The Sacred Precinct of the East St. Louis Mound Center: Summary of the Northside (1999, 2000) and Southside (1991, 1992) Investigations

In 1991 and 1992 the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) contracted Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville to investigate a corridor along the southside of existing 1-55/70 in St. Clair County for a proposed road-widening project. Subsequently in 1999 and 2000, IDOT contracted ITARP and the University of Illinois to investigate another parallel corridor along the northside of 1-55/70, this time in regard to a proposed waterline project. Both investigations revealed extensive and complex buried Mississippian era features associated with the heart of the ESTL Mound Center, previously thought to have been destroyed by more than a hundred years of urban building activities. Features within both corridors include over 50 post pits, over 75 pits and hearths, landscaped plaza fills, mound bases, over 60 structures, a formal fence-line or palisade, and a possible storage hut compound, the latter feature terminated by a major conflagration during the late Stirling phase. This event essentially marked the end of centralized activities in this area of the mound center.