INO Masters Degree Thesis
University of Illinois at Springfield
A Demographic Study Comparing Pioneer and Mississippian Interments along the Illinois River in Greene County, Illinois
Physical Anthropology/Biological and Physiological
Barbra Burdett - Graduate Student
P.O. Box 145
Lincoln, Illinois 62656
669361023
December 2006
Committee Members
The committee members for this thesis were the best any graduate student could ask for. I will remember their dedication to myself and my thesis project with deep gratitude and have wonderful memories of this experience for the rest of my life.
INO Advisor
Dr. Annette VanDyke
Professor, Liberal Studies, Individual Option, and Women’s Studies
UHB 3025
Mail Stop UHB 3038
217-206-7420
Ext. 6-7420
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza
Springfield, Illinois 62703
Thesis Advisor
Dr. Lynn Fisher
Associate Professor, Sociology/Anthropology
UHB 3042
Mail Stop UHB 3010
217-206-7938
Ext. 6-7938
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza
Springfield, Illinois 62703
Academic Advisor
Dr. Nada Chang
Associate Professor, Biology
HSB 226
Mail Stop HSB 226
217-206-7338
Ext. 6-7338
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza
Springfield, Illinois 62703
Dean’s Representative
Dr. Lucia M. Vazquez
Assistant Professor, Biology
HSB 225
Mail Stop HSB 223
Ext. 6-7337
217-206-7442
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza
Springfield, Illinois 62703
Peer Advisor
Mr. Michael McDonald
Legal Studies Major
222 Springcreek Drive
Springfield, Illinois 62702
217-726-750
Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge the dedication of friends, acquaintances and colleagues who have supported my research. Mr. Zurkammer has represented Lincoln College as my financial benefactor as well as supporting and following the progress of this degree. Dennis has generously given his time to edit my paper and to follow up with discussion and advice on my final copies. Pam is a life long friend who has been supportive of this endeavor from the beginning and has wonderfully added fine evenings to my life dedicated to taking time out from the books and papers that surround me at home. Dawn Cobb, Della Cook, and Mike Wiant have been very kind in giving their time, advice and guidance to this project. Gerald Wolfley is to be commended for his dedication in supporting my research, my students, and giving the Illinois River Project a home base. He has been there since the first day of research and we have worked together to build what I believe is the beginning of a wonderful data base of research at the Greene County Historical Society. Robert Schild has been part of this study also from day one and I owe him a great deal of gratitude as the Schild site landowner for lending his time and always being there for the students and myself. Candice Wright has acted as my student assistant and later field assistant during the last part of this research. Candice’s interest in this project and her ability to record perfect data made the work go much faster and certainly made working in the field a lot more fun. Gary always went with me to help with the grid in the field when I took students to Greene County and also gave up many week-ends to help collect data or to help me with the time consuming task of running off copies or working out problems with my computer and just being there for me. And last, my kids and their families who always support what I am doing.
There are many other people who have helped me or encouraged me along the way. Some I don’t even know your names but to all of you I thank you.
Mr. Tom Zurkammer
Provost/Vice President of Academics
Lincoln College
University Hall 106
300 Keokuk Street
Lincoln, Illinois 62656
217-732-3155
Dr. G. Dennis Campbell
Professor, Life and Earth Sciences
Lincoln College
300 Keokuk
Lincoln, Illinois 62656
217-732-3155
Former Managing Editor of the Illinois State Museum
Dr. Pamela Moriearty
Associate Professor, Chemistry, Biology, and Microbiology
Lincoln College
300 Keokuk Street
Lincoln, Illinois 62656
217-732-3155
Ms. Dawn Cobb,
Research Associate in Bioanthropology
Illinois State Museum Research and Collections Center
1011 East Ash Street
Springfield, Illinois 62703-3535
217-557-8609
Mr. Gary A. Burdett P.E.
Criminal Justice, Project Director
Administration Building
404 Elm Street
Rockford, Illinois 61101
815-987-3008
Dr. Della Collins Cook
Indiana University
Professor of Anthropology
Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology
School of Liberal Arts, IUPUI
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-1106
812-855-6368
Dr. Mike Wiant
Director, Dickson Mounds Museum
Illinois State Museum
Lewiston, Illinois 61542
309-547-3721
Mr. Gerald Wolfley
President, Greene County Historical Society
P.O. Box 137
Carrollton, Illinois 62016
Mr. Robert Schild
RR 1 Box 26
Eldred, Illinois 62027
217-983-2656
Ms. Candice Wright
Lincoln College: Student Assistant
1150 1900th Street
Lincoln, Illinois 62656
217-737-5812
Table of Contents
List of Figures 9
List of Tables 11
List of Tab Appendices 12
Abstract 13
Introduction 14
Literature Review 17
Illinois 17
The Illinois River 23
Area of Study 27
Mississippians 29
Pioneers 35
Demographics 38
Objective 40
Specific Goals of the Study 41
Significance of the Study – Justification 42
Personal Significance 44
Materials and Methods for Data Collection from the Pioneer Cemeteries 46
Research Population Selections 49
Age Categories 54
Field Methods for Historic Cemeteries 58
Compiled Final Database 61
Curation of Notes and Data 70
Results 71
Discussion 78
Common Lifeways 81
Conclusion 84
Relevance to Lincoln College 86
Relevance to the Greene County Historical Society 98
Future of the Illinois River Demographic Study 102
Bibliography 103
List of Figures
Figure 1 Cemetery inscription for John Croft 19
Figure 2 Cemetery inscription for Charles King 20
Figure 3 Cemetery inscription for Conrad Gyr 21
Figure 4 Photograph of the Illinois River at the Kampsville
Ferry Landing 23
Figure 5 Map of the Lower Illinois River Region 24
Figure 6 Map of the confluences of the Illinois River 25
Figure 7 Map of the Illinois settlement patterns 27
Figure 8 Map of the first major towns in Greene
County 28
Figure 9 A modern photograph of the Illinois River Pioneer Days
in Greene County Illinois 35
Figure 10 Map showing the area along the Illinois River (labeled
Greene County) where all nine cemeteries were studied 51
Figure 11 Blank data sheet example for use in the field 60
Figure 12 Data Example for Pioneer cemetery, Varble 63
Figure 13 Picture Example for Pioneer cemetery, Varble 64
Figure 14 Grid Example for Pioneer cemetery, Varble 65
Figure 15 Data Example for Mississippian Schild Site 67
Figure 16 Picture Example for Mississippian Schild Site 68
Figure 17 Grid Example for Mississippian Schild Site 69
Figure 18 Chi - Square formula 72
Figure 19 Bar graph comparing the mortality distribution of the
early Pioneers and the Mississippians in Greene County,
Illinois 73
Figure 20 Chi – Square calculations for all categories 74
Figure 21 Bar graph of the combined categories of juvenile,
Adolescent and adult for the Mississippian and early
Pioneer 76
Figure 22 Chi – Square results after the remaining categories have
been combined 77
Figure 23 Individual 19 from Varble cemetery 79
Figure 24 Photograph of the Koster site in 2003 86
Figure 25 Photograph of the Kampsville Center for Archaeology in
2003 87
Figure 26 Photograph of students at the Kampsville Center for
Archaeology in 2003 88
Figure 27 Photograph of students collecting data in Mulberry
cemetery 89
Figure 28 Photograph of students at their presentation in 2005 90
Figure 29 Photograph of the grid being set up for Fry cemetery in
2006 91
Figure 30 Photograph of the students clearing the Fry cemetery in
2006 92
Figure 31 Photograph of the students setting up the grid in Fry
cemetery in 2006 93
Figure 32 Photograph of students uncovering a stone in Fry
cemetery in 2006 94
Figure 33 Photograph of the class of spring 2006 taken near the
Kampsville Ferry 95
Figure 34 Photograph of the Greene County Historical Society 100
Figure 35 Photograph of the Bushnell data donated to the Greene
County Historical Society 101
List of Tables
Table 1 Comparison of the diet of Woodland and Mississippian
People 33
Table 2 Criteria for the age categories of each individual 49
Table 3 Totals of Pioneer Cemeteries 53
Table 4 Totals for the Mississippian Cemetery 54
List of Tab Appendices
Note: Cemeteries are listed in the order they were studied.
