Finding Answers to New Mysteries at Cahokia

A research expedition investigates a Mississippian culture earthen mound site in Illinois.

During the summer of 2014, archaeologists will be investigating the remains of a 900-year-old Native American ceremonial center site located in Illinois. Known as  Emerald Mound in Lebanon, IL, about 25 miles east of the Cahokia mounds, the site is thought to be culturally associated with the well-known Cahokia mounds of the Pre-Columbian Mississipian culture, an advanced society that spread across the present-day Southeastern United States centuries before European contact.

Under the leadership of Timothy R. Pauketat of the University of Illinois and in conjunction with Indiana University, the effort will field crews of researchers and students to excavate a significant portion of what is thought to be a complex consisting of structures and other archaeological features such as houses and storage pits related to a principal 6-meter-high earthen platform. Investigations will also include geophysical exploration and mapping.

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