| Gentleman Farm site | |
|---|---|
  Location in United States Show map of the United States | |
| Location | in LaSalle County, Illinois, on theIllinois River |
| Coordinates | 41°19′17″N88°40′25″W / 41.32139°N 88.67361°W /41.32139; -88.67361 |
| Area | 1 acre |
TheGentleman Farm site is anarchaeological site located inLaSalle County, Illinois, on theIllinois River. It is a multi-component site with the main occupation being a Langford tradition component ofUpper Mississippian affiliation.[1]
The site was brought to the attention of theIllinois State Museum as it was scheduled to be destroyed during construction of the Bulls Island Cut-Off on theIllinois River. Salvage excavations took place in 1940, but a comprehensive site report was not generated until James A. Brown created one in 1967.[1]
Excavations at the site yieldedprehistoric andhistoricartifacts, pitfeatures, animal bone (which was not analyzed) andburials. Two areas of the site were identified; a village area and aburial mound.[1]
The main occupation was affiliated with theUpper Mississippian Langford tradition. Earlier occupations were indicated by the presence of a fewprojectile points of earlier type; and aProtohistoric or earlyHistoric occupation was indicated by the recovery of 2 gunflints.[1]
There were no house structures noted at the site. Seven pitfeatures were described, categorized into three types:storage pits (4), 1 “ash-filled” pit, and two pits filled with broken stone (akafire-cracked rock) which were interpreted as roasting pits.[1]
The refuse pits were thought to have first been storage pits that were converted into refuse pits once their contents began to sour. They contained animal bone, charcoal and artifacts.
The roasting pits appear to correspond to what has ethnographically been described as “macoupin roasting pits” by the early French explorers Deliette andLaSalle and described from theZimmerman site.[2][3] The macoupins are apparentlytubers from a species ofwater lily, perhaps the American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea).[3] Tubers of Nelumbo lutea have been recovered from similar roasting pits at the Elam[4] andSchwerdt[5][6] sites on theKalamazoo River in westernMichigan; and tubers of the white water lily (Nymphaea tuberosa) have been recovered from roasting pits at theGriesmer site in northwesternIndiana.[7] This particular cooking technique may have been used prehistorically for several species of similar water lilies, or other similar root plants. No tubers were specifically recovered from the Gentleman Farm site, however. This may be because there was no systematic effort by the excavators to collect plant remains.
48burials were excavated during the salvage project. It was estimated based on the density of burials that there were between 200-300 within the entire mound. 19 burials were observed to containgrave goods. The most common type of grave goods werepottery vessels,shell spoons and items of personaladornment.[1]
Archaeologists often findpottery to be a very useful tool in analyzing a prehistoric culture. It is usually very plentiful at a site and the details of manufacture and decoration are very sensitive indicators of time, space and culture.[8]
Several whole or reconstructable pottery vessels were recovered from the burials, which greatly facilitated the analysis.
A total of 1,498 sherds and complete vessels were collected from the site, of which 96% were identified as Langford ware ofUpper Mississippian affiliation. Also present were vessels identified as Aztalan series and Adams tradition; as well as an unidentified shell-tempered ware.[1]
Langford ware was first reported at the Fisher site, and has also been found at the nearbyZimmerman[3][9] andPlum Island[2] sites. It is characterized by grit-tempered, globular vessels with restricted orifice and well-defined shoulders and excurved rim profiles. Surface finish is usually smoothed and decoration, when present, is applied to the neck and shoulder areas and consists of incised and trailed lines, punctates and finger impressions, combined to form arches and festoons. Lugs and loop handles are present on some vessels and nodes are also sometimes present.[1][2][3][9]
The following types of Langford Ware were reported from the burial mound vessels:[1]
Non-potteryartifacts recovered from the site included:[1]
The non-pottery artifacts found at anarchaeological site can provide usefulcultural context as well as a glimpse into the domestic tasks performed at a site;ceremonial orreligious activities;recreational activities; andclothing or personaladornment.
Some of the most prominent and diagnostic non-pottery artifacts are presented here in more detail:
| Material | Description | Image | Qty | Function / use | Comments / associations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chipped stone | Small triangularprojectile points (aka Madison points) |  | 11 | Hunting/fishing/warfare | Also known as “arrowheads”; are thought to be tips for arrows. The usage of thebow and arrow seems to have greatly increased after A.D. 1000, probably as a result of increased conflict.[10][11] |
| Chipped stone | Humpbackscraper |  | 1 | Domestic function / processing wood or hides | Typical ofUpper Mississippian sites, particularly Huber andOneota (Orr Focus)[7] |
| Chipped stone | Drill (expanding base) |  | 1 | Domestic function / processing wood or hides | The expanding base drill is a common type inUpper Mississippian contexts[7] |
| Antler | Antler projectile point; socketed and tanged |  | 3 | Hunting/fishing/warfare | The tanged or barbed type is characteristic of Fisher and Langford traditions; the unbarbed type is more typical ofOneota[7] |
| Shell | Shell spoons |  | 9 | Domestic function / food preparation and-or serving | The shell spoons were found asgrave goods in the Gentleman Farm burials; they were also present in theUpper Mississippian Heally Complex at theZimmerman site[3][9] |
The Gentleman Farm site is a Langford tradition site like the nearbyZimmerman (Heally component), Fisher (B complex) andPlum Island sites. Although there are noradiocarbon dates available from Gentleman Farm, based on dates obtained from sites with similar artifacts, the site is thought to date to approximately A.D. 1200–1500.[1]
No house structures were present at the site, and based on the lack of household artifacts such as manos and milling stones, it is not thought to be a permanent village. It may have been a specialized site related to building the mound and/or interring the burials.[1]
| Middle Mississippian |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Appalachian Mississippian |
| ||||||||||
| Fort Walton culture | |||||||||||
| Pensacola culture | |||||||||||
| Plaquemine Mississippian | |||||||||||
| Caddoan Mississippian | |||||||||||
| Upper Mississippian cultures |
| ||||||||||
| Culture |
| ||||||||||