Appendix A. Places of the Past
Appendix B. Data Bar Graph
Appendix C. Radiocarbon Dates of Schild Site Confirmed
Appendix D. GPS Coordinates
Appendix E. Varble Statistics
Appendix F. Varble Grid
Appendix G. Varble Text
Appendix H. Admire Statistics
Appendix I. Admire Grid
Appendix J. Admire Text
Appendix K. Clark Statistics
Appendix L. Clark Grid
Appendix M. Clark Text
Appendix N. Busch Statistics
Appendix O. Busch Grid
Appendix P. Busch Text
Appendix Q. Mulberry Statistics
Appendix R. Mulberry Grid
Appendix S. Mulberry Text
Appendix T. Dayton Statistics
Appendix U. Dayton Grids 1-2
Appendix V. Dayton Text
Appendix W. Bushnell Statistics
Appendix X. Bushnell Grid
Appendix Y. Bushnell Text
Appendix Z. Eldred Statistics
Appendix AA. Eldred Grid
Appendix BB. Eldred Text
Appendix CC. Schild Statistics - Data Used for Study
Appendix DD. Schild Statistics - Noted Contradictions
Appendix EE. Schild Grid Knoll A
Appendix FF. Schild Grid Knoll B
Appendix GG. Schild Text
Appendix HH. Cemetery Index
Appendix II. Statistical Computations
Abstract
The present demographic study of early Pioneer and Mississippian interments, collected from eight Pioneer cemeteries and the Schild site Mississippian cemetery along the Illinois River in Greene County, compared the age profiles of the two burial populations. The purpose of this comparison was to determine the similarities and differences in the mortality rates of the individuals. Only the Pioneer individuals who died in the 1800’s were considered for this study because it was before the advent of modern medicine, and they were the earliest documented pre-industrial group living in environmental conditions similar to that of the Mississippian individuals from the Schild site. There were 291 Schild individuals compared with 291 early Pioneers in Greene County. All lived and were buried within a 6 mile radius of each other. The age categories used for this study were stillborn/live born, infant, child, adolescent, young adult, middle adult, old adult, and indeterminate. The data met the requirements for a chi–square analysis while following the paleodemographic guidelines for identifying age parameters in past populations. The results were found by the chi–square analysis to be statistically insignificant and failed to reject the null hypothesis providing strong support that the early Pioneers and Mississippians in the study area had similar mortality distributions in the categories of infant, child, adolescent, young adult, and middle adult.
Introduction
Analysis of physical remains and cemetery inscriptions can give a great deal of insight into the health, diet, lifestyles, and burial patterns of populations. In some cases we can tell where the individuals came from and how or when they died. Many demographic studies have been completed on populations comparing and contrasting biological and mortuary data, biocultural interactions, ancient diseases, and spatial orientation of ancient sites and cemeteries. For example, Buikstra studied the nineteenth-century Grafton Cemetery, a Euro-American cemetery located in Grafton, Illinois near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Illinois River (Buikstra et al 2000). The study gave insight into the burial practices and artifacts present in a population of middle-class people of the 19th century time period. Alan D. Harn in collaboration with Donald Dickson, studied the Middle Mississippians at Dickson Mounds along the Spoon River in Illinois. Their book contains complete studies of the individuals, artifacts and events surrounding the excavation at Dickson Mounds (1980).
The Illinois River Demographic Study is a comparison of mortality distributions in Mississippians and early Pioneers in Greene County, Illinois. We rarely compare prehistoric and historic populations. The goal is to compare and contrast these two groups in terms of lifeways and mortality rates. The early Pioneers in this study are in situ instead of being excavated. This study focuses on Greene County, Illinois, along the Illinois River and includes the inscription data of eight early Pioneer cemeteries A.D. (1800 - 1899) and the prehistoric Native American Mississippian burials A.D. (936 - 1200) found on Knoll A and B at the Schild site located on the property of Robert Schild of Eldred, Illinois. This study has compared interments of both populations, which lived in close proximity to each other approximately 730 years apart. This approach focuses specifically on comparing ages at death using accepted age categories for comparison.
This study combines information from inscription information on early Pioneer headstones in Greene County with demographic information obtained from skeletal remains in a Mississippian cemetery in the same region. early Pioneer inscription information was collected by locating, mapping, and photographing headstones in eight 19th century cemeteries. Detailed data on early Pioneer cemeteries demographics are presented here. Mississippian data for comparison are derived from published work on Mississippian graves from the Schild site located in Greene County Illinois which was excavated by Gregory Perino (Perino 1971). The results were used to compare and contrast the mortality distributions of these two different cultures that had occupied the same geographic area and had adopted sedentary agricultural life styles at two different points in history. Inscription information from the headstones and the demographic information obtained for the Mississippians was then put in one format. This method of presenting information will enable both researchers and historians to convert the data into their layout design of choice to further their own research. Howell believes that there is no one standard for carrying out studies of populations whether contemporary or skeletal (1986). However, there is a need to develop standard methods and to preserve the stages of analysis as well as the conclusions so that these will be available for future studies.
This study has formulated specific methods that were used in this study and will be used in subsequent studies along the Illinois River. It has established ties with the local Historical Society and has been incorporated as part of the curriculum at Lincoln College.
