Koster Site | |
Location | 200 yards (180 m) east of the Eldred-Hillview road, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of Eldred |
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Nearest city | Eldred, Illinois |
Coordinates | 39°12′33″N90°32′57″W / 39.20917°N 90.54917°W |
Area | 25 acres (10 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 72000460 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 19, 1972 |
The Koster Site is a prehistoric archaeological site located south of Eldred, Illinois. The site covers more than 3 acres and extends 30 feet down into the alluvial deposits of the Illinois River valley. Over the course of its excavation between 1969 and 1978, Koster produced deeply buried evidence of ancient human occupation from the early Archaic period (BC 7500) to the Mississippian period (AD 1000). [2] [3] The soil strata contains a total of 25 distinct occupations each separated by additional layers of soil, making the site exceptionally well-preserved. [4]
The site includes one of the oldest known cemetery sites in eastern North America. The cemetery site has provided researchers with evidence that Early Archaic civilizations had specific burial practices and buried their dead in mounds, often with numerous individuals buried together. Other significant discoveries made at the site include early evidence of North Americans using stones to grind food and keeping domesticated dogs. [5] Three dog burials, and one burial 35 km away at the Stilwell II site in Pike County, date to 9,900 years ago and are the oldest dog remains discovered in the Americas. [6]
The discovery of permanent residences and items which could not be easily transported at the site suggests that it was a large permanent village. [7] Excavations at the site have also yielded a variety of stone tools, which were used for various purposes and also indicate long-term habitation of the site. [5] Artifacts and evidence from the excavation helped archeologists revise their thinking about early inhabitants from nomads to a sedentary people living in year round structures.
The site was discovered in 1967 on the farm fields of Theodore and Mary Koster and subsequently named after them. The discovery was made by Northwestern University anthropologist Stuart Struever who stumbled on the farm and the rich trove of historically significant artifacts that lay beneath the cornfields after a tip from a local farmer. [8] Struever had recently founded the Center for American Archeology located in Kampsville, Illinois. Under his leadership, the site became one of the largest excavations of its era, drawing over 10,000 yearly visitors; it is considered to be the Center for American Archeology's most important discovery. [7] The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 19, 1972. [1]
Wickliffe Mounds is a prehistoric, Mississippian culture archaeological site located in Ballard County, Kentucky, just outside the town of Wickliffe, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Archaeological investigations have linked the site with others along the Ohio River in Illinois and Kentucky as part of the Angel phase of Mississippian culture. Wickliffe Mounds is controlled by the State Parks Service, which operates a museum at the site for interpretation of the ancient community. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is also a Kentucky Archeological Landmark and State Historic Site.
The Windover Archeological Site is a Middle Archaic archaeological site and National Historic Landmark in Brevard County near Titusville, Florida, United States on the central east coast of the state. Windover is a muck pond where skeletal remains of 168 individuals were found buried in the peat at the bottom of the pond. The skeletons were well preserved because of the peat. In addition, remarkably well-preserved brain tissue has been recovered from many skulls from the site. DNA from the brain tissue has been sequenced. The collection of human skeletal remains and artifacts recovered from Windover Pond represent among the largest finds of each type from the Archaic Period. It is considered one of the most important archeological sites ever excavated.
The Center for American Archeology, or CAA, is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) research and education institution located in Kampsville, Illinois, USA, near the Illinois River. It is dedicated to the exploration of the culture of prehistoric Native Americans and, to a lesser extent, the European settlers who supplanted them.
Stuart McKee Struever is an American archaeologist and anthropologist best known for his contributions to the archaeology of the Woodland Period in the US midwest and for his leadership of archaeology research & education foundations. He was a professor of anthropology at Northwestern University.
The Dravo Gravel Site (33HA377) is an archaeological site located above the Great Miami River in Miami Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. Discovered in the middle of a gravel pit, the site is a leading example of the local manifestation of the Archaic period.
