Grand Village of the Illinois

Alternative Site

A 2022 article^[7] argues the site of the Grand Village of the Illinois, as referred to by the early European explorers, was on the north side of the Sangamon River about 3 miles east of Chandlerville^[7]: 54 and that the site near Starved Rock was a seasonal farming village.^[7]: 34 (It also argues the lake referred to as Pimiteoui was not Peoria Lake but instead that near Beardstown^[7]: 36 and places Fort Crevecoeur near there as well.^[7]: 41) References are made to the journals and maps of the explorers and to the original plats of Illinois drawn in the early 1800s, before the rivers had been altered. (The Sangamon has since been channeled.)

Included was La Salle's description of the Grand Village. It was nearly 3 miles long and sited between the river and its bluff, about 3/4 mile in depth, and "consists of nothing but huts roofed with mats... without any enclosure or entrenchment."^[7]: 54 Based on two original sources, the village had several hundred huts and thousands of inhabitants.^{[7]: 48–50}

Tonti

In one tale, attributed to the French and Indians, the explorer Henri de Tonti cached a hoard of gold on or near the canyons and bluffs of Starved Rock to secrete it from a French Canadian governor who had dismissed him. Later in 1704 when he was dying of yellow fever, Tonti described the treasure's location to the priest who was giving him last rites. As the story goes, the priest mentioned this revelation to third parties, but did not describe the secret location, and this key piece of information was lost when the priest died in an Illinois River canoe accident.

Pontiac

Another narrative centers on the death, in 1769, of Pontiac at the hands of an unnamed member of the Illini Confederacy. According to this story, the Pottawatomi, who were closely allied to Pontiac's kinfolk, made war on the Illini, forcing many of them to take refuge on the bluff that would become known as "Starved Rock." The Illini supposedly starved as their blufftop refuge was besieged.

Components

Several Prehistoric and Historic components were identified at the site:^[9][10]

• Heally Complex - Prehistoric Upper Mississippian
• Swanson Complex - Prehistoric Late Woodland
• Danner Complex - Historic Fort Ancient
• Huber Component - Prehistoric to early Historic Upper Mississippian; called “Zimmerman Component” in the 1947 excavations

The 1947 excavations also reported a tentative “Historic Heally” Complex that represented an extension of the Heally Complex into the early Historic period.^[9] However the 1970-72 investigations revealed that there was not enough evidence for a separate complex and that most of the Historic Heally was in fact part of the Danner Complex.^[10]

Structures

Two structures was defined in Grid C, both affiliated with the Heally Complex. The first is House C-3, a double-walled, roughly rectangular structure measuring 20x25 feet. It had 2 outer rows of posts and an inner row presumably supporting a bench. It contained 2 fire pits and 3 storage/refuse pits.^[9]

Houses C-8 and C-13 are overlapping, wall-trench rectangular pit houses, each measuring approximately 20x20 feet. These structures also apparently had a bench structure based on the post mold pattern. The excavators felt that these structures were semi-subterranean and perhaps covered with sod, Charcoal in some of the post molds implies that both structures were burned.^[9]

A large number of post molds present in Grid C implied the existence of additional houses, but none could be successfully delineated.^[9]

The houses at Zimmerman resemble houses observed at the nearby Fisher site. They contrast with the houses found at two Huber sites, Oak Forest and Anker, which were elongated oval in shape.^{[9][11][12][13]}

Several rock piles were noted in the Danner Complex that the excavators felt could have been sweat lodge areas.^[9]

Features

In 1947, 43 storage/refuse features and 15 roasting pit features were excavated. Each type was subdivided into variants based on depth and shape. It was felt that the storage/refuse pits started out as storage pits to keep foods fresh longer; as the food in them soured, they then were used as refuse pits while fresh storage pits were dug elsewhere. They contained culturally rich fill with potsherds, stone tool debris, animal bone, plant remains, etc.

Some of the roasting pits related to the Danner Complex appear to correspond to what has ethnographically been described as “macopin roasting pits” by the early French explorers Deliette and LaSalle. The macopins are apparently tubers from a species of water lily, perhaps the American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea).^[9] Tubers of Nelumbo lutea have been recovered from similar roasting pits at the Elam^[14] and Schwerdt^[15][16] sites on the Kalamazoo River in western Michigan; and tubers of the white water lily (Nymphaea tuberosa) have been recovered from roasting pits at the Griesmer site in northwestern Indiana.^[17] This particular cooking technique may have been used prehistorically for several species of similar water lilies, or other similar root plants. No tubers were specifically recovered from the Zimmerman site, however.