Literature Review
Physical analysis of several prehistoric Mississippian sites including Cahokia, Beckstead, Emmonds, Moundville, Berry, Dickson, Crable, Kane, Fisher, Dradley, and Schild, as well as Pioneer sites such as Grafton and Cross begin to give us a clear picture of the diet, disease patterns, and socioeconomic conditions that prevailed during the time periods between A.D.800, and 1650 for the prehistoric Mississippian and between A. D.1800 and 1899 for the Historic period chosen to represent early Pioneers (Buikstra et al 2000 and Larsen et al 1995). The following literature review, beginning with the broad view of Illinois, focuses on the comparative sites of interest to the Illinois River Demographic Study in Greene, County Illinois and ends with a discussion of current demographic studies and thought.
Illinois
Illinois was admitted to the Union as the 21st state on December 3, 1818. Illinois was first settled by the French in 1673, but historians begin the history of Illinois at statehood (Franke 1995). French traders were not considered pioneers because they made no improvements and did not cultivate land (Franke 1995:54). Most pioneers moved into the area about 1815 and were of British descent (Franke 1995). Many other Pioneers were of Swiss, German, and Dutch descent.
The resident native population was no more than eighty in 1800. When the French explorers entered Illinois they found the Illinois Indians decimated by war with the Sioux and Iroquois (Davis 1998: 29). The Iroquois Confederacy in the 1570s had become a deadly fighting machine (Davis 1998: 28). Lethal diseases, warfare, and social and economic dislocation had taken their toll on the native population (Davis 1998: 42). In the early 800’s the native population had thrived, the Late Woodland culture numbered in the thousands and merged with the Mississippian culture in AD 1000. In fact the Schild Site contains Late Woodland interments as well as Mississippian interments. Pauketat believes that descendents of the Mississippians became the group of individuals that we call today the First Nations and these were the people the French married and traded with and that later the early Pioneer women wrote about in the their journals as people who lived in the same area they did. (Pauketat 2004:154).
This study found two interments which confirmed in the monument epitaph the statement that pioneers were of English decent and one which indicated the individual was from Switzerland. John Croft was from England (Fig. 1), Charles King was from England (Fig. 2) and Conrad Gyr was from Switzerland (Fig. 3).
Figure 1. John Croft was from Lincolnshire, England.
Figure 2. Charles King was born in Sheffield Yorkshire, England.
Figure 3. Conrad Gyr was born in Switzerland.
A few interments stated the individual was born in a different state. This was addressed in some of the literature that stated that many times soldiers decided to return to Illinois with their families to homestead. The remainder of the interments did not state a place of birth.
The lives of the historic tribes of the Midwest revolved around planting, harvesting, hunting, and social activities organized according to a well documented pattern (Franke 1995:3). There isn’t a written record left telling us how the individuals felt about life in Illinois. The documented views of Illinois by the Pioneers vary greatly. One view states Illinois enjoyed all advantages--not only beauty, but also plenitude of all things needed to support human life (Franke 1995:56, citing Joutel Journal, 1684). In the early 1800’s some people saw Illinois as a golden opportunity to put past failures behind them, starting life anew. Others longed for conditions they had enjoyed elsewhere (Davis 1998). Another view of Illinois is found in Faragher’s book (1986) in a quote by an old settler named John Reynolds who acknowledged that “the idea that prevailed was that Illinois was a graveyard” (Faragher 1986:89). The variety of Pioneer views of Illinois is the result of their immigration. They had other places to compare their living conditions with. The homesteads were not always ideal. Epidemics were common and sanitation was lacking. The Mississippians had a long history in the area as their long standing mounds have shown us. Their ancestors were here, their roots were here. If we had been able to ask them how they felt about Illinois they might have looked off into the distance lost in thought and perhaps wondered why we were here.
The Illinois River
Figure 4. The Illinois River at dusk. The photo was taken by the author at the Kampsville Ferry Landing. The view is from the bluffs side looking toward Kampsville. 2005
The Illinois River Demographic Study in Greene County focused on a segment of the Illinois River (see Figure 4), the nearby bluffs, and adjacent relatively flat land located in Southern Illinois in what is called the Lower Illinois River Region (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. The Lower Illinois River Region. The map is a publication of the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology - Illinois State Museum.
The Illinois River is a fairly straight, 273 mile long river that is about 1000 feet wide from bank to bank (see Figure 6). The river begins south of Chicago at the confluence of the Des Plaines River and the Kankakee River. As it moves south it passes the towns of Marseilles, Ottawa, Starved Rock, Hennepin, Rome, Peoria, Pekin, Havana, Bath, Browning, Beardstown, Meredosia, Florence, Kampsville and Hardin. The river then descends to Grafton, Illinois, which is located on the Mississippi River 40 miles north of St. Louis. The entire Illinois River drops only about 90 feet or about four inches per mile on its way to the Mississippi River from its confluence of the Des Plaines River and the Kankakee River (McPhee 2004: 82, 90).
Figure 6. Map depicting the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee Rivers to form the Illinois River, and the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers at Grafton.
The Illinois River environment provided resources from two broad ecosystems for the Mississippian Indians A.D 800-1650, who are believed to have migrated to the study area from the southeastern United States. They established villages near the waterway and used the river as a trade route and a food source. The nearby bluffs were boundary markers as well as a place to build burial mounds. The surrounding floodplains and flat adjacent lands were used for planting their mainstay crop of corn and as an additional source of wild foods (Davis 1998:25).
The early Pioneer settlements began in southern Illinois and moved north (see Figure 7). Once again the river provided food, water and a nutrient-rich flood plain for planting their mainstay crop of corn. The earliest dates on cemetery stones indicate this occurred in the early 1800’s. To date, none of the stones in this study have a date of death earlier than the 1800’s. Speculation from this study is that no early Pioneers were homesteading in this area in the 1700’s or the settlements were just becoming established and newspapers, courthouses, and other recorders of births and deaths had not been organized. Cunningham, the local historian for Greene County, notes that General Fry erected the first house in Carrollton in 1821. In addition it is possible that the monument makers were not an established business earlier than the 1800’s. Figure 7 gives an idea of the settlement pattern for Illinois and we can see that in 1820 there were still few settlements in the study area. This study has also found that wooden markers might not have survived due to animal activity. The author made a wooden cemetery marker for Varble and came back to the cemetery later to find that squirrels and deer had been chewing on the wood.
Figure 7. The map on the left depicts the population of Illinois settlement pattern in 1820. The map on the right depicts the population of Illinois settlement pattern in 1840.
Area of Study
Greene County was organized in 1821 and named for General Nathanial Greene, a Revolutionary War hero. The first school was started in 1824 by Hartwell Hunicutt and eventually four towns were established: Carrollton in 1821, White Hall in 1832, Greenfield in 1843, and Roodhouse in 1866. Figure 8 shows the relationship of these first four towns to each other. Many villages also appeared with local trading centers, post offices, and churches. They were Athensville, Hillview, Kane, Rockbridge, Patterson, Eldred, Walkerville, and Haypress. The lives of the people centered around agriculture in this area then as well as today.
