ISAS Field Notes

NIFS staff member Allison Densmore shows George Johnson how researchers are using his donated collections for a research project on the distribution of projectile points in Illinois. Photo credit: Clare Tolmie

George Johnson donation: projectile points with a lasting impact

Feb 8, 2023 8:30 am

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.

Large erosional gully at an archaeological site in St. Clair County, Illinois

Climate change threatens to erode Illinois' archaeological record

Dec 12, 2022 9:15 am

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.

A 2022 IFR field school student rehouses archaeological materials to prepare them for permanent storage.

Counting on the future to save the past

Oct 11, 2022 8:00 am

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.

Participants working on pieces from mock excavations

FPCC groups learn more about Cook County archaeology

Aug 17, 2022 8:00 am

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.

Vegetables harvested from the WIFS garden.

The past feeds the present

Aug 15, 2022 8:00 am

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.

Photo (left to right): John Sullivan '23, Mathew Ragonjan '22, Elise Griffin '24, Devin Nessler '24, Monika Poudel '25, John Alexander Schone Scobbie (Archaeological Specialist), Erin Hughes (Research Archaeologist), James Pisell (Staff Archaeologist). July 2022.

Jacksonville lab tour

Aug 3, 2022 1:00 pm

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.

IFR students excavating at a 14th-century village during the first half of their six-week field school.

2022 Field School uncovers pre-contact 14th century village

Jul 22, 2022 1:30 pm

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.

Anthropology professor Lisa Lucero and her colleagues are working to capture the history from Maya ruins before they are plowed under.

Agricultural activity threatens Indigenous history in both Belize and Illinois

Jul 7, 2022 8:00 am

State Archaeologist Tim Pauketat reflects on a recent blog post from his colleague Dr. Lisa Lucero, which shows that Belize and Illinois share an unfortunate problem: agriculture puts Indigenous artifacts and history at risk.

Trained eye IDs animal bones

May 3, 2022 8:00 am

Earlier this year, ISAS received some photos the submitter believed were from a bison. The bones in all of these photos are actually from a horse. Steve Kuehn, an ISAS zooarchaeologist, notes two elements show distinct traits that separate horses from bison and cattle.

(Left to Right) Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery founders Leslie Cooperband, Wes Jarrell, and ISAS staff Madeline Evans and Mike Smith holding artifacts.

Identifying artifacts at Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery

Jan 24, 2022 8:00 am

ISAS volunteers Mike Smith and Madeline Evans were able to visit Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign this past December to assist the owners in identifying a collection of artifacts that came into their possession as they expanded their farm operation.

ISAS staff help Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Nov 29, 2021 2:30 pm

A few months ago, a visitor found an interesting stone at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville. They took pictures and alerted Forest Preserve District staff, who reached out to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey for their perspective.

ISAS staff excavating the Deer Shed Bluff site

A glimpse of an antebellum tavern on the Mississippi River

Nov 22, 2021 10:00 am

In 2019, the Illinois State Archaeological Survey encountered a pre-1850 historic site on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River as part of a bridge replacement project conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Wedged between a gas pipeline and a modern highway right-of-way was a remarkably well-preserved footprint of an early 19th century structure, and as well as a rich deposit of material culture associated with what turned out to be tavern-keeping.

three maps of Illinois archaeological survey density across all townships

What we don’t know about Illinois archaeology

Oct 25, 2021 12:00 pm

Despite more than 100 years of archaeological research in Illinois, large parts of the state have received very little professional survey. Almost one third of townships in Illinois have less than 1% of their area surveyed! By and large, places with high populations, a lot of modern development, more road building, or proximity to universities have received more attention from archaeologists.

Clinton County finds

Oct 6, 2021 3:15 pm

Two archaeology enthusiasts in Clinton County have collected dozens of clay-fired objects, which archaeologists believe were used to cook food in southern Illinois approximately 2,000 years ago.

female Knox College student at the DeWulf excavation

'Citizen archaeologists' contribute to DeWulf project

Aug 5, 2021 11:45 am

Volunteers, including students from Knox College, pitched in to help ISAS staff with a project at the DeWulf site, a Paleoindian site that dates back about 9,500 years.

IFR students sorting through archaeological materials being donated to the Center for Archaeological Investigations at SIUC.

Curating a new curriculum

Aug 2, 2021 8:00 am

Tombstone of Priscilla "Mother" Baltimore

Commemorating Freedom Village

Jul 26, 2021 8:00 am

A word about dating

Jul 19, 2021 8:00 am

Plow scars and omarolluks

May 18, 2021 8:00 am

A recently reconstructed La Crosse fabric-marked vessel from the Herb Mangold donation. Photo credit: Aimee Roberts.

La Crosse fabric-marked bowl from the Herb Mangold donation

Apr 7, 2021 8:00 am

Ongoing volunteer work with the Herb Mangold donation reveals important new information about Late Woodland ceramic technology in the Sny Bottom locality south of Quincy, Illinois.

Bone and shell tools provide food for thought

Feb 4, 2021 9:00 am

ISAS Assistant Director Thomas Loebel (Left) works with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to uncover an artifact at the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPDCC) site , Sept. 12, 2020.

