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Current Research

  ISM Current Research   

July, 2016: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin began identifications of animal remains from site 11SG1433, one of two sites that were subjected to Phase II investigations by Fever River Research as part of the Springfield Railroad Relocation Project. Dr. Martin continued integrating animal remains from flotation samples from late Fisher phase features at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) in the Northeast, Northwest, and North Central portions of the Main Occupation Area for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation south of Chicago by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Dr. Martin is also writing a chapter on zooarchaeology for a site report on Fort St. Joseph (20BE23) in Niles, Michigan, with contributions from former Western Michigan University graduate students Rory Becker and Joseph Hearn. Both Becker and Hearn wrote master’s theses on zooarchaeological projects involving Fort St. Joseph. The report is being edited by Dr. Michael Nassaney and will be published by Michigan State University Press. .



July, 2016: Relationship between mean family age of trees and temperature: an update

The tropical conservatism hypothesis predicts a positive relationship between mean family age and temperature. Dr. Hong Qian tested this prediction with a data set of angiosperm tree assemblages distributed along an altitudinal gradient in tropical Asia. Dr. Qian found that mean family age increases with elevation and decreases with temperature, a pattern contrary to the prediction of the tropical conservatism hypothesis. A manuscript resulting from this analysis has been accepted by the Journal of Plant Ecology.



July, 2016: Ornithology Research Continues

Curator H. David Bohlen recorded that July was Sangamon County’s second wettest ever with 9.51inches of rain. Mid-month (July 11 – 24) was warm with 10 days 90º or above. There were 95 nesting species and 24 migrants among the133 species recorded this month. Also seen were the endangered Upland Sandpiper and a Loggerhead Shrike (the first since 2012) and the second record of a White-winged Dove for the study. Species missing were Prothonotary Warbler and oddly low numbers of blackbirds. Total field hours this month were 193. The Sangamon County bird data from the study continues to be sent to Oregon State University for archival and Scientific use (finished up to 2005)..



July, 2016: Copper Plates


Kelvin Sampson continued research with Robert Mainfort on late prehistoric copper bird plates.



July, 2016: Morton Village

Michael Conner began working with data collected during 2016 field season, which ended June 30. He reviewed digital photographs taken during the season and integrated them into a database of all photographs taken during the nine-year project. He also loaded transit data into the site GIS and prepared preliminary maps of areas investigated. He concentrated on maps showing the distribution of material in Structure 26, a domestic house that contained both Mississippian and Oneota pottery.



June, 2016: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continued integrating animal remains from flotation samples from late Fisher phase features at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) in the Northeast, Northwest, and North Central portions of the Main Occupation Area for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation south of Chicago by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey.  Dr. Martin is also writing a chapter on zooarchaeology for a site report on Fort St. Joseph (20BE23) in Niles, Michigan, with contributions from former Western Michigan University graduate students Rory Becker and Joseph Hearn. Both Becker and Hearn wrote master’s theses on zooarchaeological projects involving Fort St. Joseph. The report is being edited by Dr. Michael Nassaney and will be published by Michigan State University Press.



June, 2016: Ornithology Research Continues

Curator H. David Bohlen continues research on Sangamon County birds. June was very warm, with 29 days with 80º or above, 16 of which were 90º or above. June 7 was the lowest high 78º and the lowest low was 50º on June 8. It was dry and most of the puddles and sloughs dried up. Total species found were 125, of which 99 were thought to be breeding in the County. There were 179 field hours of monitoring in the 30 days of June. Many songbird numbers seemed low, some were half the usual numbers. There were normal brood numbers for Canada Geese, Mallards and Wood Ducks, but Northern Bobwhite (adults) remained critically low. Fish Crows may have tried to breed again at Sangchris and Riverside Park. Two pairs of Spotted Sandpipers nested at the north end of Lake Springfield. Unusual birds were six Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, a female Common Goldeneye, Osprey, American Avocet, Dunlin, Laughing Gull, several species of terns and Cerulean Warbler (see the Illinois State Museum face-book).   Sangamon County bird data from the study continues to be sent to Oregon State University for archival and scientific use (finished up to 2001).



June, 2016: Morton Village

Dr. Michael Conner spent the entire month co-directing the Morton Village excavations with Jodie O’Gorman of Michigan State University. This year’s work focused on excavating Structure 26, first found in 2012, and further testing of Structure 34, a series of large, circular buildings or enclosures. Structure 26 proved to be the first building excavated at the site that appeared to be in use when it burned. Five to eight pottery vessels were on the floor, as well as a celt and a sandstone block effigy pipe. A cache of two celts and a hoe were found in one corner. The pottery vessels confirm that both Mississippian and Oneota pottery were used the household at the same time, confirming the multicultural nature of the occupation. Structure 34 was found to have a large post in the center, either a ceremonial marker post or a roof support. Little material was found associated with the structure in the areas investigated. It likely functioned as a public space or ceremonial area.



June, 2016: Copper Plates


Kelvin Sampson continued research with Robert Mainfort on late prehistoric copper bird plates.



May, 2016: Copper Plates



Kelvin Sampson continued research with Robert Mainfort on late prehistoric copper bird plates.



May, 2016: Morton Site

Beginning in mid-May, Dr. Mike Conner began preparations for the Michigan State University field school at Morton Village, which began May 23. In the two weeks leading up to the project start, Conner determined coordinates for this year’s excavation areas using the site GIS, assessed supplies and field equipment, and arranged for mowing, portable toilets, and a backhoe operator. Actual work at the site began the week of the 16th with Dr. Conner and MSU staff using a transit to mark excavation areas.



May, 2016: Ornithology Research Continues

Curator H. David Bohlen reported May weather was cool until May 6th and 7th, when the temperature jumped to 85º and 87º. It then cooled down from the 8th to the 20th with highs from 57º to 78 º and the lowest low was 42º. However, on May 21 the temperature went back into the 80º’s (with the high 88º on May 30) and stayed there through the end of May. Also the lows were in the high 60’s and 70’s. The precipitation was scattered and only four days had around half inch rains. The vegetation in May was very thick, the buffalo gnats were the worst ever, and spring migration (for passerines) ended two weeks early (dropped off drastically after May 22). Warblers and especially flycatchers were seen in very poor numbers. A few surprises occurred near the end of May of southern birds moving north, with some birds like Laughing Gull, White-faced Ibis, (6) Black-bellied Whistling- Ducks, and Snowy Plover. The total species for May 2016 were 202 and the hours in the field were 262. Bird data from the Sangamon Study continues to be sent to Oregon State University.



May, 2016: Fort St. Joseph Project

Dr. Terrance Martin is writing a chapter on zooarchaeology for a site report on Fort St. Joseph (20BE23) in Niles, Michigan, with contributions from former Western Michigan University graduate students Rory Becker and Joseph Hearn. Both Becker and Hearn wrote master’s theses on zooarchaeological projects involving Fort St. Joseph. The report is being edited by Dr. Michael Nassaney and will be published by Michigan State University Press.



May, 2016: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Project

Dr. Terrance Martin continued integrating animal remains from flotation samples from late Fisher phase features at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) in the Northeast, Northwest, and North Central portions of the Main Occupation Area for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation south of Chicago by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey.



May, 2016: Mean Family Age of Tree Species in Forests

The Tropical Niche Conservatism hypothesis proposes mechanisms underlying patterns of biodiversity in biological communities along environmental gradients. This hypothesis predicts that, among other things, clades in areas with warm or wet environments are, on average, older than those in areas with cold or dry environments. Focusing on angiosperm trees in forests, Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator, Dr. Shengbin Chen, tested the age-related prediction of the Tropical Niche Conservatism hypothesis. The study shows that the mean family age of angiosperm trees in local forests was positively correlated with temperature and precipitation. This finding is consistent with the age-related prediction of the Tropical Niche Conservatism hypothesis. A manuscript resulting from this project has been published in Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/srep28662).



April, 2016: New Publication by Research Associate

Dennis Lawler, ISM research associate, has a new publication on skeletal features of a wolf specimen in the ISM zoology collections.



April, 2016: Martin Assists Student

Dr. Terrance Martin assisted Ph.D. student Autumn Beyer (Michigan State University) with identification of problem animal remains from the Morton Village site (11F2) at the RCC’s zooarchaeological laboratory on April 8. Ms. Beyers is a student of Dr. Jodie O’Gorman (Chair of Anthropology, MSU), who is co-director with Dr. Michael Conner (Dickson Mounds Museum) of the ongoing archaeological investigation of the Morton Village site.



April, 2016: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continued integrating animal remains from flotation samples from late Fisher phase features at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) in the Northeast, Northwest, and North Central portions of the Main Occupation Area for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation south of Chicago by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Dr. Martin finished a technical report on 467 animal remains from Fever River Research’s 2014 excavations at the site of the Second McLean County Courthouse (1836-1868) and Jail (1848-1868) in Bloomington, Illinois (11ML335). He also integrated animal remains from selected units and features at the Fort St. Joseph site (20BE23) in Niles, Berrien County, Michigan. Martin is assembling text from former Western Michigan University graduate students Rory Becker and Joseph Hearn for a chapter in an academic book on research at Fort St. Joseph that is being edited by Dr. Michael Nassaney. Both Becker and Hearn wrote master’s theses on zooarchaeological projects involving Fort St. Joseph.



April, 2016: Ongoing Ornithological Research

April was warm with five days at 80º or above and only three days with lows slightly below freezing. This resulted in the vegetation being almost a month ahead of normal development. This made the birds difficult to see and may have put the birds out of sync with their food resources. A total of 186 species were counted of which 77 were new spring migrants for the season. This was accomplished in 294 field hours. Unusual birds were: Red-necked Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Surf Scoter, and Little Gull. A large influx of early migrants on April 4 provided record numbers of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Eastern Phoebes.



March, 2016: Ornithology Research

Curator H. David Bohlen reports spring migration continued with 31 new spring migrants among the 123 species totaled in March in Sangamon County. This was accomplished 264 hours of 31 field days. March was warm with six days in the 70’s and a high of 77º on March 15. The lowest temperature was 16º March 2. The only unusual birds were 2 Black Scoters at Lake Springfield March 9 – 18 and a Common Redpoll on the west side of Springfield March 4. Some usually common field birds were missing including two species of longspurs and the American Golden-Plover. These birds could be susceptible to the insecticides used on farm fields (neonicotinoids) which can be fatal to birds. Bird data from the Sangamon Study continues to be sent to Oregon State University.



March, 2016: Radiocarbon Results Received and Specimens Submitted

Dr. Chris Widga received radiocarbon results of analyses on a large dog from the middle Holocene Cherokee Sewer site in northwestern Iowa. This was the first sample prepared for dating in the ISM geochemistry lab. The date is 6490+/-30 14C BP. Dr. Widga also submitted twenty samples to the Iowa State University stable isotope lab for analysis, including specimens from Holocene bison, stag-moose, and mammoths.



March, 2016: New Mapping at the Kimmswick Site

Dr. Chris Widga, Dr. Mike Conner, and volunteer Steve Morse began a new mapping program at the Kimmswick Site on the grounds of Mastodon State Historic Site near Imperial, Missouri. The Kimmswick site was part of ISM research from 1979-1981 where they excavated a Clovis campsite with associated mastodon and ground sloth remains. Since then, new taphonomic perspectives, dating techniques, and methods for spatial analysis offer the potential to better understand the site.



March, 2016: Multiple Dimensions of Biodiversity

Dr. Hong Qian submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The proposed 5-year project is to integrate multiple dimensions of biodiversity (taxonomic, phylogenetic, functional, and genetic diversity) of angiosperms.



March, 2016: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin integrated animal remains from flotation samples from late Fisher phase features at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation south of Chicago by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey; finished identification and tabulation of 467 animal remains from Fever River Research’s 2014 excavations at the site of the Second McLean County Courthouse (1836-1868) and Jail (1848-1868) in Bloomington, Illinois (11ML335). Dr. Martin will prepare a technical report on the faunal assemblage; and assisted Ph.D. student Autumn Beyer at the Archaeological Consortium at Michigan State University with identification of animal remains from the Morton Village site (11F2). Ms. Beyers is a student of Dr. Jodie O’Gorman (Chair of Anthropology, MSU), who is co-director with Dr. Michael Conner (Dickson Mounds Museum) of the ongoing archaeological investigation of the Morton Village site.



February, 2016: Planning for the Future

The Education section members continue to evaluate all ISM programs and focus on future projects, activities, programs for reopening with the new changes in staff. This is done through research of other mid-sized and small museums with a similar mission as we explore their successes and best practices.



February, 2016: Neotoma Paleoecological Database Project Moves to University of Minnesota

Dr. Widga and Dr. Eric Grimm received notification that a proposal to continue development of the Neotoma Paleoecological database will be recommended for funding through the NSF Geoinformatics program. Due to the closure of the ISM and Dr. Grimm’s retirement, the ISM portion of this funding has been transferred to the University of Minnesota where the work will be completed.



February, 2016: Widga Submits Manuscript

Dr. Chris Widga submitted the manuscript “Variability in bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr in the North American Midcontinent” to the journal Geology.



February, 2016: Manuscript Accepted for Publication

Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Shengbin Chen of Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, China, conducted a study on the relationship between species diversity of bryophytes and environment at a regional scale. A manuscript resulting from this study has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Plant Ecology.



February, 2016: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Terrance Martin finished integrating specimens from flotation samples and tabulating 12,630 animal remains from Huber phase features at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation south of Chicago by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Terrance Martin finished verification of identifications of animal remains from 1968-69 excavations of Features 9 at the Fort Ouiatenon site (12T9). This collection is on loan to Martin from the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University and was used for several zooarchaeology workshops by Martin. Ph.D. candidate Kelsey Noak Myers at IU is using archaeological materials recovered from Features 9 and 11 (1,645 identified specimens from a total of 3,045 animal remains) as part of her dissertation project. Terrance Martin addressed Michigan Department of Transportation reviewer’s comments on the technical report section “Faunal Analysis of Sites 20OT283 and 20OT3” for the Highway M-231 (the Grand Haven Bypass) archaeological mitigation report by Commonwealth Cultural Resources, Inc. (February 22).



January, 2016: Widga Assists with Design Recovery Protocols for Pygmy Mammoth Remains

Dr. Chris Widga participated (electronically) in a broad-based working group to design recovery protocols for pygmy mammoth remains found in Channel Island National Park. Widga’s expertise in field recovery of paleontological specimens, experience working within National Park System research parameters, and familiarity with previously excavated pygmy mammoth remains curated in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History provided a firm baseline for discussion of “what is known” to the working group. Conversations continue as additional specimens are discovered incidentally.



January, 2016: Staff and Emeritus Curators Submit Manuscripts

Dennis Lawler and Dr. Chris Widga submitted the manuscript, “Pathology of grey wolf shoulders: Lesson in species and aging” for publication in the international journal Anatomical Record. Chris Widga and Dennis Lawler submitted the manuscript “Differential diagnosis of vertebral spinous process deviations in the archaeological and modern domestic dogs” for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Jeff Saunders and Chris Widga are co-authors on a submission to the journal Frontiers in Paleontology titled: “Mammuthus Population Dynamics in Late Pleistocene North America: Divergence, Phylogeography and Introgression”. Chris Widga, Jeff Saunders, and Stacey Lengyel submitted an abstract for the North-Central Geological Society of America meetings in Champaign this spring. The talk is titled: “Dating the undateable: Assessing the age of extinction in midwestern proboscideans”.



January, 2016: Martin Handles NAGPRA Request

Dr. Terrance Martin generated tables and detailed recovery notes for 55 archaeological sites for a NAGPRA project requested by the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The sites are primarily affiliated with historic Choctaw and Caddo occupations. Dr. Martin also assisted the Forest archaeologist edit the detailed inventory of human remains that Martin and Cobb encountered among animal remains from seven of the sites in the project. A technical report by Martin, Cobb, and former McMillan Museum intern Amanda Burtt was submitted to the Ouachita National Forest on January 27th.



January, 2016: Verifications of Animal Remains

Dr. Terrance Martin continued verification of identifications of animal remains from 1968-69 excavations of Features 9 and 11 at the Fort Ouiatenon site (12T9). This collection is on loan to Martin from the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University and was used for several zooarchaeology workshops by Martin. Ph.D. candidate Kelsey Noak Myers at IU is using archaeological materials recovered from Features 9 and 11 as part of her dissertation project.



January, 2016: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin finished tabulations of animal remains and text for the 29 human burial features (Upper Mississippian, Late Fisher phase, and Huber phase) at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey south of Chicago.



January, 2016: Research published

Tracy Evans, ISM research associate, published one of the chapters of her dissertation research. Drs. Tim Cashatt and Meredith Mahoney are co-authors (reference below).



December, 2015: Bone Collagen Prepared

Chris Widga prepared bone collagen from archaeological dogs, extinct moose and mammoths for stable isotope analyses. These were submitted to the environmental isotope lab at Iowa State University (Dr. Alan Wanamaker) for analysis of light isotopes. One dog sample will be submitted to Rafter Radiocarbon lab in New Zealand for 14C analyses using previous credit on the ISM account.



December, 2015: Dragonfly genetics annual report

Dr. Meredith Mahoney wrote a summary of her genetics research on Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly for 2015. Emeritus Director of Zoology Dr. Everett Cashatt will include the information with his annual report of Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly permit activities to US Fish & Wildlife Service.



December, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin completed a technical report on animal remains from site 11MO1005 (Emergent Mississippian site in Monroe County, Illinois) for a Phase III mitigation by American Resources Group, Ltd., Carbondale. He continued tabulations of animal remains and text for the 29 human burial features (Upper Missippippian, Late Fisher phase, and Huber phase) at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey south of Chicago. He also began verification of identifications of animal remains from 1968-69 excavations of Features 9 and 11 at the Fort Ouiatenon site (12T9). This collection is on loan to Martin from the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University and was used for several zooarchaeology workshops by Dr. Martin. Ph.D. candidate Kelsey Noak Myers at IU is using archaeological materials recovered from Features 9 and 11 as part of her dissertation project. Finally, Dr. Martin prepared a database and tabulation of animal remains from the Galt site (11G161), a Caborn-Welborn phase site in southern Illinois for Dr. Michael Wiant as part of a technical report he is preparing on the ISMS project.



December, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

Dennis Naglich completed a draft technical report for the third and final season of limited archaeological excavations at the Jameson Jenkins Lot at the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. The report included an analysis of the animal remains by Dr. Terrance Martin. The project was in collaboration with the National Park Service and the Illinois College Explorer Internship Program with intern Joseph Ritter working with field supervisor Naglich and Principal Investigator Dr. Martin. Fieldwork exposed intact subsurface archaeological features and artifacts associated with the Jenkins-Blanks occupation from the 1840s through the mid-1860s, and exposed fill that suggests an earlier occupation of the lot during the late 1820s or early 1830s. In October Dennis Naglich received comments from the National Park Service on the draft technical report and is preparing the final report. The final report was completed in November. The Jameson Jenkins collection and project documentation were transferred to Susan Haake (Curator, Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site) on December 17.



November, 2015: Geochemistry Lab

Dr. Chris Widga developed protocols to extract collagen proteins from fossil bones stable isotope analysis. These techniques will assist in understanding the diet and ecology of extinct animals.



November, 2015: CT Scans Conducted

Dennis Lawler CT-scanned a series of dire wolf bones for paleopathological analysis. Dr. Bob Warren CT-scanned a rare mussel from an archaeological site to confirm identification.



November, 2015: Qian Studies Angiosperms in Forest Communities

Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Shengbin Chen of Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, China, conducted a study on the relationship between mean family age of angiosperms (flowering plants) and environment in forest communities. The study tested the Tropical Niche Conservatism hypothesis, which predicts that, among other things, clades in areas with warm or wet environments are, on average, older than those in areas with cold or dry environments. A manuscript from this study has been submitted to Scientific Reports for publication.



November, 2015: Dragonfly genetics research

Dr. Meredith Mahoney worked in the DNA lab with Hine’s emerald dragonfly samples collected during the 2015 field season. She obtained gene sequences for eight samples collected in Missouri. These samples were added to the Hine’s emerald dragonfly dataset and analyzed to determine population variation and connections among sites in Missouri.



November, 2015: Program Planning for Future

The Education section continues to evaluate ISM programs from the recent past and focus on future projects, activities, and programs for reopening. This is done through research of other mid-sized museums with a similar mission as we explore their successes and best practices. The education section has participated in various webinars, museum community chats, and other online programs in order to increase knowledge and become more aware of trends in other informal education settings such as museums, nature centers, and zoos.



November, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin completed identifications of animal remains from site 11MO1005 (Emergent Mississippian site) for a Phase III mitigation by American Resources Group, Ltd., Carbondale. Terrance Martin generated tables and detailed recovery notes for five sites for a NAGPRA project requested by the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and Oklahoma: 34MC517 (Historic Caddo), 34MC590 (Historic Choctaw), 34MC606 (Historic Caddo), 34MC644 (Prehistoric), and 34MC716 (Historic – Quintus Herndon Store). Dr. Martin continued tabulations of animal remains from human burial features (Upper Mississippian, Late Fisher phase, and Huber phase) at the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) for a technical report on the Phase III highway mitigation by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey south of Chicago.



November, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

Dennis Naglich completed a draft technical report for the third and final season of limited archaeological excavations at the Jameson Jenkins Lot at the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. The report included an analysis of the animal remains by Dr. Terrance Martin. The project was in collaboration with the National Park Service and the Illinois College Explorer Internship Program with intern Joseph Ritter working with field supervisor Naglich and Principal Investigator Dr. Martin. Fieldwork exposed intact subsurface archaeological features and artifacts associated with the Jenkins-Blanks occupation from the 1840s through the mid-1860s, and exposed fill that suggests an earlier occupation of the lot during the late 1820s or early 1830s. In October Naglich received comments from the National Park Service on the draft technical report and is preparing the final report. The final report was completed in November.



October, 2015: Sangamon County Bird Observation

The monitoring project on birds in Sangamon County produced 159 species of birds in October, and the hours in the field were 265. Noted were 16 species of ducks, 15 species of shorebirds, 16 species of warblers and 13 species of sparrows. October was dry (only 1.47 inches of precipitation) and warm (three days with the high temperature of 82) and the lowest low was 27. Fall migrant totals so far were: June = 6, July = 12, August = 45, and September = 30, plus there were 24 new fall migrants in October ( = 117 this fall). Of special note were: a ♂ Merlin that returned to the UIS athletic field for the fifth year in a row, the largest fall influx of White-rumped Sandpipers ever recorded for this area (October 5 – 24), a Red Phalarope on Lake Springfield, and an early Northern Shrike at the south end of Lake Springfield on October 28. Several years of Sangamon County bird data was sent to Dr. Robinson of Oregon State University for archival and scientific use.



October, 2015: Dragonfly Genetics and Population Studies

Drs. Meredith Mahoney and Tim Cashatt participated in a conference call with the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly recovery team for Missouri. The discussion covered future goals for population surveys and research on this endangered species. As a follow-up, Dr. Mahoney prepared a document for the group summarizing the genetics sampling that has already been done in Missouri so the group can plan what sites to visit in the future. In the lab, Dr. Mahoney did a DNA extraction from the Hine’s Emerald dragonfly samples that were collected during the 2015 field season. These samples will be sequenced and added to the DNA dataset for the species.



October, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects (Terrance Martin, Principal Investigator)

Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4): Finished database entries for burial flotation samples; compiled species composition for three longhouses – F 415, F 791, and F 2136. Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and Oklahoma: Tabulations for site 34MC762. Poplar Street Bridge Project in St. Louis (MO DOT mitigation of the Louis Beaudoin and Madam Haycraft sites that were occupied from the mid-18th through early 19th centuries).



October, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

Dennis Naglich completed a draft technical report for the third and final season of limited archaeological excavations at the Jameson Jenkins Lot at the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. The report included an analysis of the animal remains by Terrance Martin. The project was a collaboration with the National Park Service, the Illinois State Museum, and the Illinois College Explorer Internship Program with intern Joseph Ritter working with field supervisor Dennis Naglich and Principal Investigator Terrance Martin. Fieldwork exposed intact subsurface archaeological features and artifacts associated with the Jenkins-Blanks occupation from the 1840s through the mid-1860s, and exposed fill that suggests an earlier occupation of the lot during the late 1820s or early 1830s. In October Dennis Naglich received comments from the National Park Service on the draft technical report and is preparing the final report.



September, 2015: Phylogeny and ecology

Ecologists frequently use a supertree method to generate phylogenies in ecological studies. However, the robustness of research results based on phylogenies generated with a supertree method has not been well evaluated. Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Jian Zhang used the angiosperm tree flora of North America as a model system to test the robustness of phylogenies generated with a supertree method for studies on the relationship between phylogenetic properties and environment, by comparing the relationship between phylogenetic metrics and environmental variables derived from a phylogeny reconstructed with a supertree method to that derived from a phylogeny resolved at species level. A manuscript resulting from this project has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Systematics and Evolution.



September, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects (Terrance Martin, Principal Investigator)

Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4): Finished database entries for burial flotation samples; compiled species composition for three longhouses – F 415, F 791, and F 2136. Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and Oklahoma: Tabulations for site 34MC762. Poplar Street Bridge Project in St. Louis (MO DOT mitigation of the Louis Beaudoin and Madam Haycraft sites that were occupied from the mid-18th through early 19th centuries).



September, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

Dennis Naglich completed a draft technical report for the third and final season of limited archaeological excavations at the Jameson Jenkins Lot at the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. The report included an analysis of the animal remains by Terrance Martin. The project was a collaboration with the National Park Service, the Illinois State Museum, and the Illinois College Explorer Internship Program with intern Joseph Ritter working with field supervisor Dennis Naglich and Principal Investigator Terrance Martin. Fieldwork exposed intact subsurface archaeological features and artifacts associated with the Jenkins-Blanks occupation from the 1840s through the mid-1860s, and exposed fill that suggests an earlier occupation of the lot during the late 1820s or early 1830s.



September, 2015: Analysis of Kansas Paleontological locality

Dr. Chris Widga examined a paleontological assemblage from Lovewell reservoir, Jewell County, Kansas. This assemblage was excavated by Steve Holen and Brendon Asher from Bureau of Reclamation lands. It includes Smilodon, and the northermost occurrence of Holmesina septentrionalis (pampathere) in North America. This work will provide the basis for a poster presentation at the 2015 Plains Anthropological Conference in Iowa City.



September, 2015: Submission of radiocarbon samples

Dr. Chris Widga submitted samples from the Porter Shelter (Monroe Co., IL) mastodon and a mammoth off the coast of Rye, NH for 14C dating. These samples will be integrated into ongoing work on the extinction chronology of mammoths and mastodons in North America.



September, 2015: Archaic Faunal Database and Research

Dr. Bonnie Styles and Research Associate Mona Colburn continued to collaborate with Dr. Sarah Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) and other colleagues on an NSF-funded project to digitize zooarchaeological databases for Archaic Period faunal assemblages for the interior Eastern United States. The data are being entered into the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR, https://www.tdar.org). During September, Dr. Styles and Colburn worked with faunal databases for the Napoleon Hollow and Campbell Hollow sites, located in the lower Illinois River valley and Little Freeman Cave in the Ozark Highlands in Missouri.



August, 2015: Prepare Manuscripts on Research for Publication

Dr. Chris Widga worked to prepare research results for publication on several research projects. The projects included the mammoth and mastodon extinction project, the dog paleopathology project, and the Sr isoscape project.



August, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects: Poplar Street Bridge Project; Excavations of French Colonial St. Louis

The archaeological faunal assemblages from the Louis Beaudoin (23SL2369) and Madam Haycraft (23SL2334) sites are being prepared for shipment to Dr. Terrance Martin for identification and analysis. Both sites were excavated as part of the Missouri Department of Transportation’s mitigation for construction under the Poplar Street Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River and connects St. Louis and East St. Louis. Both sites were occupied from the mid-19th through the early 20th century and reflect the early French colonial historical occupation of St. Louis. Zoo-archaeological analysis of these sites will facilitate comparison of food ways to French colonial sites in Illinois (e.g., the villages of Cahokia, Chartes, and Prairie du Rocher).



August, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects: Kohler site 47SB173, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

A technical report was finished by Dr. Terrance Martin for the Phase II faunal assemblage from the prehistoric components and the 19th-century Fairchild Fish House site at the Kohler Dunes and Swales that was investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group (Milwaukee, WI) along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.



August, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects: Ouachita National Forest Faunal Project (Arkansas and Oklahoma)

Dr. Terrance Martin has been submitting species composition and intra-site distribution tables for Caddo and Choctaw sites to Lexie Rue-Harris, Forest Service Archeologist, Poteau-Cold Springs Ranger District, Ouachitas National Forest, Booneville, Arkansas. Tabulations are in process for sites 34MC665 and 34MC762.



August, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects: Buckeye Bend Site (11F310)

Dr. Terrance Martin identified animal remains from the Buckeye Bend site (11F310), produced a database, and species composition table at the request of Dr. Michael Wiant for an Illinois State University student who is doing a project on the collection (August 11).



August, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects: Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4)

Dr. Terrance Martin continued the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Examination of flotation samples was finished in August, and tabulations of animal remains are now underway for 29 burial features and features associated with three longhouses.



August, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

A technical report is in preparation for the third and final season of limited archaeological excavations at the Jameson Jenkins Lot at the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. The project was a collaboration with the National Park Service, the Illinois State Museum, and the Illinois College Explorer Internship Program with intern Joseph Ritter working with field supervisor Dennis Naglich and Principal Investigator Dr. Terrance Martin. The project succeeded in exposing intact subsurface archaeological features and artifacts associated with the Jenkins-Blanks occupation during from the 1840s through the mid-1860s. The exclusive presence of redware sherds in the southwestern area of the excavation suggests that the lot may have been occupied during the late 1820s or early 1830s prior to the arrival of the Jenkins and Blanks families.



August, 2015: Species Richness and Climatic Correlates of Bryophytes

Bryophytes play a fundamental role in the functioning of a diverse range of ecosystems but are a group of plants that has rarely been studied for the relationship of their species richness with environments. Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Shengbin Chen conducted a study to examine the relationship between species diversity of bryophytes and climate in China. A manuscript resulting from this project has been submitted to the Journal of Plant Ecology for publication.



August, 2015: NSF Proposal for Research Experiences for Undergraduates

On August 11, Dr. Bonnie Styles met with Dr. Jodie O’Gorman of Michigan State University to discuss the Illinois State Museum’s involvement in a proposal to the National Science Foundation to engage undergraduate students at Michigan State and the University of Illinois Springfield in research on human-environment interactions that would include experiences at Emiquon and Illinois State Museum facilities including the Research and Collections Center.



August, 2015: Archaic Faunal Database and Research

Dr. Bonnie Styles and Research Associate Mona Colburn continued to collaborate with Dr. Sarah Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) and other colleagues on an NSF-funded project to digitize zooarchaeological databases for Archaic Period faunal assemblages for the interior Eastern United States. The data are being entered into the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR, https://www.tdar.org). During August, Dr. Styles and Colburn continuing mapping the faunal databases for Modoc Rock Shelter to the master tDAR ontologies.



July, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

Despite the wettest June on record, the third and final season of limited archaeological excavations was concluded at the Jameson Jenkins Lot at the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. The collaborative project involved the National Park Service, the Illinois State Museum, and the Illinois College Explorer Internship Program with intern Joseph Ritter working with field supervisor Dennis Naglich and Principal Investigator Dr. Terrance Martin. The goal was to more fully expose intact subsurface archaeological features and artifacts associated with the Jenkins-Blanks occupation and advance our understanding of Lincoln’s African American neighbors. This summer’s work extended the 2013 and 2014 excavations to the southwest and the northeast in order to reveal more of two deeply-buried storage pits that existed near the western end of the mid-nineteenth century structure. The exclusive presence of redware sherds in the southwestern area of the excavation suggests that the lot may have been occupied during the late 1820s or early 1830s prior to the arrival of the Jenkins and Blanks families.



July, 2015: Kohler site 47SB173, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

A technical report is in progress by Dr. Terrance Martin for the Phase II faunal assemblage from the prehistoric components and the nineteenth century Fairchild Fish House site at the Kohler Dunes and Swales that was investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group (Milwaukee, WI) along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.



July, 2015: Archaic Faunal Database and Research

Drs. Sarah Neusius and Philip Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) met with Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn in the Research and Collections Center on July 24. Dr. Sarah Neusius is collaborating with Dr. Styles and Colburn on an NSF-funded project to digitize zooarchaeological databases for Archaic Period faunal assemblages for the interior Eastern United States. The data are being entered into the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR, https://www.tdar.org). During July, Dr. Styles and Colburn mapped the faunal databases for Modoc Rock Shelter to the master ontologies. On July 29, Dr. Styles met with Dr. Russell Stafford, Indiana State University, to discuss adding his Archaic faunal data from the Bluegrass site to the database.



July, 2015: Site 12W710, Indiana

A technical report is in progress by Dr. Terrance Martin for the Phase III faunal assemblage that was recovered from a nineteenth century farmstead in southern Illinois that was mitigated by American Resources Group, Ltd. (Carbondale, IL) for Vigo Coal Company, Inc. (Evansville, IN) in the Liberty Mine Permit Area, Warrick County, Indiana. The collection includes more than 1,300 specimens from macro-recovery and flotation.



July, 2015: Research of Modified Predator Bones

Dr. Terrance Martin produced tables for a paper by Kenneth Farnsworth, Dr. Martin, and Dr. Angela Perri on “Modified Predator Mandible and Maxilla Artifacts and Symbolism in Illinois Hopewell.” The paper will be published as an ISAS Studies in Material Culture (No. 3).



July, 2015: Spectrum Exhibition Research Underway

Jim Zimmer and Angela Goebel-Bain researched collections for the forthcoming Spectrum: Selections from the Fine and Decorative Arts exhibition. Pat Burg assisted with the research on the Illinois Academy of Fine Arts exhibitions in the late 1920s. The Museum Archives contains holdings about the Academy.



July, 2015: Jenkins Lot Faunal Assemblage

Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications and data entry for the small assemblage of animal remains that were encountered during the 2015 excavations at the Jameson Jenkins Lot.



July, 2015: Butterfly Transfer Prints

After discovering a box of butterfly transfer prints, Pat worked to find provenance for the prints, and to determine how the prints were made. The collection was purchased by R. M. Barnes. Pat was able to verify the collection history by using the R.M. Barnes correspondence in the Museum archives. The prints are rare and were made during the mid-nineteenth century from butterfly and moth specimens using a wax transfer process. According to the Museum’s accession records, zoology and art curators, there are not any other transfer prints in the Museum’s collection. It was recommended to keep the prints in the archives. They are housed with the manuscripts.



July, 2015: Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4) Fauna

Dr. Terrance Martin continued the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Examination of flotation samples continued in July.



July, 2015: Freshwater Mussels from the Widows Creek Site, Alabama

Dr. Robert Warren began photographing a synoptic collection of freshwater mussel shells from the Widows Creek site (1JA305, NE Alabama) in preparation for a reanalysis of the mussel fauna in partnership with Dr. Arthur Bogan (North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences). Nine species were completed, including Actinonaias ligamentina, Actinonaias pectorosa, Amblema plicata, Cyclonaias tuberculata, Cyprogenia stegaria, Dromus dromas, Ellipsaria lineolata, Epioblasma cincinnatiensis, and Epioblasma torulosa (5-30 July).



June, 2015: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. June was the wettest June in recorded history for Sangamon County with 9.14 inches. This caused some flooding, providing pools of water for late shorebirds, but bottomland forest was unreachable. It was also warm with 5 days with 90º or higher and another 8 days with 85º or higher. The lowest low was 54º on June 2. There were 131 bird species found in 170 hours of effort. White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants and 5 species of terns (especially Caspian Tern present 22 days in June) none of which breed in Sangamon County, summered here. Wood Duck, Mallard, and Canada Goose all seemed to have produced numbers of young. Also stragglers present were Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck and Snow Goose. Several broods of Spotted Sandpipers were noted and a pair of Black-necked Stilts attempted to nest (4th attempt in the County) but failed. Other unusual birds seen were Neotropic Cormorant, Mississippi Kite, Laughing Gull, California Gull, Least Tern, Fish Crow, and Hooded Warbler. Small populations of Henslow’s Sparrow and Bobolink still persist on the brink of extirpation in Sangamon County.



June, 2015: Renewal Proposal for the Neotoma Paleoecology Database Submitted to NSF

In late June, Director of Science Dr. Eric Grimm submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation Geoinformatics program for a renewal of the grant supporting the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. The new proposal entitled “Collaborative Research: Neotoma Paleoecology Database, Community-led Cyberinfrastructure for Global Change Research” involves fifteen principal investigators from nine institutions, including the Illinois state Museum Society, Pennsylvania State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, North Dakota State University, Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia (Drexel University), Lehigh University, University of California-Merced, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Kent State University. In addition, twenty-one letters of collaboration were obtained, including colleagues from the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Chile, and Japan. Collaborators from many other countries are also involved with the project. Total proposed budget for the four-year project is $1,322,490; the ISMS share is $247,050.


Neotoma is a community-led database that has become the standard repository for paleoecological data in North America and, increasingly, globally. Its cyberinfrastructure supports global change research at the intersection between geology and ecology, by enabling study of species diversity, distributions, and dynamics during the large environmental changes of the last 5 million years. By consolidating many disparate paleoecological data into one centralized repository, Neotoma lowers costs of community-wide paleodata management while offering paleoecologists a high-quality, curated data repository suitable for a wide variety of paleodata. For data users, Neotoma provides a well-structured, open-access, and easy-to-use source of paleoecological data, thereby enabling large-scale synthetic science, scientific transparency, and reproducibility. Neotoma’s distributed scientific governance allows Neotoma to scale as new data types are added to it. Increasingly, data access is the critical bottleneck to advancing scientific understanding; Neotoma removes that bottleneck and thereby enables study of past ecological, evolutionary, and climate dynamics at regional to global scales.


Although Dr. Grimm is one of the lead PI’s on the project, the overall project is not dependent on the ISM remaining open, and closure could imperil ISMS participation.



June, 2015: Archaeofaunal Database

Under the auspices of a National Science Foundation grant, Mona Colburn and Dr. Bonnie Styles continued cleaning up and adding faunal databases for Modoc Rock Shelter to the Digital Archaeological Record database. They also reviewed faunal databases and associated records for the Campbell Hollow and Napoleon Hollow sites, which were excavated during the FAP 408 interstate highway project.



June, 2015: Kohler site 47SB173, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

Dr. Terrance Martin completed identifications and began data entry for the Phase II faunal assemblage from the prehistoric components and the nineteenth-century Fairchild Fish House site at the Kohler Dunes and Swales (a total of nearly 1,400 specimens) that was investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.



June, 2015: Site 12W710, Indiana

Dr. Terrance Martin completed identifications and data entry for the Phase III faunal assemblage (which includes more than 1,300 specimens from macro-recovery and flotation samples) that was encountered at a nineteenth-century farmstead in southern Illinois that was mitigated by American Resources Group, Ltd. (Carbondale, IL) for Vigo Coal Company, Inc. (Evansville, IN) in the Liberty Mine Permit Area, Warrick County, Indiana.



June, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

Dr. Terrance Martin received the Permit for Archeological Investigations from the National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska to conduct archaeological excavations on the Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site (LHNHS) during June. This third season of research is a collaboration between the LHNHS, the ISM, and the Illinois College (I.C.) Explorer Internship Program. Excavations began on June 15 with Dennis Naglich, I.C. intern Joseph Ritter, and I.C. volunteer Ethan Shipley.



June, 2015: Neotoma Paleoecology Database Uploads

Nicola Cullen and Dr. Eric Grimm uploaded 145 new datasets to the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.



June, 2015: Freshwater Mussels from the Widows Creek Site, Alabama

Dr. Robert Warren is collaborating with Dr. Arthur Bogan of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on a reanalysis of freshwater mussel shells from the Widows Creek site (1JA305) in northeast Alabama. The analysis will be based, in part, on a large synoptic collection of shell from the site that is currently on loan to ISM from the University of Alabama Museums. The first stage of analysis is to confirm species identifications using specimen photos and, when necessary, comparative analysis of shells. Dr. Warren consulted with ISM photographer Doug Carr on photographic techniques (June 23) and established a set of camera settings that will produce good results.



June, 2015: Phylogenetic Structure from Seedlings to Canopy Trees

Botany Curator Dr. Hong Qian, in collaboration with Drs. Yi Jin and Mingjian Yu, investigated phylogenetic structure of tree species across different layers of a subtropical forest. They found that phylogenetic relatedness generally increases from seedlings through saplings and treelets up to canopy trees. Their finding has recently been published in PLoS ONE 10(6): e0131162, 2015.



June, 2015: Preparation of Publications

Dr. Widga worked on the preparation of a number of manuscripts for publication in June. These include a paper on deviated dorsal spinous processes with Dennis Lawler, a paper on the chronology of proboscidean extinctions with Drs. Stacey Lengyel, Jeff Saunders (and others), and a paper on regional patterns in surface strontium isotopes, with potential applications for understanding prehistoric movement patterns in animals and humans. This work is in collaboration with Doug Walker (University of Kansas) and Andrew Boehm (Southern Methodist University).



June, 2015: Mammoth/Mastodon Radiocarbon Dating: The Last of the Mastodons?

Geology curator Dr. Chris Widga, as part of his NSF funded Proboscidean extinction project, submitted samples of a mammoth from coastal New Hampshire and the Boaz mastodon from west-central Wisconsin to the University of Arizona AMS laboratory for radiocarbon dating. The results of these analyses will be integrated into the larger radiocarbon-dated Proboscidean dataset. The Boaz mastodon is potentially the youngest mastodon in North America.



June, 2015: Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4)

Dr. Terrance Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Examination of flotation samples continued in June.



May, 2015: Abnormal Dental Wear in Dogs

On May 29, Dr. Widga visited Kelsey Witt, a PhD student under Dr. Ripan Malhi at the University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign. Ms. Witt is working on the molecular ecology of North American dogs. Dr. Widga prepared high-resolution silicone molds of dental wear patterns on archaeological dogs from California’s Channel Islands. These dogs show a wear signature that is very different from that seen on dogs from the Midwest and Plains. Analysis of dental microwear should help determine the diet of these animals.



May, 2015: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. May temperatures were warm reaching 88º on May 6, 7, and 24. Even the lows were fairly high after the lowest low of 32º on May 1. It was dry with no flooded fields and dry sloughs, (there were only two days with rainfall over one inch) while the water levels at both Lake Springfield and Lake Sangchris were full providing no edge or mudflats for shorebirds or waterfowl. Passerine migration was late arriving and they left early, and due to heavy foliage those birds present were difficult to see. There were 196 species recorded in May, with 47 new spring arrivals for 2015. Total time in field was 279 hours. Not much unusual was seen, but cuckoos and thrushes were found in better numbers than the last few years. Unfortunately more kills of Chimney Swifts occurred at the Lake Springfield Dam in late May. This is an ongoing problem.



May, 2015: More Dire Wolves

In further correspondence with Dr. Saunders, Dr. Perri discussed her desire to further explore the small dire wolf metapodials excavated in human association at both the Murray Springs and Lehner Ranch Clovis sites, Cochise County, Arizona. These materials are in the ISM Geology collections. The thought is that the small Arizona specimens may represent size diminution possibly consistent with nutritional stress at the end of the Pleistocene or perhaps is a result of incipient taming or domestication by Clovis people at that time.



May, 2015: Fauna from the Holy Family Church, Cahokia, Illinois

Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications and tabulation of a small French colonial faunal assemblage that was obtained during 2014 excavations by Robert Mazrim and Dr. Margaret Brown at a small area outside of the church where some construction was planned.



May, 2015: The Last of the Mastodons

As part of his NSF funded Proboscidean extinction project, Geology Curator Dr. Chris Widga examined mastodons in the collections of the University of Wisconsin Museums of Zoology and Geology on May 18-19. This research focused on documentation of late mastodons from central and western parts of the state. Previous attempts to date these animals suggest they are some of the latest mastodons on the continent. Additional samples were collected for an attempt to replicate the late ages.



May, 2015: Hyena Coprolite

In 1984, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders was a member of a team recovered a hyena coprolite (111HR84) during excavations at the Haro River Quarry in Pakistan. In September 2014, Dr. Saunders loaned the specimen to Dr. Angela Perri of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany (and ISM Adjunct Research Associate) for analysis of possible parasites. In a recent email (May 18), Dr. Perri noted that the coprolite had “lots of nice bone bits” and was to be sent off to be professionally polished and thin sectioned in anticipation of further analysis.



May, 2015: Neotoma Paleoecology Database

Nicola Cullen and Dr. Eric Grimm uploaded 150 new datasets to the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.



May, 2015: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren expanded his analysis of archaeological freshwater mussel faunas in the Illinois River Basin. His previous model had focused on variables related to species habitat preference (water body, water depth, current velocity, and substrate composition), geography, cultural selection, and taphonomy. New variables include life-history strategy (opportunistic, periodic, equilibrium), host selectivity (generalist, specialist), and adult biomass (large, medium, small). All three of these factors covary with community variation along the principal axis of Warren's detrended correspondence analysis (DCA Axis 1), which had been shown previously to represent an aquatic energy gradient. The new variables suggest that DCA Axis 1 also covaries in a complex way with habitat stability (high energy = medium stability; medium energy = high stability; low energy = low stability).



May, 2015: Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4) Faunal Studies

Dr. Terrance Martin continued the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Examination of flotation samples continued in May with work completed on burial features.



May, 2015: John B. Duret Research

Pat Burg assisted George Godfrey, ISM Research Associate, with locating and obtaining a pdf of a diary. Mr. Godfrey continues research on the removal of the Potawatomi Indians from the Midwest. The John B. Duret diary [microfilm] is an account of the removal by an officer supervising the trek. The microfilm of the diary transcript is housed at the Indiana Historical Society. The Society supplied a pdf of the diary to Mr. Godfrey, upon Pat Burg’s request.



May, 2015: Global Pattern of Woody Plant Heights

Curator of Botany Dr. Hong Qian analyzed a global dataset for woody plant heights to test whether the pattern of frequency distribution of woody plant heights is bimodal, as suggested in a recent publication, or unimodal, as many of biological patterns. Dr. Qian’s analysis, which included 26039 species of woody plants, shows that the pattern of frequency distribution of woody plant heights is generally unimodal. A paper with Dr. Qian’s analysis has been accepted by Trends in Ecology & Evolution. Another analysis of woody plant heights conducted by Dr. Qian and his collaborator Dr. Robert E. Ricklefs, which was based on a much smaller database, has been published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution 30:6-7.



May, 2015: Research Continues

Angela Goebel-Bain continues her research for the second floor history exhibition redevelopment. She also worked on the fashion history for the Bevier website and the next issue of The Living Museum.



May, 2015: CT Scanning Dire Wolf and Arctic Fox

On May 8, Dr. Widga and Dennis Lawler worked with the radiology department at the SIU College of Medicine to CT scan a series of dire wolf scapulae from Rancho La Brea (California) and arctic fox remains from Finland. These scans will provide information on the orthopedic disorders of canids within an evolutionary context.



May, 2015: Ouachita National Forest Faunal Project (Arkansas and Oklahoma)

Dr. Terrance Martin has been submitting species composition and intra-site distribution tables for Caddo and Choctaw sites to Lexie Rue-Harris, Forest Service Archeologist, Poteau-Cold Springs Ranger District, Ouachitas National Forest, Booneville, Arkansas. During May, compilations were made for sites 34MC254, 34MC762, and 34MC665.



May, 2015: Endangered Species – Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly

Zoology Curator Dr. Everett Cashatt and several team members of the Missouri Hine’s Emerald Recovery Team continue to analyze and work on a draft paper on the mark-recapture study of Hine’s emerald dragonfly at Kay Branch, and Johnsons Shut-ins State Park, Reynolds County, Missouri. The draft paper will also include a third mark-recapture study planned for June 14 - 19, 2015, at Centerville Slough in Reynolds County, Missouri. Although Dr. Cashatt will retire June 30, 2015, he is developing a Hine’s emerald dragonfly identification PowerPoint program to be presented as a Hine’s emerald workshop on July 15–16, 2015, at Downers Grove, Illinois.



May, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological Project

Dr. Terrance Martin submitted the application for the Permit for Archeological Investigations to the National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska to conduct archaeological excavations on the Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site (LHNHS) during June. This third season of research is a collaborative project among the LHNHS, the ISM, and the Illinois College Explorer Internship Program.



April, 2015: Neotoma Paleoecology Database

Nicola Evans and Dr. Eric Grimm uploaded eighty-four new pollen datasets to the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. Dr. Grimm uploaded seventeen ostracode-water chemistry samples.



April, 2015: Extension Awarded for Proboscidean Chronology Project

Drs. Chris Widga, Stacey Lengyel, and Jeff Saunders requested a no-cost, one-year extension of the Proboscidean Chronology and Paleoecology grant. This will allow them to finish isotopic analyses and submit articles.



April, 2015: Dogs from the California Channel Islands

In addition to work on Channel Island mammoths, Dr. Chris Widga served as courier for DNA samples from archaeological dogs for UIUC ancient DNA researchers, Kelsey Witt and Ripan Malhi. Widga is collaborating with this group by examining trends in the morphology and dental microwear of these dogs.



April, 2015: Pygmy Mammoths

Geology curator Dr. Chris Widga visited the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History to examine their holdings of pygmy mammoths (Mammuthus exilis) from the California Channel Islands. These mammoths are less than half the size of their mainland ancestors, yet they remained genetically similar to all other North American mammoths. The morphology of these animals will provide insight into size-sensitive changes in elephant skeletons.



April, 2015: Geochemical Research on the First Mammoth and Mastodon from New Hampshire

Dr. Chris Widga is collaborating with Stefan Claesson, an underwater archaeologist in Portsmouth, Maine (SEARCH, Inc.), to analyze the first mammoth and mastodon remains discovered in the state of New Hampshire.



April, 2015: Museum Archaeologists Present at Society for American Archaeology Meeting

In April, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Terrance Martin, and Chris Widga gave presentations at the Society for American Archaeology’s 80th Annual Meeting. Museum staff members, Research Associates, and former interns gave thirteen presentations at the annual meeting (see Professional Presentations) on topics ranging from the domestication and role of dogs, challenges of large-scale databases, human use of fauna, and late prehistoric societies.



April, 2015: Holy Family Church, Cahokia, Illinois Faunal Study

Dr. Terrance Martin began identifications on a small French colonial faunal assemblage from 2014 excavations by Robert Mazrim and Dr. Margaret Brown at a small area outside of the church where some construction was planned.



April, 2015: Meeting on Research Collaboration with UIUC

Drs. Bonnie Styles, Eric Grimm, Terrance Martin, and Chris Widga, and Adjunct Research Associate Dennis Lawler met to discuss possible collaborative research with the new Medical School at UIUC (April 8).



April, 2015: Morton Village Site Faunal Analyses

Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications for selected samples of animal remains from the very large Feature 224 at this Fulton Country site. The data were included in tables and discussions that were included in a poster session at the Society for American Archaeology annual meetings that was organized by Dr. Jodie O’Gorman (Michigan State University). The current analyzed collection consists of nearly 3,400 specimens (2,422 fish [mostly bowfin, northern pike, and black bass], 544 mammals [mostly white-tailed deer, beaver, and elk], 86 birds [mostly waterfowl, cormorant, and wild turkey], and 29 reptiles [turtles].



April, 2015: Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4) Faunal Research

Dr. Terrance Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Examination of flotation samples continued in April.



April, 2015: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren learned of enlightening new approaches to freshwater mussel ecology while attending the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society symposium in March. Warren's explanatory model of variation among archaeological mussel faunas in the Illinois River Basin has focused on variables related to species habitat preference (water body, water depth, current velocity, and substrate composition), geography, cultural selection, and taphonomy. Malacologists are looking at new variables that help define the niches of individual species, including Life History Strategy (opportunistic, periodic, equilibrium), Host Selectivity (generalist, specialist), and Host Infection Strategy (broadcast, passive entanglement, large mantle lures, cryptic mantle lures, pelagic conglutinates, demersal conglutinates, mantle traps, etc.). Preliminary analysis indicates that some of these factors may significantly improve our understanding of variation among mussel communities evident in the Illinois River Basin archaeological samples. For example, Dr. Warren has previously shown that community variation along the principal axis of his detrended correspondence analysis (DCA Axis 1) correlates with an aquatic energy gradient. The new variables suggest that DCA Axis 1 may also covary with factors related to habitat stability.



April, 2015: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. Migration continued in April, but it was mostly cool and dry. There were three warm periods (April 1-2, 7-9, 15-18) with the highest temp 82 on April 18 and the lowest temp 26 on April 4. The longest cold period was April 19 – 30, which kept a many of migrants from arriving in April. However, of 184 species in April, 72 were new migrants. Total field hours were 285. Most water birds were leaving, but Red-throated Loons and Surf Scoters were found and Lesser Scaup totaled 1670 on April 8. Shorebirds were difficult to find, because of lack of habitat. Some of the rarer ones were Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Willet, Marbled Godwit, and the earliest ever Upland Sandpiper (April 4). There were five species of vireos and 18 species of warblers in April. The foliage was heavy by the end of the month.



April, 2015: John M. Olin Research

During April 1 through April 8, Pat Burg worked with Jim Zimmer to examine census records and retrieve information and articles about the Olin family in Alton, along with the life and art collections of John M. Olin. The collections were given to Southern Illinois University/Edwardsville in 1976 and later given to the Governor’s Office in 1986.



March, 2015: Research on Sculptor Sidney Loeb

Pat Burg worked with Jim Zimmer to examine census records and articles about artwork produced by Sidney Loeb. In addition to Mr. Loeb’s artwork, the Museum has an archival collection containing Mr. Loeb’s photos, scrapbooks, sketches and personal papers. Work is ongoing to learn more about Mr. Loeb’s work and life.



March, 2015: Eastern Woodlands Archaic Faunal Data

Mona Colburn continued entering faunal databases for Modoc Rock Shelter into the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR). Dr. Bonnie Styles, Sarah Neusius, and Mona Colburn participated in several conference call meetings to discuss the tDAR databases and plan a presentation for the upcoming Society for American Archaeology meetings.



March, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4), a habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Examination of flotation samples continued in March. Dr. Martin identified a large collection of animal remains from Feature 224 at the Morton Village site, Fulton County, Illinois in preparation for a poster session at the Society for American Archaeology annual meetings in April that is being organized by Dr. Jodie O’Gorman of Michigan State University. Dr. Martin submitted species composition and intra-site distribution tables for site 34MC850 (Ouachita National Forest Faunal Project─Arkansas and Oklahoma) to Lexie Rue-Harris, Forest Service Archaeologist, Poteau-Cold Springs Ranger District, Ouachita National Forest, Booneville, Arkansas. Dr. Martin finished identifications and descriptive text on the 2012 and 2013 faunal assemblage from Goose Lake Outlet #3 site (20MQ140), Marquette County, Michigan, a Proto Historic winter encampment seven miles from Lake Superior, south of Marquette, Michigan. Artifacts from the site include early iconographic/Jesuit rings and numerous glass trade beads, and animal remains consist of moose, porcupine, river otter, striped skunk, and woodchuck. A multiple-author report on the site will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in April. Dr. Martin is collaborating with Angela Perri and Ken Farnsworth on a manuscript on a juvenile bobcat skeleton from Mound 7 at the Elizabeth Mound site in Pike County, Illinois, as well as on a manuscript that is reexamining animal specimens that were previously reported for other Illinois Hopewell sites.



