From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2019

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi," at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Perhaps the driving force in the early movement of French colonists into Upper Louisiana was commerce. Trade with the various Native American tribes in the region from the 17th through early 19th centuries led, directly or indirectly, to the establishment of multiple forts, villages, and trading posts along both banks of the Mississippi River. Evidence of this interaction, between and among the Native American tribes and French settlements, can be traced through time starting with the occupation of the Iliniwek Village in the 1640s to the establishment of St. Ferdinand in the 1760s. In light of recent excavations in St. Louis and elsewhere, it is both necessary and productive to reexamine past excavations at the Iliniwek Village, Ste. Genevieve, and St. Ferdinand.

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-7 of 7)

  • Documents (7)

Documents
  • Evidence of Frontier Commerce Along the Mississippi River in Eastern Missouri and Western Illinois (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Joe Harl.

    This is an abstract from the "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Despite being in conflict with England during the late 1700s and early 1800s, French/Spainish Colonial site and early American sites reflect the improtance of English goods on the local economies. But these goods were not accepted wholesale, but altered to fit life on the frontier. 

  • ‘A Most Valuable Commerce’: Fur Trade and River Power Near the Mississippi Headwaters (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Amelie Allard.

    This is an abstract from the "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. While the North American Fur Trade has been commonly examined through economic lenses, scholarship from the 1980s onward has strived to demonstrate that this phenomenon was more than mere trade and merchant capitalism: it also embodied a complex web of social relationships and practices that went beyond daily...

  • Re-Rediscovering Iliniwek Village: Utilizing Material Culture to Better Understand Early Trade Along the Mississippi River. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rachel A Campbell.

    This is an abstract from the "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Iliniwek Village State Historic Site is the location of a large contact period Peoria Village of up to 8000 people. First encountered by Marquette and Joliet, the village was discovered from a path seen off the Mississippi River in 1673. Lost and forgotten, the site was rediscovered in 1984 and due to its unique...

  • Seals and Salves in the Pays des Illinois (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Cathrine M. Davis.

    This is an abstract from the "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Commerce along the waterways of the Illinois Country left many traces in the archaeological record. Some of these traces provide archaeologists with the opportunity to tie goods back to their European origins and to understand the connections between this interior borderland and the larger Atlantic World. Included in...

  • The Squire Homestead: A Look into Early American Settlement and Trade in the Greater St. Louis Area (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Robin L Jorcke.

    This is an abstract from the "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Squire Homestead site (11Ms2244), located in the Six Mile Prairie area of Madison County, Illinois, is the home of an influential, early American family.  The home also appeared to function as a local trading post and fort, providing goods and protection during raids.  This site provides a rare look at life...

  • "What’s This Doing There": Archaeological Evidence of the St. Louis Barter Economy (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael J. Meyer.

    This is an abstract from the "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Beginning in 2013, excavations conducted by the Missouri Department of Transportation have identified buildings associated with six different properties dating to the late 1700s, but it is the latest finds that have generated the greatest interest. Excavations conducted in the winter and spring of 2017 revealed the...

  • Zooarchaeology and Commerce at the Old Village of St. Louis: An Examination of the Berger Site (23SL2402) (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Terrance Martin.

    This is an abstract from the "From Iliniwek to Ste Genevieve: Early Commerce along the Mississippi" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Since 2013, Missouri Department of Transportation archaeologists have investigated grounds that are being impacted by rehabilitation of the Poplar Street Bridge in downtown St. Louis, an area that was part of the original village that was platted in 1764. Late in 2016, excavations at the Berger site revealed possible...