"The Iliniwek Village State Historic Site (23CK116)
preserves a large village once inhabited by the Indians of the Iliniwek Confederacy.
The Iliniwek, or Illinois, were one of the most significant Indian groups occupying
Missouri at the time of the first European contact.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri Archaeological Society hosted
an open house at the site on September 13, 2003 as part of Archaeology Month. Professional
and amateur archaeologists drove from as far away as Hollister, MO to tour the site,
examine artifacts, and eat bison burgers. Professor Michael Fuller and four archaeology
students at St. Louis Community College spent 5 hours documenting the Illiniwek Site and
artifacts from both the Illiniwek
Village and the historic Iowayville site (located in Iowa).
Ellen Stern (SLCC-Meramec) stands at the North entrance
of an excavated longhouse. The structure was backfilled, but yellow flags (and weeds) mark the location
of the outer walls and posts that supported the roof beam. The longhouses in the village were
oriented North-South in two parallel rows.
Professor Michael Fuller (back row, black hat) and four
St. Louis Community College students explore the Illiniwek Village archaeological site.
Site plan showing location of Longhouse and
overall pattern of the site (long and narrow).
A series of excavation units on the west edge of the
village site where a palisade wall and defensive ditch have been discovered by
ground resistivity research and ground truthed by excavation.
Cordmarked, shell tempered pottery vessel from the village.
Thickness ranges from 5 to 9 mm.
Cooking pot from the village. Thickness ranges from
5 to 7 mm.
Left: Madison point from the surface of the village site.
Right: Broken trade bead from Area C, registration number 836.
the surviving piece measures 21 mm. in length and 24 mm. in width.
Iron awl from the Area C, registration number 1126. The awl is
69 mm in length and has a maximum thickness of 7 mm.
Silver triangle trade pendant (broken at the top)
from Area C, Registration number 2096. Measures 35 mm at the base and the surviving height
is 23 mm. It is approximately .5 mm. thick.
Thin piece of rolled copper that would have attached
to an piece of rawhide and used as a spangle or tinkler. 30 mm. in length.
Hide scraper manufactured out of chert. It
measures 39 mm in length,
26 mm. in width, and 11 mm. in thickness.
Hide scraper manufactured out of chert. It
measures 43 mm in length,
25 mm. in width, and 9 mm. in thickness.
Hide scraper manufactured out of chert. It
measures 48 mm in length,
36 mm. in width, and 14 mm. in thickness.
Hide scraper manufactured out of chert. It
measures 59 mm in length,
34 mm. in width, and 12 mm. in thickness.
Hide scraper manufactured out of chert. It
measures 50 mm in length,
30 mm. in width, and 12 mm. in thickness.
Larry Grantham has directed the research at
the Illiniwek Village archaeological site. Roger Boyd has also taken an important role in the
protection and interpretation of the site for the public; both men are professional archaeologists
employed by the Missouri Parks Department.
This website is for teaching about the Illiniwik Site to school children:
http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/activities/re_predict.html