March, 2015: Freshwater Mussel Research

Dr. Robert Warren presented "Archaeological and Recent Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin: Compositional Variation and Change" at the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society conference (200 attended). New research included an assessment of potential bias in archaeological samples toward mussel species with high food value. Correlation coefficients between Species Mean Wet Tissue Weight (log10g) and Species Abundance (log10NISP) are statistically nonsignificant (p >.05) for all but one of the 49 archaeological samples, indicating a general absence of food-value bias. The only exception (Koster-H6b) had a significant positive correlation between species abundance and food value (r = .721; p = .002), but this relationship can be explained by a prehistoric focus of hunter-gatherers on a specific habitat containing large mussels (backwater lakes and sloughs) rather than a collecting bias toward large mussel species.



March, 2015: Neotoma Paleoecology Database

Nicola Evans and Dr. Eric Grimm uploaded 121 new pollen datasets to the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. Dr. Grimm uploaded 62 ostracode-water chemistry samples.



March, 2015: Digitizing Sangamon County Bird Data

On March 20, Dave Bohlen met with Dr. Douglas Robinson an Oregon State biologist who is interested in transferring his 45 years of Sangamon County bird data, which is on paper, to electronic form. The data could then be archived and manipulated for scientific analysis. Two sample months were scanned and sent to him so that he could see if the data would transfer easily.



March, 2015: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. March was fairly cold month with a low of zero recorded on March 5 and 6, but some warming trends March 10-7, 21& 22, and 29-31. Although cold lingered, there was a good influx of waterfowl March 25 and arrivals of several woodland birds on March 31. Among the unusual birds were a female Barrow’s Goldeneye (3rd county record) and the latest ever Snow Bunting March 6. A total of 39 new migrants were found in March. There were 128 species in March in 256 field hours and these were posted to IBET (Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts).



March, 2015: NSF Proposal Submitted: Three Dimensions of Biodiversity

Dr. Hong Qian submitted a research proposal to the National Science Foundation to investigate and integrate genetic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of vascular plant diversity in the Hengduan Mountains, Southwest China, which is a world hotspot of biodiversity. The proposal is collaborative with Chinese colleagues and was submitted to a collaborative program between the U.S. NSF and the Chinese National Science Foundation and, if successful, would be jointly funded by both foundations.



March, 2015: Dire Wolf Travels from the ISM to Europe for a Date

Dr. Jeffrey Saunders sent about 450 mg of dentine powder collected by Dr. Chris Widga from the canine of a dire wolf (Canis dirus) to former McMillan intern Dr. Angela Perri, now at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany. The dire wolf was recovered in 1967 during excavations at the Murray Springs Clovis Site, Cochise County, Arizona. The specimen is on long-term loan to the ISM from the University of Arizona. Perri agreed to transfer the sample to Dr. Tom Higham, Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at the University of Oxford, UK for radiocarbon age determination. Analysis by Higham of a 5 mg sample submitted earlier indicated the nitrogen content to be high enough to support the possibility of an AMS radiocarbon age determination. If the date is successful, it will be the first date for a direct dire wolf/Clovis association.



March, 2015: Northernmost Pampathere

Steve Morse, a volunteer in the Geology section began cleaning and preparing faunal remains from the Lovewell Reservoir, Kansas. In addition to Smilodon, horse, and camel, cursory analysis of the assemblage shows it to also include proboscidean and the pampathere taxon, Holmesina septentrionalis. The presence of the latter species is significant since it is the northernmost North American record for the species.



March, 2015: Preparation of Collagen Samples from Bones and Teeth

Geology curator Dr. Chris Widga has developed lab protocols for extracting and purifying collagen from sub-fossil materials. These techniques are useful for the analysis of stable isotopes from bones and, potentially, for radiocarbon analyses. In the past, samples had to be sent to an outside lab for processing.



February, 2015: Materials Scanned for Researchers

Pat Burg scanned the article, “European Trade Goods at the Ripley Site” from Northeast Anthropology for John Walthall. Beckie Dyer scanned The Prairies for Bill McClain. Due to the fragile condition of the Library’s original 1911 copy, Beckie Dyer printed a copy for the circulating collection and the original will be kept with the rare books at the RCC. Pat contacted the Tozzer library at Harvard to obtain a scan of “The Chaco Canyon Project: The Tozzer-Farabee Expedition, 1901”. The Harvard inquiry for Jonathan Reyman is ongoing.



February, 2015: Analyses of Animal Remains from Middle Woodland Contexts

Angela Perri and Dr. Terrance Martin are collaborating with Ken Farnsworth in reexamining animal specimens from Hopewell Middle Woodland contexts in Illinois in order to verify or revise previous species identifications. In February, Dr. Martin inspected specimens from the Snyders site, Gay Mound, Dickison site, and the Titterington Collection. Martin wrote a section for a manuscript for the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology on a juvenile bobcat skeleton (which had previously been misidentified as a juvenile dog) from Mound 7 at the Elizabeth Mounds site in Pike County, Illinois.



February, 2015: Digitization of Faunal Data for NSF Grant Project

Mona Colburn and Dr. Bonnie Styles worked on the incorporation of Modoc Rock Shelter archaeofaunal databases into the Digital Archaeological Record. They also worked on the expansion of taxonomic ontologies for the database. This research is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to Dr. Sarah Neusius with Dr. Styles as the Co-Principal Investigator for the project.



February, 2015: Faunal Report for the C.V. Erickson Site in Northern Wisconsin

Dr. Terrance Martin analyzed and prepared a technical report on a small historical faunal assemblage (1920s-1930s) from Feature 2 at the C.V. Erickson site (47VI154) in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Vilas County, Wisconsin, for CCRG. Species included white-tailed deer, porcupine, and northern pike.



February, 2015: Ongoing Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) components of the Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Analysis is finished for more than 2,000 features, including integrating miscellaneous animal remains that were found during processing and analysis of other artifacts at the ISAS labs. Examination of flotation samples was begun in February. Dr. Martin submitted species composition and intra-site distribution tables for sites 34MC590 and 34MC733 (both late 19th and early 20th century Choctaw habitation sites in eastern Oklahoma) for the Ouachita National Forest Faunal Project (Arkansas and Oklahoma) to Lexie Rue-Harris, Forest Service Archeologist, Poteau-Cold Springs Ranger District, Ouachita National Forest, Booneville, Arkansas. Dr. Martin continued identifications on the 2012 and 2013 faunal assemblage from the Goose Lake Outlet #3 site (20MQ140), Marquette County, Michigan. This proto-historic winter encampment is located seven miles inland from Lake Superior on Goose Lake Outlet, which is part of the Lake Michigan drainage system via the Escanaba River. Artifacts from the site include early iconographic/Jesuit rings and numerous glass trade beads. The project is under the supervision of archaeologists at Northern Michigan University.



February, 2015: Archaeological Investigation of the Jameson Jenkins Lot in Springfield, Illinois

Dennis Naglich finished revisions to the technical report on the 2014 archaeological investigation and delivered it to the National Park Service office at the Lincoln Home Site in Springfield.



February, 2015: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren identified freshwater mussel shell (816 identifiable valves) from Late Woodland deposits at the Scovill site (11F29) in an attempt to assess Dr. Paul Parmalee's report of seven valves of "Dysnomia perplexa" (=Epioblasma torulosa) from the site (Munson, Parmalee, and Yarnell 1971). Epioblasma torulosa has not been reported historically from the Illinois River basin, so Dr. Parmalee's record, if valid, would indicate either the occurrence of an exotic species at the site or a potential late-prehistoric range expansion into the Illinois River Basin. Dr. Warren found no specimens of E. torulosa in the collection but did find seven specimens of Plethobasus cyphyus, a somewhat similar species that Dr. Parmalee did not report from Scovill. It seems likely that Dr. Parmalee misidentified the P. cyphyus valves as E. torulosa, but this cannot be confirmed in the absence of specific provenience data for the valves. In spite of this discrepancy, there is a strong positive correlation between Dr. Parmalee's and Dr. Warren's identifications overall (R2 = 0.98).



February, 2015: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. Winter continued through the end of the month and the bird species remained static. Bohlen observed 90 species of birds in 110 hours of field time. The waterfowl numbers at Lake Springfield remain about the same since the lake is one of the few places with open water. There were 27 species (swans, geese, and ducks). The lake had 300,000 Snow Geese on February 10. The smaller birds are not doing as well as most natural foods were depleted (berries) or became unaccessible because of deeper snow (leaf litter).



February, 2015: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Everett Cashatt and several team members of the Missouri Hine’s Emerald Recovery Team continue to analyze and work on a draft paper on the mark-recapture study of Hine’s emerald dragonfly at Kay Branch, and Johnsons Shut-ins State Park, Reynolds County, Missouri. A new breeding site for Hine’s emerald was discovered near the Spring Creek drainage in Cook County, Illinois. This site is the first site found in Illinois outside the Des Plaines River drainage. In view of this recent discovery, a Hine’s emerald dragonfly workshop is being planned for area land managers and biologists in July in northeastern Illinois.



February, 2015: Illinois WPA Art Project Chicago

Pat Burg located several digital resources relating to National Art Week in Chicago during November 25 – December 1, 1940. An exhibition catalog and promotional poster were located at the Archives of the Art Institute and the Library of Congress.



February, 2015: Midwestern Bison a DNA Project

Dr. Chris Widga contributed samples to a thesis project from Lakehead University in Ontario. Joe Boyle will analyze ancient DNA from middle Holocene bison bone samples from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The DNA samples are what remain of material that was not needed for radiocarbon dating.



February, 2015: Analysis of Archaeofauna from Movie Draw Rockshelter, Black Hills, South Dakota

Dr. Chris Widga is collaborating with Drs. Rolfe Mandel and Fred Sellet (University of Kansas) to complete a report on the archaeology of the Movie Draw Rockshelter in Custer County, South Dakota. This shelter with deep stratified sediments was excavated in the early 2000s. It has a faunal record that spans the technological transition from spear-throwers to bow-and-arrow. The authors are in the final stages of preparing a manuscript for submission to Plains Anthropologist.



February, 2015: Early Dog Collaboration

On February 3, Drs. Terry Martin, Chris Widga, Meredith Mahoney, and Dennis Lawler met with Ripan Malhi, Kelsey Witt, Jessica Perry Hekman, and Kristen Hedman from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign at the RCC. The topic of the meeting was collaborative research on early domestic dogs. Malhi is a geneticist specializing in ancient human DNA, and Witt is a Ph.D. student working under Malhi. Witt’s dissertation is focusing on the genetics of ancient North American dogs. Former McMillan intern Angela Perri has already sampled some of our most obvious dog samples for DNA, and the Larson Lab in Oxford, with which Perri is working, will share data as it becomes available.



February, 2015: Vertebrate Paleontology at Lovewell Reservoir, North-central Kansas

Dr. Chris Widga is assisting Dr. Steve Holen (Center for the Study of the American Paleolithic) and Brendon Asher (University of Kansas) in the analysis of a vertebrate fauna assemblage recovered from the shore of Lovewell reservoir in northern Kansas. Holen has done work in this area for decades. This fauna contains sabertooth cat (Smilodon), camel, and horses. The collections were loaned to the ISM by the Bureau of Reclamation for preparation and analysis.



January, 2015: Jameson Jenkins Site Faunal Report

Dr. Terrance Martin completed a report on the animal remains from the 2014 excavations at the Jameson Jenkins Lot in Abraham Lincoln’s neighborhood at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site and forwarded the text and tables to Dennis Naglich to include in the ISM’s Landscape History Technical Report to the National Park Service (January 27).



January, 2015: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4), a habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Analysis is finished for more than 2,000 features, including integrating miscellaneous animal remains that were found during processing and analysis of other artifacts at the ISAS labs. In January, systematic analysis of the faunal collection from the 1953 and 1954 excavations was completed, some of which had been previously examined by Paul Parmalee (ISM), Dorothy B. Foss (Chicago Natural History Museum [Field Museum]), and Philip D. Young (University of Oregon). The 1954 faunal collection from the site that was donated to the University of Illinois by Raymond Dausman was also analyzed.



January, 2015: CT Scans of Fossil Specimens

On 1/21 Dr. Chris Widga coordinated the acquisition of CT scans on a series of fossils. Bones from Fogelpole Cave (Monroe Co.) are encased in a thick Mn rind that obscures bone landmarks that are necessary for identification. CT scans will help visualize these parts of the bones. They will also form the basis of 3D models that will be printed out and presented to the current landowners, the Clifftop Alliance, during a public talk in late February. A young mastodon from coastal New Hampshire, the state’s first record, was also scanned prior to sampling for stable isotopes.



January, 2015: Ouachita National Forest Faunal Project

Dr. Terrance Martin submitted species composition and intra-site distribution tables for site 4LF595 to Lexie Rue-Harris, Forest Service Archeologist, Poteau-Cold Springs Ranger District, Ouachita National Forest, Booneville, Arkansas. Also in January, Martin began compilations of animal remains in the database for site 34MC590.



January, 2015: Former Exhibits Artist Robert G. Larson

Pat Burg provided Dr. Bonnie Styles with background information about the Martin Luther King Jr. bust sculpted by Robert G. Larson. Pat provided historical information on the Robert G. Larson diorama background paintings to Carolyn Patterson. The Living Museum Online Project and the Museum’s archive collection were consulted for both projects.



January, 2015: January Bird Monitoring

The monitoring project of birds in Sangamon County continues with waterfowl (ducks, geese, and gulls) going back and forth due to weather conditions. Spring migration was mostly on hold, but a few species ventured north such as Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow Geese, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Redhead, White-winged Scoter, and other waterfowl. Numbers of gulls were at Lake Springfield due to little open water and rarer gulls such as Kumlien’s (Iceland) Gull and Great Black-backed Gulls were seen. Most passerines were low in numbers and seem to be suffering from the cold and lack of food. Total species this month were 108 with 185 hours in the field. A trip was made to Ecuador (mostly in the Andes) in late January and early February in which 336 species were recorded (including thirty-five species of Hummingbirds and fifty-one species of tanagers). Several species of North American warblers and a thrush were seen in Ecuador on their winter quarters.



January, 2015: UNIO Program

Dr. Robert Warren revised his UNIO computer program (Version 4), which creates quantitative paleoenvironmental models of aquatic environments based the habitat preferences of freshwater mussel shells from archaeological or geological sites. Requested copies of the revised program were sent to Sarah Gilleland of Mississippi State University and Beverley Smith of the University of Michigan-Flint. (January 19)



January, 2015: Fossil Bivalves from Nebraska

Dr. Robert Warren analyzed a collection of fossil freshwater bivalves recovered from late Pleistocene or early Holocene deposits in south-central Nebraska. All specimens were identified as grooved fingernail clams (Sphaerium simile). The habitat preferences of this species indicate that the prehistoric depositional environment was a body of permanent water (perennial stream, lake, or pond) with a substrate composed of silt, sandy silt, or boulders.



January, 2015: Anthropology and Geology

Pat Burg assisted Dennis Naglich by locating bibliographic information and microfilm locations for a historical newspaper. Two historical foreign language pdfs were located for Dr. Jeffrey Saunders for a presentation. Four citations regarding historic fire accounts were verified for Bill McClain.



January, 2015: Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group Convenes in RCC

Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn hosted a meeting of the Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group in the Research and Collections Center with Dr. Sarah Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) on January 15-17, under the auspices of a National Science Foundation Grant awarded to Drs. Neusius and Styles. The workshop was attended by Dr. George Cruthers (University of Kentucky), Dr. Renee Walker (State University of New York—Oneonta), Dr. Beverly Smith (University of Michigan—Flint), Dr. Tanya Peres (Middle Tennessee State University), Steven Kuehn (Illinois State Archaeological Survey), Adam Brin (the Digital Archaeological Record Programmer from Arizona State University), and Allen Huber (Graduate Student, Indiana University of Pennsylvania). Dr. Keith Kintigh (Arizona State University) and Dr. Tiffany Clark (Arizona State University) participated in sessions via Web-ex. Working Group Members reviewed taxonomic ontologies assembled by Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn, discussed other ontologies, uploaded faunal datasets into the Digital Archaeological Record, practiced data integration, and discussed research plans. Dr. Bonnie Styles gave participants tours of the ISM-Springfield and RCC. Dr. Terrance Martin attended one of the sessions and provided a Zooarchaeology Laboratory tour (January 16). Dr. Robert Warren described his research on freshwater mussel faunas in the Illinois River Basin for the team (January 16). Dr. Chris Widga presented the advanced imaging laboratory, and Dr. Eric Grimm presented the Neotoma Paleoecology Database to the group (January 16). Drs. Erich Schroeder and Eric Grimm assisted with the WebEx.



January, 2015: Saunders Responds to Query on Mammoth Tooth

Dr. Jeff Saunders received an email from Dr. Roy Plotnick, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Illinois at Chicago in regard to an image of a mammoth tooth in the Hemingway Museum. A label next to the tooth in Plotnick’s photograph indicated it was “found in the forest at Forest Home Cemetary [sic] in Forest Park.” This was of great interest to Saunders in the context of his co-authored volume (with Dr. Leslie Fay,) compiling the Pleistocene Vertebrates of Illinois. Further email exchanges with Dr. Plotnick clarified and corrected, for the above mentioned compilation, several matters regarding the Cook County record of mastodons and mammoths, and resulted in properly placing two of them in the correct suburban communities (Forest Park and Oak Park).



January, 2015: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren examined freshwater mussel shells from Woodland deposits at the Apple Creek site (11GE482) in an attempt to assess Dr. Paul Parmalee's 1972 report of two valves of "Dysnomia perplexa" (=Epioblasma torulosa) from the site. This species has not been reported historically from the Illinois River basin, so Dr. Parmalee's record, if valid, would indicate either the occurrence of an exotic species at the site or a potential late-prehistoric range expansion into the Illinois River Basin. Dr. Warren found no specimens of E. torulosa in the collection but did find two specimens of Epioblasma triquetra, a species that Dr. Parmalee did not report. It seems likely that Dr. Parmalee misidentified the E. triquetra valves as E. torulosa, but this cannot be confirmed in the absence of specific provenience data for the E. triquetra valves. (January 15-29)



January, 2015: Goose Lake Outlet #3 site (20MQ140), Marquette County, Michigan

Dr. Terrance Martin began identifications on the 2012 and 2013 faunal assemblage from an hypothesized site of a Proto Historic winter encampment immediately adjacent to the Lake Superior basin, but located on Goose Lake Outlet, which is part of the Lake Michigan drainage system. Artifacts from the site include early iconographic/Jesuit rings and numerous glass trade beads. The project is under the supervision of archaeologist at Northern Michigan University.



January, 2015: Dragonfly Research Update

Dr. Tim Cashatt submitted the 2014 Annual Summary of the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana) Surveys and Field Activities to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 Office, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and other state agencies in Region 3. This report includes the results of field activities conducted on the endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin in 2014. Dr. Meredith Mahoney wrote a summary of the genetics research and results for Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly from 2014 for the report as well.



January, 2015: Qian Studies Species Turnover

Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Xianli Wang at University of Alberta, Canada conducted a study examining the relationships among species turnover, species pool, and latitude across the globe. The result of this study has been published in the January issue of the 2015 volume of Ecological Informatics.



January, 2015: Heights of Woody Plants

Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Robert E. Ricklefs at University of Missouri-St. Louis conducted a study testing the hypothesis of the bimodal pattern of woody plant heights. The result of this study has been published in the January issue of the 2015 volume of Trends in Ecology & Evolution, which is one of the world top journals in ecology.



January, 2015: Mammoth Cave Guano Chemistry

Mona Colburn completed a project on the chemistry of Mammoth Cave bat guano. For this project, she analyzed ~15 samples excavated during the 2008 Trail Rehabilitation Project on a Fourier-Transform infrared spectrometer in the UIS chemistry department. These data will help us determine how much the samples have been modified by diagenesis.



January, 2015: Mastodon Paleogenomics Collaboration

Dr. Jeff Saunders and Dr. Chris Widga have begun a collaboration with Hendrik Poinar (McMaster U), Emil Karpinski (McMaster U), Chris Jass (Royal Alberta Museum), and Grant Zazula (Yukon Heritage Ctr) on the phylogeography of the American Mastodont. We will provide dated samples from our NSF-funded proboscidean project for Karpinski’s thesis.



December, 2014: Collaborative Study Proposed

On the December 21, Dr. Jeff Saunders received an email from Dick Mol, Het Natuurhistorisch, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, proposing a collaborative study of the relationship between Mammut borsoni (in Eurasia) and Mammut americanum (in North America). Dr. Saunders responded that while he would like to see the study proceed due to time restraints and prior obligations, he did not think he would be able to participate. Previously Dr. Saunders and French colleague Dr. Pascal Tassy (University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris) published a paper (in French) entitled “Le mastodonte américain” (La Recherche no. 209 avril 1989) that indicated that the two forms are only distantly related and which accepted the notion, now widely held, that M. borsoni is properly Zygolophodon borsoni. Mol is of the minority opinion that M. borsoni was the ancestor of M. americanum, whereas Saunders and Tassy (1989) view the ancestor of the latter to be Miomastodon merriami, a resident in North America by ~15 Ma and having roots in Eurasian Zygolophodon turicensis.



December, 2014: Archaic Archeofaunal Database

Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn participated in several conference calls with Dr. Sarah Neusius of Indiana University of Pennsylvania to disucss taxonomic ontologies and plan for an upcoming workshop with project partners to add archaeofaunal data from Archaic archaeological sites in the interior eastern woodlands to the Digital Archaeological Record and test hypotheses about increasing use of aquatic resources.



December, 2014: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) for the Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Analysis is finished for more than 2,000 features, including integrating miscellaneous animal remains that were found during processing and analysis of other artifacts at the ISAS labs. During December, systematic analysis of the faunal collection from the 1953 and 1954 excavations was undertaken, some of which had been previously examined by Dr. Paul Parmalee (ISM), Dorothy B. Foss (Chicago Natural History Museum [Field Museum]), and Philip D. Young (University of Oregon). The 1954 faunal collection from the site that was donated to the University of Illinois by Raymond Dausman was also analyzed.



December, 2014: Bohlen Monitors Birds

In December, the Sangamon County bird monitoring project produced 110 species in 186 field hours. Geese and other waterfowl were moving back and forth because of several warming periods. There were eight species of gulls seen including rarer species such as Mew Gull, Kumlien’s Gull, and Glaucous Gull. Numbers of birds in foraging woodland flocks and ground feeding species continued to be low. Very few stragglers (birds that usually winter further south) are staying this winter due to the cold November temperatures. Dave Bohlen found an area northwest of Springfield with a high population of raptors (especially Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, and Rough-legged Hawks) most likely because of high numbers of Microtus present.



December, 2014: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Ilinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren continued his analysis of freshwater mussel faunas in the Illinois River Basin. He presented a public program on this research for ISM's monthly Paul F. Mickey Science Series Lecture (Dec. 10). He also submitted an abstract for a presentation at the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society Symposium to be held in St. Charles, Missouri in March, 2015.



December, 2014: Relationship Between Family Ages of Trees and Temperature

The number of species in a sampling area generally increases from warm and wet tropical regions to colder and drier regions. The tropical conservatism hypothesis (TCH) links environmental tolerance, diversification, dispersal, and evolutionary history in explaining why warm and wet tropical regions harbor more species than colder and drier regions. At its core, the TCH predicts a positive relationship between mean family age and temperature. Dr. Hong Qian tested this prediction with a data set of angiosperm tree assemblages from tropical Asia. A manuscript resulting from this study has been submitted to the Journal of Biogeography.



December, 2014: Research in the Museum Library

Pat Burg continued to search for and find exhibition reviews and listings about the Illinois artist John H. Foote, Jr. She also assisted Ken Farnsworth and the Illinois Archaeological Society by locating and downloading a copy of the Proceedings of the 1989 Smoking Pipe Conference.



December, 2014: DNA samples to Shapiro Lab

Powdered bone and dentin samples from a number of ISM specimens were submitted to the Shapiro ancient DNA lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz. These included samples from Cervalces (Barnhart, Powder Mill Creek Cave), Sangamona (Brynjulfson Cave), Castoroides (Clear Lake, Ogden, Belleflower), Arctodus (Big Bear Cave), Homotherium (Gassaway Fissure, Tyson Spring Cave), Smilodon (Hurricane River Cave), Bison (Autolite Cave), and an unidentified artiodactyl petrosal from Boney Springs.



December, 2014: Preparation for Phase II of Proboscidean Grant Proposal

Dr. Chris Widga, Dr. Jeff Saunders, and Dr. Stacey Lengyel began preparations for submission of an NSF proposal to address issues in the evolution and paleoecology of North American proboscideans in the Midcontinent. The proposal will involve collaborators from Williams College (Bonnie Blackwell), Baylor University (Steve Forman), the University of Kansas (Doug Walker), and Iowa State University (Al Wanamaker) to date specimens where radiocarbon dating has failed (due to pre-50,000 BP age or lack of organic preservation), and also to better understand the ecology of these animals through analyses of stable isotopes in tooth enamel. The proposal will be submitted for the April deadline.



November, 2014: Sill Researches Visual Art

Bob Sill, Associate Curator of Art, continues to research text-based art to add to the current curatorial project exhibition entitled Pro-Text: When Words Enter Visual Art.



November, 2014: Establishment of Dendrochronology Laboratory

Drs. Chris Widga and Terrance Martin met with Glen Freimuth to discuss obtaining equipment to establish a basic dendrochronology laboratory in the RCC.



November, 2014: On-going Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continued the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4) site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Currently, more than 14,000 records had been entered on animal remains through Feature 2,180.



November, 2014: Interior Woodlands Archaic Faunal Database

Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn participated in a conference call meeting with Dr. Sarah Neusius of Indiana University of Pennsylvania to discuss ongoing activities and needs for the porting of Archaic archeofaunal data into the Digital Archaeological Record under the auspices of a National Science Foundation Grant.



November, 2014: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren continued his analysis of freshwater mussel faunas in the Illinois River Basin. One focus this month was placing the analysis in a solid geological context based on Ed Hajic's 1990 Ph.D. dissertation and recent ISGS publications by Brandon Curry (2011, 2014) and others.



November, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

During November 2014, which was the fourth coldest month on record, Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. Bohlen observed twenty species fewer than November 2013, probably because less hardy species left early and others passed through more quickly. Altogether, he observed 114 species during 225 hours. Some of the more uncommon species were Trumpeter Swan, Eared Grebe, Oldsquaw, Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, and Great Black-backed Gull. Passerine species were scarce and there were few to no stragglers.



November, 2014: Endangered Species - Genetics of Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Zoology Curator Dr. Meredith Mahoney continued work in the genetics lab to sequence target genes from two populations of Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly from Missouri with the objective of determining the genetic variation. The samples were taken as part of mark-recapture studies in summers of 2013 and 2014. The data generated will be included in on-going studies of population dynamics of this endangered dragonfly species.



November, 2014: Collections Research at Cincinnati Museum Center

Dr. Chris Widga examined the Quaternary mammal collection from Sheriden Pit, Wyandotte County, Ohio. This assemblage is dominated by flat-headed peccaries (Platygonus compressus), but shows pristine preservation compared to other peccary assemblages in the Midwest (i.e., Peccary Cave, Arkansas). Taphonomic analyses of these sites provide information about the carnivore guilds in the Midwestern United States.