Long-standing collaboration works to keep archaeological record intact

Sep 28, 2020 8:00 am

Late Woodland Fall Creek Cordmarked ceramic jar.

Herb Mangold donation: Sny Bottom Late Woodland pottery vessels

Sep 9, 2020 8:00 am

Fort Edwards geophysical survey

Sep 1, 2020 8:00 am

Stone tools that are suggestive of generalized Archaic period (probably 3,000 or more years old) use of the area where they were located – one is a drill or perforating tool and the other may be a reworked knife form.

Archaic stone tools and Late Woodland ceramics

Jul 22, 2020 9:45 am

A Facebook message from a citizen scientist with a keen eye in Henderson County revealed an impressive assemblage of artifacts.

white drone hovering above 3 men in corn stubble field

ISAS uses drone to investigate Late Woodland village

May 20, 2020 2:30 pm

Patrick Durst's head and chest are visible as he stands in an excavation, with Steven Boles standing six feet behind him

ISAS staff follow precautions while conducting essential fieldwork

Apr 20, 2020 9:45 am

three archaeologists looking for chert in Jersey County, Illinois.

Search for local chert

Mar 10, 2020 11:00 am

John Lambert works to recover text from a heavily eroded and weathered gravestone.

3D scanning of a weathered stone grave marker at Allerton Park

Feb 4, 2020 2:00 pm

Western Illinois Field Station staff explore the 'Nile of North America'

Sep 23, 2019 8:15 am

Dalton projectile points

Sep 13, 2019 8:15 am

ISAS recently hosted two researchers from the University of Louisville who are studying Dalton projectile points (8500–7900 BC) from the Midcontinent as part of a pilot research grant project.

Shell tool

Sep 9, 2019 1:45 pm

During a collaborative restoration project with the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC), this shell tool, which archaeologists believe may have been used to make decorative designs on a ceramic vessel prior to final firing was recovered.

Allerton Cemetery Workshop

Aug 28, 2019 12:45 pm

Archaeologists found this bone awl (made on a white-tailed deer metatarsus) in Stephenson County.

Bone awls

Jul 30, 2019 10:00 am

Archaeologists from the Northern Illinois Field Station recently recovered two bone tools from a small site in Stephenson County.

Staff from the ISAS recently recovered this rim section of a cord-impressed vessel dating to the Terminal Late Woodland period.

Cord-impressed vessel fragment

Jul 29, 2019 9:30 am

The Western Illinois Field Station team recently recovered an interesting rim section from a cord-impressed vessel while sampling a restricted bluff base midden or trash deposit during an IDOT-sponsored bridge replacement project in Tazewell County.

Bone needle

Jul 22, 2019 10:30 am

Staff from the Northern Illinois Field Station, along with volunteers, recently collaborated with the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) to investigate and restore a large Native American farming village last month. Bone needles and ceramic vessels were found during this recent dig.

Ceramic vessel

Jul 8, 2019 10:15 am

Recently staff from the Northern Illinois Field Station, along with volunteers, investigated and helped restore a site in the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC).

ISAS staff and volunteers work at a site in the Forest Preserves of Cook County

ISAS and Forest Preserves of Cook County collaborate on site investigation and restoration

Jul 1, 2019 12:00 pm

The c. 9000-years-old serrated Kirk cluster point was broken and reworked into a drawshave-type of hafted tool displaying a needle tip.

Western Illinois projectile points

May 17, 2019 11:45 am

Various projectile points were found in fields across Western Illinois, including Shuyler and Cass counties.

Western Illinois Field Station evaluates sites related to U.S. 34 project

Apr 29, 2019 2:30 pm

Jacob Skousen collects magnetometer data at the Hunze site in Missouri.

ISAS staff, students conduct geophysical survey in Missouri

Apr 25, 2019 2:15 pm

American Bottom Field Station investigates homestead

Apr 24, 2019 2:15 pm

a rare intact plowshare made of hand-forged iron by an unknown blacksmith.

Hand-forged iron plowshare

Apr 11, 2019 2:30 pm

Recently the Illinois State Archaeological Survey excavated the site of a small, short-term farmstead in rural Morgan County dating to the 1830s and 1840s. Found in an abandoned well was a rare intact plowshare made of hand-forged iron by an unknown blacksmith.

Half Dime

Mar 28, 2019 11:15 am

While excavating a site including a historic house cellar in Randolph County, staff from the American Bottom Field Station found this 1834 half dime, along with animal bones, buttons, bottles, and ceramic tableware. Indications are the house was in use in the 1830s and 1840s.

5 people at work with augurs at the rivershore

March 2019 Field Notes

Mar 27, 2019 3:30 pm

February 2019 Field Notes

Feb 14, 2019 3:15 pm

1943 German Reichspfennig

Feb 4, 2019 9:00 am

Last fall, while investigating an Archaic period site northwest of Macomb, an unexpected artifact was recovered from the plow zone: a 1943 German Reichspfennig (“imperial penny”). How this foreign World War II-era coin ended up in a US agricultural field far from any residence is puzzling and may never be known with certainty.

blog navigation

blog posts