ARCHAEOLOGY FIELD TRIP: Sunday May 26, 2007
Meet at Dickson Mounds, Lewistown, Illinois at 1 pm.
All are invited to join Archaeology Study Group Chairman Bryan Nugent and
Archaeologist, Educator and ESCONI Member Brian Bardy on a field trip and
extensive tour of Dickson Mounds, an extremely important, Illinois
archaeological site. We will meet at the Mounds Visitor’s Center at 1 pm. The
Mounds are about a 2 ˝ to 3 hour drive South from Chicago. If you have any
questions beforehand, call Bryan at 630-960-5147.
Dickson Mounds is located near the confluence of the Illinois and Spoon rivers
in Fulton County and was named for the Dickson family that purchased the land
for a farm and orchard in 1834. While preparing the land to plant fruit trees,
workers began discovering artifacts and bones. They also discovered the mounds
that dotted the area were manmade, and that some of them were constructed to
house the dead.
The study of the ancient past at the Dickson Site began in 1927 when Dr. Don F.
Dickson conducted excavations on the family farm, during an era when the
discovery of King Tut’s tomb in Egypt captivated the nation’s interest in
archaeology. He began excavating the burial mounds and turned the site into a
museum of sorts. The site became famous for the study of Native Americans in the
1930s and 40s, when archaeologists from the University of Chicago began
excavating other sites in the area.
His work attracted the attention of the public and scholars. University of
Chicago archaeologists, who excavated in the area in the 1930s, established many
of the methods and field techniques of modern archaeology using this site. Over
the years Dickson Mounds has been a center for the study and interpretation of
the prehistory of the Illinois River Valley, one of the richest archaeological
regions in the country.
The State of Illinois purchased the site for a state park in the 1940s, and it became a part of the Illinois State Museum in the 1960s.
Native Americans had concerns about the exposure of skeletons at the site in the 1970s, and this continued through the 1980s. Finally, during the early part of the 1990s, Gov. Edgar made his decision to cover the Indian remains and re-do the museum. The site was closed and underwent a $4 million renovation that covered the skeletal remains and created a new museum—one with an emphasis on the Illinois River Valley and the people who inhabited the area for some 12,000 years. Included in this renovation were several new galleries, a discovery room and a spectacular audio-visual program.
“No written record remains
of the people and the cultures that lived here, but the mounds, the bones, the
pottery and the stones all provide clues as to what took place at the American
Indian village that was located here,” said Judith Franke, director of the
museum. “Scientists know the area was inhabited by Woodland Era Indians, then
from A.D. 800 to about 1200 by a village that was a satellite site of the
Mississippian Culture. No one is quite sure why the Mississippian Indians left
the area, but we do know they were completely gone by the late 1400s.” If you
are looking for a stodgy, quiet museum, Dickson Mounds probably isn't for you.
This is a people place. It’s full of energy and constant change. Built atop the
Illinois River Valley bluff, it also has a walk-out deck that provides a
spectacular view of the countryside.
There’s a lot more than just a museum at Dickson: The Museum Grounds - 230 acres
that include a scenic picnic area and playground, and the Eveland Village, where
the excavated remains of three early Indian buildings are preserved for viewing
as well as other mounds and sites in the area.
We all are looking forward to the opportunity to learn about this important
aspect of Illinois history. Do join us, May 26th at 1 pm.
Dickson Mounds Museum Visitor Information:
http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismsites/dickson/geninfo.html
Dickson Mounds Museum Permanent Exhibits information:
http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismsites/dickson/exhibitions.html
A general article on Dickson Mounds from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickson_Mounds
Number of Visitors Since 5/1/2007
Last Updated 5/1/2007
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