October, 2014: Site 11W12739 at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

Dr. Terrance Martin identified a small sample of animal remains from the Huber phase site 11WI2739 in order to verify the presence of bison at the request of Joe Wheeler, archaeologist at Midewin (October 21).



October, 2014: Jameson Jenkins Lot Faunal Analysis

Dr. Terrance Martin compiled species composition tables by excavation unit, level, and feature for the 91 animal remains that were recovered during the 2014 excavations.



October, 2014: Center for French Colonial Studies Meeting

Dr. Terrance Martin (as member of the CFCS Board of Directors) participated in the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Center for French Colonial Studies in St. Louis, which was attended by more than 97 registered individuals (October 17-19).



October, 2014: Hoxie Farm Site (11CK4) Faunal Analysis

Dr. Terrance Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Currently, more than 13,700 records had been entered on animal remains through Feature 1600.



October, 2014: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren continued his analysis of freshwater mussel faunas in the Illinois River Basin. Public programs on this research include an ISM Brown Bag lecture presented on October 15. An article summarizing the results of this research will be written and submitted for publication in an archaeological journal in 2015.



October, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

In October, Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. He documented 164 species, of which 29 were new fall migrants, mostly ducks and sparrows. Nearly all warblers, vireos, tanagers and other insectivores migrated south in October. On October 26, he observed a male Varied Thrush, the earliest in fall by several weeks and the seventh record for Sangamon County. Some species showed very low numbers such as Broad-winged Hawk, Northern Bobwhite, Dunlin, Northern Mockingbird, and Scarlet Tanager.



October, 2014: Endangered Species—Genetics of Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Meredith Mahoney extracted DNA and sequenced target genes from samples of Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly from two populations in Missouri. The data generated will be included in on-going studies of population dynamics of this endangered dragonfly species.



October, 2014: James Jenkins Archaeological Project

Timothy Townsend of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Dennis Naglich, and Dr. Terrance Martin met at the RCC with Jori Lewis (independent reporter and writer) concerning the Jameson Jenkins archaeological project and its connection to the Underground Railroad on October 10.



October, 2014: Research in the ISM Library

Pat Burg assisted the Anthropology department by locating previously scanned items (by ISAS) in the library manuscript collection. A Nickerson map (Aiken Mound Group) was previously scanned and the library received a notebook and printout of the scanned plate(s). Additionally, three field and photograph notebooks by George Langford and Cutter-Deuel Correspondence were scanned. The notebooks were titled: “Fisher’s Site Volume I,” by George Langford; “Fisher’s Site Volume II: Post European Mounds SE;” and “Indian Sites Near Joliet.” The library received a CD with the scans of all four items in 2008. Pat also assisted Dee Ann Watt with Cahokia objects using the library’s vertical files, museum quarterly reports, and director’s correspondence in the archives.



October, 2014: Analysis of Large Mammal Fauna from Peccary Cave, Arkansas

Dr. Chris Widga and Matt G. Hill (Iowa State University) began a collaborative re-analysis of a classic midwestern Quaternary vertebrate locality, Peccary Cave near Fayetteville, Arkansas. Peccary Cave was excavated by paleontologists from the University of Arkansas in the late 1960s and again in the 1990s. Although the microfauna have been published and are consistent with a glacial age, the large mammal fauna has only seen limited analysis. Preliminary results indicate that the large mammal fauna is diverse, including flat-headed peccary (Platygonus compressus), stag-moose (Cervalces scotti), mammoth or mastodon (Proboscidea), beautiful armadillo (Dasypus bellus), and dire wolf (Canis dirus). The assemblage shows extensive carnivore modification, which is likely the result of dire wolf denning behavior.



October, 2014: On the Road to Wisconsin—Radiocarbon Dating of Mammoths and Mastodons

Dr. Chris Widga traveled to the Kenosha Public Museum (KPM) in Kenosha, Wisconsin to sample mammoth, mastodon, and helmeted muskox specimens for radiocarbon dating. These specimens are part of the KPM collections, primarily from southeastern Wisconsin. Radiocarbon analysis of the proboscidean specimens is funded through NSF support.



October, 2014: Research and Awards Presented at Midwest Archaeological Conference

Several ISM curators, research associates, and adjunct research associates participated in the joint meeting of the 58th Annual Midwest Archaeological Conference (MAC) and the Annual Meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey (IAS) in Champaign, October 2-4, which was attended by 373 registered participants. Museum staff members presented numerous papers and posters at the meeting (see Professional Presentations). As part of the IAS’s annual meeting, Illinois Archaeology Career Achievement Awards were presented to ISM Museum Director Emeritus Dr. R. Bruce McMillan (citation and presentation by Dr. Bonnie W. Styles) and to former Northwestern University Professor and Director of the Center for American Archeology Dr. Stuart Struever (citation and presentation by Dr. Michael D. Wiant). Dr. Wiant served as a panelist for the MAC Student Workshop on Current Issues in Midwestern Archaeology.



September, 2014: Fort St. Joseph Site Fauna Reported at Conference

As part of this the 10th annual Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference in Niles, Michigan (September 26-27), Dr. Terrance Martin participated in a session “Archaeology and Heritage Management: The Future of the Past at Fort St. Joseph, Niles, Michigan” highlighting the significance of the faunal assemblage and what it is teaching us about subsistence and the fur trade. About 120 students and adults attended the session. Dr. Martin also continues to advise Joseph Hearns (Western Michigan University) on his Master’s thesis concerning spatial distributions of the Fort St. Joseph site’s archaeofauna and several specific activity areas.



September, 2014: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin finished the chapter on the animal remains from 15 features from the Zimmerman site, Grid A (1970-71 excavations) (La Salle County, IL), which were reanalyzed for a volume that is being assembled and edited by Robert F. Mazrim for the “Studies in Archaeology” series of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Dr. Martin identified animal remains from five Early Historic sugar maple sites in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the Hiawatha National Forest just west of St. Ignace that were investigated by Forest Service archaeologists John Franzen and Eric Drake. This work will be presented at the Midwest Archaeological Conference in Champaign in October. Dr. Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), a habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Currently, more than 13,400 records have been entered on animal remains (through Feature 1593).



September, 2014: Manuscript on Feather Distribution Project Submitted for Publication

Dr. Jonathan Reyman submitted a manuscript entitled “The Feather Distribution Project: Applied Archaeology and Anthropology to Preserve Traditional Pueblo Religions, Native Bird Populations, and Their Habitats” to the University of Utah Press (157 pages) (September 25).



September, 2014: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren presented "Multivariate Ordination of Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin, Illinois: Cultural and Environmental Correlates" in a special session on mollusk remains at the International Conference of Archaeozoology in San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina (September 24).



September, 2014: Research in the Museum Library

Pat Burg lent a volume of the Transactions of the Illinois Academy of Science to Elizabeth Bazan for a temporary exhibition in the Museum’s lower level. Pat also assisted Elizabeth with primary research on the Tilden Meteorites, including photographs, from the Director’s Correspondence in the Museum Archives collection. Pat also provided specimen accessions records from the Museum Archives to Dr. Meredith Mahoney and David Bohlen.



September, 2014: Workshop for NSF Archaic Faunal Project

Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn hosted an organizational workshop for an NSF grant-funded project to incorporate archaeofaunal databases from the interior Eastern United States into the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) and conduct research of increasing use of aquatic resources in the Archaic Period. Dr. Sarah Neusius, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is the Principal Investigator and Dr. Bonnie Styles is the Co-Principal Investigator for this project. Dr. Neusius and her graduate student Allen Huber, Dr. Kate Spielmann and Dr. Tiffany Clark (Arizona State University) participated in the organizational meeting. Dr. Keith Kintigh and Adam Brin (Arizona State University) and Dr. Eric Grimm participated in the part of the meeting via Webex.



September, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

During the fall migration, Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County. He documented 45 new arrivals of the 176 species totaled in 249 field hours. The second county record for Ash-throated Flycatcher, a western Species, occurred at the Lincoln Land banding area (banded on September 29, and Bohlen photographed it September 30). Most species were in moderate to low numbers especially shorebirds, marsh birds, and grassland species. A few ducks, grebes, and one loon arrived. Many of the fall arrivals were later than usual.



September, 2014: Researchers Re-examine Bone Artifacts from Middle Woodland Sites

Drs. Angela Perri and Terrance Martin met with Ken Farnsworth to review old photographs of cut mandibles and maxillae from Middle Woodland mound sites to verify or revise species identifications (September 19). Drs. Perri and Martin are collaborating with Farnsworth on an article re-examining Burial 22 at Elizabeth Mound 7 in Pike County, Illinois.



September, 2014: Insect Species of Concern

Dr. Everett Cashatt and Ed DeWalt, aquatic entomologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey, collaborated to produce a list of aquatic insects to be submitted to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for their Species of Concern document. This list may be used for reference in funding future surveys and research on these Illinois species.



September, 2014: How Tall are Woody Plants?

A recent article published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution 29:433-434 reported a bimodal pattern in the frequency distribution of the maximum heights of woody plants and developed a theory to explain the pattern. Understanding the frequency distribution of the maximum heights of woody plants is critical to understanding assembly rules of plant communities. Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Robert E. Ricklefs (University of Missouri-St. Louis) conducted a study testing the generality of the bimodal pattern of woody plant heights. A manuscript resulting from this project has been submitted to Trends in Ecology & Evolution, a top journal in ecology.



September, 2014: Hopwood Farm

At the behest of Dr. Leslie Fay (Rock Valley College, Rockford, IL), who is preparing a manuscript on the Hopwood Farm site in Montgomery County, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders assembled materials summarizing the discovery, excavations, and research. These items include the original discovery of fossils in 1992 by Curtis Hopwood, systematic excavations in 1980 by the ISM focusing on a mastodon specimen, and salvage work in 1990 following torrential rains and flooding.



September, 2014: Goose Lake Outlet Site Faunal Remains Reports

Northern Michigan University provided a letter of authorization for Dr. Terrance Martin to identify and prepare a technical report on animal remains from the Goose Lake Outlet #3 site (20MQ140), Marquette County, Michigan, a Proto-Historic (AD 1630-1640) encampment (September 10). A co-authored report on the site will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in a symposium on Great Lakes research organized by Fernanda Neubauer (Ph.D. candidate, University of Wisconsin Madison).



September, 2014: Visiting Researcher from Texas

Andrew Boehm, a Ph.D. student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas is working on the isotopic ecology of Paleoindian-age bison in the western plains. He processed samples in Dr. Chris Widga’s lab in September.



September, 2014: Visiting Researcher from Germany

Geology curators Drs. Chris Widga and Jeff Saunders hosted Dr. Angela Perri of the Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Dr. Perri was interested in Drs. Widga and Saunders research on dire wolves and early domesticated dogs. Dr. Perri was an R. Bruce McMillan intern at the ISM in 2010.



September, 2014: On the Road to Nebraska—Radiocarbon Dating of Mammoths and Mastodons

In the last week of September, Dr. Chris Widga travelled to the University of Nebraska State Museum to document mammoth and mastodon localities in their collections and to sample four specimens for radiocarbon dating, including a specimen from Mammuthus jeffersonii, collected by C.B. Schultz from the vicinity of Annawan, Illinois. This specimen is from the most complete skeleton of this species ever found in Illinois.



August, 2014: Manuscript for Book on Feather Distribution Project Completed

Dr. Jonathan Reyman completed the text for the manuscript for a proposed book, “The Feather Distribution Project: Applied Archaeology and Anthropology to Preserve Traditional Pueblo Religions, Native Bird Populations, and Their Habitats.” The manuscript is 152 pages in length and will be submitted to a prospective publisher.



August, 2014: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin finished drafting species composition tables for 15 features that were reanalyzed for a chapter on the Zimmerman Site, Grid A (1970-71 excavations) (La Salle County, IL). Dr. Martin’s chapter will be part of a volume that is being assembled and edited by Robert F. Mazrim that will be published by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Dr. Martin continues the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) Hoxie Farm (11CK4) habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. Currently, more than 13,400 records have been entered on animal remains through Feature 1,593. Dr. Martin made editorial corrections to text and tables in the section on the animal remains (Chapter 13) in a revision of the ISAS Research Report No. 27 on the Hoxie Farm Fortified Village (August 15). Dr. Martin continues to advise Joseph Hearns (Western Michigan University) on his master’s thesis concerning spatial distributions of the Fort St. Joseph site’s archaeofauna and several specific activity areas.



August, 2014: Zooarchaeology Workshops on Coalwood Site (20AR18)

Dr. Terrance Martin participated in Western Michigan University’s archaeological field school and presented two zooarchaeology workshop sessions using data from the site of Coalwood, a cord wood lumber camp near Munising, Michigan in the Hiawatha National Forest. The lumber camp was owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company. It was in operation from 1900-1912 and was occupied by as many as 217 workers, many of whom lived there with their families. The site had been heavily looted and excavations directed by Forest Service archaeologist Eric Drake and Dr. LouAnn Wurst (WMU) attempted to document the extent of the looters’ damage and evaluate the remaining site integrity and research potential for understanding the everyday life of these workers and their families. Much of the disturbed materials consist of well-preserved bones from domesticated animals, and the workshop sessions provided the opportunity for the field school students to identify these fragmentary bones by species, anatomical part, and skeletal portion/butchering unit.



August, 2014: Grand Haven Bypass Highway Project in Southwestern Michigan

Dr. Terrance Martin finished the technical report on three faunal assemblages for sites 20OT283, 20OT3, and 20OT344, which are late prehistoric habitation sites along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan that were investigated and/or mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT in 2011. He submitted his report to CCRG to be included in the final completion report to the Michigan DOT. The concluding section features inter-site comparisons to Berrien phase (Upper Mississippian) sites and faunal assemblages in southwestern Michigan as well as to Upper Mississippian sites in northwestern Indiana and the Chicago area.



August, 2014: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeology Project

Dennis Naglich continued preparing a technical report on this summer’s excavation of 2.5 m2 of area within the northwestern portion of the Jameson Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.



August, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

In August, Zoology Curator H. David Bohlen continued his monitoring of birds in Sangamon County, during the tail end of nesting period and the beginning of the fall migration. Post-nesting dispersal of herons again this year was very low. There were a few Great Egrets, but only one Little Blue Heron and two Snowy Egrets. Ducks that were seen (both the teals and Shoveler) arrived late. The most unusual bird of the month was a Mississippi Kite (juvenile) at the south end of Lake Springfield. A few shorebirds continued to trickle through the county with rains keeping the water levels too high to hold any numbers of birds (only small numbers of 14 species were found). Bohlen noted 10 species of flycatchers, 6 species of swallows, and 20 species of warblers migrating in August. In total, he observed 148 species of birds in August during 203 field hours.



August, 2014: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Everett Cashatt submitted the final report for the 2014 Survey of the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Several team members of the Missouri Hine’s Emerald Recovery Team, including Dr. Cashatt, are working on a draft paper on the mark-recapture study of Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly at Kay Branch, and Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park, Reynolds County, MO.



August, 2014: Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin

Dr. Robert Warren examined a freshwater mussel collection from a Late Woodland occupation at the O'Donnell site (11JY290) to determine which ecophenotypes of Amblema plicata and Fusconaia flava are represented. The analysis confirmed that large-river forms are represented in both cases: A. p. peruviana and F. f. undata. With these identifications in hand, Dr. Warren revised all of his statistical analyses correlating mussel habitat scores (UNIO program) with detrended correspondence analysis coordinates (DECORANA program) for shell samples from archaeological sites in the Illinois River Basin. Graphs illustrating these relationships were also revised. This research is part of a larger project for which he prepared a preliminary presentation (Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin: Compositional Variation and Change) for a special session on mollusk remains at the International Conference of Archaeozoology (ICAZ) in San Rafael, Argentina (Sept 22-27).



August, 2014: Visitor from Russia

On behalf of the Geology Section, Museum Director Dr. Bonnie Styles sent a letter of invitation to Dr. Sergey Leshchinskiy, Department of Paleontology and Historical Geology, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia, to come to the ISM Research and Collections Center to study the Geology collections this fall (October or November) to facilitate his research of mammoths and mastodons. Dr. Leshchinskiy met Dr. Widga at the International Mammoth Conference in Greece in May, and Dr. Widga will act as collections coordinator for his research.



August, 2014: Neotoma Paleoecology Database

Dr. Eric Grimm has continued work on software development for the Neotoma Paleoecology Database, focusing on the input of rodent midden and faunal data. In August, he conducted six WebEx sessions to train database stewards in the use of the software.



August, 2014: Diversity Patterns of Tree Species

One of the most consistent patterns in biogeography is that species richness generally peaks where climates are warm and wet and declines as climates become colder and drier. Although the gradient of declining species richness with increasing environmental harshness in general and latitude in particular has been known for over two centuries, the mechanisms underlying the gradient remain poorly understood. The tropical conservatism hypothesis has been proposed to explain why warm, wet tropical regions harbor more species than colder, drier regions but the hypothesis has been rarely tested. Curator of Botany Dr. Hong Qian is testing this hypothesis with data on tree species from Asia. He is working on a manuscript reporting the results of the study.



August, 2014: Mammoth Bone Samples Submitted

Seven additional mammoth bone samples were submitted to the University of Arizona AMS lab as part of the NSF-funded Proboscidean chronology and paleoecology project. These samples come from purported late mammoths in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa.



August, 2014: Submission of Faunal Samples for Radiocarbon Dating

Dr. Chris Widga submitted two sets of samples for radiocarbon dating. The first set, submitted to Aeon Labs (Tucson, AZ), consisted of two Stag Moose specimens (Argyle, IA and Big Bone Lick, KY) that are part of a large review of this taxon in Midwestern Quaternary sites (collaboration with Matt G. Hill, Iowa State University). A sample from a recently donated elk (Vlahovich Elk, Sugar Creek, Logan County, IL) was also submitted.



August, 2014: Paleopathology of Early Iowa Dogs

A manuscript by Geology adjunct Dr. Dennis Lawler (DVM) and curator Dr. Chris Widga on the paleopathology of dogs from the Cherokee Sewer Site was accepted for publication by the International Journal of Paleopathology. The Cherokee Sewer Site in northwestern Iowa is one of the best documented early Plains Archaic assemblages in Iowa (~6500 BP). The faunal assemblage is dominated by bison, but canid remains are also common. This research describes a case of hypertrophic osteopathy in a large canid (likely a domesticated dog) from the site, as well as possible evidence of canid nutritional deficiencies.



July, 2014: Rodent Midden Workshop

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database is a collaborative project funded the NSF Geoinformatics Program. The ISM and Penn State are the two lead institutions. The project has a number of working groups, including one for rodent middens, which are important fossil archives in desert regions. In the American Southwest, packrats (Neotoma) are the primary midden builders; although other rodents construct similar middens in other parts of the world. These middens are especially known for plant macrofossils; however, they also contain animal bones and often pollen. The Neotoma Midden Working Group is charged with developing a strategy for incorporating midden data into Neotoma. The working group held a workshop at Penn State on July 28-30, which Dr. Eric Grimm attended. The workshop included scientists from both North and South America (the Atacama Desert in Chile is rich with rodent middens). Grimm has been developing the software used to upload data to the database, and the midden data have a number of different attributes that need to be accommodated.



July, 2014: Western Missouri Field Work

Paleontological and archaeological work in western Missouri at a number of springs sites and at Rodgers Shelter was conducted in the late 1960s and 1970s by personnel who later came to the Illinois State Museum and continued that work at the ISM. The individuals included future director of the Museum, R. Bruce McMillan, as well as James King, Jeffrey Saunders, Rick Purdue, Marvin Kay, and others. This research program initiated the interdisciplinary Landscape History Program at the ISM. On July 21-22, Dr. Chris Widga travelled to western Missouri with former Director McMillan to visit Jones Spring, Trolinger Spring, and Rodgers Shelter to explore the logistics of conducting additional coring and fieldwork at the localities with the potential aim of doing new kinds of radiocarbon and isotopic analyses not yet developed in the 1970s.



July, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

In July, H. David Bohlen’s monitoring of birds in Sangamon County dealt with breeding species. Since most of the county (83 %) is in agriculture, birds are left with little space in which to nest. Even places that are set aside specifically for wildlife are mowed too often and at the wrong time. DNR’s schedule for mowing is after August 1. This is probably too early and destroys lots of young and the insects they feed on. In addition, most are areas also mowed in June and July. Many agencies and private citizens spray herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides. These not only kill some birds outright, but expose the bird nests, kill the insects they feed on, and limit the number of young birds they can produce. Humans should not spray the environment, only themselves and their abodes. Bohlen also noted the very low numbers of butterflies, especially Monarchs, and other insects this summer. Two bird species dropped out of Carpenter Park Nature Preserve this summer - Kentucky Warbler and Summer Tanager. This could be due to mosquito spraying. Also observed in July, were 10 species of fall migrant shorebirds, two species of gulls, and three species of terns. All together 126 species were seen in a total of 179 hours of field work.



July, 2014: Hopwood Farm

On July 16, Dr. Leslie Fey (Rock Island Community College, Rock Island, Illinois) visited the RCC for research pertaining to his analysis of the fossil assemblage from Hopwood Farm, notably the collection (primarily screen-washable material containing gastropods and small vertebrate fossil remains) made by Dr. Neal Woodman in 1988. Dr. Fey and and Dr. Jeffrey Saunders coauthored a book-length treatment of the Pleistocene fossil vertebrates from Illinois. He is also coauthor with Dr. Brandon Curry (Illinois State Geological Survey/Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) and others of a comprehensive manuscript discussing the results of research (commencing in January 1979 and continuing) at the Hopwood Farm locality.



July, 2014: Article Submitted for Publication

Dr. Jonathan Reyman submitted the manuscript for his article, “The 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads, Mississippi: A Parson’s Perspective,” to the Chase Camp Gazette (July 15).



July, 2014: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Everett Cashatt has spearheaded research into the endangered species, Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly for the past several years. The primary purpose of this year’s Illinois Hine's Emerald Dragonfly (HED) survey was to confirm breeding habitat outside of the Des Plaines River drainage. Presently all known breeding sites for Hine's Emerald Dragonfly (HED) are located in the Des Plaines River drainage near industrial development. During a typical season HED emerges and begins to breed near the second or third week of June. This year, because of the late rainfall and cool weather in northeastern Illinois, the emergence was near the end of June, so we scheduled surveys for potential breeding sites in early July. Richard Day and Dr. Paul Switzer spent several hours surveying at each of the following sites: Boloria Fen and Sedge Meadow, Boone Creek Fen, Wheeler Fen Land and Water Reserve, and Alden Sedge Meadow, all of which are mostly in McHenry County. Of the five sites visited, two areas were identified as suitable for Hine's, one of which Hine's had been observed by other visitors before and after our visit. We were able to classify three of the fens as Low or Very Low suitability for Hine's emerald, due to dry conditions, encroachment by Reed Canary Grass, and surrounding human development. However, the presence of some suitable sites, in combination with observations of Hine's at one location, makes it seem likely that an established Hine's population may be in this area. We suggest that future surveys be conducted on additional potentially suitable fens in the vicinity of this year's surveys. Since the adult was found in the northwest part of Cook County, areas in the bordering counties, Kane, McHenry, and Lake, should also be surveyed for potential habitat. Based on a photograph of HED taken by Debra Antlitz near Spring Creek , Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Richard Day, Dr. Switzer, and Marla Garrison surveyed the area near the HED site. Marla Garrison was able to schedule an additional visit with Debra Antlitz and was able to observe a HED on a territorial patrol (reproductive behavior). This new site is approximately 34 miles from the nearest HED breeding site. Finding HED near Spring Creek (Fox River drainage) is a significant discovery and a major step toward developing a more stable and secure population of HED in Illinois.



July, 2014: Anthropology Professor Conducts Sabbatical Research

On July 14, Dr. Jodie O’Gorman, Chairman of the Anthropology Department at Michigan State University began a one-year sabbatical at the Research and Collections Center. She is preparing manuscripts for publication focusing on various aspects of her collaborative research with Dr. Michael Conner (Dickson Mounds Museum) based on their excavations at the mid-14th century Morton Village site. Working with Dr. Conner and other colleagues and students, Dr. O’Gorman’s writing will examine topics such as migration, foodways, ritual, and the nature and special layout of the multi-ethnic community.



July, 2014: Goebel-Bain Continues Research

Angela Goebel-Bain continued her research on Illinois topics for the second floor redevelopment and her fashion history research for the Bevier website exhibition.



July, 2014: Feather Distribution Project

Dr. Jonathan Reyman continued work throughout July on the manuscript for a proposed book, “The Feather Distribution Project: Applied Archaeology and Anthropology to Preserve Traditional Pueblo Religions, Native Bird Populations, and Their Habitats.” The manuscript is currently 103 pages in length, about 50% complete. Dr. Jonathan Reyman made a research trip to the Southwest United States in conjunction with the Feather Distribution Project.



July, 2014: Cacao Residues on Ceramics in ISM Collections

Dorothy Washburn and colleagues (Dorothy K., William N. Washburn, Petia A. Shipkova, and Mary Ann Pelleymounter) published their research based on chemical analyses undertaken on objects in the Museum archaeological collections at the RCC and at Dickson Mounds Museum (“Chemical Analysis of Cacao Residues in Archaeological Ceramics from North American: Consideration of Contamination, Sample Size and Systematic Controls.” Journal of Archaeological Science 50:191-207. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.07.011).



July, 2014: Black Hills Field Work

Dr. Eric Grimm spent two weeks (July 7-18) in the field excavating a cave site in the Black Hills, South Dakota, with former ISM Geology Curator Dr. Russell Graham, now director of the Museum of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. The crew comprised about 20 students and volunteers from Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Colorado. The site actually has two pit caves called Parker’s Pit and Don’s Gooseberry Pit. Both pit caves have served as traps for animals and contain a wealth of fossils, primarily small mammals and herps, as the cave openings are small. Parker’s Pit also has well preserved pollen. Ancient DNA extracted from collared lemmings from Don’s Gooseberry Pit dating to about 17,000-18,000 years ago indicates that this species is Dicrostonyx richardsoni. Paleontologists have always assumed that the species of collared lemming south of the ice sheet during the last glacial maximum was today’s high Arctic species Dicrostonyx groenlandicus, but often identified as a Siberian species Discrostonyx torquatus. Modern DNA studies have shown that the North American high Arctic species is not Discrostonyx torquatus, and now the aDNA studies from Don’s Gooseberry Pit indicate that, in fact, the species south of the ice sheet was probably not the high Arctic species at all. Today Dicrostonyx richardsoni occurs in a very restricted range just of west of Hudson Bay in a forest-tundra environment that, in fact, is more like the environment reconstructed for glacial times from other fossil evidence. During glacial times, Dicrostonyx richardsoni was probably much more widespread than today.



July, 2014: Zooarchaeological Research

Faunal research for the Grand Haven Bypass Highway Project (Southwestern Michigan) continued under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin. Sites 20OT283, 20OT3, and 20OT344 are late prehistoric habitation sites along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan, that were investigated and/or mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT in 2011. All sections of the technical report on the three faunal assemblages by Dr. Martin are finished except for the concluding discussion centered on inter-site comparisons to other Berrien phase sites and faunal assemblages in southwestern Michigan. Dr. Martin continued the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) from the Hoxie Farm Site, located south of Chicago in Cook County. This Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. By the end of July, more than 13,400 records had been entered on animal remains through Feature 1,593. Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Autumn Beyer (graduate student at Illinois State University) finished identifying animal remains from the Kuhne site (Putnam County, Illinois) at the ISM for her master’s thesis project. During July, she wrote her thesis proposal and constructed species composition tables for the faunal assemblage. Dr. Martin finished verifying Joseph Hearns’ (Western Michigan University) identifications of animal remains from excavation unit N25W2 at the Fort St. Joseph site (Niles, Michigan) as part of his master’s thesis research.