Figure 8. The map above shows Carrollton (est.1821), White Hall (est.1832), Greenfield (est.1843), and Roodhouse (est.1866).
The area the Schild site individuals occupied is on a bluff near the Illinois River in Greene County. Modern farming has changed the surrounding landscape somewhat but the area that is not accessible to farming probably looks much as it did when the Mississippian Mound Builders lived there. This is reasonable to presume because many of the Mississippians Mounds are still visible on the landscape and many are protected by the farmers that own the land they are on. It is hilly with large deposits of stone outcroppings smothered in small trees, berry bushes, and varieties of short vegetation. The Varble cemetery had been completely taken over by sassafras, wild flowers and some berry bushes. On the road side of the cemetery was a large patch of tiger lilies. Speculation is that this cemetery was a mix of native vegetation and wildflowers and cultivated flowers such as the lilies possibly planted by the early Pioneers. The Varble cemetery is notable for the variety of plant material, especially wildflowers. It is possible this cemetery could qualify as a “Prairie Cemetery” (McAndrew 2004).
The villages and burial mounds were located high on a river bluff which are still rich with nut trees, berry vines, and wildlife such as squirrel, deer, raccoon and possum.
The Illinois River is close at hand and provided food and easily cultivated alluvial soils (Fagan 2000:446) as well as a method of transportation much as it still does today.
The Mississippians
The Mississippians had a tradition of maize growing mound–building societies (Goodman and Armelagos 1985) and they had a ranked form of social and religious organization (Fagan 2004:443,444). Droessler (1981), citing Peebles (1971), emphasized the role of ecological factors in Mississippian development, stressing the importance in the organization of Mississippian society of a redistribution and political network for the purpose of exploitation and control of various resource zones. The Mississippians arrived in Illinois about A.D. 500 from the southeastern United States bringing with them the mainstay crop of corn. They used the rivers for trade and the floodplains for agriculture ( Davis 1998:25). They entered central Illinois during what is known as the Eveland phase and replaced or acculturated indigenous Late Woodland populations (Steadman 1998:307).
The sociopolitical landscape before A.D. 1600 was probably not nearly urban enough to give rise to increased reliance on a hieroglyphic notational system for record-keeping purposes even though the nearby city of Cahokia (1050-1200) was thought to influence surrounding villages. (Pauketat 2004: 169). It has been discovered that the further away the villages were from Cahokia, the less similar they were to Cahokia in regards to pottery made, and projectile points, for example. This indicates that the villages were making their own decisions and were not united under one governing body. However, most archaeologists agree that the processes of civilization were underway in the Mississippian valley (Pauketat 2004:4). The Mississippians were at the level of “proto-writing’, a form of communication through symbols and pictures that precedes writing. Had the Mississippians continued on their own for a few more centuries, we might have seen a Mesoamerican-style of writing system and a social system equal to the early Pioneers (Pauketat 2004:169). As it happened the climate cooled around 1300 and the Mississippians dispersed slowly from the area looking for a warmer climate. The literature cites several reasons for this movement from Illinois, from the climate shortening the growing season to political and religious unrest and possibly a breakdown in ways to communicate with outlying villages. Some simply believe that the Mississippians slowly left Illinois for a warmer climate and assimilated with other cultures.
Gregory Perino (1971) believed that the Mississippians in the lower Illinois Valley were primarily farmers and occupied farmsteads. They most often settled in the bluff area along the Illinois River and lived in pole and thatch houses (Fagan 2004: 453). Goldstein examined 70 sites and found that Mississippian settlements were evenly spaced up and down creek and river bottoms with relatively even distances between them (Goldstein 1980:22). This logical spacing indicated that the farms and villages were perhaps supporting a larger unit of people. That large unit is believed to be Cahokia, a huge city believed to be home of possibly 16,000 people in the American Bottom on the Mississippi River, only 50 miles from the Schild Mississippian site in this study. Fagan (2004) concurs that during two or three decades around AD 1050, a three tiered settlement hierarchy appeared: a great capital at Cahokia, several smaller political and administrative centers, and rural homesteads in the northern part of the floodplain.
Maize, beans and squash, aquatic game such as fish, and migratory water fowl were a large part of the Mississippian diet. Terrestrial game included deer, raccoon, and turkey. Vegetable resources consisted of nuts, fruits, berries, and seed-bearing plants (Fagan 2004:446). Farming is indicated by the agricultural tools such as hoes discovered along with seeds and animal bone remains at village sites.
The diet of the Mississippians appears to have been poorer compared to the Late Woodland hunter–gatherer society which preceded the Mississippian. This was due to the dependence on one crop, maize, which is deficient in the amino acid lysine. Lysine is found in chicken, cheese and wheat germ improving calcium up-take (Enger et al, 2005). The one-crop dependency affects health in two other ways. The population is more subject to famine from drought years that reduce crop yield, and a sedentary farming life style provides conditions for the spread of crop diseases and pests (Fagan 2004:447). To check this, Goodman and Armelagos analyzed seven unbiased skeletal categories between two groups of people. One was a pre-agricultural group, the Early Woodland culture, and the other was the post-agricultural group, the Mississippians (see Table 1). Their findings support the hypothesis that the Mississippians experienced a poorer diet than did the Early Woodland culture. The literature is varied on the issue of the adoption of maize and its results on the health of the Mississippians. While the Mississippians did adopt agriculture and maize was the primary crop the only conclusion we can safely embrace is that any health issues were the result of the addition of maize into the diet and not the assumption it was the only food consumed.
Table 1. The table below sums up the comparisons of the Woodland people to the Mississippians by Goodman and Armelago.
1. Tibia-periosteal reaction resulting from a bacterial infection. The Early Woodland showed 26% and the Mississippians 84%.
2. Skull-porotic hyperostosis (anemia). The Early Woodland showed 25% and the Mississippians 50% around the eye socket in children and young females.
3. Traumatic lesions (healed fractures of long bones of legs and arms). The Mississippians had parry fractures in one out of every three males in the ulna/radius.
4. Degenerative pathologies (arthritic conditions). The Early Woodland people had 40% and the Mississippians had 70%. This category is associated with the physical labor involved with farming.
5. Skeletal growth and development. In ages five to ten the Mississippians had narrower tibias and femurs.
6. Dental enamel-hypoplasia (deficiency in enamel thickness from stress during enamel formation). 55% of Early Woodland and 80% of Mississippians had hypoplasia. (Goodman and Armelagos 1985: 15,16,17,18).
