“Bound to the Western Waters”: The Discovery of Lewis and Clark’s Long-Lost Outpost of Fort Kaskaskia

Speaker of the Month: Dr. Mark Wagner
Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 3:00pm

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark recruited 11 men from the garrison of Fort Kaskaskia (1803-1807) in Randolph County, Illinois, in 1803, to join their famous expedition to explore the American West. This fort has always been assumed to have been in the same location as an earlier French fort (1758-1763) of the same name. Archaeological investigations by the Southern Illinois University (SIU) archaeological field school class over the past two years, however, has revealed that in reality there were two separate forts with the same name. Previously unknown remains of the American Fort Kaskaskia visited by Lewis and Clark were discovered about 100 yards north of the grass-covered French Fort Kaskaskia.

The discovery of this new fort site comprises a major addition to the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806) in that it represents a time capsule of the types of artifacts and remains used by American soldiers in the early 1800s. Through the use of remote sensing investigations and hand excavations over the past two years, the SIU field school is recovering new information regarding the archaeology and history of both fort sites and the people who lived in them. Speaker Dr. Mark Wagner will reveal details about his team’s discovery of the American Fort Kaskaskia, updating this topic published in the September 2018 issue of Illinois Antiquity magazine.

About Our Speaker: Dr. Mark Wagner is Associate Professor in Anthropology and the Director of the Center for Archaeological Investigations at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), where he also received his PhD in Anthropology.  His current research interests include the Native American rock art of Illinois; late eighteenth/early nineteenth century culture contact between Native American peoples and Euro-American settlers along the Illinois frontier; Diaspora archaeology; the Cherokee Trail of Tears in Illinois; Civil War archaeology and French and American colonial and military archaeology in Illinois.  Dr. Wagner is currently directing the SIUC archaeological field school in the excavation of the two fort sites featured in this talk.

As Director of the Center for Archaeological Investigations/CAI, he supervises a small staff of professional archaeologists, students, and interns in applied archaeology projects for state and federal agencies within Illinois. The CAI is particularly active in giving undergraduate and graduate students experience in applied archaeology projects to prepare them for jobs with state, federal, and private agencies after graduation. Your support of their work would be appreciated! Link to the page at https://salukifunder.siu.edu/project/14083

Meetings are open to the public and free of charge. Social period starts at 3:00pm.  Lectures begin at 3:30pm. Join us!

Evanston Public Library 
1703 Orrington, Evanston 
All CAS meetings are free and open to the public.

Report on “Exploring the Sacred Landscapes of Peru”

Dr. Jo Ellen Burkholder provides new insights at March meeting
~ report by Anne Wilson-Dooley ~

Dr. Jo Ellen Burkholder’s topic on March 31 attracted a good-sized audience and we were treated to an examination of the importance of drawing on local cultural traditions, stories, and architecture in interpretation of archaeological remains. She brings to this work her interests in gender and ethnicity studies and recognition of the sacred.

Dr. Burkholder has been teaching at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for 14 years and has worked in Bolivia and Peru for 20 years. She was attracted to the area by the extent of preservation of archaeological remains in the dry environment.

The archaeological focus of her talk was on her excavations at the site of Pisanay in the Sihuas Valley in the Arequipa Region. The site is located on a peninsula type formation stretching out into the Sihuas Valley.  To the west is the Pacific coast and to the east the majestic peaks of the Andes.

The broader focus was on recognition of the sacred, gender and ethnicity in archaeological structures, artifacts, and motifs. Archaeological investigation looks for the sacred outside our experience, including music, even smells. From her work in Peru she knows that the traditions give substantial meaning to the landscape, topographic and geologic elements – including stones and rock formations.  The mountains are thought to have personalities; they can have relationships and interact with each other; they are capable of “amazing” things.

As an example of context and knowledge, in looking at the altar in a family home, elements from Christian and local traditions were fairly easily recognized as sacred by their form and location on the altar. Other items like stones had meaning to family members and were placed on the altar because they came from a particular place, perhaps a magical place, or were picked up along a pilgrimage.