July, 2014: Chinese Visiting Scholar

Visiting scholar Dr. Xiaozhong Huang of Lanzhou University, China, has completed his one year (July 3, 2013 to July 4, 2014) visit to the ISM RCC. Dr. Huang is a palynologist/paleoecologist and was hosted by Director of Sciences, Dr. Eric Grimm. During his time in Illinois, he prepared three papers for publication with assistance from Dr. Grimm. These papers are in various stages of submission and review.



July, 2014: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeology Project

Dr. Terrance Martin, Dennis Naglich, and the National Park Service’s Cultural Resource Diversity Internship Program intern Shawn Fields (graduate student in anthropology at UIUC) conducted an excavation of 2.5 m2 of area within the northwestern portion of the Jameson Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site from June 12 through July 3. Chris Young (DNR Communications) made a short digital video at the site on July 2 and it premiered on the DNR website and the Museum’s Facebook page. During July, the artifacts and animal remains were analyzed at the RCC by Naglich and Fields, and work on the technical report was initiated. Timothy Townsend (Lincoln Home National Historic Site) met with Dennis Naglich, Shawn Fields, and Claire Martin on the project in the RCC (July 30).



June, 2014: Maintenance of Inventory of Archaeological Sites

On June 24, Dr. Bonnie Styles finalized negotiations for a half and half split for Nick Klobuchar’s work on the archaeological site file. The Museum will cover half and federal funds from the Lands Unsuitable for Mining Program (LUMP), administered through DNR’s Mines and Minerals Section, will cover the other half. This strategy ensures at least half-time support for maintenance of the site file should LUMP funds be reduced or eliminated. The Museum digitized and maintains the site file. It contains information on almost 60,000 sites that is vital to archaeological research and cultural resource management.



June, 2014: Endangered Species—Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Everett Cashatt conducted a mark-recapture study of Hine’s emerald dragonflies the week of June 15-20 at Johnsons Shut-Inns State Park in Reynolds County, Missouri to estimate the size of the population. Individual dragonflies were netted and uniquely marked with colored paint markers to indicate the date they were netted and released. Daily, from 8:00 a.m. to noon five to six people netted and marked 110 Hine’s emerald dragonflies over the 5-day period. Re-sightings of those marked on previous days were also recorded to estimate the population size at that site. The data are presently under analysis and will be incorporated with last year’s study for a publication.



June, 2014: Neotoma Software Training

Dr. Eric Grimm is developing the software interface for uploading new data to the Neotoma Paleoecology Database (www.neotomadb.org). In June, he conducted four WebEx sessions to remotely train database “stewards” in the use of this software interface.



June, 2014: Neotoma Data Upload

The pace of data upload to the Neotoma Paleoecology database is quickening, with 148 datasets validated and uploaded from the ISM in June.



June, 2014: Dragonfly Genetics

Dr. Meredith Mahoney conducted a number of analyses on the genetics dataset for the dragonfly genus Somatochlora, looking at relationships among species. ISM research associate Tim Vogt presented the results at the annual meetings of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas, June 13-15.



June, 2014: Planning for "One Health" Project

On June13, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Dennis Lawler, Dr. Chris Widga, and Dr. Jane Buikstra (Center for American Archeology and Arizona State University) met to discuss desires to convene a group to discuss interdisciplinary research of disease processes in animals and humans. The group is potentially considering a project on tuberculosis, which is expressed in humans and other animals, is recognizable on skeletal elements, and has great time depth in the archaeological record.



June, 2014: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeology Project

Dr. Terrance Martin, Dennis Naglich, and CRDIP intern Shawn Fields (graduate student in anthropology at UIUC) conducted an excavation of 2.5 m2 of area within the northwestern portion of the Jameson Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site beginning on June 12. This project was a continuation of a limited archaeological investigation that occurred last June (2013) that involved the exploratory excavation of two adjacent 1 x 1 meter units to a depth of ca. 3 feet below the modern ground surface. An extensive zone of a deeply buried hand-made bricks, mortar, and plaster was encountered in the southwestern-most excavation unit, and preliminary field impressions suggest that associated artifacts are primarily from the early half of the nineteenth century. Hundreds of National Park site visitors stopped to witness and learn about the work, and there was abundant press coverage (see Publicity section).



June, 2014: Sill Researches New Exhibition

Bob Sill continued working on a new exhibition, PROTEXT ART: When Words Enter Visual Art selecting artists, locking in loan requests, and conducting studio visits with perspective exhibitors.



June, 2014: Mammoth Cave

Mona Colburn and Dr. Chris Widga submitted revisions to an article that will be published in the journal Quaternary Research. This article describes paleontological work undertaken under contract with the National Park Service in 2008 to analyze materials from Mammoth Cave, Kentucky that would be impacted by trail rehabilitation activities. The article describes significant late Quaternary fossil assemblages in the cave spanning at least the last 100,000 years. It also explores the diet and habitat of bats in the region during the last interglacial period.



June, 2014: New Radiocarbon Dates

Dr. Chris Widga received the results for three 14C samples from Aeon Labs in Tucson, Arizona. The Woodyard bison from Fulton County, Illinois dates to 490 ± 25 BP. The bison also has a C4 dietary signature, which identifies it as the earliest dated Illinois bison to be an obligate grazer. A Stag Moose skull from Woodbury County, Iowa dates to 11,480 ± 60 BP. This specimen will be integrated into a review of Iowa Cervalces (collaboration with M. G. Hill, Iowa State University). Finally, a black bear from the Embarras River dates to 210 ± 25 BP.



June, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

H. David Bohlen’s bird monitoring in June dealt with nesting species in Sangamon County. Of the 125 species observed in June, at least 100 were suspected of breeding in the county (many of these were confirmed). However, there were some lingering waterfowl (Lesser Scaup & Common Mergansers), and a few shorebirds were still migrating north (Semipalmated Plover & Semipalmated Sandpipers). By the end of June a Marbled Godwit was migrating south. Unfortunately a kill of 80-100 Chimney Swifts occurred at Lake Springfield Dam on June 11. The factors causing this kill (it has happened before) are cool, rainy weather, in which the swifts fly lower trying to obtain food for young in the nests. They mass at the dam, because the water going over the dam causes a small aquatic insect to fly and the swifts feed on this insect (there being little other food). The trouble is caused when the swifts fly up over the causeway and the human traffic fails to slow down killing the swifts. Signs have been put up by City Water Light & Power, but very few people notice the birds or slow down. The kill zone along the road is not that long and if a series flags were put on top of the bridge abutment, the swifts would probably fly over the traffic (Dave contacted Ted Meches at CWLP about this). Not only do the adult swifts get killed, their young starve in the nests. Bohlen conducted 154 hours of field work in June.



June, 2014: Ongoing Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin continued writing sections of text for the technical report on the faunal assemblages from sites 20OT283, 20OT3, and 20OT344. These late prehistoric habitation sites along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan were investigated and/or mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT in 2011. Dr. Terrance Martin continued the zooarchaeological analysis of the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) of the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), a habitation site located south of Chicago. The Upper Mississippian site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS for IDOT between 2001 and 2003. By the end of June, more than 12,400 records had been entered on animal remains through Feature 1,400. Dr. Terrance Martin identified the last few specimens of animal remains from the Moses Camp site in the Hiawatha National Forest of northern Michigan and updated species composition tables for Forest archaeologist Eric Drake. Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Autumn Beyer (graduate student at Illinois State University) finished identifying animal remains from the Kuhne site Middle Woodland faunal assemblage (Putnam County, Illinois) as her master’s thesis project and continued entering her findings on a database. Dr. Martin continued verifying Joseph Hearns’ (Western Michigan University) identifications of animal remains from the Fort St. Joseph site (Niles, Michigan) as part of his master’s thesis research.



May, 2014: Research for Upcoming Exhibition

Bob Sill met with Allison Lacherion, Stanley Bly, and Thom Whalen to select work and secure loan requests for works to be included in his upcoming exhibition, PROTEXT: When Words Enter Visual Art.



May, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

H. David Bohlen’s bird monitoring continued with spring migration, in which 50 more migrants were added in May out of 201 species observed in 269 field hours. It was dry most of the month, with very few shorebirds. Passerine migration was spotty, with Lake Springfield unusually poor and areas such as Carpenter Park Nature Preserve producing the most birds. Some birds arrived late, and most migrants left this county early. Even some common birds such as Indigo Bunting and Killdeer had lower numbers than usual. Some rarer birds were seen such as Neotropic Cormorant, White-faced Ibis, Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird (could not be identified to species), and Fish Crow; all of which could be classified as southern birds moving north.



May, 2014: Dragonfly Genetics Research Projects

Zoology Curator Dr. Meredith Mahoney prepared a short presentation of slides and text summarizing her genetic research and results on Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly titled “Genetics studies on Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly in Missouri.” Dr. Everett Cashatt presented the summary as part of a training workshop on dragonflies he gave in May. Dr. Mahoney conducted a number of analyses to make evolutionary trees showing relationships of dragonflies in the genus Somatochlora. Research associate Tim Vogt will present the trees as part of an upcoming meeting presentation on their research.



May, 2014: ISM Scanning Electron Microscope is Now Online

Drs. Chris Widga and Meredith Mahoney hosted Tom Clarke, a scanning electron technician from Cleaner Image, Inc., on May 15-16. Mr. Clarke installed the new ISM scanning electron microscope, a Topcon ABT-32, and trained Mahoney and Widga in its operation. It was transferred to the Museum by SIU-E.



May, 2014: Species Richness

Botany Curator Dr. Hong Qian collaborated with Dr. John J. Wiens of University of Arizona, Dr. Jian Zhang of University of Alberta (Canada), and Dr. Yangjian Zhang of Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (China) in conducting a study, which determines the relative importance of ecological and evolutionary processes in influencing species richness patterns of trees across North America. A manuscript resulting from this study was submitted to Ecography, a top international journal on ecology and biogeography.



May, 2014: Neotoma Paleoecology Database

Dr. Eric Grimm is the principal investigator of the NSF funded Neotoma Paleoecological Database, and he has been developing the software in collaboration with the IT team at Penn State to remotely upload data to the database. The software is now operational, and Dr. Grimm has been training “data stewards” in how to use the software via online WebEx meetings. He held two of these sessions on May 12 and 30. Feedback from these meetings is important for further development and refinement of the software interface.



May, 2014: Suspected Hip Dysplasia in a Red Fox

Dennis F. Lawler, (1,2) Richard H. Evans, (2) Jennifer A. Reetz, (3) Jill E. Sackman, (4) Gail K. Smith (3)


(1) Illinois State Museum Collections Center, 1011 East Ash St, Springfield IL 62703
(2) Pacific Marine Mammal Center, 20612 Laguna Canyon Rd, Laguna Beach CA 92651
(3) Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, 3900 Spruce St., Philadelphia PA 19104
(4) Numerof & Associates, Inc., Four City Place Drive, Suite 430, St. Louis MO 63141


ABSTRACT: We report skeletal features that are consistent with hip dysplasia, as it is described in domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in a museum specimen of a red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Morphological identifiers included shallow acetabulae, femoral head flattening and subluxation, caudal curvilinear osteophyte, circumferential femoral head osteophyte, osteophytes of the acetabular margin, and femoral neck remodeling. Hip dysplasia has low-to-moderate quantitative heritability in dogs, while the contributing environmental and epigenetic influences are understood only marginally. Genomic, epigenetic, and environmental influences on hip joints of wild canids are not known. Potential population consequences of hip dysplasia, or hip dysplasia-like conditions, in free-living populations of wild animals, remain speculative. Possible concerns for affected individuals include reduced predatory and breeding efficiency, greater tendency to focus on local prey that are caught most easily, and greater risk as targets for predation. Progressive dissemination of hip joint diseases in a population could raise concerns about sustainability, altered size and density of prey populations, and local invasion by other predators. Our observations suggest a need for new research to better understand the biological nature of the disease(s) that these features represent, as well as suggesting new pathways for the studies of musculoskeletal disorders among Canidae.


PDF available at: https://www.museum.state.il.us/pdfs/HipDysplasiaRedFox.pdf


For more information see https://www.museum.state.il.us/research/researchnote.html?ID=1438

May, 2014: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeology Project

Dr. Terrance Martin submitted the Application for Permit for Archeological Investigations document to the National Park Service’s Midwest Archeological Center (Lincoln, NE) seeking permission to conduct a second season of limited archaeological excavations at the Jameson Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site (May 7).



May, 2014: Mammoth Conference

Dr. Chris Widga and Kayla Kolis (former Illinois College intern) presented research on Midwestern mammoths and mastodons at the 6th International Conference on Mammoths and their Relatives in Siatista, Greece, May 5-12. Widga spoke on results of NSF-funded efforts to tighten the chronology of extinction in Midwestern proboscideans. Kolis presented a new technique for acquiring stable isotope samples. Nearly 200 people from throughout the world participated in the conference. The conference web site is https://www.mammothconference.com/



May, 2014: Archaeozoological Research

During May, Dr. Terrance Martin continued writing sections of text for the technical report on the faunal assemblages for two sites in Michigan. Sites 20OT283 and 20OT3, both late prehistoric habitation sites along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan, were mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. By the end of May, Dr. Martin finished computer database entry of faunal data through Feature 1305 (includes more than 11,900 records) for the late prehistoric (late Fisher and Huber phases) Upper Mississippian Hoxie Farm site (11CK4). This site was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Autumn Beyer (graduate student at Illinois State University) continued identifying animal remains from the Kuhne site Middle Woodland faunal assemblage (Putnam County, Illinois) for her master’s thesis project. Joseph Hearns (Western Michigan University) continued his master’s thesis research of the Fort St. Joseph faunal assemblage. Hearns visited the zooarchaeology laboratory during the third full week of May so that Dr. Martin could assist him and verify his identifications of the archaeological animal remains.



April, 2014: Fieldwork at Morton Village Site

Dr. Robert Warren participated in a magnetometer survey of the Morton Village site in Fulton County with Dr. Michael Conner and Dr. Timothy Horsley on April 29.



April, 2014: Research on Prillwitz Mammoth

Dr. Chris Widga traveled to Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan to examine the Prillwitz Mammoth. This mounted skeleton was excavated in the 1960s from southwestern Michigan and is about 80% complete. Widga also gave a seminar to an upper level Biology class.



April, 2014: Radiocarbon Samples Submitted

Dr. Chris Widga submitted seven samples for radiocarbon dating to Aeon labs in Tucson, Arizona. These samples include: a Fulton County bison, American Lion from Arizona, horse, camel, and stag moose from western Iowa, and a bear from the Embarras River, Illinois.



April, 2014: Conference on Michigan Archaeology

Dr. Terrance Martin attended annual meetings of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology (April 12) and the Michigan Archaeological Society (April 13), both in Lansing, Michigan.



April, 2014: Ongoing Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

For a project with the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, Dr. Terrance Martin finished computer database entry for faunal assemblages from twenty-two sites in eastern Oklahoma and six sites in western Arkansas. Dr. Martin returned the faunal collections to Meeks Etchieson (Forest Archeologist, Ouachita National Forest) in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on April 22. During April, Dr. Martin continued writing text for the technical report on the faunal assemblages from Sites 20OT283 and 20OT3, both late prehistoric habitation sites along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan, which were mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Dr. Martin is analyzing late prehistoric (Fisher and Huber phase) Upper Mississippian animal remains from the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Computer database entry has been finished through Feature 1226. Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Autumn Beyer (graduate student at Illinois State University) continued identifying animal remains from the Kuhne site Middle Woodland faunal assemblage (Putnam County, Illinois) one day per week as part of her master’s thesis project. Dr. Martin was a reader (along with Dr. Christopher Fennell, UIUC and Dr. Jane Buikstra, Arizona State University) for Taylor Thornton for her Anthropology Senior Honors Thesis at UIUC on Extra-Moundbuilding Activities in the Floodplain: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from the Mound House Site (11GE7).



April, 2014: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Everett Cashatt submitted the final paper work for the Federal Permit for study of the endangered Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly for the 2014-2015 seasons. A mark-recapture study is planned for mid-June of this year in Reynolds County, Missouri. The latter half of April was devoted toward developing a Hine’s emerald dragonfly workshop presentation and handouts for biologists that will be working on the Hine’s Emerald project in the future.



April, 2014: Sill Researches for Next Exhibit

Bob sill continues researching artists for his PROTEXT exhibition and has confirmed loans from the Carl Hammer Gallery and Zolla Lieberman Gallery.



April, 2014: Society for American Archaeology Meeting

Drs. Bonnie Styles and Terrance Martin attended 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Austin, Texas in April. Dr. Martin presented a paper co-authored with Dennis Lawler on pathological deer bones from French Colonial sites (60 attended). He also read a paper authored by Dr. Michael Wiant on the contributions of archaeologist Dr. Stuart Struever (40 attended). Dr. Styles participated in a mentoring session where she reviewed curriculum vita for students interested in museum careers. She also met with Dr. John Yellen, National Science Foundation Program Advisor for Archaeology, on a grant proposal submitted by Dr. Styles and Dr. Sarah Neusius through Indiana University of Pennsylvania to put archaeofaunal data from Archaic Period sites in the Eastern United States into the Digital Archaeological Record and test hypotheses about use of aquatic fauna. Dr. Styles was also an invited guest at the SAA Donor Reception on April 26.



April, 2014: Burg Assists Researchers

Pat Burg met with Katie Barker, DNR Grants Officer on April 7. Ms. Barker used files and notebooks from the Museum Grants Program archive collection. She was interested in learning about the history of the program. She assisted curator Meredith Mahoney in locating historical information about the O.S. Biggs transitional exhibit and accession records and SIU Professor, Mark Wagner, with descriptive material for the five Henry Worthen field notebooks in the ISM Archive collection. He was interested in the 1866 Rock Art Site, and will make a trip later to view the notebooks and take non-flash digital images.



April, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

H. David Bohlen’s monitoring of spring bird migration for April produced seventy-five additional migrants out of the 189 species found. Most of the waterfowl passed on north. Dry cool conditions in April generated very few marsh birds and shorebirds, and retarded the arrivals of migrant land birds (songbirds). Total time spent in the field was 276 hours.



April, 2014: Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeology Project

In April, Shawn Fields accepted the Cultural Resources Diversity Internship for the second year of the ISM’s archaeological investigation of the Jenkins Lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Ms. Fields is a first-year graduate student in Anthropology at UIUC, has a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University, and was a crew member on the 2011 NFS-REU New Philadelphia Project.



April, 2014: Research for Second Floor History Exhibit Continues

Angela Goebel-Bain continues researching Illinois history topics for the second floor redevelopment.



March, 2014: Emiquon Science Symposium

Drs. Bonnie Styles, Chris Widga, Meredith Mahoney, and Terrance Martin and Beth Shea attended the 2014 Emiquon Science Symposium at Dickson Mounds Museum on March 27. A poster presented by Chris Widga, Meredith Mahoney, Eric Grimm, Alan Harn, Dennis Lawler, Terry Martin, Bonnie Styles, Robert Warren, and Mike Wiant on “The Use of Natural History Collections to Inform Baseline Ecological Conditions: Case Studies from Paleontology, Archaeology, and Historical Zoology” was presented at the meeting. Approximately eighty scientists, students, and other interested individuals attended the symposium and poster session, including Chancellor Susan Koch from the University of Illinois, Springfield.



March, 2014: Lincoln's Elm Tree

Pat Burg assisted Chris Widga in trying to locate accession information about the “Lincoln’s Elm Tree” that was located on the property of Lincoln’s Home. Pat did not find any information (in the Accessions Historical Files or Director Files) about the specimen, as it had not been donated to the Museum previously. However, John McGreggor, Acting Director of the ISM, took samples of the tree and generated data. There are photos in the ISM photo collection depicting this activity and a Living Museum article as well. The specimen is now accessioned in the Anthropology Department.



March, 2014: Planning for Collaborative Research with SIU-E

On March 24, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. Eric Grimm met with Dr. Jerry Weinberg, Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at SIU-E and Dr. Susan Morgan, Associate Dean of Research for the Graduate School to discuss potential collaboration for research and education. Drs. Styles and Grimm gave them a tour of the Research and Collections Center. Dr. Robert Warren provided information on the ISM Brown Bag series to Dr. Susan Morgan and Dr. Jerry Weinberg of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and remarks suggest that the Brown Bag series may become a vehicle for promoting research interaction between ISM and SIUE. Dr. Jonathan Reyman provided a brief overview of The Feather Distribution Project. Dr. Terrance Martin shared examples of research projects in the zooarchaeology laboratory and showed examples of anthropological collections in the Anthropology Collections Range. Other curators presented their collections and research.



March, 2014: Potawatomi Emigration Muster Rolls

Pat Burg assisted Research Associate George Godfrey by locating sources for the Potawatomi Emigration Muster Rolls. The Clarke Historical Library at University of Michigan contains an archival collection called, The James A. Clifton Native American Research Collection. Pat contacted the archivist about several primary source materials on George’s behalf. Pat located other items at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Illinois State University from the National Archives: Records of the Office of Indian Affairs; Registries of Letters Received: 1824-1880.



March, 2014: Ozarks Paleoecology

On March 21-26, Robert Hasselwander, a Ph.D. student with Dr. Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe at the Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla visited the ISM palynology lab to process samples from cores collected last October from Cypress Pond, in southeastern Missouri. Dr. Eric C. Grimm collected the cores with Hasselwander, and the cores are stored at the RCC. Grimm and Pietra Mueller trained Hasselwander in the laboratory procedures for pollen and loss-on-ignition analyses, and Hasselwander then processed samples from Cypress Pond for his dissertation research. The palynology laboratory at Missouri S&T is focused on much older materials for which the laboratory techniques are quite different. Grimm also assisted Hasselwander with identifications of pollen types occurring in the samples.



March, 2014: WPA Federal Art Project

Pat Burg assisted the Art Department by researching the WPA Federal Art Project and associated photographs. The photographs depict artists creating their work, and were part of the Federal Depository Program. Pat contacted various staff at the Illinois State Library, including some retired employees because the photographs in the Museum’s collection were originally part of the State Library collection.



March, 2014: Illinois History and Fashion Research

Angela Goebel-Bain continues her research on Illinois history for the second floor redevelopment and fashion history for the Bevier website exhibit.



March, 2014: Morphological Variation in Deer

On March 10-14, Nathan Reese, a Master’s degree student with Dr. Luci Kohn at SIU-Edwardsville visited the RCC to select specimens for his thesis research on morphological variation in modern and archaeological deer. Drs. Meredith Mahoney and Terry Martin assisted Reese in this endeavor.



March, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology curator David Bohlen’s bird monitoring in Sangamon County continued in March. Cold weather caused a delay in the spring migration. Waterfowl continued on Lake Springfield, though the wintering geese and ducks mostly left by the end of the month, and loons, grebes, pelicans, and cormorants arrived in numbers. The few warm days produced a couple of species with southern affinities such as Black Vulture and Fish Crow. Passerines that were due to arrive in March must have been driven further south or suffered some mortality, because many were late in returning this spring. There were 129 species found in March in 238 hours and these were posted to IBET (Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts). Several documenting photographs were placed on the Museum’s Zoology Facebook page.



March, 2014: New Dates on Midwestern Mammoths and Mastodons

Drs. Chris Widga, Jeffrey Saunders, and Stacey Lengyel received results from the University of Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon lab on mammoth and mastodon specimens from the Great Lakes region. The samples were processed under the auspices of the NSF-funded mammoth and mastodon chronology grant. To date, the chronological dataset assembled through this project has yielded >100 direct, AMS dates on midwestern mammoths and mastodons. Greg Hodgins (University of Arizona, AMS laboratory) is a collaborator on this project.



March, 2014: Ongoing Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

For a project with the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications for the faunal assemblages from twenty-two sites in eastern Oklahoma and six sites in western Arkansas. During March, Dr. Martin drafted species composition tables for the report on the faunal assemblages from Sites 20OT283 and 20OT3 and began writing the technical report. Both of these late prehistoric habitation sites are located along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan and were mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Dr. Martin continued analyses for late prehistoric (Fisher and Huber phase) Upper Mississippian animal remains from the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Computer database entry has been finished through Feature 1226. For the Morton Village (11F2) faunal analysis, Dr. Martin selected samples from the large refuse pit (Feature 224) containing predominately large mammal remains to use in a public workshop at the ISM Lockport Gallery on March 23. He encountered two specimens from paddlefish and included these in a special small display case to take to the Emiquon Science 2014 symposium at the ISM at Dickson Mounds on March 27. Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Autumn Beyer (graduate student at Illinois State University) continued identifying animal remains from the Kuhne site Middle Woodland faunal assemblage (Putnam County, Illinois) one day per week as part of her master’s thesis project.



March, 2014: Oral History Methodological Research

Dr. Robert Warren suspended his research on the digital indexing of oral history recordings with controlled vocabularies because of other obligations.



February, 2014: CT-Scanning of Paleontology, Zoology, and Anthropology Specimens

Geology Curator Dr. Chris Widga, Research Associate Dennis Lawler, and Mark Flotow CT-scanned ISM fossil specimens at a local hospital on February 26. These specimens included a partial mastodon tusk from Chester, Illinois, (excavated in the 1870s by A. H. Worthen) to examine incremental growth structures, as well as Arctic fox and human remains, which were scanned to assess potential skeletal pathologies. Dr. Meredith Mahoney (Zoology) assisted with the selection of suitable Arctic fox specimens.



February, 2014: Librarian Assists with Research

Pat Burg sent scans of the Illinois State Museum’s AMM archival finding aids to the new executive director of the Association of Midwest Museums, Donna Sack. Scans of AMM meeting minutes from March 2007 – March 2008 were also sent. Ms. Sack’s files did not contain minutes from those years. Pat Burg searched for information for Chris Widga about the “Lincoln’s Elm” cross section. Pat used the quarterly reports, annual reports, The Living Museum Online, and Director Crantz correspondence files. Pat Burg searched for information about the artist Linton Foersterling for Jim Zimmer. National newspaper files were used to locate obituaries of family members. Additional searches were conducted for Mr. Foersterling’s biographical information, including the Archives of the School of Art at Washington University at St. Louis. Work continues to locate photographs depicting artists’ work during the WPA. The Museum received photos from the Illinois State Library along with WPA prints in 1983, after the original allocation in 1943 from the Chicago Distribution Center. Pat will contact the Illinois State Library to find out if they have a record of the distribution of the photographs.



February, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology curator David Bohlen’s bird monitoring in Sangamon County continued in February monitoring winter birds during a cold and snowy month. Some migration occurred among waterfowl, for example Snow Geese (86,000 on Feb 22), Greater White-fronted Geese (1900 on Feb. 28), Northern Pintail (300 on Feb. 28), and Canvasback (480 on Feb. 22). However, almost all passerines showed little movement and low populations. Thirty Snow Buntings were unusual this far south.



February, 2014: Mammoth "Hybrid" Sampled for Radiocarbon Analyses

Acting on information from Iowa State Graduate student Pete Eyheralde, Drs. Matt G. Hill (Iowa State University) and Chris Widga sampled a mammoth mandible in the ISU zoology collections for radiocarbon dating. This mammoth shows unusual morphological traits. The mandible is compressed front to back, similar to a woolly mammoth, but the teeth seated in the jaw show characteristics of a Jeffersonian mammoth. This blended morphology may indicate the introgression of two morphologically distinct sub-populations of mammoths, as also indicated by new ancient DNA data.



