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With more than 10,000 years of human
occupation and thousands of recorded archeological sites in
a 4,000 square mile area, the region surrounding the confluence
of the Mississippi River and the Illinois River has often
been referred to as the "Nile of North America".
This predominately rural landscape is home to the Center for
American Archeology, located in Kampsville,
Illinois. Originally formed in 1953, the CAA's mission
is to discover and disseminate the unwritten story of earlier
Americans' lifeways, accomplishments, and changing natural
environment. Through integrated programs of archeological
investigation, educational outreach and cultural stewardship,
the CAA strives to accomplish this mission.
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| From
1968-1979, the CAA and Northwestern University conducted investigations
at the Koster Site in Greene County, Illinois. This location
was home to many communities over 10,000 years of human occupation
recorded at the site, with at least 26 separate living horizons
defined. Major villages were present at Koster ca. 3300, 5000,
and 6600 BC. Archeologists found evidence of the earliest house
structures in North America, one of the earliest domesticated
dog burials in the new world (5000 BC), millions of artifacts,
and evidence of extensive trade networks that stretched from
the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The Koster site set the
standard for multidisciplinary archeological investigation,
and reshaped how archeologists have come to understand the lifeways
of the prehistoric peoples of North America. Thousands of professional
and avocational archeologists worldwide consider their time
spent in a Koster Site field school to be a formative experience.
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| Koster
opened the door for the average person to visit an archeological
site, learn about the past, and participate in the ongoing research. |
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Hundreds of visitors to the CAA continue
to visit the Koster Site yearly, and enjoy tours of
the adjacent Koster South Site. Archeologists
are still learning about the prehistory of the Lower Illinois
River Valley.
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Be a part of this exciting research!
Enroll in a CAA Field School!
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