The Steuben Village and Mounds : A Multicomponent Late Hopewell Site in Illinois

The Steuben Village sits on the bank of the Illinois River in Marshall County, Illinois. Nearby are nine burial mounds. In 1955 and 1956, researchers dug five test pits in the village and excavated several of the mounds. In addition to burials, the crew found thousands of artifacts, including pottery, chipped and ground stone tools, and items made from copper, bone, and shell. The artifacts and radiocarbon dates indicate two Hopewell occupations, the earliest about 2,000 years ago. Contents Introduction Physical Environment Excavations in the Village Burials Pottery Projectile Points Other Flint Artifacts Other Stone Artifacts Copper Artifacts Bone Awls Bone Punctators Game Bones Turtle Carapace Artifacts Drilled Bear Canines Other Bone Artifacts Barbed Antler Tines Other Antler Artifacts Shell Hoes Shell Scrapers Other Shell Artifacts Morse and Umma Surface Collections from the Village Pottery Projectile Points, Notched Scrapers, and Drills Other Flint Artifacts Other Stone Artifacts Copper and Galena Artifacts Bone Artifacts Antler Artifacts Shell Artifacts Other Surface Collections from the Village Pottery Projectile Points Other Flint Artifacts Other Stone Artifacts Other Artifacts Mound Excavations Mounds 2 through 9 Mound 1 Mound 1 Burial Analyses Summary and Interpretations The Steuben Site Classification within Hopewell Radiocarbon Dates Appendix A. Fauna from Test Pit I by Levels Appendix B. Summary of Fauna from Test Pit I Appendix C. Fauna from Test Pits II and III and Their Extensions Appendix D. Other Fauna from the Steuben Village Site Appendix E. Fauna from the Steuben Mounds Appendix F. Skullduggery: A Day Among Dead Men's Bones, Peoria Daily Transcript, September 28, 1877 Appendix G. The Mound Builders, Peoria Daily Transcript, September 29, 1877 Appendix H. More Mound Digging, Peoria Daily Transcript, October 8, 1877 Literature Cited Plates