February, 2014: Fish Lake Coring

During the week of February 17-21, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in the fieldwork to collect a sediment core from Fish Lake, Utah. This lake, situated at nearly 9000 feet elevation, lies in graben (valley with faults on both sides) basin, which geological evidence suggests is several million years old. Seismic work indicates at least 100 m of sediment; however, the sediment may be much thicker. Gravimetric surveys underway will hopefully indicate the total sediment depth. The new core is 11 m long and extends to the first “reflector” in the seismic survey. This core will be used in a preliminary study. The eventual goal is to initiate a project for the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, which, however, requires substantial preliminary investigation. Major funding will be required to obtain a core through the entire sedimentary sequence, which will require the services of a commercial drilling company. Fish Lake is of particular interest not only because it has a long sedimentary record, which appears undisturbed in the section penetrated by seismic studies, but also because it may potentially yield a record of mountain glaciation and mid-latitude climate change rivaling the marine-core records of continental glaciation. Although the lake basin was never completely glaciated, a mountain did extend into the northwest portion of the basin during the last two ice ages and probably during previous glaciations. No record of these earlier glaciations remains on the upland landscape, they are very likely recorded in the lake sediments.


About twenty people participated in the coring, including principal investigators and students. In addition to Dr. Grimm, team members include Drs. Mark Abbott (University of Pittsburgh), Lesleigh Anderson (USGS), Christopher Bailey (College of William & Mary), Andrea Brunelle (University of Utah), Joseph Donovan (West Virginia University), Scott Harris (College of Charleston), David Marchetti (Western State Colorado University), Mitch Power (University of Utah), and Joseph Stoner (Oregon State University).Coring Fish Lake Utah. The coring device is Uwetec corer, which can obtain cores from deep water without core rods.



February, 2014: Genetics of North American Mammoths

Drs. Jeffrey Saunders and Chris Widga are part of a collaborative team working on ancient Mammuthus DNA preserved in specimens south of the Laurentide ice sheet. The lead researcher is Jacob Enk (Ancient DNA Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario); other collaborators are Dan Fisher (University of Michigan), Grant Zazula (Yukon Paleontologist), and Hendrick Poinar (McMaster University). Enk sampled over two dozen ISM specimens a few years ago. DNA and morphology of these specimens (and other from across the US) suggest that Woolly, Jeffersonian, and Columbian mammoths from the continental United States were a single biological species exhibiting wide but biogeographically meaningful, morphological variability. Saunders and Widga offered expert opinions as to the morphological identifications of specimens from Wrangle Island, Illinois, and Yukon. In particular, they identified a specimen from Yukon dating to about 780,000 years ago as wooly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), which may be the earliest representative of this species identified from North America.



February, 2014: New Research on Old Collections: Peccary Cave Arkansas, Preparation for Collections Research

Dr. Chris Widga initiated a new research project with collaborator Dr. Matthew G. Hill (Iowa State University) to re-analyze the extensive large mammal assemblage from Peccary Cave, Arkansas. Years of excavation by Dr. Leo Carson Davis and Dr. James H. Quinn have yielded a sizeable vertebrate fauna from the cave; however, the large-mammal portion of this collection has been minimally analyzed. Widga and Hill will receive travel funds from the Iowa Academy of Sciences and Iowa State University to visit Fayettville, AR in November 2014 to examine the collection.



February, 2014: Oral History Methodological Research

Dr. Robert Warren continued his research on the digital indexing of oral history recordings with controlled vocabularies. He plans to co-author a paper on this topic (“Searching for Spoken Words: Digital Indexing of Oral History Recordings with Controlled Vocabularies” by Robert Warren, Douglas Lambert, Jennifer Palmentiero, Lindsey Barnes, and Kimberly Guise) and submit it to The Oral History Review.



February, 2014: New Isotopic Data Offers Insight into Seasonal Changes in Mammoth Behavior

Dr. Chris Widga and Kayla Kolis, an intern from Illinois College, received the first round of results from micromilled samples from a mammoth tooth. The tooth is from Jones Spring, MO and is ~35,000 years old. Kolis collected the samples using a custom-built micromill that facilitates sampling of enamel at a very fine scale (~100 um). These data indicate that this mammoth had a diet dominated by C4 (warm season) grasses throughout the year, and that it acquired its water from surface sources such as streams and small rivers.



February, 2014: Research for Art Exhibition

Bob Sill continues to research and select artists for his upcoming group thematic exhibition PROTEXT ART: When Words Enter Visual Art.



February, 2014: Phylogenetic Patterns of Plant Life Forms

Botany Curator Dr. Hong Qian and his collaborator Dr. Jian Zhang of the University of Alberta generated an updated time-calibrated family-level phylogeny (evolutionary history) for seed plants in the world, which they used to analyze phylogenetic patterns of life forms of seed plant families. A paper resulting from this project has been accepted by the Journal of Systematics and Evolution.



February, 2014: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

To supplement work funded in January by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Section 6 for surveys of the federally Endangered Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly, Dr. Everett Cashatt submitted a permit amendment to cover additional people and a change in site locations for a mark-recapture study on a population in Missouri. Dr. Cashatt continued to post activity on the Hine’s emerald Dragonfly website for approximately 50 people.



February, 2014: Ongoing Archaeological Faunal Analysis Projects

For a project with the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications for the faunal assemblage from site 34MC665 in eastern Oklahoma and began identifications on site 34MC254. During February, Dr. Martin finished database entries for 20OT283 (total of 2,296 faunal specimen records) and finished identifications and database entries for 20OT3 (total of 415 faunal specimen records). These two late prehistoric habitation sites along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan, were mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Joseph Hearn (Western Michigan University anthropology graduate student) visited the zooarchaeology laboratory from February 3-7 and worked with Dr. Martin identifying and verifying identifications of animal remains from selected features at the Fort St. Joseph site in Niles, Michigan as part of his master’s thesis research. Dr. Martin continued analyses of late prehistoric (Fisher and Huber phase) Upper Mississippian animal remains from the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Computer database entry has been finished through Feature 1226 at the main occupation area but no further progress was made during February. Editorial errors were discovered for the Fortified Village report volume, including tables for the chapter on the small faunal assemblage. Martin began reentering the analyzed faunal specimens into a new Excel database in order to discover the source of table inconsistencies. Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Autumn Beyer (graduate student at Illinois State University) continued identifying animal remains from the Kuhne site Middle Woodland faunal assemblage (Putnam County, IL) one day per week as part of her master’s thesis project.



January, 2014: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications and database entry (232 records) for the faunal assemblage from site 3MN298, a Caddoan site in western Arkansas for a project with the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma and began identifications on site 34MC665 (Caddo) in eastern Oklahoma. During January, Dr. Martin entered 1,002 records on a database for the analyzed faunal assemblage from site 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan (mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT). Under the direction of Dr. Martin, computer database entry has been finished through Feature 1226 for late prehistoric (Fisher and Huber phase) Upper Mississippian animal remains from the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin verified Jessica Haglund’s identifications on animal remains from Feature 43 and 46 flotation samples at the Myer-Dickson site. This is Haglund’s master’s thesis project for Illinois State University. Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Autumn Beyer (graduate student at Illinois State University) began analysis of the Middle Woodland faunal assemblage from the Kuhne site in Putnam County, Illinois, as part of her master’s thesis project. Doug Carr photographed four pathological white-tailed deer bones from Fort Ouiatenon and Fort St. Joseph sites for use in a PowerPoint presentation at the SAA conference in April and for publications planned by Dr. Martin and Dennis Lawler (January 27).



January, 2014: Stag-Moose Extinction and Biogeography

Dr. Chris Widga and collaborator Matt G. Hill (Iowa State University) submitted a proposal to the Iowa Academy of Sciences to fund radiocarbon dating of Iowa stag-moose (Cervalces) remains. This project is a continuation of past research into the geographic and chronological distribution of stag-moose in the state. Among three samples that they submitted for dating in 2012 were both the youngest and oldest direct-dated stag-moose remains in North America (~12,600 and ~30,000 years before present).



January, 2014: Endangered Species—Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

In January, U.S. Fish and Wildlife approved a Section 6 grant proposal submitted by Zoology Curator Dr. Tim Cashatt to continue surveys for the Federally Endangered Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly. Dr. Cashatt submitted the proposal in July 2013, and work is scheduled to begin in March 2014.



January, 2014: The Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology curator H. David Bohlen’s monumental A Study of the Birds of Sangamon County, Illinois, 1970-2010 was published as the first number of the Illinois State Museum’s new Research eSeries. The eSeries publications may be accessed and downloaded for free from the Museum’s website: https://www.museum.state.il.us/publications/. As described on the web site, Birds of Sangamon County “documents the dramatic changes in the presence and populations of bird species in Sangamon County. H. David Bohlen’s two-part compendium explores environmental change, habitat destruction, and degradation by humans as well as outlines methods, conclusions, and recommendations. It also offers a vast compilation of the county’s bird species, many of which have been beautifully photographed and aptly featured in part two of the study.” In January, Bohlen documented winter birds in Sangamon County. Unusual was the “wreck” like influx of the sea duck White-winged Scoter. They have an east–west migration (wintering on the East Coast and breeding inland on the Canadian Prairies). As they flew west at the latitude of the Great Lakes, the strong fronts from the north (Polar Vortex), pushed some of them further south (to Lake Springfield), and the prolonged winter induced them to stay. Also there have been more (than ever?) northern gulls (Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, & Thayer’s Gull) on Lake Springfield this winter, probably for the same reason. Bohlen recorded 108 species for January in 190 hours of observation.



January, 2014: Research Conducted for Albino Animal Exhibit

Pat Burg assisted Meredith Mahoney in researching accessions for the albino animal exhibit. Research included searching through activity reports, The Living Museum, Museum annual reports and accession record correspondence.



January, 2014: Teocentli Published

Dr. Jonathan Reyman finished the final draft of Teocentli, .pdf copies were sent to members, and printed copies were sent to members who requested them and to the four institutions which archive Tecocentli.



January, 2014: Neotoma Paleoecology Database

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database has several working groups to address various database issues. These working groups have funding from the Neotoma NSF grant for workshops. One of these groups is the Neotoma Age Model Working Group (NAMWoG). Fossils are often obtained from a series of samples from a stratigraphic sequence. From this sequence a number of age determinations may be obtained, in particular radiocarbon dates. A statistical age model may then be applied to determine the ages of individual sample depths, sometimes along with an estimate of the error in the age determination. Radiocarbon dates present a particular problem in that the dates must be calibrated to true calendar years. The calibration curve is updated periodically as more data make it increasingly accurate. The most recent updates were made in 2013, 2009, and 2004. Each of these updates renders previous age models potentially obsolete. Thus, a NAMWoG workshop was held to address the issues of the statistics behind age modeling and the data necessary to replicate age models or to redo age models if the calibration curve changes.


Because this workshop was potentially of interest to a broader group of people than just those of NAMWoG, Dr. Grimm solicited funding from additional sources to broaden workshop participation. He successfully obtained additional funding from the Past Global Changes (PAGES) project in Bern, Switzerland, as well as an additional subvention from NSF. This funding supported the participation of 36 scientists from ten countries. The thematic workshop was held January 13-15, 2014 at the 14CHRONO Centre for Climate, the Environment, and Chronology at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Dr. Grimm and Neotoma collaborator Dr. Maarten Blaauw of Queen’s jointly organized the workshop. The workshop was held in Belfast because the 14CHRONO Centre is a major center for radiocarbon dating and age-modeling statistics and because many of the important scientists involved with statistical age-model development are European, particularly Dr. Blaauw. Associated with the workshop was a one-day software training session on January 16, in which eight additional people participated from two additional countries. In addition to organizing the workshop and participating in various breakout groups, Dr. Grimm gave a formal presentation.



January, 2014: Book Review Accepted for Publication

Dr. Jonathan Reyman submitted an invited book review of Drawing with Great Needles: Ancient Tattoo Traditions of North America, edited by Aaron Deter-Wolf and Carol Diaz-Granados, which was accepted for publication in the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology on January 11.



January, 2014: Curator Participates in Conference

Dr. Terrance Martin participated in the 47th Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Quebec City, Canada (January 9-11). He presented a paper on “Use of Animals at the Laurens North Site, the Location of Fort de Chartres III in the Illinois Country” in a symposium on Historical Archaeology of French America, organized by Dr. Elizabeth Scott. The presentation was attended by 60 archaeologists and historians.



January, 2014: National Park Service Internship Position Awarded to ISMS and LHNHS

The Jameson Jenkins Lot Archaeological investigation at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site was selected by the Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP) as a site for one of the internships that is administered jointly with the Student Conservation Association. As a continuation of a limited field investigation last summer, the selected intern will work with ISM field archaeologist Dennis Naglich from June through early August in verifying the location and identification of the west end of the mid-nineteenth-century Jenkins Family house, as well as assist in the analysis of recovered artifacts and preparation of a technical completion report. The project is a collaborative project by the Illinois State Museum and the National Park Service’s Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Dr. Terrance Martin prepared the proposal and is the Project Director for the Museum.



December, 2013: Illinois Inventory of Archaeological Sites

At the end of December, Nick Klobuchar reported that there are 61,964 sites in the Illinois Inventory of Archaeological Sites.



December, 2013: Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology curator H. David Bohlen continued bird monitoring in Sangamon County, documenting increasing numbers of winter waterfowl. The most numerous were Canada Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, Mallards, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, and Ruddy Duck. Northern finches and Red-breasted Nuthatches were absent. Also the Springfield Christmas Bird Count (a nation-wide endeavor to census birds one day a year) tallied 92 species on December 22. Bohlen is the compiler for Springfield



December, 2013: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Tim Cashatt submitted “The 2013 Annual Summary Report for the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly Survey” to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Region 3 Office on December 19. The report summarized survey reports solicited from the permittees on the permit and also the mark recapture study. An amendment to the present permit was submitted to conduct additional studies in 2014. Dr. Cashatt continued work on the Illinois dragonfly field guide, update the Odonata database, and post activity on the Hine’s emerald Dragonfly website for approximately 50 people on the Hine’s emerald permit (federal requirements for the Endangered Species Permit).



December, 2013: Bats of Kentucky

ISM Research Associate Mona Colburn, former ISM curator Dr. Rick Toomey, and Dr. Chris Widga prepared a manuscript on paleontological remains from Bat Cave within Mammoth Cave National Park, KY. This paleontological deposit consists of 11 separate bat-dominated bonebeds spanning the last 10,000 years and was the subject of ISM field research in the late 1990s.



December, 2013: Bison of the Midwest

Dr. Chris Widga prepared a manuscript on the paleozoology of the Itasca Bison site in Minnesota for submission to the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology. The Itasca Bison site was excavated in the 1960s by C. Thomas Shay. This site, which has one of the best documented bison assemblages from the Midwest, was the subject of Widga's 2006 dissertation. Originally believed to be a bison kill, Widga's re-analyses suggest a complex taphonomic history and that the bison accumulation cannot be attributed to only human hunters.



December, 2013: Plants of China

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues published a book chapter, entitled “Global significance of plant diversity in China” in the book Plants of China: A Companion to the Flora of China, which is a companion to the Flora of China in 25 volumes. In the book chapter, the authors analyzed species richness data published in the Flora of China at both the national and regional scales according to the latest version of angiosperm phylogenetic system.



December, 2013: Research Presentation on Mussels Proposed for International Conference

Dr. Robert Warren registered an abstract (“Multivariate Ordination of Freshwater Mussel Faunas in the Illinois River Basin, Illinois: Cultural and Environmental Correlates”) for a special session on mollusks (“Molluscs as a Record of Human-Environment Relationships: Environmental Reconstructions, Impacts, and Management”) at the 12th Conference of the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) in San Rafael, Argentina (September, 2014).



December, 2013: Neotoma Paleoecology Database

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database is an international collaborative project involving scientists around the world, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation Geoinformatics Program. The lead institutions are the Illinois State Museum and Pennsylvania State University. The database is physically housed at the Center for Environmental Informatics at Penn State. The lead Principal Investigators are Dr. Eric Grimm (ISM) and Dr. Russell Graham from Penn State. The database is merging several existing databases, including the North American Pollen Database and the Faunmap database, both originally developed at the Illinois State Museum. In addition to these databases, Neotoma is incorporating a number of other databases from around the world as well as becoming the underlying database infrastructure for several new database projects. The database contains fossil and related “paleo” data for the past 5 million years. The database has the scientific objective of facilitating studies of past ecosystems and climate that can draw from a variety of data types. It has the practical objective of reducing costs and promoting database longevity by providing a common underlying database infrastructure. Critical to the success of the project has been the development of a software interface that will allow “data stewards” from various database projects to upload and manage data remotely via the Internet. Dr. Grimm has been working closely with the information technology (IT) team at Penn State to develop this interface. The Penn State team has developed the software on the database server; whereas Dr. Grimm has been developing the software on the client end, i.e. the software used by the remote data stewards. On December 6, 2014, a major milestone was reached, when Dr. Grimm remotely uploaded the first dataset. Since then additional datasets have been uploaded, testing is continuing on more complicated datasets, and Dr. Grimm has held several WebEx sessions to train data stewards from other projects how to use the software.



December, 2013: Archaeological Research at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site

Dr. Terrance Martin submitted a proposal to the Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program to continue investigations with an intern at the Jameson Jenkins lot in the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. This research will be a continued collaboration with Timothy Townsend at the Lincoln Home Site.



December, 2013: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrence Martin began identifications on the faunal assemblage from site 34MC655, a late prehistoric Caddoan site in eastern Oklahoma, for a project with the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. During December, Dr. Martin finished identifications on the vertebrate remains in the faunal assemblage a Site 20OT3, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan (mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT) and entered 175 records on a database for 20OT283. Late prehistoric (Fisher and Huber phase) Upper Mississippian animal remains from the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003, are being analyzed by Dr. Martin. In December, computer database entry has been finished through Feature 1226 (a total of 11,433 records). Dr. Martin verified Jessica Haglund’s identifications of animal remains from Feature 40 flotation samples from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois). Haglund has identified the faunal assemblage for part of her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. In late December, Dr. Martin resumed identifications on the eighteenth century Blanchette House site in St. Charles, Missouri, and entered 341 records for the faunal remains from Test Units 1 through 8. Dr. Martin provided a preliminary summary to Dr. Steve Dasovich (Lindenwood University), who will be discussing this site in a symposium at the 47th Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Quebec City in early January. Dr. Terrance Martin contributed bibliographic sources on Great Lakes fishing for an edited volume that was published in late 2013 (Prowse, Shari, and Suzanne Needs-Howarth. 2012. Introduction. In Aboriginal Fisheries of the Great Lakes, edited by Shari Prowse and Suzanne Needs-Howarth, pp. 3-12. Ontario Archaeology, No. 92).



November, 2013: Birds of Sangamon County

Zoology curator David Bohlen’s bird monitoring in Sangamon County in November documented the late fall migration and arrival of winter residents. A new species, the Roseate Spoonbill, was added to the Sangamon County List making the new total 358 species. Bohlen recorded 134 species during 238 field hours in November. All monthly bird reports were submitted to IBET (a listserv for the Illinois birding community – Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts).



November, 2013: And more Dragonflies...

Dr. Tim Cashatt continued work on the Illinois dragonfly field guide, update the Odonata database, and post field work activity on the Hine’s emerald Dragonfly website for approximately fifty people on the Hine’s emerald permit (federal requirements for the Endangered Species Permit).



November, 2013: Dragonfly DNA

Dr. Meredith Mahoney continued work on a manuscript as part of a collaborative project with other researchers on relationships Somatochlora dragonflies. The study includes DNA sequences from her research in a combined analysis with genetic data from another research group.



November, 2013: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

As a part of the federal recovery plan for the endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly, it is necessary to estimate the population size of selected areas where breeding is known to occur whenever possible. In July, Dr. Tim Cashatt and other members of the Hine’s emerald dragonfly survey conducted a very successful mark/recapture study on private property in Reynolds County, Missouri. Their analysis of the data was completed in November and resulted in an estimated 1024 adults at one fen. Dr. Cashatt and colleagues intend to publish this in one of the conservation biology journals. Work began on the Annual Summary Report for the Hine’s emerald dragonfly due at the end of the year.



November, 2013: Bat Guano

Dr. Chris Widga and research associate Mona Colburn prepared a manuscript for publication on paleontological investigations in Mammoth Cave National Park in 2008. This work was a collaborative effort with the University of Kentucky, Program for Archaeological Research (UK-PAR) and illustrates the potential for recovering paleontological remains from massive bat guano deposits. This manuscript will be submitted to the journal Quaternary Research.



November, 2013: Relationships among Latitude, Temperature, Species Diversity, and Relatedness

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues published an article, entitled "Latitudinal Gradients in Phylogenetic Relatedness of Angiosperm Trees in North America" in the November issue of Global Ecology and Biogeography that examined the relation of species richness, mean clade age, and phylogenetic relatedness of angiosperm trees in 1175 regional assemblages to latitude and minimum temperature. They found that species richness and mean clade age are negatively correlated with latitude and positively correlated with minimum temperature. Tree species in regional assemblages tend to be more related to each other in higher latitudes with lower temperatures. Dr. Qian is the lead author of the article.



November, 2013: Goebel-Bain to Produce Fashion History Module

Angela Goebel-Bain is researching fashion history for a Bevier collection website module.



November, 2013: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin identified animal remains and finished a technical report for four locations along the proposed Sandpiper Pipeline route in northern Minnesota that is being investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. The sites include 21PL102 (1,348 specimens) and 21PL96 (53 specimens) in Polk County, and locations BJE-04 (49 specimens) and VPG-04 (2 specimens) in Hubbard County. Dr. Martin analyzed a mid- to late nineteenth-century faunal assemblage of 126 specimens from site 12W721, a farmstead in Warrick County in southern Indiana. This site was mitigated by American Resources Group, Ltd. as part of the requirements for obtaining a coal mine permit. Dr. Martin received from Dr. Steve Dasovich (Lindenwood University) the remaining samples of animal remains from the eighteenth century Blanchette House site in St. Charles, Missouri, and Martin resumed identifying additional lots during November. Dr. Martin finished identifications on the faunal assemblage from site 34MC760, a Caddoan site in eastern Oklahoma, for a project with the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, and Claire Fuller Martin finished computer database entry of 34MC762, another Caddo site. Dr. Martin finished identifications on the rest of the faunal assemblage for site 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan (mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT). Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains from the large refuse pit designated as Feature 224 at the Morton Village site (11F2), a large Mississippian and Oneota habitation site on Nature Conservancy property near Emiquon in Fulton County, Illinois.



November, 2013: Widows Creek Mussel Project

Dr. Robert Warren corresponded with Dr. Keith Little (Tennessee Valley Archaeological Research) regarding recent published reports on the Widows Creek site (1JA305) in northeast Alabama (November 21). Dr. Warren is working on a coauthored paper on the freshwater mussel fauna of the Widows Creek site with Dr. Arthur Bogan (North Carolina Museum of Natural Science).



November, 2013: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project

Dr. Robert Warren met with a new ISM volunteer, Monica Broeckling of Springfield, to show her how to transcribe oral-history interview recordings (November 27). Monica taught history and Spanish at Glenwood Middle School for 10 years. She plans to transcribe an interview with Harry Estill that Dr. Warren conducted in 2012.



November, 2013: Oral History Methodological Research

Dr. Robert Warren continued his research on the digital indexing of oral history recordings with controlled vocabularies. He is working on a co-authored paper on this topic ("Searching for Spoken Words: Digital Indexing of Oral History Recordings with Controlled Vocabularies") with Douglas Lambert, Jennifer Palmentiero, Lindsey Barnes, and Kimberly Guise. It will be submitted to The Oral History Review.



November, 2013: Publication on DNA from Ancient Dogs includes ISM Koster Site Specimen

A multiple-authored paper in Science (O. Thalmann et al., Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Ancient Canids Suggest a European Origin of Domestic Dogs. Science, Vol. 342, 15 November 2013, pp. 871-874) includes ISM Koster Site specimen. The authors, including Dr. Jane Buikstra and Robert Wayne, conclude that the “mitochondrial legacy” of dogs derives from wolves of European origin and the divergence of dogs and wolves occurred more than 15,000 years ago. DNA from bones from one of the 8,500 year-old Koster site dogs in the Museum’s collections was included in this study.



November, 2013: ISM Mammoth Specimens Dates

On November 2, Jake Enk, (McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario) reported two new radiocarbon dates from ISM specimens. A date 17,510 ± 70 radiocarbon years before present on a specimen from Pekin, Illinois has a carbon:nitrogen ratio that may indicate carbon contamination. Another specimen from North LaSalle, Illinois gave a date of 12,495 ± 45 radiocarbon years before present and shows no evidence of contamination. Enk notes that his dissertation project, “The Mitogenome Phylogeography of Mammuthus from Southern North America,” is in the final stages of completion and that his ISM samples formed a fascinating portion of the diversity.



October, 2013: Ancient Fossils Meet Modern Technology

On October 29, Chris Widga and Dennis Lawler took 10 specimens showing evidence of pathology to the CT scanning facility at a local hospital (that prefers to remain anonymous). Among these specimens were white-tailed deer from archeological sites showing evidence of trauma and healing, mastodont and horse vertebrae with warped processes, and "normal" deer bones for reference.



October, 2013: Linking Databases

Part of the EarthCube initiative is to facilitate linking different databases, including the NSF funded Neotoma Paleoecology Database, of which Dr. Eric Grimm is a lead investigator. On October 28, in conjunction with the Geological Society of American meetings in Denver, Grimm met for a one-day workshop with organizers of the TMI database to discuss such linkages. TMI (Tool for Microscopic Identification: https://tmi.laccore.umn.edu/), based at the University of Minnesota, stores images of a wide variety of microfossils to aid in their identification. Neotoma stores the observed occurrences of these fossils. Linkages would enable simultaneous visualization of data and images.



October, 2013: Midwest Archaeological Conference

Dr. Terrance Martin, Dr. Michael Conner, and Dawn Cobb gave presentations at the 59th Annual Midwest Archaeological Conference in Columbus, Ohio, October 24-27 (see Professional Presentations). Dr. Martin also read a paper authored by John Franzen and Eric C. Drake (USDA Forest Service, Hiawatha National Forest) on “The ‘Big Hook’ site: A Nineteenth Century Maple Sugar Camp in Northern Michigan.” Dr. Bonnie Styles coordinated the production for the two Distinguished Career Awards, and Dr. Martin delivered them to the MAC Board for presentation at the Awards Ceremony.



October, 2013: DNA from Ethnographic Objects

Dr. Mahoney continued DNA lab work on ethnographic samples to determine if DNA can be extracted and sequenced from this material. This study is in collaboration with Dr. Lynn Snyder of the Smithsonian Institution.



October, 2013: Illinois River Bison

On October 21, Dr. Chris Widga and Dennis Lawler travelled to the Dickson Mounds Museum where they met Alan Harn to examine recent bison finds from the central Illinois River valley. The Woodyard bison is likely a young bull from the Late Holocene based on epiphyseal fusion rates and relative size. Somewhat surprisingly, tooth wear indicates a diet dominated by browse, not grasses.



October, 2013: Trudy the Elephant

Dr. Chris Widga, Dennis Lawler, and Alan Harn attempted to re-locate "Trudy," a St. Louis zoo elephant who died in 1979 of pulmonary tuberculosis and is buried on the Dickson Mounds property (near the Ford House). Despite an afternoon of searching for Trudy, she remains buried in an unknown location. The map showing the location of the skeleton references a corner of the old Ford House, which was bulldozed sometime in the 1990s. The site has also been invaded by non-native Russian olive, which has greatly impeded ground visibility.



October, 2013: Quantitative Paleoecology Workshop and Symposium

Upon invitation of the organizers, Dr. Eric Grimm was invited to be keynote speaker at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists and to organize a symposium around his address. The meeting was held in San Francisco, October 20-23. The symposium was entitled “Quantitative Frontiers in Paleoecology,” and Grimm’s keynote address was entitled “Quantitative Frontiers in Paleoecology: the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.” To accompany the symposium, Dr. Grimm also organized a software training workshop before the meeting with the assistance of Dr. Simon Goring, University of Wisconsin—Madison. The two-day workshop, held October 19-20, was entitled “Palynological Databases: Hands-on Computer Workshop.” The first day, led by Dr. Grimm, focused on his Tilia software, which is widely used for managing and graphing fossil-pollen data. The second day, led by Dr. Goring, focused on a statistical package for analyzing fossil-pollen data from the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.



