Traces on the Land: Using Advanced Technologies to Understand the Prairie Past

Speaker: Joseph H. Wheeler III - December 8, 2019

Retired Marine Corps Colonel and archaeologist Joseph H. Wheeler III will present at the Evanston Public Library at our last meeting of 2019, at 3:30pm on December 8 (following the Members Holiday Party at 2:00pm).

His talk on Traces on the Land... will look at work with remote sensing, geophysical prospection, GIS, and other modern technologies at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Wilmington, Illinois.

As Wheeler points out, we often think of such technologies as being employed at archaeological sites of monumental architecture in faraway places, but they are equally important, and accessible, for even local archaeological investigations in the Chicago region.

The USDA Forest Service and Midewin are committed to good science, responsible stewardship of cultural resources, and to making that science and stewardship available to the public through student and adult volunteer opportunities.

LiDAR, Ground Penetrating Radar, resistivity, magnetometer, georeferencing of historic imagery and maps, thermal imaging, isotopic analysis have become the tools of the trade even in Will County, Illinois.

Some noteworthy (and fun) examples include when Midewin volunteers took all the available pre-Arsenal imagery and historic land ownership maps showing previous farm structure locations, and transferred that information to digital map software (GIS). The results were then superimposed on LiDAR-derived bare earth models to locate patterned disturbances suggesting extant farmstead features. (See page 3 graphic.) Wheeler and associates continue to follow up the results in the field through ground-truthing the potential sites.

Pre-Contact Huber Phase Site
The University of Notre Dame’s multi-year investigations at a late (c. 1600) Pre-Contact Huber Phase Site on Midewin have yielded significant results in understanding that poorly known period in late pre-history. Throughout, Notre Dame has incorporated the most current methods of remote sensing, geophysical techniques, and geochemistry. This project has also made use of approximately 7,000 volunteer hours through the Forest Service “Passport in Time” program, allowing people from around the country to participate in field work on their public land.

All of this work serves to better understand past land use and environment and in so doing, to guide a more informed approach to prairie restoration and stewardship of cultural resources.

Our speaker, Joseph H. (Joe) Wheeler III grew up in suburban Cicero, and graduated Loyola University of Chicago. He then served as an Intelligence Officer in the US Marine Corps for over 28 years. Throughout that time, he reports, “I maintained a keen interest in archaeology, participating in avocational archaeology groups whenever I was stationed in the US, and assisting local and military base archaeologists. Through my profession, I became intimately familiar with various remote sensing and imaging technologies.”

After retiring from the Marine Corps as a Colonel in 2009, Wheeler attended graduate school, studying Anthropology at the University of Wyoming on the Post 9-11 GI Bill. In 2011, he joined the US Forest Service as a field archaeologist, working throughout the American West and Southwest.

In 2013, he returned to Illinois for the first time in 34 years to serve as the Archaeologist and Tribal Liaison at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, USDA, Forest Service, in Wilmington, Illinois on the grounds of the old Joliet Arsenal which is being restored to tall grass prairie. https://www.fs.usda.gov/midewin

We look forward to his talk on December 8. Holiday Party first!

Palimpsest Notes - from Bob Stelton

Archaeology Ain’t What It Used To Be

Archaeology used to be an arduous adventure. Alfred Maudsley’s adventuring carried him across the globe and into the jungles of the Yucatan. Brilliant insight brought him into the depths of the Yucatecan jungle with state-of-the-art cameras that would provide clear photos of structures and panels of Maya hieroglyphs that would be deciphered by future generations of scholars.

John Lloyd Stephens cast aside a career before the bar.  In 1836, he met Frederick Catherwood and the two planned their epic exploration of Central America. They recorded the actual adventures in Incidents of Travels in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (1841).  With his paints and pencils, Catherwood added special life to that remarkable achievement.

WWII and the end of an era

Scientific archaeology’s nativity was accompanied by its expansion into the present discipline. If the aspirant expects to achieve a career in the discipline a Ph.D. is now a requisite.

World War II interrupted archaeology’s progress but proffered the miracle of Carbon-14 dating and there were other gifts.  Thermoluminescence along with a raft of new technologies followed by the miracle of LiDAR with its ability to penetrate deep jungles. The uses of DNA analysis on bones has dramatically changed archaeology. Digging has become quite meticulous at some sites where the questions being asked are most significant.  At Old Vero Man site, Florida, archaeologists are checking the dirt for ancient flora and fauna DNA (including human).

Meanwhile, Mexico, along with others, has published LiDAR images of large tracts of land online. Takeshi Inomata, an archaeologist, has discovered 27 Maya sites through examination of these images online, as reported by The New York Times.

 Recent adventures have been in the lab and not in the steamy jungle of the Petén.  Adventure now can be at home with the computer!

Merry Holidays & Meeting

The December 8 meeting is also the date of the CAS Holiday Party, beginning at 2:00pm. Member meeting will be held during this time, with guest speaker at usual 3:30pm start time. This year Holiday Tacos are our feature. The Holiday Taco Party is free for members, but we must know how many guests we will serve.

Please RSVP to debandbob@meximayan.com before December 6.

RIP Gloria Williams

Sept 29, 1927- October 16, 2019

 Longtime member Gloria Williams passed away after a period of attempted recovery from a stroke. Gloria was an active and consistent member contributing recommendations for speakers and archaeology books for door prizes over many years. She traveled to many important sites worldwide and was an avid reader. We will miss her front row presence.

Hopewellian Mound Mysteries Uncovered

Karen Atwell Addresses Illinois Burial Mound

~ report by Michael Ruggeri ~

The Hopewell Interaction Sphere consisted of a great number of culturally related sites stretching from Ontario to Florida, the Appalachians to Missouri. The Hopewell Interaction Sphere lasted from 100 BCE-500 during the Middle Woodland period. Archaeologist Karen Atwell presented us with a very thorough and complete report on the Naples-Russell Hopewell mound complex in Pike County, Illinois in her invited lecture to the CAS on October 27.

She revealed that there are 8 mounds within the complex in the group, with the largest measuring 150 feet long, 90 feet wide, 30 feet tall. 

The largest mound is a platform style construction with ramps. It was built over time in a multi-village effort by hundreds of laborers starting at 100 BCE. The mound constructions at this site were built over a 200 year span.

Among the abundant artifacts found in burials in the mound group: an eagle pipe, a raven headed pipe and conch shells.  Black bear and grey wolf decorated canines were found in a child burial.

The main mound burial was of a male, Middle Woodland era, with a bear canine necklace, feathered staff, beads, ankle and wrist bracelets, adzes, antlers, and a Hopewell style vessel.

Other artifacts uncovered within the mounds: copper tools, mica, decorated bi-valves, a toad pipe, 4 copper celts, flintknapping tools, hammer stones, and materials from the archaic era.

The flooring for the burial complex included limestone paving, and white and yellow clay.

Many of the artifacts came from an extensive trade network stretching far to the north and south.

Karen Atwell was charged with finding out the extent of looting at the site over time and to re-construct the architecture, and to develop a complete layout of the site over time.

The Naples Mound Group is one of the largest Hopewell related sites in the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. Karen and her colleagues have worked for years at the Mound group and have found an extensive amount of trade goods and luxury items in the burials at the site. The largest mound, The Naples Mound 8, contained several burials laid out in a wide fashion within the mound.

Her talk gave us an insight into the importance of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere here in Illinois, and the importance of understanding more about this culturally rich Pre-Columbian society.