Star Bridge: A Late Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The late pre-Columbian period in the central Illinois River valley (CIRV) is demarcated by the development of large, oftentimes fortified Mississippian towns, farming hamlets, extensive trade networks, and shifting political alliances between AD 1050 and 1400. The fission and fusion of local polities ceased with abrupt abandonment of the CIRV by AD 1450 as part of the larger Vacant Quarter phenomenon. Located on a hypothesized boundary between Mississippian and Oneota zones of socio-political influence during the 14th century, Star Bridge (11BR17) was a Mississippian village previously believed to have been incinerated during an assault. Through the analysis of an avocational surface collection, a 1992 excavation assemblage, and recent geophysical investigations, our research reexamines Star Bridge and also assesses the site’s integrity after decades of agricultural modification. Our geophysical data and the material culture from excavations suggest Star Bridge never burned, but was abandoned after one or two generations of occupation shortly before regional abandonment. Meanwhile, our analyses also revealed a dearth of Oneota-derived symbols and material culture, indicating minimal interaction between Star Bridge’s inhabitants and their neighbors upstream.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25651