The Illinois Archaeological Predictive Models (IAPM) offers a publicly available resource to predict where archaeological sites may be found.

The Richard and Marilyn Schryver Collection was donated to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey in the Fall of 2019 by their children.

As we all seek to limit spread of COVID-19, this event will be postponed to 2021.  

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey will host a visiting scholar conference May 30–31, 2020. Toward the Middle Range will focus on the intersection of theory, method, and case study through the lens of the New Materialisms. Up to 15 participants—local, national, and international—will be selected for this two-day conference, which will feature both public and private sessions. Papers will be compiled into an edited volume.

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey proudly announces the release of our latest publication, East St. Louis Precinct Mississippian Ceramics edited by Tamira K. Brennan, Michael Brent Lansdell, and Alleen Betzenhauser with contributions by Alleen Betzenhauser, Tamira K. Brennan, Sarah E. Harken, Michael Brent Lansdell, and Victoria E. Potter.

A massive archaeological site in St. Clair County, Illinois, was excavated by ISAS for the Illinois Department of Transportation between 1998 and 2007 to make way for a new bridge over the Mississippi River. ISAS archaeologists excavated some 7,000 discrete “features,” locations of trash-filled storage pits and houses, among other things, near the banks of the Mississippi River.

Staff from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) are looking to new technology to tie Cahokia’s grid to real-world coordinates. This will be the first time researchers and other state agencies will be able to integrate LiDAR with excavation data at Cahokia.

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey proudly announces the release of our latest publication, Possible Futures for the Recent Past: A Chronological and Resource-Based Framework for Historic Research Design in Illinois.

Illinois State Archaeologist Tim Pauketat led a tour of Cahokia Mounds on Sept. 19 for a group of University of Illinois alumni. This special event was organized by the Illinois Alumni Association and the Prairie Research Institute. 

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey has reprinted two popular out-of-print publications and both are available for purchase on Amazon.

ISAS partners with organizations to collect data from the Mann site.

The Illinois Archaeological Survey recently published its 28th and 29th volume in honor of Dr. Thomas E. Emerson. Dr. Emerson’s career has spanned over 45 years in cultural resource management and during that time he has been a passionate advocate for publishing archaeological research.

The investigations at East St. Louis conducted by Illinois State Archaeological Survey for the New Mississippi River Bridge project provided an unprecedented amount of information concerning Terminal Late Woodland habitation in the American Bottom. East St. Louis Precinct Terminal Late Woodland Features, edited by Alleen Betzenhauser, describes insights gained from this project.

Dr. Thomas E. Emerson, director of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) and Illinois’ first State Archaeologist, announced he will be retiring at the end of 2018. Dr. Emerson’s career has spanned over 45 years in cultural resource management and he has been director of ISAS since 1994.

Ancient Cahokia Future Visions Conference brings goal for Cahokia becoming a National Park to the forefront.

Exchange Avenue figurine survives to tell us about Cahokia

Archaeologists turned up remnants of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the fabled White City that drew millions of visitors to Chicago’s Jackson Park, as they scoured the site of the Obama Presidential Center and nearby parkland as part of the federal review of plans for the proposed complex.

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) will participate in the Pygmalion Festival’s demo event happening Sept. 27 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. at the Krannert Art Museum on the University of Illinois campus.

This spring the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign continues the Intersections of Indigenous Knowledge and Archaeology Speaker Series, which aims to center Indigenous voices, increase awareness of the deep Native histories of the Eastern Woodlands, and amplify the experiences,research, and knowledge of Indigenous leaders, scholars, and artisans.

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.

Dr. Andrew C. Fortier, a stalwart figure in the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) and the broader Midwest archaeological community, departed on November 6, 2023, leaving behind a legacy of profound contributions and fond memories.

A new documentary about the cities built by Native Americans features research by University of Illinois anthropologists at the ancient city of Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis. An episode of the documentary will be screened Oct. 10 at Spurlock Museum.

Dr. Tamira Brennan, who previously worked at the American Bottom Field Station as a coordinator, researcher, and ceramic analyst, is returning to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey as the section head of curation. ISAS houses one of the most extensive archaeological research collections in the state of Illinois, which is used by researchers from around the world to gain insights into our history. 

Timothy R. Pauketat, a University of Illinois professor of Anthropology, is the new director of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey.

ISAS archaeological projects coordinator Sarah Scattergood received the Outstanding New Support Staff Award at the 2019 Prairie Research Institute Celebration of Excellence. 

While digging out the floors this week during the ongoing restoration of the Nancy Kimball House in Elgin, workers uncovered the 1846 house's original cistern. The discovery prompted Liz Marston of the Elgin Area Historical Society and Museum to contact the Illinois State Archaeological Survey's Northern Illinois Field Station in Elgin, which sent three archaeologists to have a look Thursday.

A new book, “Revealing Greater Cahokia, North America’s First Native City,” offers the most complete picture yet of a decade of archaeological research on a little-known part of the larger city and its precincts in East St. Louis. 

It is with profound sadness that we share the news that James “Jimmy” Burns passed away on November 7, 2023. Jimmy was a consummate field archaeologist who worked extensively across the Midwest, Far West, and Southeast over a 40-year career in both cultural resource management and academic settings. Above all, Jimmy was the best friend a person could be and he will be missed forever across ISAS, PRI, and beyond. 

The Intersections of Indigenous Knowledge and Archaeology Speaker Series aims to center Indigenous voices, increase awareness of the deep Native histories of the Eastern Woodlands, and amplify the experiences, research, and knowledge of Indigenous leaders, scholars, and artisans.

Watch the March 14 lecure by Chief Benjamin Barnes, Shawnee Tribe. 

This spring the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will hold its third annual virtual speaker series featuring Native scholars and leaders. The Intersections of Indigenous Knowledge and Archaeology series is intended to center Indigenous voices, increase awareness of the deep Native histories of the Eastern Woodlands, and amplify the experiences and research of Indigenous scholars and leaders. 

This spring the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will hold a virtual speaker series featuring Native scholars and leaders. The Intersections of Indigenous Knowledge and Archaeology series is intended to center Indigenous voices, increase awareness of the deep Native histories of the Eastern Woodlands, and amplify the experiences and research of Indigenous scholars and leaders. 

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey is partnering with Allerton Park staff to identify, restore, interpret and preserve mounds (probably ancient burial structures) at Robert Allerton Park.

In November, Illinois State Archaeologist Tim Pauketat delivered a lecture sponsored by The Archaeological Conservancy. In his talk, he described insights gained about Cahokia and future plans for outreach and research activities conducted in collaboration with Tribes. 

In the early 1900s, archaeologist William Mills dug up a treasure-trove of carved stone pipes that had been buried almost 2,000 years earlier. Mills was the first to dig the Native American site, called Tremper Mound, in southern Ohio. And when he inspected the pipes, he made a reasonable—but untested—assumption. The pipes looked as if they had been carved from local stone, and so he said they were. That assumption, first published in 1916, has been repeated in scientific publications to this day. But according to a new analysis, Mills was wrong.