Burials

20 burials were excavated in 1947, of which few had any grave goods and only 4 were prehistoric.^[9] An additional 30 burials were excavated in 1970–72, including an infant burial with a spiked tomahawk and a bundle burial with a complete compass. Both of these artifacts were of European manufacture.^[10]

Two different burial patterns were noted; a primary interment with extended burials, and secondary reburials or bundle burials (aka ossuaries). The historic Illiniwek were observed to use both burial methods.^[10]

Animal remains

Remains from several species were recovered from the site. The main species present were deer, elk and bison; also present were beaver, raccoon, dog, black bear, river otter, fish (esp. freshwater drum), turtle and fresh water mussels (especially Amblema costata).^[9][10] These remains were not modified into tools like the bone tools described in the Artifacts section below, and may be considered food remains or, in the case of the dog, the remains of ceremonial activities. Dog sacrifice and dog meat consumption was observed to have ceremonial and religious implications in early Native American tribes.^[18][19]

Plant remains

Plant remains were recovered from both periods of excavation. The 1970-72 excavations utilized flotation sampling techniques to recover more small-scale plant remains such as seeds, which are generally missed during traditional excavation methods.

The plant remains recovered consisted of cultivated plants (maize, beans, squash and watermelon), nutshell (black walnut, shagbark hickory, pecan and hazelnut) and seeds (hackberry, hawthorn, plum, wild cherry, grape, and cattail or rush).^[9][10]

Artifacts

Other artifacts

Non-pottery artifacts recovered from the site included:^[9][10]

• Stone artifacts - including projectile points, scrapers (subdivided into variants based on manufacturing technique), knives, drills and scraper-knives. Of the projectile points, the most numerous category was the small triangular Madison point.
• Ground stone artifacts - including arrow shaft straighteners, manos, hammerstones, celts, sandstone abraders, a milling stone, whetstones, pendants, a gorget, gunflints, stone balls, a stone cup, a paint stone, worked slate pieces, red ochre fragments, and a piece of hematite.
• Bone and antler artifacts - including awls, pins, perforators, mat needles, a bone projectile point, beamers, bison scapula hoes, an elk scapula spade, a styliform deer bone ornament, a deer rib spatulate instrument, a bird bone tube, a bone ring, a smoothed/polished bone disc, a ball made from a deer femur head, bone pendants, a fragmentary turtle carapace bowl, bone or antler game counters, an antler spearpoint, antler projectile points, antler tines, a small rib pottery decorating tool, a shaft wrench, antler flakers, bone tubes, an antler harpoon and antler digging tools. Many of these are described further below.
• Shell artifacts - including spoons, a hoe and a pendant.
• Pipes - an elbow pipe was recovered in 1947, and a polished granite pipe was recovered in the 1970-1972 excavations.
• European trade goods - including beads, glass bottle fragments, kaolin pipe bowl fragments, brass coil and brass fragments, brass wire ornaments, copper or brass janglers or tinkling cones, copper or brass rolled tubular beads, sheet copper or brass fragments, a tomahawk, a compass, a brass serpent effigy, iron knife blades and fragments, iron nails, iron axe heads, an iron awl, and unidentifiable iron fragments.

The non-pottery artifacts found at an archaeological site can provide useful cultural context as well as a glimpse into the domestic tasks performed at a site; ceremonial or religious activities; recreational activities; and clothing or personal adornment.^[23]

Some of the most prominent and diagnostic non-pottery artifacts are presented here in more detail:

More information Material, Description ...