Bone analysis indicated there was also less zinc in the Mississippians, which is an element limited in maize. The Goodman and Armelagos comparison did not specify sample size but the outcome is significant in its account of the effect of the lysine deficiency in maize consumption and the resulting effects on the calcium-dependent tissue.
Skeletal analysis revealed Harris lines on limb bones, indicating stress periods in Mississippians (Fagan 2004:448). Harris lines are thought to be the results of arrested growth caused by nutritional disturbances or some acute illness that lasts at least 10 days (Morse 1969:15).
At the Schild site, individuals of all ages were buried in articulated and extended position in mounds (Perino 1971).The majority of Mississippians were buried and then dirt was brought in and placed on the mound leaving burials on top of burials in a stacked pattern. Many individuals were buried with artifacts such as shell spoons, shell beads, vessels, pipes, and projectile points.
The Schild site villages were facing each other across Dayton Hollow on high bluffs. Today Dayton cemetery, a cemetery in this study, is located where one of the Mississippian Schild villages had been. The Illinois River flood plain reached the edge of the bluffs and it is likely that before levees had been established that Dayton Hollow was a small lake. Buried in another part of the Schild Cemetery were Late Woodland interments. The burial positions of the individuals clearly indicate a transition occurred between the Late Woodland and Mississippian cultures in life.
Much of the riverine life style along the Illinois River continued into Historical times, with early Pioneers, A.D.1800-1899, also settling along waterways and tapping resources of the river, the prairie, and the timberland. (Davis 1998:25.)
Pioneers
Figure 9. A sunset- picture taken by the author looking across the river toward Kampsville. 2005.
Most of the Pioneers who located in Illinois were European. Unlike the Mississippians, who had settled along rivers and streams making their homes and burial mounds among the bluffs, the Pioneers sought the wooded areas. Figure 9 is a modern picture along the Illinois River, the villages of the Mississippians and the early Pioneers were not of course this close to the river. The event depicted in this photo was Pioneer Days in Greene County. While the Mississippian houses were thatch and pole, the view still seemed an interesting blend of Native American and Pioneer.
The early Pioneers valued timber as a resource. They made their homes of trees, made split rail fences and burned trees for fuel. While the two groups lived in the same area they chose different geographical areas to occupy.
Information on the Pioneer diet is available from Grauer (1995) analysis of the Cross cemetery, an early 19th century Pioneer cemetery located near Springfield, Illinois. When the Cross family farm was sold in 1847, the appraisal of the land indicated the presence of 20 acres of corn and some oats. An analysis of the skeletons found on the Cross farm indicated that a main source of protein was fish, possibly from nearby Sugar Creek. Carbon isotope values for the Cross adults were compared with the Schild site Mississippians and they were found to be similar (Grauer, ed.,. 1995:151). This indicates that while both groups had adopted maize as their main crop they also harvested environmental resources such as wild berries, squash, deer, fish and water fowl, resulting in a similar diet.
The health of the Cross individuals was deemed to be poor but adequate. Cross family members suffered skeletal stress similar to those of the
Mississippians, including iron deficiency anemia, hypoplasia, and degenerative joint pathology (Grauer, ed., 1995). The cause of death is unknown concerning the Cross family remains but there were a variety of infectious diseases present in rural Illinois such as tuberculosis, typhoid fever, cholera, and malaria (Grauer, ed.. 1995:155). The current thinking is that the Cross family individuals possibly died from disease. The records of Alvin Cross’s Probate Records show that in March 1849, Alvin Cross became severely ill and, sensing death was near, ordered a coffin to be made ready for his burial. There is a slight contradiction in the literature regarding the death of Alvin Cross and the sale of the Cross Farm. The Cross family home was sold in 1847 and Alvin Cross died and was buried there in 1849. It is to be noted that disease was not the only hazard the Pioneers faced. Many descendants relayed stories of trampling by farm animals, prairie fires, and drowning (Gauer, ed.,1995: 143).
In general, disease was recorded in Pioneer Illinois as epidemic years such as the cholera years 1817–1823, 1826-1837, and 1849-1850. In 1833, cholera was reported in Carrollton, Illinois, which is in the area of study in Greene County (Buikstra et al. 2000:23). Other common diseases were typhoid, pneumonia, scarlet fever, and malaria (which was called the “pioneer shakes”) (Faragher 1986).
The Cross family and others presumed to be relatives were found in a family farm cemetery. The graves had been excavated when the cemetery was accidentally uncovered during land development. The Cross family was then moved to the Dickson Mounds museum for safe keeping and are currently awaiting reburial if family members claim them. The grave goods consisted of a few nails, nail fragments, wood fragments, and several coffin screws. Three individuals under the age of six were not interred in coffins, and only one infant showed evidence of having been buried in a burial garment with seed beads. Lack of grave goods may indicate limited resources or a custom of simple burial practices. It is interesting to note that beads are also a source of grave goods for Mississippian interments. Evidence of clothing was scarce, and only two adults had buttons counted among their grave goods. The 28 grave shafts revealed the interment of 11 adult and 18 juveniles. The 12 juveniles were represented by complete or partial skeletons. The remaining six contained no human remains due to lack of bone preservation. All 11 adult grave pits contained human remains (Grauer, ed.,1995:141-142).
Demographics
A number of comparative studies of Mississippians and Early Pioneers have been done in the past. Buikstra et al. (2000) compared demographics of the following Pioneer cemeteries: Grafton, Cross, Highland Park, Cedar Grove, UxBridge, Dunning and Harvie. All are Pioneer cemeteries.
Larsen compared the Cross family Pioneer cemetery ratio of carbon stable isotopes with those of the Mississippian population at the Schild site. C4 photosynthetic pathways found in maize can be measured in bone samples. As noted above the comparison of the values of the Cross family and the Schild families were similar indicating Early Pioneers and Mississippians consumed about the same ratio of corn (Grauer, ed.,1995:150-151). There are several carbon pathways but the C4 pathway is specific to the question of maize in the diet. The analysis of ratios of C13 to C12 in bone samples with a mass spectrometer and compared to a standard indicates the Cross family was
12.4 0/00 and the Schild Mississippians were 12.3 0/00. The average carbon ratio for C4 plants only is 12.5 0/00. The C4 plants are tropical grass, maize, millet and sugar cane.
Droessler’s investigation was concerned with interaction among Late Woodland and Mississippian populations in west-central Illinois, as reflected by inter-group biological relationships. Droessler’s study included the Schild site, which are the Mississippians individuals compared with the Early Pioneers in this study (Droessler 1981).
As noted, Goodman and Armelagos (1985) compared the skeletal remains of two groups of people: those who lived before the development of maize, the Late Woodland; and those who developed maize agriculture, the Mississippians. These results of the maize consumption of the Mississippians gave this study its base timeline of Native Americans to compare with the Early Pioneers.
