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<< Feature Articles >> Exploring Prehistoric Chicago, Cook County and the wider Illinois area

Submitted by Andy B on Monday, 04 May 2015  Page Views: 3694

Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: United States Region: Great Lakes Midwest Type: Ancient Village or Settlement

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Aztalan State Park
Aztalan State Park submitted by bat400 : The largest mound at Aztalan is a "stepped" pyramidal structure in the southwest corner of the stockade surround. This is a partial reconstruction of the site as found in the early 1800's. By the 1920's there had been substantial plowing of the site and significant damage by "pot hunters" and those simply "quarrying" the mounds for fill dirt and the remains of burnt wattle and daub from the... (Vote or comment on this photo)
The city of Chicago is one of the largest and most populous cities in the United States. In this article we look at some of the evidence of prehistoric sites in the area, and recommend some places to visit in Cook County and the wider Illinois area.

Chicago lies in a very broad plain, hundreds of millions of years ago this plain was part of an interior basin filled with shallow and warm seas, as with other parts of North America. Evidence of this has been found in the city - with corals found in quarries located at Stony Island Avenue (named after a stony hill that was once an island thousands of years ago), and traces of marine life have been found at Damen Avenue and 18th street in Chicago. There were even traces of corals that link the Chicago area with Niagara, New York.

Thousands of years later, the polar ice cap expanded and the area was covered with ice up to one mile thick. As the climate started to change, this ice cap began to melt which created streams and small rivers. As the entire ice melted the glacial Lake Chicago was formed, between around 13,000 and 11,000 BC, this huge prehistoric lake was the ancestor of Lake Michigan.

Today you can find large amounts of sand in dunes, beach lines and spits especially in the southern part of Lake Michigan that tell of the old Lake Chicago.

During the building of the new Tollway in south suburban Chicago in 1990, several late prehistoric settlements with associated burials, were found (1). A more recent highway project unearthed a fortified village at Hoxie Farm in 2003 (2) – this area was occupied throughout most of prehistory until comparatively recently, the fortified village was found to be large and densely populated, however there is sadly little to be seen today.

The best place to discover the story behind such sites is the Dickson Mounds museum in Fulton County.

This site had both Woodland and Mississippian period mounds with evidence of settlement for these and earlier eras. The museum has permanent exhibits which detail Illinois River Valley prehistory, including human occupation and the mound building cultures.

Other mound sites to visit are at Lake Koshkonong and Aztalan State Park to the NW of Chicago - see the nearby sites list on our linked pages for more.

If you are looking for an easy and convenient way to tour the city of Chicago, Cook County and the wider Illinois area, then you should consider a vehicle from the Chicago limo service. Although people usually associate limo services with parties and visiting clubs and restaurants, Executive Chauffeuring Chicago,operate many types of luxury vehicles, from chauffer driven SUVs up to 56 seater coaches which would be ideal for a society trip.

Of course, there are many services of this type in Chicago and not all of them provide the same quality. So, before you hire one make sure to do proper research. You could ask some of your friends or colleagues who live in Chicago for recommendations or you can use the Internet. If you choose to rely on the Internet, you can either use some of the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Ask or Bing, or try some popular online forums or discussions boards. Make sure to find a limo service that has many positive reviews and a good background.

If you are still wondering where your journey should start, the Field Museum of Natural History is a great place to visit. This is one of the largest natural history museums in the USA or indeed the world. It has many permanent and temporary exhibitions, their Ancient Americas exhibition opened in 2007 covers over 13.000 years, with a special focus on the Chicago area.

The exhibits are not strictly speaking arranged chronologically or by geography - instead a cultural approach is used, starting with hunter gatherers, and then agriculturalists, and on to traders and artisans. There are also extensive exhibits on Ancient Egypt, a comparative exhibit of Contact-Era North American Arctic and Temperate Coastal cultures and contemporary Native American culture and artwork.

For visits outside of the City of Chicago, Forest Preserves of Cook County manage more than 69,000 acres of public land, or about 11 percent of Cook County. All this is easily accessible from the city of Chicago. One is the Sagawau Environmental Learning Center which hosts tours of the county’s only rock canyon and has access to quarries with fossil life back to 400 million years ago. The FPCC have a great series of leaflets to download, with detailed maps of places to visit.

If you decide to use a limo for visiting any of these sites, you should know that this is the safest and fastest way to get to all these locations, or for a pickup from Chicago airport - all with an exceptional chauffeur to help you with your trip. We hope this has helped start your exploration of the prehistory of Chicago, Cook County and the wider Illinois area.

Ref 1: The Hoxie Farm Site Fortified Village: Late Fisher Phase Occupation and Fortification in South Chicago, edited by Douglas K. Jackson and Thomas E. Emerson
Illinois State Archaeological Survey Research Report No. 27, 2013

Ref 2: At the Edge of Prehistory: Huber Phase Archaeology in the Chicago Area by James A. Brown and Patricia J. O'Brien published by the Illinois Department of Transportation and Center for American Archeology, 1990

See also readings in Illinois Archaeology, selected by the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology (IAAA)

[Post sponsored by Executive Chauffeuring Chicago - many thanks for their support. Also with thanks to Bat400, the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology and Wikipedia for additional research for this article]

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"Exploring Prehistoric Chicago, Cook County and the wider Illinois area" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Just west of Chicago in Rockford .. by bat400 on Tuesday, 05 May 2015
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The Beattie Park Mound Group.
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History beneath Chicago/Rockford International Airport by Andy B on Monday, 04 May 2015
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History Beneath the Airport
Chicago/Rockford International Airport
May 2009-March 2013

In February 2009 ISAS was contacted by Rockford Airport authorities about creating an archaeological exhibit in the main terminal building. In conceptualizing the exhibit ISAS wanted to highlight the archaeological excavations done during the expansion of the airport in the mid 1990s.

The Shumway homesite, located at the Valhall site (11WO354), was selected as the focus of the exhibit due to the wealth of information it contained about life in the early days of Winnebago County.

The exhibit featured a background image of the Rock River with images of artifacts from the Shumway site in the foreground. Artifacts used in the poster are were displayed in the exhibit case.
More at http://www.isas.illinois.edu/public_engagement/exhibits.shtml

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East Central Illinois Archaeological Society raffle for repro projectile points by Andy B on Monday, 04 May 2015
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East Central Illinois Archaeological Society ECIAS will raffle three splendid reproduction projectile points made by master flintknapper Tim Dillard during their May 21st meeting. There is a chance to buy tickets at this Thursday’s meeting. Mr. Dillard will be conducting the Center for American Archaeology’s Flintknapping Workshop in May.
https://www.facebook.com/events/423309617836328/

https://www.facebook.com/1421250221465043/photos/a.1421263334797065.1073741829.1421250221465043/1573211322935598/?type=1&theater
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