Dickison Mounds
What's The Story
Two of the mounds were in the right-of-way of a Route 29 realignment. Both were excavated in 1940 by the Illinois State Museum and the University of Chicago. The remains of several adults and children were found in a log tomb located at the center of one of the mounds. Among the artifacts found in the tomb were flint blades, shell beads, freshwater pearls, animal jaws, black and grizzly bear teeth, and the beak and talons of a bird.
Objects placed with an individual are probably related to their status in their group and community. They also provide information on the environment and the extent of movement and trade.
While little evidence of domestic activities was found near the mounds, objects associated with everyday life such as stone tools, pottery, and food remains, have been discovered at the location of a Havana-Hopewell settlement to the west of the Dickison Mounds.
To learn more:
Please be advised, this report contains graphic images of human skeletons
Walker, Winslow M. 1952. The Dickison Mound Group, Peoria County. In Hopewellian Communities in Illinois, edited by Thorne Deuel, pp. 13 41. Illinois State Museum, Scientific Papers 5.
Examples of Mounds at the Dickison Site
