This village was the site where the Illinois Tribe was first encountered by French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette in 1673. The field school will employ the latest in archaeological techniques to provide high-quality, intensive training for students who want to learn as much as possible while making solid contributions to archaeology. Excavations, guided by remote sensing maps, will recover information to enhance our understanding of the effects of European contact on Native American subsistence, settlement patterns, trade and technology. Students will be expected to engage in resistivity surveys, test excavations and in collection, washing, sorting and cataloging of artifacts recovered from the site. In addition to lectures on related topics by archaeologists and archaeogeophysicists, we will take field trips to nearby archaeological sites such as Cahokia and Dickson Mounds.
Lodging is primitive with tent camping the norm.
Meals will be a communal exercise with students participating in all aspects of the life of the excavation camp. Additional information will be provided upon receipt of the pre-enrollment form. Lawrence Conradis is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Western Illinois University, Macomb. He is an archaeologist who has directed more than 20 field schools. His research focuses on Midwestern and Southeastern archaeology, ethnology and ethnohistory with a particular interest in the late prehistoric, protohistoric and early historic periods.