Submitted by coldrum ----
A $2,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for looting an ancient Southern Illinois Native American burial ground.
Officials with the Illinois Historic Preservation agency reported looters have been targeting Kincaid Mounds, a remote site along the Massac-Pope counties line near the Ohio River.
We noticed a trail going out through a wheat field and followed it," said John Schwegman of Metropolis, Ill., who works with the Kincaid Mounds Support Organization. "We found they had dug a hole about 6 feet long, 4 feet deep and 3 to 4 feet wide."
Schwegman said the same site had been looted last summer. The hole was filled in then, but it was targeted again this spring.
"We believe there are at least two, and maybe more looters working, since they were working two holes at the same time," Schwegman said. "They're pretty bold, since they parked their vehicles in our own parking lot."
Investigators said the looters have dug three holes in the Pope County ground and a fourth one a short distance away in Massac County. Pieces of broken flint and stones were discovered near the holes after looters abandoned the sites. The first holes were discovered about six weeks ago.
"Where the looters were digging is a low mound. It was perhaps a platform for a home," Schwegman said. "What's most troubling is the area they have targeted has never been excavated by archaeologists. They're stealing knowledge and information we may never recover about this ancient society." Anyone with information about the looting is asked to call the Massac County Sheriff's Department at (618) 524-2912.
For more, see the Evansville Courier Press.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road