In Middle Woodland times (c. 100 B.C. - A.D. 300) the lower Illinois Valley was a cradle of Hopewellian cultural development in the Midwest. Here, between 1878 and 1928, the first serious archaeological attempts to understand the rise of Hopewellian culture in Illinois were focused on excavation of burial mounds and dcocumentation of grave artifacts and mortuary ritual. SIA #3 assembles and reprints all 15 of the published seminal pioneer archaeological studies of this era, and for the first time publishes two important never-before-seen pioneer mound excavation manuscripts. The volume’s reprint section is anchored by four reports documenting Warren K. Moorehead’s University of Illinois excavations at 22 mound groups in the region during 1927 and 1928.
The volume’s title essay, by Kenneth B. Farnsworth, is a substantial historical introduction to the pioneer archaeology of the era and the assembled pioneer Hopewellian studies. Farnsworth’s essay incorporates 32 previously unseen maps and photographs of the region’s pioneer archaeologists, their excavations, and some of the first recovered Illinois Valley Hopewellian artifacts. The essay discusses and maps 48 regional mound groups and incorporates unpublished data and correspondence culled from the archives of the University of Illinois, the Illinois State Museum, the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, the Smithsonian Institution, and elsewhere, to document and interpret the history of the earliest regional Hopewellian excavations by Warren K. Moorehead and J. L. B. Taylor, John Francis Snyder, John G. Henderson, William McAdams, David I. Bushnell, Gerard Fowke, James Middleton, Col. P. W. Norris, and others.
"Hopewell. Few, if any, words in the North American archaeological lexicon embody so much information or spark so much interest. In Illinois, the roots of Hopewellian archaeology take hold in the 1870s and during the next five decades a number of ardent explorers conducted fieldwork, prepared manuscripts and published reports on their exploration of Hopewellian mounds.
By assembling these significant and difficult to obtain writings on early Hopewellian archaeology in Illinois and making them available in one volume, Ken Farnsworth has done a great service to all interested in the subject. But there is more. Drawing on nearly 40 years of research on the topic, Farnsworth introduces and discusses the context of these early studies and offers insightful assessment. In short, this monograph is an essential addition to the library of any scholar or student of Hopewellian culture and the history of American archaeology."
Michael D. Wiant, Director
Illinois State Museum - Dickson Mounds
"Ken Farnsworth has united fifteen early articles and two unpublished manuscripts and has masterfully tied them together to reveal the genesis of archaeology in the lower Illinois River valley. His introductory essay can stand alone as an important archaeological study. [The volume is] crafted with the consummate care of one who loves the topic. The “First Fifty Years” is a must for all Midwestern archaeologists, Hopewell specialists and Illinois historians."
William L. Mangold, Senior Archaeologist
Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
"A fundamental challenge of archaeological scholarship is to push forward with new methods and interpretations while at the same time making use of the results and insights of previous generations of researchers, antiquarians, and pioneers. This ambitious 600-page volume, with its unpublished field maps and correspondence, facsimiles of hard-to-find publications, and interpretive synthesis helps us to link our own past to our own present in a rich and skillful fashion. Farnsworth’s volume corrects certain misinterpretations, provides a general framework for the Illinois River Valley sites, and helps us to contextualize the foundation of Illinois Hopewell mound explorations in a way that has never been done before for the region."
Mark F. Seeman
Professor of Anthropology
Kent State University
"Middle Woodland period. Simply reproducing these 19th- and early 20th-century published articles and unpublished manuscripts in one volume is invaluable, but Farnsworth’s long historical introduction is an enlightening contextualization of these pioneer archaeologists and their contributions.
With the appearance of the “First Fifty Years” volume and the upcoming UI/ITARP Perino mound-excavation book [Studies in Archaeology #4]—followed, hopefully, by Farnsworth’s planned studies of 19th-century mound explorations by William McAdams and BAE surveyors Middleton and Norris—I may spend the next few years rethinking/expanding my notions of Illinois Middle Woodland mortuary practices."
Douglas K. Charles
Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology
Wesleyan University
“This colossal volume on Hopewell Archaeology is a testament to a state that obviously is proud of their archaeological heritage, and both Farnsworth and ITARP should be commended for providing the general public with published reports form their files and explorations. Perhaps, factions in certain Ohio Archaeological Organizations should take an example from their neighbors to the West.
This book should hold a prominent position in any library interested in archaeology and I highly recommend a visit to the ITARP website . . . to view some of the other fantastic reports on Illinois Valley Archaeology. ”
John C. Rummel, Ohio Archaeologist 55(1), Winter 2005 |