The Kincaid Mounds Historic Site c. 1050–1400 CE, is a Mississippian culture archaeological site located at the southern tip of present-day U.S. state of Illinois, along the Ohio River. Kincaid Mounds has been notable for both its significant role in native North American prehistory and for the central role the site has played in the development of modern archaeological techniques. The site had at least 11 substructure platform mounds, and 8 other monuments.
The Modoc Rock Shelter is a rock shelter or overhang located beneath the sandstone bluffs that form the eastern border of the Mississippi River floodplain at which Native American peoples lived for thousands of years. This site is significant for its archaeological evidence of thousands of years of human habitation during the Archaic period in the Eastern United States. It is located on the northeastern side of County Road 7 southeast of Prairie du Rocher in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
The Paisley Caves or the Paisley Five Mile Point Caves complex is a system of eight caves in an arid, desolate region of south-central Oregon, United States north of the present-day city of Paisley, Oregon. The caves are located in the Summer Lake basin at 4,520 feet (1,380 m) elevation and face west, carved into a ridge of Miocene and Pliocene era basalts mixed with soft volcanic tuffs and breccias by Pleistocene-era waves from Summer Lake. One of the caves may contain archaeological evidence of the oldest definitively-dated human presence in North America. The site was first studied by Luther Cressman in the 1930s.
Indian Knoll is an archaeological site near the Green River in Ohio County, Kentucky that was declared to be a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
The Canfield Island Site, also known as Archeological Site 36LY37, is an archaeological site in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located on Canfield Island in the West Branch Susquehanna River, the site lies east of the city of Williamsport in Loyalsock Township. It is believed to have been inhabited by prehistoric Native Americans for thousands of years, with the oldest discoveries dating back to more than one millennium before Christ.
The Sommerheim Park Archaeological District includes a group of six archaeological sites west of Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States. The sites are in Sommerheim Park, one of the few undeveloped areas of the Lake Erie shoreline, in Millcreek Township. This district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This is one of the leading archaeological sites in the Erie area and along the southern shoreline of Lake Erie, due to the amount of artifacts and the lack of disturbance on the site.
The Buffalo Indian Village Site is an archaeological site located near Buffalo, Putnam County, West Virginia, along the Kanawha River in the United States. This site sits atop a high terrace on the eastern bank of the Kanawha River and was once home to a variety of Native American villages including the Archaic, Middle Woodland and Fort Ancient cultures of this region. Buffalo Village was the site of one of the first systematic archaeological projects performed in West Virginia and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
The Magic Mountain site is an Archaic and Woodland village site in Jefferson County, Colorado dating from 4999 BC to 1000 AD. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Riverside Site, also known as 20-ME-1, is an archaeological site located near the Riverside Cemetery in Menominee, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The Mayberry Mound and Village Site are a valuable archaeological site in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. Located near the village of Sims in southern Wayne County, the site comprises what was once a substantial village during the Archaic period, and it has been designated a historic site because of its archaeological importance.
The Carlston Annis Shell Mound is a prominent archaeological site in the western part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located along the Green River in Butler County, this shell midden has been declared a historic site because of its archaeological value.
The Hidden Valley Rockshelter (44-BA-31) is a significant archaeological site located near the community of Warm Springs in Bath County, Virginia, United States. A large rockshelter located near the Jackson River, it has been occupied by humans for thousands of years, and it has been named a historic site.
The Hunter Archeological Site is a significant prehistoric Native American site in Claremont, New Hampshire. Located near the bridge connecting Claremont and Ascutney, Vermont, the site includes seven levels of occupational evidence, including evidence of at least three longhouses. The oldest dates recorded from evidence gathered during excavations in 1967 were to AD 1300. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
There are many sites within the Midwestern United States. Some of the better known sites are the Koster Site in Illinois, the Green River Valley in Kentucky, Hendricks Cave in Ohio, Indian Knolls and Dravo Gravel.
The Fisher Mound Group is a group of burial mounds with an associated village site located on the DesPlaines River near its convergence with the Kankakee River where they combine to form the Illinois River, in Will County, Illinois, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. It is a multi-component stratified site representing several Prehistoric Upper Mississippian occupations as well as minor Late Woodland and Early Historic components.
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