Dr. Burkholder’s local knowledge led to increased interpretation of motifs on textiles and pottery. There are two ethnic groups in her area and today they can be recognized at a single location by the differences in the woven clothing they are wearing. Seeking evidence of females in their art, Burkholder pointed out some figures on textiles perhaps representing local traditions of women squatting and holding onto a pole during childbirth.  One of the pan-Andean stories still told today is represented in ancient woven and ceramic art: a woman impregnated by a fox.

At another point she talked about an example from the landscape of a small pile of stones, then a bit further along was another, similar, small pile of stones and then another. It ended up with over a mile of these, roughly in a line, clearly placed intentionally.

At site excavation at Pisanay again the interpretations were informed from local knowledge. In one of the units they recognized a sunken pit that had structural elements of a stairway on one side and four pits on the floor. The pits were assumed to be supports of some type of a roof. Associated with the structural items there were some stones at the top of the stairs and remnants of color on some of them, probably offerings. An important find in the area of the stones was a colored bead of a non-local shell which suggested perhaps a more sacred meaning for the structure.  Also, there was evidence of cuy (guinea pig) and s. molle for a drink in the structure along with shards of cups, as evidence of feasting. The Pachamama goddess traditions of the Andes with her being associated with earth and fertility may help in interpreting the artifacts found within the structure. Based on current structures, the poles probably supported a light weight mat over an open air structure.

Near her second unit of excavation, large stones created an alignment with the mountains to the east perhaps giving them special meaning and perhaps serving as an “observation platform.”

In a third area of the site are circular ground formation of “Nazca-line” essence. These are perhaps more easily interpreted as sacred but of unknown meaning.

We sincerely thank Dr. Burkholder for being our speaker and providing so many examples of the intertwining of local knowledge with archaeological interpretation.

Pisanay and the Endangered Rock Art Traditions of Arequipa, Peru by Jo Burkholder - 2017
https://core.tdar.org/document/431261/pisanay-and-the-endangered-rock-art-traditions-of-arequipa-peru

Ladrones y Huaqueros (Thieves and Grave Robbers)

 Palimpsest Notes from Bob Stelton

Within the political boundaries of Peru exists a vast arrogation of mystery and adventure that beckons adventure travel as demonstrated by Dr. Ellen Burkholder, the CAS March Speaker. Treasures beyond the imagination of human greed or need captured the initiative of many who came to regard the burials as public domain – fit for exploitation!

Primal forces created desert conditions between the sea and the Andean peaks that almost perfectly ended preserved the dead as natural mummies. But almost isn’t good enough. That protection policy ended where the huaqueros (grave robbers) broke earth.

By now the epic adventure of Dr. Walter Alva, and his discovery of the tomb of the Lords of Sipán in 1987, has entered the annals of iconic archaeology, and resides as such, with the immortals like Howard Carter.

Dr. Alva is a worthy recipient of all encomiums tendered. On an uncomfortable January night, he was literally pulled from a hospital bed and driven to a poor peasant’s hut by the police to examine a small hoard of gold the likes of which he never had seen before. He examined treasures that would soon become cultural competitors of Tut’s legendary hoard.

The following day, still very ill, alone, he ascended the tomb, alternatively waving his pistol and warning the angry crowd to back off! When all seemed lost, he trumped the huaqueros’ greed with a plea to work with him to save their patrimony. They worked together, the proof of which is the magnificent Lords of Sipán Museum at Lambayeque.

And that, dear reader, is how the magnificent Lords of Sipán museum at Lambayeque was saved before it was born.

There is more – much more – to this dazzling story of Pre-Inca tombs, archaeology, and crime!

Several years ago a small group from the CAS joined with MexiMayan Academic Travel on a Peru discovery itinerary that included The Tomb of the Lords, The Lambayeque Museum and a memorable meeting with Dr. Walter Alva.

Given the opportunity to explore tomb and museum and perhaps to meet Dr. Alva is truly a bucket item not to be missed. If that can’t be, Amazon can send to you hours of reading pleasure, Lords of Sipán, for about $10.