Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Sep 2, 2017
Lewis Binford's contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many... more Lewis Binford's contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many contributions to theoretical issues dominating the discipline of archaeology at the end of the twentieth century. We examine Binford's excavation methods in southern Illinois in the early 1960s and demonstrate how his considered approach served to systematize large-scale site excavation procedures. He adopted the time-honored tool of the salvage archaeologist-heavy equipment-and unapologetically employed it in a fundamentally new way, proving it to be a tool that served the greater goals of archaeological research. We trace the development of field methods and theoretical approaches in two case studies of Illinois archaeology and demonstrate how Binford's contributions have been incorporated or rejected by subsequent CRM researchers.
While we have readily admitted that successive waves of people or ideas could also penetrate to t... more While we have readily admitted that successive waves of people or ideas could also penetrate to the New World, we have been slow to give up the idea that some pilgrim band of elephant hunters laid the foundation of aboriginal American culture.
Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Oct 1, 2017
Lewis Binford’s contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many... more Lewis Binford’s contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many contributions to theoretical issues dominating the discipline of archaeology at the end of the twentieth century. We examine Binford’s excavation methods in southern Illinois in the early 1960s and demonstrate how his considered approach served to systematize large-scale site excavation procedures. He adopted the time-honored tool of the salvage archaeologist—heavy equipment—and unapologetically employed it in a fundamentally new way, proving it to be a tool that served the greater goals of archaeological research. We trace the development of field methods and theoretical approaches in two case studies of Illinois archaeology and demonstrate how Binford’s contributions have been incorporated or rejected by subsequent CRM researchers.
Abstract Terminal Late Archaic in the American Bottom-2500 bp 1. Archaic-a period where people be... more Abstract Terminal Late Archaic in the American Bottom-2500 bp 1. Archaic-a period where people become localized and seem to settle in to their respective environmental niches. 2. Trends-forest efficiency, shellfish exploitation, nut, widespread appearance and adoption ...
... the concern that the remains of, for example, non-ceramic-using or highly ... One implicit co... more ... the concern that the remains of, for example, non-ceramic-using or highly ... One implicit conceptualization that has been transmitted through time virtually unaffected by the ... implicit correlations between mobility, sedentism, com-plexity, and progressive evolutionary change ...
The FAI-270 Project represents one of the most extensive Cultural Resource Management (CRM) under... more The FAI-270 Project represents one of the most extensive Cultural Resource Management (CRM) undertakings in North America, resulting in the publication of dozens of site reports and, in 1984, a benchmark synthetic volume that presented a new chronology and culture history of the American Bottom region of the Mississipppi River (Bareis and Porter, eds. 1984). This sequence was based on material assemblages and radiocarbon dates from extensive excavations. The ongoing FAI-270 Project continues to invigorate local and regional research, transforming the American Bottom sequence into one of the most detailed Eastern Woodlands chronologies available. Since the Bareis and Porter (eds. 1984) volume, the quantity of archaeological data and available published reports have increased exponentially, with ten new phases identified. Our understanding of both diachronic and synchronie cultural relationships have undergone major transformations. In general we find that the earlier neoevolutionary model no longer "explains" the archaeological evidence. This article presents a newly revised calibrated sequence using some 300 radiocarbon dates from over 100 sites and examines significant changes in the chronological sequence. We present a new perspective on American Bottom cultural historical development that stresses cultural discontinuities, historical contingencies, local abandonment, population movement, and social and political continuities and disruptions. Two decades have passed since the publication of American Bottom Archaeology: A Summary of the FAI-270 Project Contribution to the Culture History of the Mississippi River Valley, edited by Charles J. Bareis and James W. Porter (1984). Since its presentation, the American Bottom sequence has become one of the main pillars for interpreting midcontinental Eastern Woodland prehistory. The foundations of this cultural and chronological sequence are in distinct contrast to many other regional