This project will explore the catastrophic and wide-ranging consequences of war on Mississippian period (A.D. 1100-1425) communities in the Central Illinois River Valley (CIRV). The work is significant because it provides insight into the conditions which in less developed societies can lead to intergroup conflict and which, on the other hand, are conducive to more peaceful relations. Archaeological data linking escalating violence with both population nucleation and declining health in the Central Illinois River Valley from A.D. 1200 to 1425 reveal that the causal dimensions of warfare were not restricted to political centralization and collapse but reshaped other, more mundane aspects of life. Determining the impacts of this violence on the Mississippian groups subject to these hostilities will help explain the historical trajectory of conflict culminating in the abandonment of the region around A.D. 1425.
A geophysical survey, combined with three seasons of excavation targeting residential groups at the Eveland site adjacent to the Dickson Mounds Museum will identify subsistence practices and household/community organizational patterns that predate the period of escalating violence in this region. Laboratory analysis of collections from a previously excavated site (Orendorf) that post-dates the increase in violent attacks will also be conducted, enabling the documentation of domestic changes occurring as a result of the intensification of warfare. Project goals include determining (1) if and how people altered their subsistence pursuits in response to the increased risk of attack while foraging, fishing, and farming, and (2) if and how people altered the size and arrangement of their households and communities as a result of nucleation into fortified villages.
Broader impacts of this project include public education and outreach, as well as contributing to planning and development of an important state heritage site. The project provides research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students: (1) undergraduates will be trained in field methods in the context of a field school, in addition to more structured opportunities for problem-oriented undergraduate research; and (2) graduate students will participate as both field school supervisors and as lab assistants, with the project providing data and partial funding for two related dissertation projects. Project archaeologists will also interface with the public on a daily basis during the course of excavations, in addition to delivering public presentations to the local archaeological society. Project personnel will also work with the Dickson Mounds Museum staff to develop interpretive museum exhibits based on the proposed research. A project website will provide the public with updates on project excavations and results, and restricted website access will be given to staff at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Western Illinois University at Macomb, and Dickson Mounds Museum for the purpose of data sharing. Finally, results from the geophysical survey of the Eveland site (located on Dickson Mounds property) will provide important data for planning development and preservation at this important state heritage site.