Goldstein (1980) compared the spatial organization of the Moss and Schild site interments, both Mississippian sites. This study detailed the position of the Schild villages and cemeteries, lending valuable background information on the life of the Mississippians at the Schild site.
Perino compared Cahokia and other sites northward along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers with the Schild site to better understand how the Mississippian culture developed (Perino 1971:140). This comparison gave this study its overall view of the Mississippians as an entire culture and a better understanding of why the Schild site was occupied. The Mississippian culture compared nicely to the development of settlements of the Early Pioneers 735 years later in which the settlements Carrolton, White Hall, Greenfield and Roodhouse (refer back to Figure 8) developed along the Illinois River.
Objective
The objective of this Illinois River Demographic Study in Greene County, Illinois, is to compare the documented Mississippian mortality distribution with the mortality distribution of the early Pioneers to see if they are similar or different. Pioneer interments located along the Illinois River in Greene County Illinois were recorded for this study, entered into a database, and compared with the Mississippian interments.
The hypothesis for this study is that the Mississippians and the early Pioneers in the Lower Illinois River Region in Greene County, Illinois, had similar mortality distributions because they both had to survive in the same environment and both had developed corn as the primary food crop. This research paper discusses the differences and similarities in the mortality distribution of the people and gives a brief overview of the differences and similarities in the use of the environment they lived in. This research is placed in the domain of osteoarchaeology/ demographic anthropology.
Specific Goals of the Study
This study had seven specific goals:
1. Locate the Pioneer cemeteries in Greene County, Illinois and review the literature on cemeteries located in the Greene County Historical Society Records and select those to be studied.
2. Examine the literature related to the Mississippian Schild site located in Greene County.
3. Develop a common data form that can be used to record all burial information for each Mississippian and Pioneer interment selected.
4. Provide pictorial documentation of inscriptions and antiquities that personalize the early Pioneer individual interred.
5. Provide pictorial documentation of inscriptions and antiquities that personalize the Mississippian individual interred.
6. Compare and contrast how the similar environment which includes the topography, climate, fauna, and flora these people lived in might have offered them a similar mortality distribution based on the information from the first two objectives which required study of the Pioneers and Mississippians.
7. Present a statistical comparison of the Schild site mortality distribution with the Pioneer cemetery mortality distribution.
Special Note: No skeletal representations will be included.
Significance of the Study - Justification
The Schild Mississippian and early Pioneer compared in this study are 730 years apart. New approaches to research are needed that increase the capacity to interpret the remains of past cultures (Droessler 1981). It is necessary to develop and test hypotheses that explain observed relationships within and between human biology and other disciplines (Droessler 1981). This study has crossed into several other spheres of interest, for example genealogy, history, math, botany, geology, scholastics Native American interest groups, and engineering just to mention a few and all can interpret and use the data provided by this study.
There are four main reasons for doing this study. The first is to ascertain in a comparative demographic study if there is any similarity between mortality distributions of two different cultural groups who occupied the same geographic area 730 years apart. The cultures were different, the people were different, the lifeways were different but the environment was the same so survival was the great equalizer.
The second is to create a study that uses the same criteria to evaluate the Mississippians and the Pioneers, thereby bridging the gap of what is now termed pre-historic and historic. The current thinking is a then and now division but in actual fact passing from pre-historic to historic was a step by step change. There was a passing of blended lifeways from generation to generation that has involved all people.
The third reason is to preserve this historic information for future generations. Pauketat expands on this idea when he discusses theoretical developments in archaeology. Most specifically we must have an acceptance of alternative, more humanistic theories to explain human history (2004: 22).This study has been designed to present scientific data and also acknowledge the small things that make us human, the beads on a small garment, loving epitaphs on tombstones, a small bowl buried with a child or a pipe buried with an old man. The reader can then relate past individual lives with their own life experiences.
The fourth reason is to incorporate the Illinois River Demographic Study into the curriculum of Lincoln College, Lincoln, Illinois, to teach the scientific method and to inspire students to preserve and record history and to understand the meaning of their results. This is a great opportunity to have college students not only do their own research and recording but to have the information they preserve used as a resource for future generations.
Personal Significance
My purpose for choosing this study is an interest in skeletal material research and teaching and the opportunity to combine these interests into one study.
This thesis is an accumulation of my education, my interests, and my desire to do something worthwhile in my life and teach it to others. I graduated from Millikin University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology Education. My teaching assignments have centered on Biology, Anatomy/Physiology and Botany but have also included Environmental Biology, Algebra, Pre-Algebra, Zoology, General Science and Physical Science. I had begun accumulating graduate hours toward a Masters Degree in Biology from Western Illinois and to my credit had a paper, “Is Guaiacum sanctum Effective Against Arthritis? An Ethnobotany Case” by Eric Ribbens, Barbra Burdett, and Angela Green, published.
Fate intervened when I was offered a position at Lincoln College and moved to Lincoln Illinois. I started a new career path in Physical Anthropology-Biological & Physiological with the INO Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
There were three reasons for choosing the INO program. The main reason was that it is perfectly suited for working adults. The second was that I could incorporate Biology and Anatomy/Physiology courses into my degree path to satisfy the two main classes I teach. The third reason is that after teaching Anatomy for many years I had developed a “forensic style” of teaching my students to recognize and name skeletal systems. I wanted to take this “interest” a step further and complete a degree from Chicago University for Forensic Anthropology. To do this I needed the Anthropology courses.
A few weeks into my first class, using the text “Ancient North America-The Archaeology of a Continent” by Brian M. Fagan, with Dr. Martin at the Illinois State Museum was astonishing and fabulous. It was a door that opened to a new and fascinating area of study.
I found ALL my classes at U. of I. new and exciting and this rewarding experience has cumulated into new and interesting labs and lectures for my Biology students and a new course of Physical Anthropology which has included my students into the Illinois River Demographic Study comparing the Mississippians and the early Pioneers. I haven’t just attained my dream I have begun a new worthwhile journey.
Materials and Methods
In order to compile a comparative database on Mississippian and early Pioneer populations in Greene County, data on age at death was recorded for 291 individuals in each time period. Information was also collected on grave goods, with the goal of procuring a useful record of the interments.
The time period considered in this thesis is A.D. 1065 for the Mississippian interments who were buried in the Schild site cemetery listed in cemetery appendix HH. The date A. D. 1065 is the average of the radiocarbon dates for sample M-1393 from Knoll B which was A. D. 930+/-110 years ago and a sample M-1394-A from Knoll A of 1200+/- 110 years ago. The deciding factor that resulted in taking the average of these two dates was the Ramey Incised and Powell Plain pottery which was still being made at the Schild site (Perino 1971: 135 and 136, O’Brien, letter to author, appendix C). The interments to be considered for the Pioneers includes only those whose grave stone indicates they died in the 1800's and were buried in the cemeteries also listed in Cemetery Appendix HH. There is a gap of approximately 735 years between Mississippian occupation and an established Pioneer occupation of the area. Davis (1998) feels the Mississippian decline began in Illinois about A.D.1050 and accelerated in A.D.1150. The Mississippians were gone by about A.D.1400. Carrollton was the first town settled in Greene County, Illinois, in the year 1821. Other Indian groups occupied Illinois during A.D. 1400 to A.D. 1821, but the Mississippians were the first established group of agricultural people and that is why they were chosen for this study.
