Senior Research Editor, ITARP Research Associate in Archaeology, IL State Museum BA Anthropology, Northwestern University (1969) MA, ABD (Candidate in Philosophy), University of Michigan (1971,1973) E-mail: kfarnswo@uiuc.edu

General Interest/Area of Focus

Ken Farnsworth specializes in the archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands, with a study emphasis on the Great Lakes-Riverine area of the northeastern U.S. His research is principally focused on studies of subsistence and trade in late prehistoric times (the end of the Archaic period to the end of the Woodland period), using excavated data collected at sites in western Illinois and the adjacent Mississippi Valley. A continuing theme of his research efforts has been the detailed study of changing Woodland ceramic styles and sherd assemblages to help develop fine-grained cultural chronologies and identify regional social boundaries.

He is also dedicated to the publication of archaeological information and ideas, and has edited two fieldwork-focused publication series (Center for American Archeology Reports of Investigations and Technical Reports) and three overview archaeology volumes: Early Woodland Archeology (1986), Now Quite Out of Society(2002), and Early Hopewell Mound Explorations (2004). He serves as Senior Research Editor at ITARP, where he is currently assembling Illinois Hopewell and Late Woodland Mounds. The Excavations of Gregory Perino: 1950-1975.

Over the past decade, Farnsworth has developed a research interest in historical-site documentation and interpretation, with a study emphasis on Pioneer to Civil War-period early industrial, commercial, manufacturing, and military sites.

Current Research

Origins of Hopewellian Ritual. Study [with Karen Atwell] of the development of Illinois Hopewellian mortuary ritual as viewed from two two recently excavated lower IL Valley mound sites (Naples-Russell and Blue Island) and as compared to early central IL Valley Hopewellian mortuary sites (Neteler, Ogden-Fettie, and Liverpool).

Non-Riverine Pathways of Communication and Trade. Study [with Robert Mazrim] of the prehistoric time depth of travel, settlement, and trade along the historically documented overland route of Edwards Trace in upland west-central Illinois.

The End of Hopewell. Regional Study [with Andrew Fortier] of lower IL Valley habitation sites and mounds dating to the end of Hopewell and the beginning of Late Woodland times. This study of dramatic culture change at the interface between Havana and Weaver phases is anchored by analysis of habitation remains recovered by recent ITARP excavations at the Egan site.

Development of Late Woodland Mortuary Ritual. Analysis [with Karen Atwell and Paula Cross] of associated Weaver-era mortuary and habitation remains at the Friendly Neighbor site in the interior uplands between the lower IL Valley and adjacent Mississippi Valley.

Terminal Archaic Mortuary Ritual in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Analysis of salvage excavations at the Bunker Hill site -- a “Red Ochre” complex mortuary site in the west-central IL interior uplands. The Bunker Hill burial data and artifact styles are compared with remains previously found at contemporary mortuary sites throughout the Great Lakes-Riverine area to regionally evaluate Terminal Archaic mortuary ritual and related exchange.

Previous Positions

1972-1974: Editorial Assistant for American Antiquity, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor.

1974-1998: Director, Contract Archeology Program, Center for
American Archeology, Kampsville, IL

1998-2001: Senior Archeologist, Center for American Archeology,
Kampsville, IL, and Senior Researcher, ITARP, University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign,

Selected Bibliography

Center for American Archeology, Reports of Investigation

#25 (1976) An Archeological Survey of the Lower Illinois River
Shoreline (Miles 1-80): pp. 1-95. (Army Corps
of Engineers)

#45 (1978) (with D. Asch, C. Udesen, and A. Koski)
Development of Preliminary Predictive Models of
Regional Prehistoric Settlement in the Lower Illinois and
Adjacent Mississippi River Drainages, Illinois: pp. 1-115.
(IL Department of Conservation)

#46 (1978) (with P. Neusius)
The Archeology of Pere Marquette State Park: 1878-
1978: pp. 1-126. (IL Department of Conservation)

Recent Unpublished Research Reports

(1999) Evaluation of an 1825-1850 Pioneer Homestead
Occupation at the Levis Site: 1998 Excavation Update:
pp. 1-31. (Illinois Valley Cultural Heritage Society; IL
Historic Preservation Agency)

(2001) Documentation of Human Burials and Mortuary
Remains Recovered from Test Excavations at Naples-
Russell Mound #8, Ray Norbut Conservation Area,
Pike County Illinois: pp.1-127. (IL Department of
Transportation; IL Department of Natural Resources;
IL Historic Preservation Agency)

Scientific Publications
1973 An Archaeological Survey of the Macoupin Valley. Illinois State
Museum, Reports of Investigations 26. Springfield.

