Dickson Mounds EarthCache

Dickson Mounds Museum, a branch of the Illinois State Museum and a National Historic Site, is one of the major on-site archaeological museums in the United States. It offers a unique opportunity to explore the world of the American Indian in an awe inspiring journey through 12,000 years of human experience in the Illinois River Valley. Visitors to the museum, in west-central Illinois, encounter innovative interpretive exhibits; exciting hands-on activities; archaeological sites; and a variety of special events in a rural setting. The museum is open year-round, daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). There is no admission charge.

The study of the ancient past at the Dickson Site began in 1927 when Dr. Don F. Dickson conducted excavations on the family farm. His work attracted the attention of the public and scholars. University of Chicago archaeologists who excavated in the area in the 1930s established many of the methods and field techniques of modern archaeology. Over the years Dickson Mounds has been a center for the study and interpretation of the prehistory of the Illinois River Valley, one of the richest archaeological regions in the country.

Explaining prehistoric mound development requires both anthropological and geoarchaeological perspectives. Illinois Hopewell (Middle Woodland) mounds are remarkable for the range of earthen materials used in their construction. Adding to this variety we document the presence of upturned sod blocks in a mound at the Mound House site. There and at other Illinois sites the sods have dark, 3-10-cm-thick A horizons with minimal or no evidence of B horizon development. They required no more than a few decades to form and did so under a grass cover. Humans probably created the conditions that enabled sods to form, but the sod blocks were not cut from soils adjacent to the mounds (unless from another mound surface nearby) or from soils in habitation areas. In some respects, sod blocks would have been a superior earthen building material, appropriately chosen, for instance, to construct stable, near-vertical walls of above-ground tombs. Their selection and use, however, cannot be explained solely according to principles of sound and efficient mound construction. We argue that sod blocks and other kinds of earth for Illinois Hopewell mounds surely had important symbolic dimensions in addition to their structural properties.

One of main reasons for the Native Americans settled here was because of the rich soil and abundant wildlife. The Emiquon Project covers the historic beds of Flag Lake and Thompson Lake, which were shallow, alluvial lakes created by the Illinois River and Mississippi River during the geological period that followed the last ice age. Heavy loads of sand and Loess silt carried southwest by the river created almost random, undulating topography along the river's bed. The river responded to these deposits by repeatedly shifting its course, leaving long, narrow sections of abandoned riverbed behind it. Two of these sections became Flag Lake and Thompson Lake. Surrounding these two lakes, and strung out along the western bank of the Illinois River, was a characteristic North American riverine ecosystem characterized by dense populations of shellfish, fish, migratory birds, and mammals. The Emiquon wetland became a favorite home for many Indians of the Illinois Territory for thousands of years, leaving 149 known archeological sites behind them within the parcels of land that make up the Project. These hunter-gatherers used and lived in and around both the wetlands of Emiqon and the adjacent river bluffs.

About 1500 years ago the Woodlands people occupied a blufftop near the present museum, many of them buried their dead in an adjacent blufftop, now the Dickson Mounds National Historic Site. For parts of four centuries, inhabitants of the area buried their dead in the cemetery today called Dickson Mounds. The complex of two cemeteries and ten mounds with overlapping boundaries surrounded a low mound that probably supported a building used in burial ceremonies 900 years ago. Although much of the mound area remains unexcavated, the low mounds merge with the hillslopes and are hardly recognizable today as being 'man-made. The Dickson Mounds are made of glacial Loess silt. An unexcavated area of the mounds can be seen outside the window in the southeast corner of the first floor Resource Center. Hundreds of years ago Late Woodland peoples occupied the blufftop near where the museum stands today.

About 800 years ago, American Indians of the Mississippian culture lived in a large village located on the high, flat areas north of the museum building. This extensive village included an open plaza and an 80-foot-long ceremonial structure in the area of the main parking lot. The village also occupied the hilltop where the picnic grounds are today. Some of the Dickson Burial Mounds were associated with this village The remains of three excavated ceremonial Mississippian buildings are preserved at the Eveland Village Site on the museum grounds, and may be viewed by the public in the warmer months. The structures are a round building, a cross-shaped building, and a large rectangular building. The site may have been the primary ceremonial center for other small Mississippian sites in the area around AD 1100.

The Ogden-Fettie Site, on the southernmost part of the museum grounds had more than 30 mounds, a village, and was partially enclosed by an extensive ditch. It was occupied at about AD 100 by Middle Woodland peoples, and is one of six major centers of the Midwestern Havana Hopewell Culture within twelve miles of the museum. The Larson site, visible from the museum's observation deck, on a blufftop above the confluence of the Illinois and Spoon Rivers, was once a stockaded Mississippian temple town that served as the regional center for numerous smaller settlements scattered along the valley in AD 1250.

In the 1960s, American Indians in the United States were gaining a voice nationally. Many states passed legislation in the years following, restricting or prohibiting excavation of Indian burials. In the 1970s and '80s most museums removed Indian remains from display and many national organizations and institutions adopted policies prohibiting the display of remains. In the late 1980s, the Federal Government passed legislation requiring return of some burial remains by museums to Indian groups. It was in this changing social climate, in 1990-91, that a controversy arose over Dickson Mounds Museum's efforts to close its ancient cemetery to public view. While most Native Americans supported the closure, many other people opposed it. Protesters and police officers began to replace visitors at the site. The controversy was resolved through negotiations by the state in November, 1991. The burial closed to the public soon afterwards. The museum closed for major renovation of the facility and installation of new exhibits in September of 1993 and reopened in September of 1994. "The New Dickson Mounds" has been greeted enthusiastically by visitors and critics alike.

To get credit for the find, post a picture of you at Dickson Mounds and answer the following questions.

1. How many years ago did the late Woodlands people occupy the blufftop near the museum?

2. What kind of wind blown silt from the ice age was used to by the Native Americans to make these mounds and is native to this river valley?

3. What large American river once flowed through here right after the Ice Age?

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Why do I ask for a face in the picture of the EarthCacher finding any of my EarthCaches? A face shot is the same as a signature in a log book. Many geocachers feel in order to get a find you must sign the log book, period. EarthCaching is special and a human face is the same as a signature in a log book. I do not accept hand shots (pictures of a hand with GPS) because it does not show who’s really visiting the ECs I set up for all to enjoy. Besides, there is no log book for you to sign at a EarthCache.

For anyone who doesn’t want to post a picture of their face, then log the find as a note or don’t do it at all. Nobody is forcing anyone to come and visit any of my EarthCaches. I could argue that signing a log at a traditional cache is violating my personal rights because I have to sign a piece of paper. Maybe someone will forge my signature and steal my identity!

An argument that a photo violates a persons identity is foolish. Geocaching is a social activity. Eventually someone will meet you and know you are geocaching. If you want to live a secretive life then geocaching is not the place to do so. Cache on!

Please do not log this EC unless you have answered the questions and have a picture ready to post. Logs with no photo of the actual cacher (face included) logging the find or failure to answer questions through email or negative comments will result in a log deletion without notice.

Exceptions will be considered if you contact me first (I realize sometimes we forget our cameras or the batteries die). You must post a photo at the time of logging your find. If your picture is not ready then wait until you have a photo.

Sources of information for the EarthCache gathered from the Clay City Historical Archives. I have used sources available to me by using google search to get information for this earth cache. I am by no means a geologist. I use books, internet, and ask questions about geology just like 99.9 percent of the geocachers who create these great Earth Caches. I enjoy Earth Caches and want people to get out and see what I see every time I go and explore this great place we live in.