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No. 23
Late Woodland Frontiers: Patrick Phase Settlement along the Kaskaskia Trail, Monroe Country, Illinois
Brad Koldehoff and Joseph M. Galloy with Kathryn E. Parker, Elizabeth S. Scott, Megan Jost, and Julie Zimmerman Holt
(2006) 496 pages; 114 tables; 132 figures; 0 plates
1-930487-18-5
Edition: Paperback
Price: $20.00
See larger photo of cover
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Planned improvements to Illinois Route 3 (FAP-14) in Monroe County necessitated Phase III archaeological investigations at three sites occupying adjacent ridges on the south side of Waterloo: Sprague (11MO716), Rhonda (11MO717), and Dugan Airfield (11MO718). The investigations were funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation and resulted in the recovery of important new information about Late Woodland Patrick phase (cal A.D. 650–900) land use and community organization in the interior uplands. Situated 15 km east of the Mississippi River bluff line, Route 3 retraces the historic Kaskaskia Trail, which follows the divide between the Mississippi River and Kaskaskia River drainage basins. Such interfluvial areas have received little attention, but as the results of the Route 3 Project demonstrate, these landscape settings were utilized throughout prehistory, often rather intensively.
In total, more than 200 Patrick phase pit features and structure basins (including 11 keyhole structures) were excavated at these three sites. The features yielded lithic and ceramic artifacts comparable to those recovered from Patrick phase settlements in the American Bottom. In addition, the subsistence remains show that local populations were farmers as well as foragers. Eastern Agricultural Complex crops—maygrass, chenopod, erect knotweed, little barley, sumpweed, sunflower, cucurbits, and tobacco—are present, frequently in abundance, demonstrating a commitment to agriculture in the uplands. Maize is poorly represented, as it often is in Patrick phase deposits. Although faunal preservation was spotty, it is clear that a broad spectrum of local resources, including mammals of all sizes, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and freshwater mussels, were utilized. Mammal remains are particularly common, especially those of white-tailed deer. Significantly, a number of riverine resources (large fish, aquatic turtles, and mussels) were identified that are unavailable or uncommon in the interior uplands. These remains, in addition to certain lithic raw materials (e.g., Crescent Hills Burlington chert) and several pipes made from floodplain clays, indicate regular visits to the American Bottom or interaction with American Bottom groups.
We argue that the Route 3 data, as well as data from other site excavations in the region, uphold the notion that Patrick phase groups expanded into niches throughout the American Bottom region in a pioneering fashion by employing a swidden system of forest-fallow cultivation. We propose that Patrick phase groups were mobile farmers and foragers, frequently relocating their settlements and often reusing favored settlement locations. Relying on data from our analysis of pit fills and the sequencing of cultural fills (midden and burned zones) and natural fills (slumps and slope wash), we further propose that Patrick phase settlements, like Dugan, Sprague, and Rhonda, were completely or partially abandoned on a seasonal or annual basis. |