1979 (with D. Asch and N. Asch)
Woodland Subsistence and Settlement in West-Central Illinois.
In Hopewell Archaeology (edited by D. S. Brose and N. Greber), pp. 80-
85. Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio.

1983 (with J. Walthall)
In the Path of Progress: Development of Illinois Highway
Archaeology, and the FAP 408 Project. American Archaeology
3(3): 169-181.

1984 (with A. Koski)
Massie and Archie: A Study of Two Hopewellian Homesteads in the
Western Illinois Uplands. Center for American Archeology, Kampsville
Archeological Center, Research Series 3, Kampsville, IL.

1986 (with D. Asch)
Early Woodland Chronology, Artifact Styles, and Settlement
Distribution in the Lower Illinois Valley Drainage. In Early
Woodland Archeology (edited by K. B. Farnsworth and T. E.
Emerson), pp. 326-457. Kampsville Seminars in Archeology,
Vol. 2. Center for American Archeology, Kampsville, IL.

1986 Black Sand Culture Origins and Distribution. In Early
Woodland Archeology (edited by K. B. Farnsworth and T. E.
Emerson), pp. 634-641. Kampsville Seminars in Archeology,
Vol. 2. Center for American Archeology, Kampsville, IL.

1989 Rediscovery of a Lost Woodland Site in the Lower Illinois
Valley. Illinois Archaeology 1(1): 82-99.

1990 The Evidence for Specialized Middle Woodland Camps in
Western Illinois. Illinois Archaeology 2: 109-132.

1990 (with T. Emerson and R. Glenn)
Patterns of Late Woodland/Mississippian Interaction in the
Lower Illinois Valley Drainage. In Cahokia and the Hinterlands
(edited by T. E. Emerson and R. B. Lewis), pp. 83-118.
University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

1995 (with J. O’Gorman)
Trade and Transition: European Trade Goods and Late Historic
Mortuary Sites in Illinois. Illinois Archaeology 7: 109-147.

1996 A Short History of the Gravel Springs Distillery and Bottling
Works. Kampsville Studies in Archeology and History, No. 2.
Center for American Archeology, Kampsville, IL.

1998 (with J. O’Gorman)
Oneota in the Lower Illinois River Valley. The Wisconsin Archeologist
79(2): 62-92.

1998 (with K. Atwell)
Crimson Circle Mounds: Late Woodland Ritual and Settlement
Patterns at the Confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi
Rivers. Illinois Archaeology 11: 80-148.

2000 (with T. Berres, R. Hughes, and D. Moore)
Illinois Platform Pipes and Hopewellian Exchange: A
Mineralogical Study of Archaeological Remains. In Studies
In Illinois Archaeology in Honor of Howard D. Winters (edited
by A.-M. Cantwell and L. A. Conrad). Illinois State Museum, Scientific
Papers 29, Springfield. [In press]

2004 Early Hopewell Mound Explorations: The First Fifty Years in
the Illinois River Valley. Studies In Archaeology 3. University
of Illinois Press, Urbana. [In press]Selected Edited Volumes

1986 (with T. E. Emerson)
Early Woodland Archeology. Kampsville Seminars in
Archeology, Vol. 2. Center for American Archeology,
Kampsville, IL.

2002 “Now Quite Out of Society.” Archaeology and Frontier Illinois,
by Robert Mazrim. Illinois Transportation Archaeology
Bulletin 1. Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research
Program, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois,
Urbana.

2004a Early Hopewell Mound Explorations: The First Fifty Years in
the Illinois River Valley. Studies In Archaeology 3. University
of Illinois Press, Urbana. [In press]

2004b (with M.D. Wiant)
Illinois Hopewell and Late Woodland Mounds. The
Excavations of Gregory Perino: 1950-1975. Studies in
Archaeology 4. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.
[Volume in production]

Complete Vitae (pdf)