October, 2013: Paleoamerican Odyssey Conference

Dr. Jeffrey Saunders with co-authors Gennady Baryshnikov (Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia) and Kevin Seymour (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada) presented a poster entitled “The Rise and Fall of a Clovis-age Large Mammal Community in Southern Arizona” at the Paleoamerican Odyssey Conference held October 16-19 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, convened by the Center for the Study of the First Americans (CSFA), Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Their poster proposes a key role of large scansorial (climbing), stalking felids (cats) in large mammal community dynamics during the late Pleistocene.



October, 2013: Plains Anthropological Conference

Dr. Chris Widga was co-author of a poster at the 71st Plains Anthropological Conference in Loveland, Colorado. The lead author was Andrew Boehm, a Ph.D. student at Southern Methodist University whose research focuses on the isotopic ecology of early Holocene bison in the central Plains.



October, 2013: Plant Diversity

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues published an article, entitled "Phylogenetic beta diversity of
angiosperms in North America", in the October issue of Global Ecology and Biogeography that quantified the phylogenetic beta diversity and taxonomic beta diversity of the angiosperm flora across North America, and related these metrics to one another and to geographical and environmental distances to uncover the phylogenetic signal underlying species compositional turnover. Dr. Qian is the lead author of the article.



October, 2013: Oral History of Methodological Research

Dr. Robert Warren conducted research on the digital indexing of oral history recordings with controlled vocabularies. He co-authored a paper on this topic with fellow participants in a conference session he organized and chaired at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Oral History Association in Oklahoma City, OK (October 12). The paper ("Searching for Spoken Words: Digital Indexing of Oral History Recordings with Controlled Vocabularies" by Robert Warren, Douglas Lambert, Jennifer Palmentiero, Lindsey Barnes, and Kimberly Guise) will be submitted to The Oral History Review for publication. Other papers were presented by Douglas Lambert, The Randforce Associates, University at Buffalo, NY (“Digital Indexing of Oral History Audio and Video: The Challenges of Developing Timecode-centered Metadata and Designing Multi-Dimensional Interfaces”) and Jennifer Palmentiero, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, Highland, NY. (“Digital Indexing of Oral Histories: Using Standard Thesauri to Facilitate Cross-Collection Searching”). Lindsey Barnes and Kimberly Guise of The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, LA served as commentators.



October, 2013: Official Publication of New Snout Moth Species

In order to be valid, the scientific names of species or higher taxa must be published according rules set the relevant code of nomenclature—for animal species, the 1999 International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. In his 1968 Ph,D. dissertation “Revision of the Chrysauginae of North America,” Curator of Zoology Dr. Tim Cashatt described one new genus, three new species, and one new subspecies of snout moths. However, according to the Code, description in a dissertation does not constitute valid publication. To rectify this situation, Cashatt and colleagues Alma Solis (National Museum of Natural History) and Brian Scholtens published these new taxa in the journal ZooTaxa. The newly valid names are: Arta brevivalvalis Cashatt, sp. n., Heliades lindae Cashatt, sp. n., Paragalasa Cashatt, gen. n., Paragalasa exospinalis Cashatt, sp. n., and Penthesilea sacculalis baboquivariensis Cashatt, subsp. n.



October, 2013: Proboscidean Extinction Project

As part of his NSF funded Proboscidean extinction NSF project, Dr. Chris Widga travelled to the University of Iowa in Iowa City, October 7-9, to continue a census of Iowa mammoths and mastodonts in the University of Iowa Paleontological Repository. In addition to this collections-based research, he presented a lecture to the local chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America on the archaeology and paleoecology of midwestern Proboscidean extinctions. He also spent a day examining recent excavations at a site near Oskaloosa, Iowa. At last count, this site contained a minimum of 3 mammoths, all mature adults, and dates to the terminal Pleistocene. Drs. Widga and Jeffrey Saunders have been involved in the project from its inception in an advisory capacity.



October, 2013: Zooarchaeologcal Research

Research Associate Dennis Lawler and Dr. Terrance Martin went to Capitol-Illini Veterinary Hospital on October 7 and 8 to have x-rays taken of four 18th-century pathological archaeological white-tailed deer bones from Fort Ouiatenon and Fort St. Joseph. These pathological bones will be the topic of a zooarchaeology symposium presentation next April at the 2014 annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Austin, Texas. Dr. Martin received from Dr. Steve Dasovich (Lindenwood University) the remaining samples of animal remains from the 18th-century Blanchette House site in St. Charles, Missouri, and he resumed identifying additional lots. Dr. Martin finished analyzing the faunal assemblage from site 34MC760, a site in the Ouachita National Forest in eastern Oklahoma that has a Caddo cultural affiliation, and Claire Fuller Martin continued computer database entry of 34MC762, another Caddo site. Dr. Martin finished identifications through catalog #7743 for Site 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan that was mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Dr. Martin finished identifications through catalog #7743 for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin began identifying animal remains from the large refuse pit designated as Feature 224 at the Morton Village site in Fulton County.



October, 2013: Endangered Species - Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Hine’s emerald specimens were borrowed from Canada last year to sample as a part of our population genetics study. To comply with our agreement with Canada and U.S. federal regulations, U. S. Fish and Wildlife export forms were completed, the specimens were packed, and they were delivered by Dr. Tim Cashatt to the USFWS Law Enforcement office at Rosemont, Illinois, to be returned to Canada on October 10.



October, 2013: Illinois Archaeological Survey Meeting

Dr. Terrance Martin, and Dr. Michael Conner participated in the Annual Meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey, Inc. in Carbondale on October 4-5.



October, 2013: Earth Cube Geochronology

EarthCube is an initiative of the National Science Foundation Directorate of Geosciences and Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. “Cyberinfrastructure” refers to the computer software infrastructure for discovering, storing, managing, analyzing, and visualizing data. NSF recognizes that the vast quantities of data produced by modern scientific research necessitate such an infrastructure and that it must be funded, but exactly what that infrastructure is and how it is to be governed is not settled; hence EarthCube: https://www.earthcube.org/page/about. Dr. Eric Grimm has been involved with the management of the North American and Global Pollen Databases for the past 20+ years, with the Neotoma Paleoecology Database for the past 6 years, and is involved with EarthCube. On October 1-3, he participated in an EarthCube Geochronology workshop at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. This workshop had 70 participants representing a range of geochronological methods applicable to recent time (e.g. lead-210 dating) to deep geological time (uranium series dating) and representing various user communities that manage or use geochronological dating. Dr. Grimm gave a presentation on how the Neotoma Paleoecology Database manages geochronological data, including both the original data and age models derived from the original data. Following his presentation, several participants representing geochronological methods that have no current database (e.g., cosmogenic radionuclide dating) approached Dr. Grimm about storing their data in Neotoma. Grimm is following up on this development. On the evening of October 28, in conjunction with the Geological Society of America meetings in Denver, Colorado, Dr. Grimm participated in a “GSA Town Hall: Bringing Geochronology into EarthCube” intended to convey the EarthCube geochronology efforts to the broader scientific community.



September, 2013: Diversity of Woody Plants

Dr. Hong Qian published an article, entitled "Environmental determinants of woody plant diversity at a regional scale in China", in the journal PLoS ONE on September 26. In this article, Dr. Qian examined the relationship of woody plant species richness at a regional scale with sixteen environmental variables representing energy availability, water availability, energywater balance, seasonality, and habitat heterogeneity. Dr. Qian found that temperature seasonality is the best predictor of woody species richness. Other important environmental variables include annual precipitation, mean temperature of the coldest month, and potential evapotranspiration. The best model explains 85% of the variation in woody plant species richness at the regional scale examined.



September, 2013: Preparation of Online Publication on Birds of Sangamon County

During September, Andy Hanson completed a draft layout for the two volume compendium of The Birds of Sangamon County. It is slated at the first publication in the Museum’s new Research e-Series. The report summarizes field observations for Dave Bohlen’s 40 year study of birds of Sangamon County. During September, Dr. Bonnie Styles reviewed and edited all of the introductory sections of the report. On September 26, Drs. Bonnie Styles and Eric Grimm met with Dave Bohlen to review and finalize the edited sections.



September, 2013: Birds of Sangamon County

David Bohlen continued to monitor birds in Sangamon County, concentrating on the fall migration. He recorded 176 species in 258 field hours. Some birds are arriving later than usual, probably due to the dry, warm weather.



September, 2013: Chaco Canyon Research Summarized

Dr. Jonathan Reyman completed the manuscript for his proposed book, The Burials of Pueblo Bonito and Chaco Canyon: the Published vs. the Unpublished Record, and submitted the prospectus to the School of Advanced Research in Santa Fe for consideration for publication.



September, 2013: Rare Glowworm

Dr. Cashatt continued to collaborate with Tracy Evans (graduate student and zoology research associate) on her fire ecology study, and assisting with the identification of arthropods from her insect surveys. In September, two specimens from material collected from Evan’s pitfall traps were identified as an uncommon “glowworm beetle” (Phengodidae, Phengodes sp.). This species is new for the ISM insect collection.



September, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research

Jessica Haglund (Illinois State University) is finishing identifications of the faunal assemblage from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) for her master’s thesis. Haglund was hired for the summer to supervise archaeological surveys for the National Forest Service in Collville, Washington. During September, Terrance Martin verified Haglund’s identifications of animal remains from Features 29 and 30 flotation samples. Dr. Martin resumed identifying samples of animal remains from the 18th-century Blanchette House site in St. Charles, Missouri. ISM Museum McMillan Intern Courtney Cox will be presenting a paper on the site in a symposium on French colonial archaeology at the SHA’s Conference of Historic and Underwater Archaeology in early January in Quebec City, Quebec. Dr. Martin finished analyzing a large faunal assemblage from site 34MC762, a site in eastern Oklahoma in the Ouachita National Forest that has a Caddo cultural affiliation, and Claire Fuller Martin began computer database entry. Dr. Martin made preparations to begin analysis of animal remains from 34MC760, another Caddo site. Dr. Martin finished identifications through catalog #5079 for Site 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan that was mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. During September, Dr. Martin completed computer database entry of analyzed specimens through Feature 1,198 for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003.



September, 2013: Dragonfly Phylogenetics

The taxonomic placement of species in higher taxonomic ranks based on morphological characters is often subjective. Phylogenetics, the use of DNA to determine relationships among organisms, is revolutionizing taxonomy. To which genus the Bulgarian Emerald dragonfly belongs has been controversial. Traditionally, it has been placed in the genus Somatochlora (as S. borisi); however, some entomologists argue that it should be placed in the genus Corduliochlora. To resolve the issue, Dr. Meredith Mahoney and Tim Vogt initiated a collaborative study with several other dragonfly researchers. The goal of the project is to analyze DNA sequences from multiple genes to understand the evolutionary relationships of the Bulgarian Emerald with other species of Emerald dragonflies, including the endangered Hine’s Emerald (Somatochlora hineana). Dr. Mahoney and Vogt are contributing gene sequences from their on-going study on relationships of Emerald dragonflies.



September, 2013: DNA from Ethnographic Objects

Dr. Meredith Mahoney initiated a collaborative project with Dr. Lynn Snyder of the Smithsonian Institution. The goal of the project is to assess whether DNA can be extracted from ethnographic objects, for example leather or sinew components, and determine whether DNA sequencing techniques can be used to identify the species used by native people in these objects. Dr. Mahoney will be doing the DNA lab analyses at the ISM while Dr. Snyder will provide the anthropological and collections context to understand the results.



September, 2013: New Analyses of ISM Mammoth Tooth Collected in the 1970s

Dr. Chris Widga received the results of stable isotope analyses of a micro-sampled mammoth tooth plate from Jones Spring, Missouri. This tooth was originally collected by Dr. Jeffrey Saunders during the ISM Missouri spring excavations in the 1970s. For the new isotopic analyses, Dr. Widga with the assistance of Paul Countryman built a micromill, and Kayla Kolis (an intern funded through the NSF project) collected the samples. This first batch of samples represents ~1 year of tooth growth. Although far from definitive, this pilot dataset points to the potential of this technique, and Dr. Widga is pursuing additional research.



September, 2013: Age of the Hopwood Farm Mastodont

Determining the age of the Hopwood Farm Mastodont, excavated by the ISM in the 1980s, has been difficult because it is beyond the maximum age for radiocarbon dating. In June 2013, Drs. Jeffrey Saunders and Chris Widga collected snails from the stratigraphic unit of Hopwood Farm outcrop associated with the mastodont. The snails were dated with electron spin resonance (ESR), a technique that can date materials older than the radiocarbon timescale. These dates, received in September from Brandon Curry, Illinois State Geological Survey, indicate an age of 87,180+/-2840 yrs. BP (Before Present). This age is appreciably younger than the age of 97,000 BP currently given in the Changes exhibit.



September, 2013: Oral History of Methodological Research

Dr. Robert Warren conducted research on the digital indexing of oral history recordings with controlled vocabularies. Dr. Warren will chair a session and present a paper on this topic at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Oral History Association in Oklahoma City (October 2013). Dr. Warren's presentation will focus on the design and development of the Illinois State Museum's Audio-Video Barn website. Other presenters in the session will include Douglas Lambert from the University at Buffalo (SUNY) and Jennifer Palmentiero from the Southeastern NY Library Resources Council. Commentators will include Lindsey Barnes and Kimberly Guise from the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.



September, 2013: Late Pleistocene Extinction Debate

The cause of the megafauna extinction at the end of the Pleistocene some 12,000 years ago has been highly controversial. Leading hypotheses include overkill by humans, perhaps recently arrived from Asia or Alaska, and inability to adapt to rapidly changing climate and vegetation. An argument against the overkill hypothesis is that the number of human/megafaunal associations in the archaeological record is small. Dr. Chirs Widga and colleagues Dr. Lisa Nagoka (U. of North Texas), Dr. Steve Wolverton (U. of North Texas), and Dr. Matt E. Hill, Jr. (U. of Iowa) formulated a response to an article that appeared in American Antiquity last spring. The article, entitled "The Associational Critique of Quaternary Overkill and Why it is Largely Irrelevant to the Extinction Debate" by Todd Surovell and Brigid Grund, suggests that the paucity of human/megafauna associations in the North American record is due solely to preservation. They argue that the patterns in the archaeological record (or lack thereof) are not relevant to assessing this association. My collaborators and I will point out that there are productive directions for this research, and that ignoring empirical data is not good science.



September, 2013: Sampling of Mastodont and Mammoth Collections

As part of his NSF funded research , Dr. Chris Widga undertook collections work at the University of Wisconsin. He examined collections in the UW-Zoological Museum and sampled the Maas Farm Mammoth for radiocarbon analyses. He also examined the Boaz mastodon mount in the UW-Geology Museum. Although originally described as a single animal (potentially associated with a single Clovis point), the Boaz mount is actually a composite of up to three different animals, probably from different sites and excavated at different times.



August, 2013: Endangered Species—Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Dr. Cashatt worked on the amendments for the Federally Endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly for the first Missouri mark/recapture study and participated in two days of field work. These data will be analyzed and published. Dr. Cashatt also reviewed and contributed figures, reports, and information for publication of the “Hine’s emerald Dragonfly Wisconsin Guidance Document” for the Bureau of Endangered Resources, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.



August, 2013: Fossils at Spaulding Dam

Dr. Chris Widga and ISM volunteer Debbie Hamilton worked with CWLP engineers to investigate a bedrock outcrop immediately below Spaulding Dam in Springfield (8/23). Although a sequence of limestone-shale-coal-sandstone is visible in the cut, no fossils were visible. After visiting the spillway, Widga and Hamilton visited Bridgeview Park on the south side of Lake Springfield where invertebrate fossils are present in the rock trucked in for bank stabilization. These rocks contain brachiopods and crinoids, in a situation suggesting a reef community. The rock is likely trucked in from Pittsfield, IL.



August, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research at Fort Sill

Drs. Terry Martin and Chris Widga completed a zooarchaeological analysis for R. Chris Goodwin and Associates of a zooarchaeological assemblage from East Cache Creek at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Bison and turtle dominate the assemblage. This archaeological site most probably dates to the very late Holocene. Radiocarbon samples have been submitted to Aeon Laboratories in Tucson, Arizona.



August, 2013: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin produced a technical report on historical animal remains that were encountered during archaeological survey and construction monitoring in Saginaw, Michigan, by Arbre Croce Cultural Resources (Dr. Misty Jackson, Leslie, Michigan). Greg Young (Wayne State University, Detroit) returned to the RCC to continue identifying animal remains from the 19th-century Corktown site in Detroit, Michigan, for his master’s thesis project. Dr. Martin is assisting Young by verifying identifications. Jessica Haglund (Illinois State University) is finishing identifications of the faunal assemblage from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) for her master’s thesis. Haglund was hired for the summer to supervise archaeological surveys for the National Forest Service in Collville, Washington. During August, Dr. Martin verified Haglund’s identifications of animal remains from Feature 149 flotation samples. Joseph Hearns (Western Michigan University) is conducting a spatial analysis of the animal remains from the 18th-century French habitation site at Fort St. Joseph site (20BE23), Berrien County, Michigan, with Dr. Martin on his thesis committee. Dr. Martin worked with McMillan Museum Intern Courtney Cox in identifying samples of animal remains from the 18th-century Blanchette House site in St. Charles, Missouri. Cox will be presenting a paper on the site in a symposium on French colonial archaeology at the Society for Historic Archaeology’s Conference of Historic and Underwater Archaeology in early January in Quebec City, Quebec. Dr. Martin finished analyzing a large faunal assemblage from site 34MC762, a site in eastern Oklahoma that has a Caddo cultural affiliation. The site is in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. During August, Dr. Martin finished identifications through catalog #4188 for Site 20OT283.  This site is a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan that was mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan Department of Transportation.



August, 2013: Extinct Dire Wolf

Dr. Chris Widga and Jason Titcomb of the Sanford Museum and Planetarium (Cherokee, IA), have acquired radiocarbon and stable isotope data from Iowa's first Dire Wolf. The specimen, recovered from a Crawford County (IA) gravel pit in 1959, remained undiagnosed until Titcomb sent Widga a picture of it last spring. Subsequent dating the specimen indicates an age of ~24,000 year ago. Stable isotope analyses were completed in August.



August, 2013: Colonial Williamsburg Research

Angela Goebel-Bain hosted Linda Baumgarten and Kim Ivey, textile curators from Colonial Williamsburg, in their study of the Amish quilts in the Decorative Arts collection. It was discovered that one of the quilts is signed and dated in the quilting.



August, 2013: Processing of Fish for the Comparative Skeletal Collection

Dr. Terrance Martin continued macerating fish in the remote processing laboratory at the Research and Collections Center to prepare specimens for the Museum’s comparative skeletal collection.



August, 2013: Middle Holocene Bison

Dr. Chris Widga, Matt G. Hill (Iowa State), Marlin Hawley (Wisconsin Historical Society), and Laura Halverson Monahan (University of Wisconsin) submitted a manuscript to the Wisconsin Archaeologist describing recent work on the middle Holocene, Nye Bison assemblage near St. Croix, Wisconsin. This bison assemblage was salvaged by University of Minnesota paleontologist, Sam Eddy, and archaeologist Albert Jenks in the 1930s during marl mining activities. The historic, paleoecological, and archaeological research undertaken during this analysis complements the authors’ previous work on the nearby Interstate Park, and the Itasca bison site in central Minnesota.



August, 2013: Global Warming Research

The current trajectory of global warming will move Earth into a climate system not seen for millions of years. Predicting the response of ecosystems to these new climates is particularly challenging as there is no observational data for similar climates in the recent past. Nevertheless, we can gain some understanding by studying the response of ecosystems to rapidly changing climate at the end of the last ice age (approximately 20,000-12,000 years ago) when climates existed that also have no modern analog. Dr. Eric Grimm co-authored a paper with seven other collaborators that investigated these no-analog ecosystems as models for a no-analog future. The paper explores using recent and paleoecological data to better circumscribe species’ environmental tolerances. The paper was initially presented at a conference “Climate Change and Species Interactions: Ways Forward” held in November 2012 at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. The papers appear in a special issue of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.



August, 2013: Paleoecology Databases

Dr. Eric Grimm co-authored an article in PAGES Newsletter with colleagues from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and the University of Colorado describing renewed efforts to assemble data for the Latin American Pollen Database (LAPD), which is a constituent database of the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. Lead author on the article is Suzette Flantua, who visited the ISM-RCC in January 2011 for training in the software used to input data into Neotoma. Flantua is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Amsterdam, and Grimm is on her advisory committee. Other authors are Henry Hooghiemstra, Amsterdam, Flantua’s principal advisor and who has long conducted research in northern South America, and Vera Markgraf, Colorado, who initiated the LAPD. Neotoma is a major database initiative funded by the NSF Geoinformatics Program. Grimm is a lead Principal Investigator on the project. The ISM and Pennsylvania State University are the lead institutions. PAGES (Past Global Changes) is a core project of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme, and PAGES Newsletter keeps scientists worldwide abreast of new developments in Global Change research.



August, 2013: Jameson Jenkins House Lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site (National Park Service) and the ISM collaborated on a limited archaeological investigation at the Jameson Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home Site as part of the 2013 National Park Service Cultural Resource Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP).   The Jenkins Lot is included in the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Following two weeks of fieldwork at the Jenkins lot during late June by the CRDIP Intern Ms. Victoria Bowler, ISM Research Associate Dennis Naglich, and Anthropology Chairperson Dr. Terrance Martin, the intern helped analyze recovered artifacts with Dennis Naglich and animal remains with Dr. Martin in the ISM Research and Collections Center.  She also assisted Naglich in the production of a technical report, which is still currently in progress by Naglich. In early August, Ms. Bowler reported on the project in a webinar with CRDIP interns from across the United States, and Dr. Martin wrote the zooarchaeology section of the technical report.



August, 2013: Sampling of Mastodont and Mammoth Collections

As part of his NSF funded research, Dr. Chris Widga undertook collections work at the Ohio Historical Society and Ohio State University Geology Museum in Columbus, Ohio (8/1-8/2). During this visit, he inventoried collections of Ohio proboscideans, collected a number of samples for radiocarbon dating, and visited two major Ohio River valley mineral licks with significant and historic collections of Quaternary fauna (Big Bone Lick and Blue Licks, both in northern Kentucky).



August, 2013: Birds of Sangamon County

David Bohlen continued to monitor birds in Sangamon County. August is the end of the breeding season and the beginning of fall migration. He recorded 152 species for August and devoted 229 hours in the field to the monitoring process.



July, 2013: Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Research

Dr. Everett D. Cashatt transported Hine’s Emerald genetics samples from Alma, Illinois and discussed future studies with volunteer researcher and photographer Richard Day.

July, 2013: Domestic Dog Research Presented at Veterinary Meeting

Adjunct Research Associate Dr. Dennis Lawler presented a paper (“Do Archaeological Specimens Reflect Distant Historical Aspects of the Human-Animal Bond”) at the American Veterinary Medical Association Convention to a group from the International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations on July 22 in Chicago.  He presented information on the domestic dog remains in the ISM collections from the Koster, Modoc Rock Shelter, Rodgers Shelter, and Stilwell sites. Analyses of dog remains from the Koster site revealed definable abnormalities in 33% of 36 forelimb surfaces and 40% of 20 hind limb surfaces consistent with the life of a working dog. The observed joint pathologies at these early sites were relatively mild. There is evidence at Modoc Rock Shelter for the care of a small dog with a fractured forelimb and hip damage. The archaeological canid remains do provide insights into human-animal relationships in the distant past. About 250 individuals from across the world attended the presentation, and it generated abundant discussion.

July, 2013: Grand Island Archaeological Project and Excavations at Goose Lake Outlet Site No. 3

Dr. Terrance Martin presented zooarchaeology workshops for Dr. James Skibo’s Illinois State University/Hiawatha National Forest Archaeology Field School on Grand Island in northern Michigan on July 16 and 17. Dr. Martin also participated in the Hiawatha National Forest’s Youth Archaeology Workshop on July 17; and on July 16 visited the excavations at the Goose Lake Outlet No. 3 site (20MQ140), Marquette County, Michigan, an early 17th-century Native American hunting camp that is being excavated by Drs. Marla Buckmaster and John Anderton of Northern Michigan University. Dr. Martin will be analyzing the animal remains (including moose and porcupine remains) from this excavation.

July, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research

Joseph Hearns (Western Michigan University) and Dr. Terrance Martin identified animal remains from the 18th-century French habitation site at Fort St. Joseph site (20BE23), Berrien County, Michigan during the last week of July. Hearns is doing a spatial analysis of the faunal assemblage for a M.A. thesis at WMU.  Dr. Martin finished all tables, drafted graphs, and is writing text for an article on the Laurens North site for a volume being assembled by Robert Mazrim that will be published by Illinois State Archaeological Survey.  Identifications were finished through catalog #2710 for Site 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan that was mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Dr. Terrance Martin carried out a faunal analysis for a small collection of 86 historical animal remains that were encountered during archaeological survey and construction monitoring in Saginaw, Michigan, by Arbre Croce Cultural Resources (for Dr. Misty Jackson, Leslie, Michigan).  Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) flotation samples for her Master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. As time allowed during July, Dr. Martin continued verifying Haglund’s identifications of animal remains from Feature 149 flotation samples.

July, 2013: Proposal Submitted to NSF for Archaeofaunal Database and Research

In July, Dr. Sarah Neusius, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation, Anthropology Program, to incorporate archeofaunal data for the Interior Eastern United States in the Digital Archaeological Record and address research questions about changing environmental conditions and cultural practices during the Archaic Period.  Dr. Bonnie Styles is a Co-Principal Investigator for the project and assisted with the development of the proposal.

July, 2013: Paleopathology in a Prehistoric Domestic Dog

Adjunct Research Associate Dr. Dennis Lawler, Dr. Chris Widga, Dr. Terrance Martin, and colleagues from Malinckrodt Institute of Radiology and Department of Orthopedic Surgery (Washington University School of Medicine), Pacific Marine Mammal Center (Laguna Beach, California), Numerof and Associates (St. Louis, Missouri), and School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania completed a study of a paleopathological domestic dog humerus from early Late Woodland contexts at the Weaver archaeological site (Fulton County, Illinois).  The study was published online and is slated for printing in the International Journal of Paleopathology. An unusual lesion on the proximal articular surface was examined using micro-computed tomography. The most plausible differential diagnoses include uncommon fracture-producing force and blunt intrinsic force causing fracture at a week point, such as an early osteochondral lesion, that was obliterated by healing. The dog lived for months to years after the trauma. The study is part of a larger study of paleopathology in canids and human-dog relationships.

July, 2013: Paleobiological Research at Rainbow Cave

In July, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in long-term interdisciplinary research for the Rainbow Cave project in the Black Hills with Dr. Russell Graham, Pennsylvania State University, and 30 volunteers in July.  He collected pollen samples from Rainbow Cave.

July, 2013: Curator Participates in Herpetology Meetings

In July, Dr. Meredith Mahoney participated in the annual Joint Meetings of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

July, 2013: Sampling of Mastodont and Mammoth Collections
From July 8-12, Dr. Chris Widga visited museums in Michigan and Ontario to study and sample mammoth and mastodont remains as a part of his research of the chronology and paleoecology of their extinctions, funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation. On July 29, he worked with collections in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.



