The Power Line Site: a small Patrick Phase settlement in the Fish Lake locality

Investigated in 2007 for proposed highway work, the Power Line site (11MO598) is situated in the Mississippi River floodplain on Fish Lake in Monroe County, Illinois. The identified Late Woodland component represents a small Patrick phase settle- ment with three keyhole-shaped structures and 18 pit features. The location of the site on the east bank of Fish Lake, only 300 m north of the extensive Patrick phase settlement at the Fish Lake site, supports previous assessments that smaller Patrick phase settlements typically cluster around larger, focal settlements. The presence of a rebuilt keyhole structure and another with burned timbers and thatch provides new information on construction and use of this structure type. This paper presents the results of the Power Line site investigations and examines the notion of a Patrick phase Fish Lake “folkality.”