Material	Description	Image	Qty	Function / use	Comments / associations
Chipped stone	Small triangular points (aka Madison points)		81	Hunting/fishing/warfare	Also known as “arrowheads”; are thought to be arrow-tips for bows-and-arrows. The usage of the bow-and-arrow seems to have greatly increased after A.D. 1000, probably as a result of increased conflict.[29][30] At Zimmerman, they were associated with both the Heally and Danner complexes.
Chipped stone	Drills (expanding base)		3 different types (expanding base, parallel-sided and side-notched)	Domestic function / processing wood or hides	The expanding base type (pictured) is common in Upper Mississippian contexts;[23] at Zimmerman, this type is associated with the Heally component
Chipped stone	Scraper (bi-convex)		60	Domestic function / processing wood or hides	This type of scraper is associated with the Heally Component; also reported at the Plum Island[31] and Fisher (Period B)[21] sites
Stone	Elbow pipe fragment		1	Ceremonial-Recreational function / pipe smoking	Common at sites in Illinois and Wisconsin, and at Fisher (Period B);[21] one was associated with a burial at the Anker Site near Chicago;[11] the one at Zimmerman is probably associated with the Heally Component
Bone	Mat needles		4	Domestic function / processing hides	Used by prairie tribes to make reed mats. This specimen is hooked; the other needles recovered did not have hooks
Bone	Beamers		2	Domestic function / hide-working tool, used for scraping hair off hides	Commonly found at Fisher,[21] Huber,[17] Langford[31] and Fort Ancient[25] sites; the Zimmerman specimens are associated with the Heally Component.
Bone	Scapula hoes		18	Domestic function / Agricultural-horticultural or general digging tool	Common at late Fisher[17] and Oneota sites;[32] they may have been used to dig out the pit features present at Zimmerman. Based on the context of recovery, the excavators felt that most of the Zimmerman specimens came from Historic components.
Bone	Styliform deer bone ornament		1	Personal Adornment and/or Ceremonial function	Possibly used as a plume holder
Bone	Bone pendants		2	Personal Adornment / Art Work	One is a fragment of a wheel, and the other is in the shape of a bird. Associated with House C-8/13 and affiliated with the Heally Complex.
Bone	Game counters		7	Entertainment function	These have been found at Fisher (Period B),[21] Huber,[17] Langford and Oneota (especially Grand River focus and Lake Winnebago focus)[32] and may have been used in a gambling game. Gambling was noted to be a popular pastime among the early Native American tribes.[19][18] The specimens from Zimmerman were associated with the Heally Complex.
Shell	Spoons		3	Domestic function / Food preparation, serving	Affiliated with Heally Complex
Bone	Bird bone tubes		5	Personal Adornment and/or Ceremonial function	May have been used as part of a necklace or hair decoration; or may have been used in a ceremony. Medicine men used tubes like this to "suck out" evil spirits in curing ceremonies.
Antler	Antler harpoon		2	Fishing function	This artifact has also been recovered from the Fisher site[21] in northern Illinois and the Fifield site in northwestern Indiana;[17] similar harpoons made of bone instead of antler were found at the Oak Forest site[12] near Chicago and the Juntunen site on Bois Blanc Island in Michigan.[33]
Brass	Serpent effigy		1	Personal Adornment and/or Ceremonial function	Similar serpent figurines have been found at other sites in the American Midwest region: several Oneota Orr focus sites in Iowa;[32] the Fifield Site in northwestern Indiana just east of Chicago;[17] the Summer Island site in Michigan;[34] and the Madisonville site in Ohio.[7] The Orr focus sites, Madisonville and Summer Island all have early European trade goods associated, indicating these figurines were still being made at the time of European contact. The Zimmerman specimen was of European manufacture, while the others just mentioned are of native manufacture.
Iron	Tomahawk		1	Warfare function	European trade item; found in an infant burial
Brass and iron	Compass		1	Traveling/exploring function	European trade item; found in a bundle burial

Close

Summary of occupations

Seasonality, subsistence, and settlement patterns

Based on the plant and animal remains collected at the site, along with large numbers of bison scapula hoes, archaeologists believe the Zimmerman site was an agricultural village that was occupied for most if not all of the year. This is also supported by the presence of two houses in the Heally Complex (Grid C), which were fairly substantial and implied a more or less permanent occupation.^[9][10]

There is a contrast in subsistence strategies between the historic Danner Complex and the prehistoric occupations at the site. The earlier subsistence patterns were more geared on exploiting multiple resources. The Danner Complex aimed for a more focused adaptation by relying on a few high-yield resources such as agriculture and bison hunting. Archaeologists also believe that the bison did not range into Illinois until after A.D. 1600, just before European contact, which is when the Danner Complex developed.^[9][10]

With regards to settlement patterns, the permanent houses of the Heally Complex seem to have given way to less permanent wigwam-type structures in the early Historic period. This may be why no houses related to the Danner Complex have been found. With a greater reliance on bison hunting, it may have been advantageous to have a more mobile settlement pattern in order to move with the herds. They would still have their primary village where they planted their crops but it would not be occupied continually.^[9][10]