The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeology in the North American midcontinent and beyond has been keenly influenced by Stuart McKee Struever (1931–2022). Struever’s achievements between 1958 and 1984 in the lower Illinois River valley (LIV) helped shape knowledge of the regional archaeological record, studies of subsistence-settlement systems, multidisciplinary archaeology, archaeological database development, public archaeology, contract archaeology, deep site archaeology, and bioarchaeology. Struever’s archaeological projects attracted specialists from across fields such as zoology, botany, palynology, malacology, and geology. These scientists studied LIV archaeological materials and influenced subsequent developments of archaeological specialties. The Koster Project (1969–1979) was Struever’s most visible archaeological research and outreach effort, attracting thousands of professionals, students, and volunteers to the LIV. Struever’s charisma drew many to Kampsville, which was variously characterized as an exciting cauldron of new ideas and an archaeological commune. Struever pioneered deep site archaeology, multidisciplinary archaeology, and archaeological outreach at a grand scale. These research, education, and outreach efforts continue to guide programming in Kampsville, where the Center for American Archeology celebrates its 71st year. Here we emphasize Struever’s quarter century of midcontinental archaeological achievements and explore their influence in and beyond the region.

Other Keywords
History Of Archaeology • Woodland • Geoarchaeology • Chronology • Excavation Strategy • Zooarchaeology • Survey • Cultural Resource Management • Paleoethnobotany • Public Archaeology

Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) • Missouri (State / Territory) • Kentucky (State / Territory) • Illinois (State / Territory) • Wisconsin (State / Territory) • Indiana (State / Territory) • Michigan (State / Territory) • Nebraska (State / Territory) • Kansas (State / Territory) • Iowa (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)

  • Documents (8)
Documents
  • Archeobotany of the Lower Illinois Valley: The Legacy of Stuart Struever (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nancy Asch Sidell. David Asch.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 1960 Stuart Struever initiated an “Illinois Valley Archaeological Program” and devoted his research over the next decade to study of Middle Western Hopewell manifestations. He set out to test a hypothesis that the adoption of a simple mudflat agriculture conducted on...

  • Collectors, Public Archaeology, and Regional Surveys: Contributions of Stuart Struever (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lynne Goldstein.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stuart Struever developed several important and innovative approaches during his time in Illinois. I use my own Lower Illinois Valley research to focus on Struever’s contributions in three areas: 1) working with collectors and amateur archaeologists, 2) focusing on...

  • Contract Archaeology and the Center for American Archeology (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jason King. Don Booth.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 1953, Stuart McKee Struever (1931–2022) founded Archaeological Research Inc., the nonprofit organization that would develop into the Foundation for Illinois Archeology and ultimately the Center for American Archeology (CAA), as it is known today. As the institution...

  • The Deep-Site Excavation Strategy at the Koster Site (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only James Brown. Michael Wiant.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. By 1972 the exposure of deeply buried occupation surfaces was a novelty in the Midwest. In Illinois, deep-site excavation experience was limited to the Modoc Rock Shelter exploration. Koster offered a new opportunity for a deep-site exposure, but one that raised...

  • From Micro-histories to Macro-trends: Constructing Time and Temporality in the Lower Illinois Valley (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jacob Holland-Lulewicz. Jason King.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. One of Stuart Struever’s primary contributions to the archaeology of the Lower Illinois Valley was his work outlining a regional culture-history that sought to organize and lend substantive temporality to critical trends and transformations in human social processes. The...

  • In the Beginning: Stuart Struever and the Lower Illinois River Valley (LIV) (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jane Buikstra.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This introductory paper for the symposium recognizing and celebrating the seminal contributions of Stuart Struever to Midcontinental archaeology begins with his earliest regional project at the Kamp Mound Group. Legend has it that Struever became lost traveling to St....

  • Interdisciplinary Research, Zooarchaeology, Electronic Databases, and the Impacts of Struever's Vision (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bonnie Styles. Sarah Neusius.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Struever’s passion for multidisciplinary archaeological research in the lower Illinois River valley (LIV) attracted both authors to Northwestern University and to our specializations in zooarchaeology. Struever’s primary interest was in anthropological interpretations of...

  • Interrelationships among Histories of Landscape Evolution, Environmental Change, and the Cultural Record in the Illinois River Valley and Beyond (2024)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Edwin Hajic. Thomas Styles.

    This is an abstract from the "The Village, the Region, and Beyond: Stuart Struever (1931–2022) and the Lower Illinois River Valley Research Program" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stuart Struever’s Foundation for Illinois Archeology (FIA) and subsequent Center for American Archeology (CAA) programs were incubators for interdisciplinary research including intensive geoarchaeological research. Following Struever’s vision, program geoarchaeologists...