In order to apply a comparable method to the gravestones, the categories for the age of each individual were adopted as determined by Della Cook and Lynne Goldstein in a study of the mortality rates of the Schild site individuals (Goldstein 1980:54; Droessler 1981:46). Table 2 lists the age classifications used for the Schild site with one difference. The category of still born/live born has replaced the original data in Goldstein’s book of fetal/neonate/birth. The sex determinant categories were not used in this study because the author was interested in the mortality of the population as a whole. In addition, the sex ratio for the Schild site individuals has been recorded by Della Cook and the results were found to be unremarkable. The ratio of male and female interments is equal in all categories (Cook, personal interview). The data for the early Pioneers has been preserved and sex determination categories can later be added to this study or used by other researchers (refer to appendixes G, M, P, S, V, Y,BB, and GG for original data sheets of each individual). These categories were adopted for the clarification of Pioneer interments in order to compare the two groups statistically. Historical tombstones commonly include the persons name and the age at birth and death, and the graves seldom include grave goods used in life. The Native American interments do not give the name, the age of birth and death and the graves do contain grave goods used in life. This study has taken these differences into account and has designed charts to accommodate information from both life ways and put them in a unified format.
|
AGE |
AGE CLASSIFICATION
|
|
0-Birth |
Still Born/Live Born |
|
Up to one year |
Infant |
|
1-12 years |
Child |
|
12-20 years |
Adolescent |
|
20-35 years |
Young Adult |
|
35-50 years |
Middle Adult |
|
50+ years |
Old adult |
|
Unknown |
Indeterminate |
Table 2.The age categories as determined by Della Cook, Indiana University (Goldstein 1980).
Research Population Selections
The Schild site (Mississippian) is on the property of Mr. Bob Schild of Eldred, Illinois; Eldred is one of the small villages mentioned before. In addition to the Mississippian Schild site being located on his property there are two Pioneer cemeteries located on his property. They are Dayton and Clark. Mr. Schild is on the Cemetery Board for Dayton Cemetery.
The Schild site is noteworthy not only because of a new type of vessel found there, named the Schild Plain vessel, but because there are two burial patterns there, Late Woodland and Mississippian. (This study only considered the Mississippian interments located on Mound A and Mound B.)
The other Pioneer cemeteries chosen for this study of the hundred or more cemeteries available in Greene County were chosen for a variety of reasons. Dayton cemetery is located on the Schild village site; Clark is a small family cemetery nearby with only three interments, they all died in the 1800’s. Varble, mentioned before, was chosen because it was an abandoned Pioneer cemetery. It was used primarily to develop methods.
Busch cemetery was chosen because it is a Pioneer cemetery that is being cared for. Mulberry cemetery was chosen because it was a well organized cemetery and was perfect for student study. Admire cemetery was recorded as an example of what appears to be a destroyed Pioneer cemetery. Bushnell cemetery was recorded last semester by my students as their field study and their information has been typed and added to the demographic data recorded in this paper. Eldred was the last cemetery recorded for this study and was completed by myself and a student. Figure 10 indicates the location of the cemeteries in Greene County, Illinois.
Figure 10. The area labeled Greene County on the map above shows the area along the Illinois River where all nine cemeteries were studied.
There were many factors to consider in the selection of Pioneer Cemeteries. Size was a significant factor because when the grid is in place the cemetery must be read while someone is in the field. The grid ropes present a hazard to people who wish to visit the cemetery. Another factor to consider was its accessibility to the road. The equipment is heavy and awkward and there is a lot of it to carry to the field. Another factor is whether the cemetery contains interments earlier than 1900. Many were found that do not. Permission to enter the cemeteries was another factor. Some are fenced and have locked gates and it is difficult to find the contact person to ask permission to study the headstones.
The cemeteries for this study were selected after permission was gained for the first cemetery called, Varble. While reading Varble cemetery, individuals would stop out of curiosity and then tell me of other cemeteries. Mr. Wolfley, President of the Historical Society, was of course the main source for available cemeteries in the area. Often he would talk to the land owners first and then arrangements would be made to talk to them and confirm permission was given to be on their land. For this study, 8 cemeteries were chosen as listed in Table 3. Of the 8 selected, 1, 089 interments were documented and 295 interments were early Pioneer. The decision was made early in this study to document all the interments and other artifacts such as posts and fences within the study area. The reason for this decision was to give an accurate record of each cemetery as it stood in the year studied. Many artifacts such as fences and plot posts are being removed to make mowing easier. This is understandable because many old cemeteries are cared for on a volunteer basis and the author has met many individuals who are giving up week-ends or holidays to care for and preserve these Pioneer cemeteries.
A very big plus that came out of this decision to document all the interments and artifacts in the area is that all the interments for the 1900’s have also been recorded, and can eventually be added to this study or used by another researcher. Because there were only 291 Mississippians, the last four early Pioneer Interments were not counted in this study, bringing the total of early Pioneers to 291.
|
Pioneer Cemetery |
Number of Interments Recorded |
Number of Early Pioneers |
|
|
|
|
|
Varble |
79 |
20 |
|
Admire |
Unknown |
Unknown |
|
Clark |
3 |
2 |
|
Bush |
29 |
8 |
|
Mulberry |
168 |
52 |
|
Dayton |
374 |
69 |
|
Bushnell |
144 |
48 |
|
Eldred |
292 |
96-Note: the last four recorded were not used in this study. |
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
1089 |
295 |
Table 3. Totals of Pioneer cemeteries, number of interments recorded and number of Early Pioneer interments.
The Schild Mississippian site was suggested by Dr. Michael Wiant during an initial interview early in the stages of the project. It became the corner stone for all the research methods developed to compare the mortality rates between the Mississippians and the Early Pioneers. This cemetery consisted of three sites. One site was Late Woodland, and the other two were Mississippian interments, Knoll A and Knoll B. All of the Mississippian interments represented were considered for this study.
|
Cemetery |
Total Number of Interments |
Number of Mississippians |
|
|
|
|
|
Schild Site |
331 |
291 |
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
331 |
291 |
Table 4.Totals of the Mississippian Cemetery
Age Categories
The Early Pioneers created headstones with age inscriptions engraved on the front. For example:
Died
Apr. 21 1870
Aged 21 Ys. 6 Ms. 2 Ds.
