Gentleman Farm Site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gentleman Farm Site |
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| Location | in LaSalle County, Illinois, on the Illinois River |
| Area | 1 acre |
The Gentleman Farm Site is an important archaeological spot in LaSalle County, Illinois. It sits right by the Illinois River. This site shows signs of different groups of people living there over time. The main group was part of the Langford Tradition, a culture from the Upper Mississippian period.
How We Found Out About the Site
The Illinois State Museum learned about the Gentleman Farm Site when it was going to be destroyed. This was happening because of construction for the Bulls Island Cut-Off on the Illinois River. To save important information, archaeologists quickly dug up parts of the site in 1940. This is called a 'salvage excavation.' Later, in 1967, a full report about the findings was written by James A. Brown.
Why This Site is Important
The Gentleman Farm Site is special because it's a Langford Tradition site. This means it shares similarities with other nearby sites like Zimmerman, Fisher, and Plum Island. Even though we don't have exact dates from Gentleman Farm itself, experts believe it was used between about 1200 and 1500 A.D. They figure this out by looking at similar items found at other sites that do have dates.
Archaeologists didn't find any house structures at the site. They also didn't find many everyday household items like grinding stones used for food. Because of this, they don't think it was a place where people lived all the time. Instead, it might have been a special place used for building a mound or burying people.