chronologies, which are based on composite cultural assemblages and dates from multistate areas. The 1-270 sequence is based almost exclusively on contextually secure information from large-scale excavations in open-air sites from a comparatively small geographic locale (or "locality," sensu Willey and Phillips [1958]) in an archaeologically rich area of the Mississippi River Valley (Figures 1 and 2). The American Bottom sequence has been exceptionally well documented with the publication of 28 volumes of primary data from excavated sites (the FAI-270 Site Reports, University of Illinois Press) as well as being supported by many dozens of journal articles and numerous limited-distribution reports. The impetus for the production of this sequence was supplied by the FAI-270 Archaeological Mitigation Project (1-270 Project) sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and coordinated by IDOT chief archaeologist Dr. John Walthall. Building on the investigations of earlier area scholars, 1-270 researchers were able to provide a fine-grained sequence starting at about 3000 B.C. and continuing through Mississippian times (Figure 3; chapters in Bareis and Porter, eds. 1984). It is important to recognize, however, that the American Bottom sequence is also a "work in progress" and has been continually refined since its primary formulation in 1982. Since the official "end" of the initial 1-270 fieldwork in 1981, there have been three extensions of the original 1-270 highway corridor (under the supervision of project director Andrew Portier) involving substantial archaeological mitigation efforts by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) (e.g., Emerson and Walthall 2006; Emerson et al., this volume). IDOT has also sponsored several equally impressive CRM projects in the East St. Louis Mound Group (Portier 2007; Pauketat 2005) and the MidAmerican Airport (Holley, this volume; Holley et al. 2001; Holley, Parker, Scott, Skele et al. 2001; Holley, Parker, Watters, Harper, Skele, and Ringberg 2001; Holley, Skele, Watters, Parker et al. …
Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Sep 2, 2017
Lewis Binford's contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many... more Lewis Binford's contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many contributions to theoretical issues dominating the discipline of archaeology at the end of the twentieth century. We examine Binford's excavation methods in southern Illinois in the early 1960s and demonstrate how his considered approach served to systematize large-scale site excavation procedures. He adopted the time-honored tool of the salvage archaeologist-heavy equipment-and unapologetically employed it in a fundamentally new way, proving it to be a tool that served the greater goals of archaeological research. We trace the development of field methods and theoretical approaches in two case studies of Illinois archaeology and demonstrate how Binford's contributions have been incorporated or rejected by subsequent CRM researchers.
While we have readily admitted that successive waves of people or ideas could also penetrate to t... more While we have readily admitted that successive waves of people or ideas could also penetrate to the New World, we have been slow to give up the idea that some pilgrim band of elephant hunters laid the foundation of aboriginal American culture.
Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Oct 1, 2017
Lewis Binford’s contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many... more Lewis Binford’s contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many contributions to theoretical issues dominating the discipline of archaeology at the end of the twentieth century. We examine Binford’s excavation methods in southern Illinois in the early 1960s and demonstrate how his considered approach served to systematize large-scale site excavation procedures. He adopted the time-honored tool of the salvage archaeologist—heavy equipment—and unapologetically employed it in a fundamentally new way, proving it to be a tool that served the greater goals of archaeological research. We trace the development of field methods and theoretical approaches in two case studies of Illinois archaeology and demonstrate how Binford’s contributions have been incorporated or rejected by subsequent CRM researchers.
Abstract Terminal Late Archaic in the American Bottom-2500 bp 1. Archaic-a period where people be... more Abstract Terminal Late Archaic in the American Bottom-2500 bp 1. Archaic-a period where people become localized and seem to settle in to their respective environmental niches. 2. Trends-forest efficiency, shellfish exploitation, nut, widespread appearance and adoption ...
... the concern that the remains of, for example, non-ceramic-using or highly ... One implicit co... more ... the concern that the remains of, for example, non-ceramic-using or highly ... One implicit conceptualization that has been transmitted through time virtually unaffected by the ... implicit correlations between mobility, sedentism, com-plexity, and progressive evolutionary change ...
