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Anker Site
The Anker Site (11Ck-21) is located on the Little Calumet River near Chicago, Illinois. It is classified as a late prehistoric site with Upper Mississippian Huber (aka Blue Island) affiliation.
In 1958 prehistoric remains were uncovered during construction of a subdivision in suburban Chicago. A salvage operation was undertaken under the auspices of the Illinois Archaeological Survey, along with several individuals who excavated some of the burials and features on their own and shared their findings with the Survey.
Excavations at the site yielded prehistoric artifacts, a house structure, pit features, burials and animal bone. The site consisted of two parts: the village area and a cemetery containing burials with rich grave goods.
A structure was defined by the presence of post molds and other features. It was 55 feet long by 13 feet wide and oval in shape. There were 3 fireplaces along the center line and 7 refuse/cache pits inside and 2 outside the structure. Charcoal in some of the post molds implies that the structure was burned.
Eight structures located at the nearby Oak Forest site ranged from 25 to 47.5 feet long. The Anker structure is significantly larger. Ceremonial structures were known to be longer than residential structures in Native American society, and therefore the Anker structure may have been ceremonial-related or religious in nature. A dog skull was placed in one of the fire pits of this structure, which also indicates it may be ceremonial in nature.
In the village area, 4 fire pits and 17 trash pits were noted. One of the trash pits included 3 reconstructable Middle Mississippian pottery vessels, which are extremely rare in the Great Lakes area.
Two types of burials were noted: 9 bundle burials with few grave goods, and 31 extended burials, many of which contained a rich assortment of grave goods. Many of the grave goods are described below and include pipes, pottery vessels and animal bones/skulls that may have been components of medicine bundles.
Remains from several species were recovered from the site. The main species present were deer, fish (especially bowfin and catfish) and turtle (especially painted turtle); also present were beaver, raccoon, dog, unidentifiable bird bone fragments and fresh water mussels (especially Amblema costata). These remains were not modified into tools like the bone tools described in the Artifacts section below, and may be considered food remains or, in the case of the dog, the remains of ceremonial activities. Dog sacrifice and dog meat consumption was observed to have ceremonial and religious implications in early Native American tribes.
Anker Site
The Anker Site (11Ck-21) is located on the Little Calumet River near Chicago, Illinois. It is classified as a late prehistoric site with Upper Mississippian Huber (aka Blue Island) affiliation.
In 1958 prehistoric remains were uncovered during construction of a subdivision in suburban Chicago. A salvage operation was undertaken under the auspices of the Illinois Archaeological Survey, along with several individuals who excavated some of the burials and features on their own and shared their findings with the Survey.
Excavations at the site yielded prehistoric artifacts, a house structure, pit features, burials and animal bone. The site consisted of two parts: the village area and a cemetery containing burials with rich grave goods.
A structure was defined by the presence of post molds and other features. It was 55 feet long by 13 feet wide and oval in shape. There were 3 fireplaces along the center line and 7 refuse/cache pits inside and 2 outside the structure. Charcoal in some of the post molds implies that the structure was burned.
Eight structures located at the nearby Oak Forest site ranged from 25 to 47.5 feet long. The Anker structure is significantly larger. Ceremonial structures were known to be longer than residential structures in Native American society, and therefore the Anker structure may have been ceremonial-related or religious in nature. A dog skull was placed in one of the fire pits of this structure, which also indicates it may be ceremonial in nature.
In the village area, 4 fire pits and 17 trash pits were noted. One of the trash pits included 3 reconstructable Middle Mississippian pottery vessels, which are extremely rare in the Great Lakes area.
Two types of burials were noted: 9 bundle burials with few grave goods, and 31 extended burials, many of which contained a rich assortment of grave goods. Many of the grave goods are described below and include pipes, pottery vessels and animal bones/skulls that may have been components of medicine bundles.
Remains from several species were recovered from the site. The main species present were deer, fish (especially bowfin and catfish) and turtle (especially painted turtle); also present were beaver, raccoon, dog, unidentifiable bird bone fragments and fresh water mussels (especially Amblema costata). These remains were not modified into tools like the bone tools described in the Artifacts section below, and may be considered food remains or, in the case of the dog, the remains of ceremonial activities. Dog sacrifice and dog meat consumption was observed to have ceremonial and religious implications in early Native American tribes.