The Tree Row Site and the Early Woodland in West-Central Illinois

The Tree Row site (11F53) is a significant multicomponent (Late Archaic, Early Woodland, and Mississippian) occupation in the central Illinois River valley. This report focuses on the 59 cultural features located in the southwestern portion of the site dating to the Early Woodland period (ca. 2850 BP to approximately 2050 BP), from which both Black Sand and Morton phase materials were recovered. The material evidence from the Tree Row Early Woodland occupation appears to represent interactions and exchange of ideas between in situ local groups with an incoming extralocal culture. This is best reflected in the recovered ceramic assemblage. However, due to the small sample size of the vessel assemblage represented by the recovered rim sherds, it is best to view the findings as observed tendencies as opposed to statistically significant observations. To provide a fuller view of pottery in west-central Illinois from the Early Woodland period, a greatly understudied time in the region, analyses of ceramics recovered from other Early Woodland sites in the region were included for comparative purposes. These sites were recovered as part of the Illinois River Survey project, led by the Dickson Mounds Museum staff and volunteers, and have not been previously reported.