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News from ISAS

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey protects, preserves, and interprets irreplaceable and non-renewable cultural resources within the context of Illinois’ need to encourage and promote sustainable development. ISAS is a division of the Prairie Research Institute (PRI).

blog posts

  • People of PRI: Amanda Quealy

  • People of PRI: Seth Allgeier, curation specialist

  • New issue of MJCA, guest edited by ISAS' Dr. Clare Tolmie, explores the archaeological record of the Chicago region

    Past and present ISAS staff have authored papers in the recently issued Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology (MCJA) on the pre-contact and contact era archaeological record of the Chicago region, guest edited by Dr. Clare Tolmie (ISAS Northern Illinois Field Station Coordinator). 

    This volume, the first of two special issues, serves as a reminder that, despite urban growth and development, the archaeological record of Chicago survives in many parts of the metropolitan area, from the end of the Ice Age to the end of the pre-contact period when Indigenous communities were first in direct contact with Europeans.

  • Mera Hertel, 2024 Distinguished Support Staff Award recipient

    Recognized for her exceptional contributions, Mera Hertel, a cornerstone of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS), has been honored with the prestigious Prairie Research Institute’s 2024 Distinguished Support Staff Award.

  • Illinois' first submerged cultural resource: the Solon Johnson wreck of 1887

  • Heavenly history and the moon

  • ISAS to lead “Field to Lab” summer program

  • ISAS awarded grant for "Homelands and Harvests" project

  • Dr. Joseph Galloy (IL Dept. of Transportation), Robert White III (Historical Society of Brooklyn, IL), and Miranda Yancey (Illinois State Museum)

  • Marvin Defoe (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) and Dr. Heather Walder (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)