IVAS Lecture Series: From the Illinois to Ohio Valley and Back Again: Understanding the Mississippian Era

IVAS Lecture Series: From the Illinois to Ohio Valley and Back Again: Understanding the Mississippian Era

• Location: ISM Dickson Mounds Museum, Lewistown
• Date: Wednesday, June 04, 2014, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Please note: this talk was rescheduled from May.

Dr. Jeremy Wilson, Director, Angel Mounds National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, will present a talk titled: “From the Illinois to Ohio Valley and Back Again: Understanding the Mississippian Era” at the Wednesday, June 4, 2014 meeting of the Illinois Valley Archaeological Society. The presentation will begin at 7:00 p.m. This lecture is free and the public is invited to attend.

Since 2010, Dr. Jeremy Wilson, colleagues and students from Indiana University have been investigating the Mississippian (AD 1100-1450) period in the lower Midwest. This work, stemming in large part from Wilson's dissertation on population dynamics, has revolved around a series of seminal questions including the timing and nature of Mississippian organization, the longevity of settlements and associated political units, and the relationship between human impacts to the landscape, environmental variability, warfare, and regional depopulation. Dr. Wilson will discuss a series of case studies from the Illinois and Ohio Valleys and showcase the ongoing investigations at Lawrenz Gun Club in Cass County, IL and Angel Mounds State Historic Site in Evansville, IN.

The Illinois State Museum—Dickson Mounds is located between Lewistown and Havana off Illinois Routes 78 and 97. The museum is open free to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day. Tours and special programs are available for groups with reservations. For more information call 309.547.3721 or TTY 217.782.9175 or visit the museum's web site at www.ExperienceDicksonMounds.com. Also check out weekly updates on Facebook at “Illinois State Museum – Dickson Mounds”.