East St. Louis Precinct Terminal Late Woodland Ceramics

This report is one in a series detailing the results of the New Mississippi River Bridge Project (NMRB) 2008–2012 field investigations at the East St. Louis Precinct (11S706) and the subsequent laboratory analyses of the recovered material remains. The project was initiated in 2008 when testing began for the proposed new four-lane span across the Mississippi River, now referred to as the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. The joint effort included the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, an adverse effect to the East St. Louis Precinct resulting from the NMRB project was mitigated through data-recovery excavations completed by Illinois State Archaeological Survey personnel. These efforts generated new and important information about precolumbian developments in the region, including, but not limited to, the evidence for extensive habitation extending from the Terminal Late Woodland period into the Moorehead phase of the Mississippian period (AD 900–1250). In this volume, we describe and quantify the ceramic materials from Terminal Late Woodland features located in Tracts 4 and 5 of the East St. Louis Precinct. The results of this analysis contribute to a better understanding of the pre-Mississippian history of the site and indicate the Terminal Late Woodland residents of East St. Louis were engaged in a variety of practices with both local and nonlocal contemporaries. The existence of localized potting traditions and on-site pottery production are confirmed. Aspects of the assemblage provide direct and indirect evidence for year-round occupations, the processing of maize using stumpware, religious beliefs and practices, and feasting events. Hints of craft specialization and status differentiation among courtyard groups are also revealed. In concert with a subsequent volume describing the Mississippian assemblages, these reports provide valuable quantitative and qualitative data concerning diversity within and changes to pottery production, use, and discard during precolumbian times at one of the largest Terminal Late Woodland and Mississippian settlements.