Fisher Mound Group facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fisher Mound Group |
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| Location | in Will County, Illinois, near the point where the Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers combine to form the Illinois River |
The Fisher Mound Group is a special place in Will County, Illinois. It's located near where the Kankakee River and Des Plaines River meet to form the Illinois River. This site is about 60 miles southwest of Chicago.
It's a collection of ancient burial mounds and the remains of an old village. People lived here at different times in history. These groups included the Upper Mississippian people and, to a smaller extent, the Late Woodland people.
The site has 12 burial mounds in total. The two biggest ones are called the Big East Mound and the Big West Mound. Around these mounds, archaeologists have found about 50 places where houses once stood.
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Discovering the Fisher Site
A mechanical engineer named George Langford first found the Fisher site. He spent several years digging there. Eventually, he shared his discoveries with other archaeologists. Langford said he first visited the site in 1898. By 1906-1907, he was doing small digs with help from Howard Calmer.
Why More Digging Started
In 1922, farming activities began to damage the site. Langford realized that important information was being lost. This made him start much larger digs in 1924. His helper for these bigger projects was Albert Tennik.
In 1927, Langford wrote the first report about the site. After Langford's work, more digging happened. The University of Chicago and the WPA helped with these later projects.
Why the Fisher Site is Important
The Fisher site was first dug up over 100 years ago. It was one of the first places where archaeologists studied the Upper Mississippian people in Illinois in great detail.
Understanding Ancient Timelines
The different layers of soil at the site were very helpful. Each layer showed what was left behind by people from different times. This helped archaeologists create a timeline for the ancient cultures in the region.
Because of this, when other Upper Mississippian sites were dug up in the American Midwest, what was learned at Fisher helped explain them. It gave archaeologists a way to compare and understand different cultures.
Connecting Ancient Cultures
By comparing Fisher with other sites, archaeologists have learned more about the "Fisher and Langford Traditions." These are names for specific groups of ancient people. They also learned how these groups relate to other Upper Mississippian cultures, like the Huber and Oneota people. This helps us understand where and when these different groups lived.
