonville, Illinois. Staff members John Alexander Schone Scobbie, an archaeological specialist, Erin Hughes, research archaeologist, and James Pisell, staff archaeologist, shared an overview of the mission and services of the ISAS and led a behind-the-scenes site tour.

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  2022 Field School uncovers pre-contact 14th century village

  Dr. Tamira Brennan, section head of curation at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, recently completed a six-week archaeological field school in southeast Missouri. Hosted by the Institute for Field Research (IFR) in partnership with Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), Field School students travel from all over the U.S. to participate in hands-on research.

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