The archaeological field investigations at Sister Creeks site (11-F-15) reported here consisted primarily of mapping and testing remnants of Mound 61 and 62, located in the highway right-of-way. These mounds are part of a group of 23 Hopewellian mounds and three village areas comprising the Sister Creeks site. Identified features and artifacts recovered are all associated with the Middle Woodland period (Hopewellian) occupation there.
Our excavations at the site provided detailed information on the construction of the two mounds, and provided new botanical and faunal subsistence information about the site’s Middle Woodland inhabitants. The current project also provided an opportunity to analyze the important Schoenbeck collections obtained from the mounds during salvage excavations in the 1940s. The Schoenbecks found numerous burials and Hopewell Interaction Sphere materials, including copper celts, bear canines, cut human and animal mandibles, pipes, pearls, and other grave goods. Together, these data sets and the author’s comparative analysis of the Sister Creeks excavation results with other excavated regional Hopewellian mortuary sites provide important new information on the mortuary practices of Middle Woodland peoples in the central Illinois River valley.
This report is preceeded by an important short historical essay by James B. Griffin on the early development of Illinois Hopewellian studies. |
