Reevaluation of the Mitchell Site in the Northern American Bottom, Illinois

The Mitchell site, once a major Mississippian mound center, has been impacted by previous excavation, the construction of I270, and mod- ern development. The most significant investigation since highway salvage work in the early 1960s by James Porter, was SCI Engineering’s excavation prior to lumber yard expansion. This project identified numerous, superimposed Late Stirling structures indicating a greater time depth than suggested by Porter. SCI Engineering also reconstructed the locations of Porter’s 1960s and 1975 excavations, as well as later CRM-funded projects, and overlaid these on existing maps. This year the Illinois State Archaeological Survey began reconnaissance and geophysical surveys in the broader Mitchell site area in advance of proposed roadway improvements by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Importantly, these new evaluations suggest that the Mitchell site, as defined by Porter, is part of a larger, sprawling complex encompassing other nearby archaeological sites, perhaps best characterized a “Greater Mitchell” site complex