This type of inscription was fine if the age of the person was legible. One of the problems with this type of inscription is that the stone sinks into the ground over time and the age is often covered. Another problem is that the stone with the inscription easily breaks away from the base and when it is repaired the age is often obliterated. Modern day mowing equipment very often makes a ridge across the front of the stone and it breaks at that ridge which is often at the place where the age of the person is located. Having only the age the person died leaves them in the category of Indeterminate because we know they died in the 1800’s, but that is all we know.
Another problem with age on the headstones was the condition of the stone. Many were hard to read especially certain letters or numbers such as a C and G. Many times the little ledge of the “G” was worn away. The number 4 is also confused with the number 1. A lot of confusion was due to the inconsistent depth of the letters and numbers used by the engravers. The down stroke of the 4 is very deep but the v shaped part of the 4 is very light. In the number 8, the s stroke is very heavy but the backward s connection is very light, making it look like a 3 or a 6.
Headstones with no names were common on statues of lambs or on small stones. Very often all that was inscribed was “INFANT”. The question that arises is, why doesn’t the infant have a name? It is possible that these graves are children that did not reach full term and the sex of the individual was not apparent. It is also possible that the infant was stillborn or was not full term and the tradition of burial was a lamb with just the word infant engraved on it for these deaths. Another speculation is that these are graves of children whose parents could not afford an elaborate inscription. The spatial relationship of these “Infant” stones within the cemetery would be an interesting study.
There isn’t any information concerning how many Early Pioneers could not afford headstones at all. An interesting observation of these cemeteries is that before a stone was erected, a tablet with the presumed initials of the person was placed at the burial site. All tablets were recorded as individuals because even though many had the initials of a nearby headstone, it is also impossible to know how many individuals only had a tablet that served as a headstone. This study did not presume to know which headstone was intended to go with which tablet. This worked well. Because the lack of birth and death date on any tablet, they could never become part of the age categories and so would not skew the results.
In this study, each artifact was taken at face value. It was not compared to any stones nearby or any available literature from the Historical Society. The purpose of this was to avoid bias. The method was simple, this is what is seen, this is what is recorded, and this is the photograph. Inferences can be made by anyone who studies the data as to who the person was related to, what the missing data could be, and the identity of faded letters and numbers on the headstones.
Goldstein does not provide a detailed explanation of age determining methods for describing the Schild Site skeletons, only that the age and sex determination for each individual was determined by Della Cook and students at Indiana University (Goldstein 1980:54). Another article by Cheryl Munson also cites Della Cook as the person who performed all the osteological analysis for the burials at Hovey Lake, another late Mississippian site in Posey County, Indiana. Within the same article, Cook’s forensic experience is noted and the Hovey Lake Mississippians age at death are compared and contrasted with the Schild Site Mississippians and Moundville in Alabama (2001).
With this in mind we turn to Ariane Kemkes-Grottenthaler’s article, “Aging through the ages: historical perspectives on age indicator methods” (2002). This article identifies most frequently used age indicators as: dental attrition, sternal rib end, auricular surfaces, pubic symphysis, (ecto)cranial sutures, proximal humerus, proximal femur and bone histology. This author has visited Dr. Cook’s lab and was graciously invited to see the notes kept on the Schild individuals and careful osteological measurements have been made and charted. In addition there is space for the results of new methods and technological advancements to be recorded, such as DNA studies. The study of the Schild Individuals is on going under the direction of Della Cook at Indiana University.
The majority of sub-adolescent individuals in the Schild series were aged by Della Cook. Estimates of age for the Schild site were completed by Judith Droessler (Droessler 1981: 45). The reliability of age estimates decreases significantly as age increases in adulthood (Droessler 1981:46; Della Cook, personal interview). In general, adult mortality patterns indicate that the highest frequency of adult deaths in prehistoric Americans occur in the 20–34 year age category (Droessler 1981 citing D. C. Cook 1974:6). Trauma related to childbirth was likely a frequent cause of death among young females, and possible causes of death among young males include hazardous activity patterns and warfare (Droessler 1981). Interestingly, the ratio of male to female mortality in the young adult category of the Schild Mississippians in Droessler’s study was equal (Droessler 1981: 53).
Further, age standards have been developed largely on the basis of data from modern, Caucasian cadaver series. This aging process is population–specific, and application of these standards to prehistoric American Indians involves an unknown degree of error (Droessler 1981: 46).
Field Methods for Historic Cemeteries
An 8 ft x 8 ft grid was laid out, and locations of all items were marked by a card. Data collection was carried out using prepared forms, and all headstones were photographed.
A general highway map of Greene County, Illinois, an index to topographical maps, and quadrangle maps of Kampsville, Hardin, Boyer Creek, and Carrolton were useful in locating cemeteries. A land atlas/plat book for Greene County made available by the Greene County Farm Bureau was useful in locating the land owners with cemeteries on their property.
Equipment used were 3x5 cards inscribed with numbers in consecutive sequence and labeled with the date and the name of the cemetery. When the grid was laid out, each headstone and/or artifact was noted with a card. The purpose of the card is to provide an accurate record of when and where each picture was taken and when and where the data were collected. It also assigns each individual or artifact a number. The cards were the last item picked up from the field, counted and stored with the other original field notes. The only problem with using the cards is the wind. Many methods of holding the cards in place were tried but the best way to get around this problem is to avoid reading the cemeteries on a windy or rainy day. Putting them down one at a time and having to pick them up again or having them blow away causes great confusion even if you are the only person in the field. The headstones are not often laid out in orderly rows and many that are buried or broken are in between stones and/or set beside them, making it difficult to remember where the last card was placed.
The grid ropes can be set out in many ways. Sometimes a transit was used, and sometimes a simple compass gave the corners to start the grid. The orientation for the grids was dependent upon the access to the cemetery. If the cemetery was along the road the first grid rope was placed parallel to the road. The reason for this decision was that visitors to the cemeteries could orient themselves and the stone they were looking for using the road. If the cemetery was off the road and in the woods or where there were obstacles, the grid was set up in the path of least resistance. Clothesline rope worked best for a grid, and flat garden stakes were easy to put in the ground and did not make large holes. There are many objects to go around and over, and the clothesline cotton ropes did not cause any damage and didn’t tangle. This author used permanent knots at 8 ft intervals on the perimeter ropes with numbered and lettered cattle ear tags attached to them. Other ropes were in 8ft sections and were easy to put in place once the stakes were set out throughout the study area.
Once the grid was set up, flags were set out for stones that were partially buried and the cards were set out by each headstone and artifact. A large grid paper with 8x8 squares was then used to record where each item in the study area was in relation to each other and to obvious land marks such as roads.
Pencils with clip boards and blank data sheets