Oak Forest Site facts for kids

The Oak Forest Site (also known as 11Ck-53) is an important archaeological site. It is located in Oak Forest, Cook County, Illinois, close to the city of Chicago. This site helps us learn about people who lived a long time ago. It is from the late Prehistoric and early Historic periods. The people living here were part of the Upper Mississippian Huber group.

Discovering the Past: Digs at Oak Forest

Archaeologists study places where people lived in the past. They dig carefully to find old tools, pottery, and other items.

Early Discoveries in 1958

In 1958, workers were building a new road near the Oak Forest Hospital. They found old remains from people who lived there long ago. This discovery led to a "salvage project." This means archaeologists quickly dug up the area to save important items before construction continued. The Illinois Archaeological Survey helped with this rescue dig.

More Finds in 1978

Later, in 1978, more old materials were found. This happened when the Illinois Department of Transportation was building two new buildings. A team from Northwestern University then did another rescue excavation in 1979. These digs helped us learn a lot about the people who once lived at the Oak Forest Site.

What Pottery Tells Us About Time

Archaeologists often use pottery to figure out how old a site is. Different styles of pottery were popular at different times. By looking at how pottery was made and decorated, experts can tell if a site is older or newer.

Dating the Oak Forest Site

Pottery from the Huber culture has special features. Early Huber pottery often had a rough, "cordmarked" surface. It also had wide, drawn lines for decoration and "notched" (cut) edges on the lips of pots. Older Huber sites also had a lot of another type of pottery called Fisher Ware.

Later Huber pottery was usually smooth or "plain." It had thin, fine lines for decoration. The pot lips were often smooth, or "unnotched." Some also had small dots, called "punctate" decoration.

At the Oak Forest site, only a small amount (2.5%) of the pottery was cordmarked. Wide line decoration was rare. About half of the pot lips were unnotched. There was no Fisher Ware found here. But another type, Danner Ware, was present. This type of pottery has been found at other early historic sites.

All these clues tell us that the Oak Forest site is from a later part of the Huber period. Scientists also used radiocarbon dating on items from the site. This method showed that people lived at Oak Forest between about 1425 and 1625 AD.

Understanding the Huber Culture

The Huber culture is part of a larger group called the Upper Mississippian culture. This culture lived in the southern Lake Michigan area. This includes parts of northern Illinois, Indiana, and southwestern Michigan.

Huber and Fisher Pottery

Huber pottery is often talked about with Fisher pottery. Both Huber and Fisher cultures made pottery using crushed shells to strengthen the clay. This is called "shell-tempered" pottery. However, Huber pottery is mostly plain with fine-line designs. Fisher pottery is mostly cordmarked with wide-line designs.

For a long time, archaeologists debated how Huber and Fisher cultures were related. They also wondered how they fit with other Upper Mississippian groups. Early ideas suggested they were separate groups. But now, we have more information. We know that Fisher culture is older than Huber. Huber culture continued into the time when Europeans first arrived.

Interestingly, both Fisher and Huber pottery have been found at the same sites. Examples include the Hoxie Farm, Griesmer, and Moccasin Bluff sites. This suggests they might have lived side-by-side.

Most archaeologists now believe that Huber and Fisher are related. They are seen as different stages within the Oneota tradition. Huber culture likely developed from Fisher culture over time. However, some later Fisher sites, like Fifield, show that Fisher pottery was still used with other late prehistoric items. This means Fisher culture might have also lasted until the early historic period.

Life at Oak Forest

The Oak Forest site gives us clues about how people lived. We know they grew their own food and hunted animals.

Food and Farming

Archaeologists found direct proof of farming at Oak Forest. They found remains of maize (corn), squash, and the common bean. These were important crops for many early American groups. They also found sunflower seeds and wild rice.

The discovery of knotweed, little barley, and goosefoot shows something special. It means the Huber culture was part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex. This was a system where Native Americans grew several local plants for food.

People at Oak Forest also hunted. Many deer bones were found. They used arrowheads with bows and arrows to hunt. They also ate fish and turtle. This shows they used food resources from nearby marshes and creeks.

A Permanent Village

Based on the remains of several house structures, Oak Forest was likely a permanent or semi-permanent village. This means people lived there for most of the year, probably farming and gathering food.

Contact with Europeans

The Oak Forest site, along with the Palos site, had some European-made trade items. This is very important! It tells us that the Huber culture lasted until Europeans arrived in North America. This means the Huber people were one of the Native American tribes that early explorers and fur traders met.

We don't know for sure which specific tribe made Huber pottery. However, the Potawatomi, Illinois, and Miami tribes were known to be in the lower Lake Michigan area during the early historic period. Any of these tribes could be linked to the Huber culture.