Hotel Plaza (Ls36) Site facts for kids

The Hotel Plaza Site (also called Ls-36) is a special historical place. It's located near Starved Rock State Park in Illinois, right by the Illinois River. Across the river is another important spot called the Zimmerman Site.

This site is like a time capsule! It shows evidence of people living there during many different periods. These include very old times (called Prehistoric), times just before written history (called Protohistoric), and early modern times (called Historic). The most important part of the site is from the early Historic period. It's connected to the French Fort St. Louis.

Long ago, between 1673 and 1680, French explorers visited this area. Famous names like Joliet, Marquette, Allouez, and Tonti were here. They were at a place called the Grand Village of Kaskaskia. The Kaskaskia people were part of a larger group called the Illiniwek Confederacy. Other Illiniwek groups, like the Peoria, Tapouaro, and Coiracoentanon, also lived nearby. Later, other tribes such as the Miami and Shawnee were present. Sadly, in the fall of 1680, a group of Iroquois warriors attacked and burned the village. After this, the village was left empty.

After the Grand Village was abandoned, the French decided to build Fort St. Louis in 1682. They wanted to show their Native American allies that they would protect them. Soon after, the Illinois and other tribes gathered near the new fort. They hoped to find safety and protection there.

The Hotel Plaza site is very close to where Fort St. Louis once stood. It's also near where a hotel was built in the early 1900s on Starved Rock.

Digging Up the Past: Archaeological Investigations

In 1948 and 1949, scientists began to dig at the Hotel Plaza site. This work was done by the Illinois State Museum and the University of Chicago. They divided the area into three sections, called grids. Grid A was explored in 1948, and Grids B & C were explored in 1949. These digs helped us learn a lot about the people who lived there long ago.

Why This Site Is Important

The Hotel Plaza site is very important because it shows us how people lived for thousands of years. The main discoveries are from two groups: the Swanson Complex and the LaSalle Component. These groups lived during the late Prehistoric and early Historic periods. The site helps us understand more about the Starved Rock State Park area when Europeans first arrived.

The LaSalle Component is from the same time as the Danner Component found at the Zimmerman site. It gives us more clues about a group called Fort Ancient people being in this area long ago. Some pottery found at the site, called Madisonville Focus pottery, suggests that the Shawnee people might be connected to the Danner/LaSalle groups. However, archaeologists are still debating this idea.

The Swanson Complex shows that Late Woodland culture was also present at Hotel Plaza. Some of the things found from the Swanson culture are very old, possibly from around 800 A.D. or even earlier. Some experts think that early Swanson culture might have developed from the Middle Woodland Weaver Ware. This older culture dates back to about 100 B.C.

Interestingly, at Hotel Plaza, Swanson pottery has been found with European trade goods. This is strong proof that the Swanson culture continued from the Prehistoric period into the early Historic period. However, scientists haven't yet figured out which specific early Historic tribe the Swanson culture represents.