Fandel Mounds: A Lohmann Horizon Mississippian Mound Center in the Central Illinois River Valley

To date seven Central Illinois River Valley Mississippian mound centers, all documented between 50 and 120 years ago, have played central roles in interpreting Mississippian history in the upper Midwest. In 2017 the Illinois State Archaeological Survey added an eighth Illinois River Valley mound center to this list, using remote sensing at a newly discovered mound center along Upper Lake Peoria. Three platform mounds (one unplowed) have been verified. Fandel Mounds appears to not only preserve evidence of Lohmann horizon Mississippian monumentality in the Central Illinois River Valley, but surface materials from the site’s mounds and village indicate a single component late Mossville phase affiliation. Results of three types of geophysical sensing and a review of surface materials provide context for Fandel as one of a very few Lohmann horizon mounds and villages north of Cahokia in the period immediately after Cahokia’s Big Bang.