East St. Louis Precinct Terminal Late Woodland and Mississippian lithics

This volume details the lithic assemblage recovered from recent investigations of the East St. Louis Mound Precinct (11S706) by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). Data recovery investigations from fall 2008 through fall 2012 were prompted by the construction of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, linking East St. Louis with St. Louis, the relocation of I-70, the widening of Exchange Avenue, and upgrades to utilities within the ROW. Because the proposed project would adversely affect the site, and pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, data-recovery investigations were undertaken to mitigate the adverse impact.

The lithic assemblage recovered from the New Mississippi River Bridge (NMRB) archaeological project totals nearly half of a million items, with a weight of close to nine metric tons (n = 490,468; wt = 8,117 kg). The material was recovered from the excavation of over 6,000 features dating from the Terminal Late Woodland through Mississippian phases (ca. AD 900–1225). These investigations provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine a vast lithic assemblage from a large Mississippian mound center and its pre-Mississippian occupation. Analysis of the assemblage has refined some notions about these cultural periods and at the same time provided novel discoveries that challenge long-held beliefs regarding cultural complexity, resource procurement, and crafting during this time.