The FAI-270 Project represents one of the most extensive Cultural Resource Management (CRM) under... more The FAI-270 Project represents one of the most extensive Cultural Resource Management (CRM) undertakings in North America, resulting in the publication of dozens of site reports and, in 1984, a benchmark synthetic volume that presented a new chronology and culture history of the American Bottom region of the Mississipppi River (Bareis and Porter, eds. 1984). This sequence was based on material assemblages and radiocarbon dates from extensive excavations. The ongoing FAI-270 Project continues to invigorate local and regional research, transforming the American Bottom sequence into one of the most detailed Eastern Woodlands chronologies available. Since the Bareis and Porter (eds. 1984) volume, the quantity of archaeological data and available published reports have increased exponentially, with ten new phases identified. Our understanding of both diachronic and synchronie cultural relationships have undergone major transformations. In general we find that the earlier neoevolutionary model no longer "explains" the archaeological evidence. This article presents a newly revised calibrated sequence using some 300 radiocarbon dates from over 100 sites and examines significant changes in the chronological sequence. We present a new perspective on American Bottom cultural historical development that stresses cultural discontinuities, historical contingencies, local abandonment, population movement, and social and political continuities and disruptions. Two decades have passed since the publication of American Bottom Archaeology: A Summary of the FAI-270 Project Contribution to the Culture History of the Mississippi River Valley, edited by Charles J. Bareis and James W. Porter (1984). Since its presentation, the American Bottom sequence has become one of the main pillars for interpreting midcontinental Eastern Woodland prehistory. The foundations of this cultural and chronological sequence are in distinct contrast to many other regional chronologies, which are based on composite cultural assemblages and dates from multistate areas. The 1-270 sequence is based almost exclusively on contextually secure information from large-scale excavations in open-air sites from a comparatively small geographic locale (or "locality," sensu Willey and Phillips [1958]) in an archaeologically rich area of the Mississippi River Valley (Figures 1 and 2). The American Bottom sequence has been exceptionally well documented with the publication of 28 volumes of primary data from excavated sites (the FAI-270 Site Reports, University of Illinois Press) as well as being supported by many dozens of journal articles and numerous limited-distribution reports. The impetus for the production of this sequence was supplied by the FAI-270 Archaeological Mitigation Project (1-270 Project) sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and coordinated by IDOT chief archaeologist Dr. John Walthall. Building on the investigations of earlier area scholars, 1-270 researchers were able to provide a fine-grained sequence starting at about 3000 B.C. and continuing through Mississippian times (Figure 3; chapters in Bareis and Porter, eds. 1984). It is important to recognize, however, that the American Bottom sequence is also a "work in progress" and has been continually refined since its primary formulation in 1982. Since the official "end" of the initial 1-270 fieldwork in 1981, there have been three extensions of the original 1-270 highway corridor (under the supervision of project director Andrew Portier) involving substantial archaeological mitigation efforts by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) (e.g., Emerson and Walthall 2006; Emerson et al., this volume). IDOT has also sponsored several equally impressive CRM projects in the East St. Louis Mound Group (Portier 2007; Pauketat 2005) and the MidAmerican Airport (Holley, this volume; Holley et al. 2001; Holley, Parker, Scott, Skele et al. 2001; Holley, Parker, Watters, Harper, Skele, and Ringberg 2001; Holley, Skele, Watters, Parker et al. …
Lewis Binford's contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many... more Lewis Binford's contributions to field archaeology have been largely ignored in favor of his many contributions to theoretical issues dominating the discipline of archaeology at the end of the twentieth century. We examine Binford's excavation methods in southern Illinois in the early 1960s and demonstrate how his considered approach served to systematize large-scale site excavation procedures. He adopted the time-honored tool of the salvage archaeologist -heavy equipment-and unapologetically employed it in a fundamentally new way, proving it to be a tool that served the greater goals of archaeological research. We trace the development of field methods and theoretical approaches in two case studies of Illinois archaeology and demonstrate how Binford's contributions have been incorporated or rejected by subsequent CRM researchers.
While we have readily admitted that successive waves of people or ideas could also penetrate to t... more While we have readily admitted that successive waves of people or ideas could also penetrate to the New World, we have been slow to give up the idea that some pilgrim band of elephant hunters laid the foundation of aboriginal American culture.
... The Des Plaines Complex and the Late Woodland Stage of Northern Illinois, TTiomas E. Emerson ... more ... The Des Plaines Complex and the Late Woodland Stage of Northern Illinois, TTiomas E. Emerson and Anne ... phase Late Woodland sites at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers 264 12.2. Patrick phase Late Woodland sites along the lower Missouri River valley, St ...
Uploads
Papers by Dale McElrath