July, 2013: Jameson Jenkins House Lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site (National Park Service) and the ISM collaborated on a limited archaeological investigation at the Jameson Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home Site as part of the 2013 National Park Service Cultural Resource Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP).  Following two weeks of fieldwork at the Jenkins lot, NPS intern Ms. Victoria Bowler helped analyze recovered artifacts with Dennis Naglich and animal remains with Dr. Terrance Martin, and assisted Naglich in the production of a technical report. Ms. Bowler will participate in a webinar with CRDIP interns from across the United States and report on the project in early August. The Jenkins Lot is included in the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

July, 2013: Chinese Scholar Initiates Tenure as Visiting Researcher

In July, Dr. Xiaozhong Huang joined the ISM staff in the RCC as an ISM Visiting Adjunct Research Associate in Botany for one year.  He is an Associate Professor in the Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change at Lanzhou University, located in the city of Lanzhou in central China. He is here with support of a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council.  Dr. Huang has interests in Late Quaternary paleoclimate and environmental change and particularly in grasslands. He will be working on the analysis of data and publication of results with Director of Sciences Dr. Eric Grimm.

July, 2013: Strontium Sample Collection

On July 1-2, Dr. Chris Widga collected sediment samples in the Ozarks for strontium analysis to create baseline data for his isotopic research with Pleistocene and Holocene vertebrate remains from archaeological and paleontological sites.

June, 2013: Hine's Emerald Survey

Dr. Everett D. Cashatt participated in a mark and recapture studies of the Hine’s Emerald in Salem, Missouri (June 19-21). The survey team marked 400 individuals of which 20 were recaptured specimens.

June, 2013: Jameson Jenkins House Lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site (National Park Service) and the ISM collaborated on a small-scale archaeological investigation at the Jameson Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home Site as part of the 2013 National Park Service Cultural Resource Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP).  NPS Intern Ms. Victoria Bowler worked with Timothy Townsend (NPS), Dennis Naglich (field director), and Terrance Martin (Principal Investigator). Two 1 x 1 m test units were excavated between June 18 and June 28 in search of the western end of the 1840s house foundation. Analysis of remains is underway, and Ms. Bowler will participate in a webinar with CRDIP interns from across the United States and report on the project. The Jenkins Lot is included in the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

June, 2013: Student Completes Masters Research on Ceramics

Jessica R. Miller completed her Illinois State University Master’s Thesis: “Evidence of Ritual Drink Preparation and the Function of Powell Plain and Ramey Incised Vessels in Mississippian Society.” Her thesis is based on research and analyses of ceramic vessels at the Research and Collections and Dickson Mounds Museum. A copy has been filed in the Museum Library.

June, 2013: Planning for Multidisciplinary Paleoenvironmental Research

In June, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a workshop to plan interdisciplinary paleoenvironmental research project for Fish Lake in Utah.  The project will include coring of the lake and analysis of a wide variety of proxy climate data, including pollen, which would be analyzed by Dr. Grimm.

June, 2013: South American Paleoecology Database Workshop

In June, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a PAGES South American Paleoecology Database Workshop in Santiago, Chile.  He presented a workshop on the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and data entry protocols.

June, 2013: Interpretation of Variation in Sulfur Isotope Ratios for Paleoenvironmental Research

Colleagues from the Czech Geological Survey, University of Maine and Dr. Eric Grimm published a study of variation in sulfur isotope ratios in lacustrine sediments from Lake Tulane, Florida. They suggest that trends in sulfur isotopes in the 60,000 year long sediment core from Lake Tulane were most likely related to changes in the distance to sources of marine aerosols during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.  Flux of marine aerosols with more positive sulfur isotopes would have been lowest during the Last Glacial Maximum, about 20,000-25,000 calendar years before the present, when sea level was at least 120 meters lower than present and the shorelines of east and west Florida were as much as 200 km seaword of the modern position.

June, 2013: Pollen Database History and Importance

Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from across the country published a paper tracing the history of the development and merging of regional pollen databases, culminating in the development of the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.  They emphasize the importance of these databases for fulfilling the critical need for a secure archive of paleobiological data and essential infrastructure for paleoenvironmental research. The paper was published in the Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science.

June, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin and Mike Brawley (American Resources Group, Ltd., Carbondale) completed a technical report on a small faunal assemblage from an early 19th-century cellar deposit at site 12W723 in Warrick County, Indiana. During June, computer database entry of analyzed specimens was completed through Feature 1091, and Dr. Martin finished a manuscript describing 20 bison scapulae from the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4; mitigated by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey) for a James Theler tribute volume in The Wisconsin Archeologist that is being edited by Matthew Hill and Joseph Tiffany. Dr. Martin finished all tables, drafted graphs, and began writing text for an article on the Laurens North site for a volume being assembled by Robert Mazrim that will be published by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) flotation samples for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying Haglund’s identifications of animal remains from flotation samples for Feature 30.

May, 2013: Illinois College Student Assists with Isotopic Research

Kayla Kollis, a former Illinois College Intern, is participating in isotopic research with mammoth and mastodont remains with Dr. Chris Widga.  Her project is supported through an outside grant that she secured, and the work will continue through the summer.

May, 2013: Proposal for Synthesis of Midwestern Archaeofaunal Data

Dr. Bonnie Styles collaborated with Dr. Sarah Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) on a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation to synthesize archaeofaunal data from Archaic sites in the Interior Eastern United States and address important research questions related to natural and cultural changes.

May, 2013: New Philadelphia Town Site, Pike County, Illinois

New Philadelphia was recognized by the National Park Service as qualifying for inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

May, 2013: Curator Completes Study of Freshwater Mussels from Illinois River Site

In May, Dr. Robert Warren completed a manuscript on freshwater mussels recovered from the Liverpool Landing site in the central Illinois River valley.  Spike, mucket, and purple wartyback dominated the Late Woodland archaeological samples.  All of these species were extirpated from the Illinois River by the 1960s.  Species composition of mussels indicates that the prehistoric inhabitants were collecting mussels from habitat characterized by shallow, swift water, with a coarse sand-gravel substrate.  Only a depauperate mussel fauna occurs in this area of the river today.  The manuscript has been submitted to The Wisconsin Archeologist.

May, 2013: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project Published

A paper by the Museum’s Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project team of Dr. Robert Warren, Michael Maniscalco, Dr. Erich Schroeder, James S. Oliver, and Sue Huitt, and Douglas Lampbert and Michael Frisch of The Randforce Associates, LLC was published in The Oral History Review. The digital revolution is giving oral historians exciting new ways to record, index, search, and share oral history interviews with larger and more remote audiences. The Illinois State Museum’s Oral History of Illinois Agriculture (OHIA) project used an array of digital methods and tools to develop an interactive website, called the Audio-Video Barn, which gives voice to people involved in agriculture and rural life in Illinois. The OHIA approach can serve as a model for anyone looking for engaging new ways to share oral histories with community audiences. First, the Audio-Video Barn joins a growing chorus of websites that go beyond the limitations of printed words in traditional oral history transcripts; it gives visitors access to primary-source audio and video recordings that restore emotion and meaning to the stories being told. Second, the Audio-Video Barn uses digital indexing of audio and video recordings to make them searchable in a database format. Finally, the Audio-Video Barn opens its doors to provide free access to searchable recordings via the Internet, making them widely available to diverse audiences.



May, 2013: Phylogenetic Diversity of North American Angiosperms

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from Michigan State University and the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Hong Kong completed a study (released online) of the phylogenetic diversity of Angiosperms in North America. Ecologists have generally agreed that beta diversity is a key component of global patterns of species richness.  Incorporating phylogenetic information into the study of beta diversity allows researchers to identify the degree to which the shared evolutionary histories of species explain ecological patterns observed today. Dr. Hong and his colleagues analyzed 71 regional floras in five latitudinal zones and two longitudinal bands.  They quantified taxonomic similarity and phylogenetic similarity between floras. Phylogenetic similarity between floras is strongly correlated with taxonomic similarity, is higher in eastern North America than in western North America, and increases strikingly with latitude.  Geographical and environmental distances together explained on average about 76% of the variation in phylogenetic beta diversity with environmental distance explaining more variation in phylogenetic similarity in three of the four latitudinal bands. Phylogenetic beta diversity is consistently lower than taxonomic beta diversity, which suggests that the spatial turnover of species in the study system is predominantly the spatial turnover of closely related species and not distantly related species.  Thus, the turnover of angiosperm floras in North America is best explained by small divergences along environmental axes for closely related species and a gradual turnover of lineages through space.



May, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin identified some problematic faunal specimens from the Howard Goodhue site (13PK1), an Oneota site in Polk County, Iowa, for Dr. Matthew G. Hill (Iowa State University). These consisted of specimens from Raven, Mallard, Canvasback, Trumpeter Swan, White Pelican, and American Bittern. He also identified Blue Goose and Grass Carp from a Missouri River sandbar. Dr. Martin and Mike Brawley (American Resources Group, Ltd., Carbondale) completed analysis of a small faunal assemblage from an early 19th-century cellar deposit at site 12W723 in Warrick County, Indiana.  With support from the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, Dr. Martin continued identifications for a large faunal assemblage from site 34MC762, a site in eastern Oklahoma that has a cultural affiliation with the Caddo. Dr. Martin took measurements on 20 bison scapulae from the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4;  mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003) and began work on a manuscript for a James Theler tribute volume in The Wisconsin Archeologist that is being edited by Dr. Matthew Hill and Joseph Tiffany. Dr. Martin continued final identifications and data entry of animal remains from Fort St. Joseph that were used for zooarchaeology workshops at the Western Michigan University field school last summer. Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) flotation samples for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. Dr. Martin continued verifying Haglund’s identifications of animal remains from flotation samples.  Taylor H. Thornton continued her analysis of animal remains from the Mound House site in Calhoun County. The Middle Woodland site is being excavated as part of the joint Arizona State University-Center for American Archaeology field school program. Taylor is an undergraduate majoring in anthropology and geography at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is using the zooarchaeology laboratory and reference osteology collection at the ISM RCC for her research.

May, 2013: Drivers of Beta Diversity

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the Najing Institute of Environmental Sciences (Nanjing, China), and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Institute of Botany, and the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing China) published a study on the drivers of Beta diversity. Ecologists have generally agreed that β-diversity is driven at least in part by ecological processes and mechanisms of community assembly and is a key determinant of global patterns of species richness. This idea has been challenged by a recent study based on an individual-based null model approach, which aims to account for the species pool. The goal of Dr. Hong and his colleagues’ study was twofold: (1) to analyze data sets from different parts of the world to determine whether there are significant latitude–β-diversity gradients after accounting for the species pool, and (2) to evaluate the validity of the null model. A total of 257 forest plots, each being 0.1 ha in size and having 10 0.01-ha subplots, were used. They conducted four sets of analyses. A modified version of Whittaker’s β-diversity index was used to quantify β-diversity for each forest plot. A randomization procedure was used to determine expected β-diversity. The number of individuals per species, which characterizes species abundance distribution, alone explains 56.8–84.2% of the variation in observed β-diversity. Species pool explained only an additional 2.6–15.2% of the variation in observed β-diversity. Latitude explains 18.6% of the variation in raw β deviation in Gentry’s global data set, and explains 11.0–11.6% of the variation in standardized β deviation in the global and three regional analyses. Latitude explains 33.2–46.2% of the variation in the number of individuals per species. Species abundance distribution, rather than species pool size, plays a key role in driving latitude–β-diversity gradients for β-diversity in local forest communities. The individual-based null model is not a valid null model for investigating β-diversity gradients driven by mechanisms of local community assembly because the null model incorporates species abundance distributions, which are driven by mechanisms of local community assembly and in turn generate β-diversity gradients.

May, 2013: Jameson Jenkins House Lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site (National Park Service) and the ISM will conduct a research project at the James Jenkins lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site as part of the 2013 National Park Service (NPS) Cultural Resource Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP).   Ms. Victoria Bowler (University of Texas at El Paso) was selected to serve as an NPS Intern and will work with Timothy Townsend (project historian, Lincoln Home National Historic Site), Dennis Naglich (ISM Research Associate and field director), and Dr. Terrance Martin (Principal Investigator). After doing background documentary research, two test units will be excavated, the recovered artifacts will be analyzed, Ms. Bowler will work with Naglich and Dr. Martin to prepare a report on the findings, and participate in a webinar with CRDIP interns from across the United States. Funds from the NPS to the ISMS are included for Naglich to serve as field director for the project.  In May, Principal Investigator Dr. Terrance Martin prepared and submitted an “Application for Permit for Archeological Investigations” for proposed limited test excavations at the Jenkins Lot. The goal will be to locate and identify archaeological resources associated with the Lincoln-era occupation by Jameson Jenkins, an African-American who worked as a drayman, and in 1850 helped a group of runaway slaves from St. Louis escape to Bloomington, Illinois. The Jenkins Lot is part of the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

May, 2013: Research of Latitudinal Gradients in Phylogenetic Relatedness of Angiosperm Trees

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China) and the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta) completed a major study (released online) of latitudinal gradients in relatedness for angiosperm trees in 1,175 regional assemblages in North America. They determined that species richness and mean clade age are negatively correlated with latitude and positively correlated with minimum temperature.  Tree species in regional assemblages tend to be more phylogenetically related (clustered) in regions at higher latitudes with lower temperatures.  The results of their study support two of the major predictions of the phylogenetic niche conservation hypothesis for the latitudinal diversity gradient.  Species tend to be more phylogenetically clustered and ages of clades tend to be younger in colder regions, compared with those in warmer regions.

April, 2013: Fieldwork at Hopwood Farm Site

Drs. Jeffrey Saunders and Chris Widga participated in fieldwork (limited survey and sampling of fossils) at the Hopwood Farm site in Montgomery County with representatives from the Illinois State Geological Survey on April 29.

April, 2013: Zooarchaeology Book Prospectus Submitted

Dr. Terrance Martin submitted a book prospectus to the University Press of Florida that would report on zooarchaeology case studies from historical sites in the Midwest and Upper Great Lakes in the academic series “The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective” (Michael Nassaney, Series Editor)

April, 2013: Museum Represented at Archaeological Conference

Dr. Terrance J. Martin participated in the Annual Meeting of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology in East Lansing, Michigan on April 20 and presented “Current Zooarchaeological Research Projects in and around Michigan” (30 attended). Dr. Martin also attended the annual business meeting of the Michigan Archaeological Society in Saginaw on April 21. Dr. Bonnie W. Styles attended the 78th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Honolulu. She attended numerous sessions, including a symposium on dogs presented by former McMillan Intern Angela Perri. She also met with colleagues about the submission of proposals to the National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities to incorporate Midwestern archaeofaunal data in the tDAR database and demonstrate the research value of the database.

April, 2013: Curator Meets with Southwestern Groups on Feathers and Repatriation

Dr. Jonathan Reyman met with Pueblo groups in New Mexico to distribute feathers, discuss repatriation and cultural preservation issues with Pueblo officials, and attend ceremonies.

April, 2013: Curator Re-examines Mussels from Illinois Archaeological Site

In April, Dr. Robert Warren re-examined Amblema plicata and Fusconaia flava remains from the Newbridge and Carlin sites in the lower Illinois River valley to subdivide the ecovariants as a part of larger study that he is completing on freshwater mussel populations in Illinois. Dr. Bonnie Styles originally identified the freshwater mussels for her dissertation research and helped Dr. Warren target the features with remains of interest.

April, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin resumed identifications on a large faunal assemblage from site 34MC762, a site Ouachita National Forest eastern Oklahoma that has a cultural affiliation with the Caddo. He finished identifications of animal remains from Feature 11 (excavated in 2012) at the Laurens North site, the site of the third Fort de Chartres in Randolph County, Illinois. Excavations were conducted by Dr. Margaret Brown, Robert Mazrim, and local volunteers in November 2011 and November 2012. Work continued on entry of faunal data for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin resumed final identifications on animal remains from Fort St. Joseph that were used for zooarchaeology workshops at the Western Michigan University field school last summer. Dr. Martin also reviewed a master’s thesis proposal by Joseph Hearns (Western Michigan University) for a project involving animal remains from selected features at Fort St. Joseph (20BE23) an 18th-century French fur trade post near Niles, Michigan. Some of the proveniences selected by Hearns will include some of the levels that were initially analyzed during field school workshops. Identifications of faunal remains continued for Site 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan that was mitigated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) flotation samples for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. Dr. Martin continued verifying Haglund’s identifications of animal remains from flotation samples. Taylor H. Thornton was the recipient of a Paul Liebman Undergraduate Research Award, sponsored by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to help fund her Senior Capstone Project that involves an analysis of animal remains from the Mound House site in Calhoun County. The Middle Woodland site is being excavated as part of the joint Arizona State University-Center for American Archeology field school program. Taylor is an undergraduate majoring in anthropology and geography at UIUC and is using the zooarchaeology laboratory and reference osteology collection at the ISM RCC for her research.

April, 2013: Curator Participates in Planning for Herp Meetings

In April, Dr. Meredith Mahoney participated in a meeting of the program planning committee for the upcoming 2013 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, which includes the Herpetologists League, American Society of Herpetologists, the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, and the American Elasmobranch Society. She is a member of the program planning committee.

April, 2013: Museum Assists with Excavations at James Jenkins Lot

The Lincoln Home National Historic Site (National Park Service) and the ISM will conduct a research project at the James Jenkins lot as part of the 2013 National Park Service Cultural Resource Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP).   Ms. Victoria Bowler (University of Texas at El Paso) was selected from applicants and will work with Timothy Townsend (Lincoln Home National Historic Site), Dr. Terrance Martin, and Adjunct Research Associate Dennis Naglich. After doing background documentary research, two test units will be excavated, the recovered artifacts will be analyzed, Ms. Bowler will prepare a report on the findings, and present those findings in a webinar that will be participated in by CRDIP interns across the United States. The National Park Service is providing support for Naglich to serve as the field director for the project.

April, 2013: History of Pollen and Neotoma Databases Published

Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues published an article in the Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science that summarizes the history and importance of large-scale pollen and paleoecological databases, including the North American Pollen Database, the Latin American Pollen Database, the Pollen Database for Siberia and the Russian Far East, the Global Pollen Database, and the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. Dr. Grimm is the lead author and has been instrumental in the development of these databases and applications of the databases for cutting-edge research.

April, 2013: Pueblo Bonito Book Prospectus Submitted

Dr. Jonathan Reyman submitted a proposal for a book on Pueblo Bonito burials to the School of Advanced Research in Santa Fe.

March, 2013: Mammoth Cave Paleontological Research Presented

Research Associate Mona Colburn presented a poster, co-authored with Dr. Chris Widga, on paleoecological implications of Interglacial guano deposits in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky at the annual Mammoth Cave Science Conference. Bat remains dominate in the deposits. Interglacial faunas are associated with fast-flying, open-space taxa. Two species that occur together in the interglacial deposits have ranges that do not overlap today, suggesting that there is no modern analog for the fauna. Late Holocene and historic assemblages contain more taxa that utilized forest or forest gaps. Stable isotope analysis of the chitin extract of guano samples indicated a C3 prey signature (insects) characteristic of forest habitat, suggesting a consistent foraging pattern for taxa throughout the deposits based on seasonally emerging soft-bodied taxa such as moths and flies.

March, 2013: Partnership with UIS for Archaeomagnetic Training

Research Associate Dr. Stacey Lengyel and Dr. Chris Widga have partnered with University of Illinois Springfield to do training for Archaeomagnetic dating in plots on the UIS prairie.

March, 2013: Paleobiological Research

Dr. Chris Widga is participating in a study of the Hebior Mastodont (Wisconsin) to assess pathologies and potential human modifications.  He is also assessing the health of prehistoric Wisconsin bison with the aid of CT scans of bones, and has been working with CT scanning of sabertooth cat and dire wolf to document skull shape and size.

March, 2013: Associations between Beta and Gamma Diversity of Trees in New World Forests

Dr. Hong Qian and a colleague from Andong National University in Korea analyzed two continental data sets of forest communities from across the New World to examine latitudinal gradients of beta diversity after accounting for gamma diversity and vice versa. Beta diversity (variation in species composition among local sampling units) and gamma diversity (total species richness within a region) were negatively correlated with latitude. Beta diversity was strongly and positively correlated with gamma diversity.  However, strong positive correlations between beta and gamma diversity may not be considered as evidence of one driving the other along a latitudinal gradient.

March, 2013: Synthesis of Paleoecology of Great Plains Faunal Assemblages

Dr. Chris Widga published a major synthesis of faunal data from archaeological and paleontological sites in the Great Plains.  He examines faunal evidence for paleoecological change at the Pleistocene to Holocene transition.  His study focuses on changes in small mammal faunas and the physical and social evolution of bison populations provides additional evidence for rapid landscape changes throughout the Cody period.  The landscape changes complement interpretations of bison behavior derived from changes in cranial and post-cranial anatomy, which suggest the intensified selection for morphological traits that heralded larger and more socially structured herds.

March, 2013: Nebraska Sand Hills Climate Research Published

A paper by Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues on variability in hydrology, vegetation, fire, and eolian activity in the Nebraska Sand Hills was published in The Holocene.  Studies of diatoms, pollen, and grain size and bulk-sediment chemistry document the paleoecological history of three lakes in the Nebraska Sand Hills. Both aquatic and terrestrial indicators suggest that effective moisture was low between 10,000 and 6,000 calendar years B.P. and that this time interval was the driest interval during the Holocene.

March, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin began integrating specimens from features that were found during artifact cleaning, processing, and analysis for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) in Cook County. This site was excavated by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP)/the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) between 2001 and 2003.  Identifications continued for Site 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan.  This site was excavated by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) flotation samples for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. Dr. Martin verified Haglund’s identifications for macro-recovered samples.

March, 2013: Canid Research

Veterinarian Dennis Lawler (ISM research associate) continued research on archaeological canid remains from the ISM collections. Dee Ann Watt located additional collections that contain Canis sp. specimens and accompanying documents for this research.  The research by Dr. Chris Widga and Dennis Lawler includes CT scanning of specimens to record pathologies associated with activities and disease.

March, 2013: Climate and Land-use Change Research Published

Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues published a study of diatom-based paleolimnological reconstruction of climate and local land-use change over the last 11,000 years based on cores from a 21-m deep sinkhole lake (Lake Annie) on the property of the Archibold Biological Station in southern Florida. The research was published in the Journal of Paleolimnology.

March, 2013: Great Plains Climate Change Research and Neotoma Database

On March 1, Dr. Eric Grimm presented an invited seminar on his research of climate variability and landscape response in the northern Great Plains at the University of Victoria to students and faculty member from the University of Victoria and other nearby universities, personnel from the Canadian Forest Service, and curators from the Royal British Columbia Museum.   He also gave a Tilia/Neotoma Workshop under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation for the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.

February, 2013: Training Session for Neotoma Paleoecology Database
On February 28, Dr. Eric Grimm presented a training session for Tilia software and the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. Tilia, written by Dr. Grimm, is the data input software for the Neotoma database. Twenty individuals participated in the training, including students and faculty members from the University of Victoria and other nearby universities, personnel from the Canadian Forest Service, and curators from the Royal BC Museum.  The session was funded by the University of Victoria and the Royal BC Museum.

February, 2013: Curator Discusses Historical Research

Dr. Terrance Martin and Claire Martin participated in the 2013 Illinois History Symposium.  The symposium theme was “Slavery and Emancipation: Global Perspectives” and was sponsored by the Illinois State Historical Society.  It was held at the University of Illinois Springfield. On February 28, Dr. Martin served as a session commentator for “Session II: Archaeology, Slavery, and Emancipation in Southern Illinois,” which included presentations by Dr. Mark Wagner (SIU-C) on the Crenshaw House site and Ms. Mary McCorvie (Shawnee National Forest) on the Miller Grove site February 28 (attendance: 20).

February, 2013: Art Researcher Visits Museum

Patricia Siska, an American art researcher, visited to study our GPA Healy collection in connection to a new book she is writing on Healy’s work.

February, 2013: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifying animal remains from the 1970 excavations in Grid A (dated to ca. AD 1640-1670) of the Zimmerman site, a collection that is on loan from the La Salle County Historical Society and Museum (Utica, IL). Dr. Martin worked with Doug Carr on February 26 and 27 to photograph modified, pathological, and other significant specimens prior to their return to the Historical Society. Dr. Martin finished the text and photography of all pathological specimens for the technical report on nineteenth and early twentieth-century faunal assemblages from the New Philadelphia site, 2008, 2010, and 2011 excavations.  Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site (Fulton County, Illinois) flotation samples for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. Dr. Martin verified Haglund’s identifications of macro-recovered samples. Kristen Walczesky continued identifying animal remains from two eighteenth-century archaeological sites in Quebec for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. Dr. Martin verified and helped identify some of Walczesky’s problematic specimens. Dr. Martin assisted Sheri Prowse and Suzanne Needs-Howarth by supplementing their bibliography for a special volume on research of fish remains from archaeological contexts.  Prowse and Needs-Howarth are editing this volume for Ontario Archaeology. The volume is an outgrowth of a symposium at the annual meeting of the Ontario Archaeological Society in Waterloo in October 2009, at which Martin presented on lake sturgeon from Lake Michigan basin archaeological contexts.



February, 2013: Hine's Emerald Research

Dr. Everett D. Cashatt made a webinar presentation to the Hine’s Emerald Working Group for Illinois at the Illinois Tollway Authority on February 7. He reported on the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly survey (2009-2012).  About 50 representatives from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and biologists from the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and other agencies participated in the technology-assisted meeting.



February, 2013: CT Scanning of Canid Bones

ISM research associate and veterinarian Dennis Lawler continued research of archaeological canid remains from the ISM collections Dee Ann Watt located additional collections that contain Canis sp. specimens and accompanying documents for Dr. Chris Widga and Dennis Lawler for CT scanning.

January, 2013: Paleontological Research
On January 23-24, Dr. Chris Widga examined bison collections from a Western Wisconsin locality (Nye Bison site) curated at Iowa State University for evidence of tuberculosis-like lesions as part of his documentation of potential evidence of tuberculosis in archaeological specimens with Dr. Dennis Lawler. Dr. Widga also worked with Dr. Matt G. Hill (University of Iowa) on analyses of remains from three Cervalces localities in central Iowa.

January, 2013: Bone Identification
Dr. Bonnie Styles identified a rodent vertebra from a geological context for Dr. Brandon Curry of the Illinois State Geological Survey.


January, 2013: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin continued identifying animal remains from the 1970 excavations in Grid A (ca. AD 1640-1670) of the Zimmerman site, a collection that is on loan from the La Salle County Historical Society and Museum (Utica, IL).  He worked on the technical report on nineteenth and early twentieth-century faunal assemblages from the New Philadelphia site (2008, 2010, and 2011 excavations). Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site in Fulton County, Illinois, for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. 

Kristen Walczesky continued work at the RCC identifying animal remains from two eighteenth-century archaeological sites in Quebec for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University.



January, 2013: Zooarchaeology Research Presented at Conference
Dr. Terrance Martin and Claire Martin participated in the 46th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom in January.  Dr. Martin presented a paper on “Insights on the American Experience from Zooarchaeology” in a symposium (The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective), organized and chaired by Michael S. Nassaney at the conference on January 10 (50 attended).

January, 2013: Studies of Canid Skeletons
Mr. Dennis Lawler (ISM Adjunct Research Associate) continued research on archaeological canid remains from the ISM collections.

January, 2013: Article Cites Importance of Museum Paleoecological Databases
An article in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology co-authored by Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from across the world on the importance of electronic databases references the FAUNMAP and Neotoma databases, which were developed at and with the Illinois State Museum.

December, 2012: Curator Included in NSF Research Proposal

Dr. Terrance Martin is included in a research proposal to the NSF by Dr. Deb Rotman (University of Notre Dame) for archaeological investigations of Irish immigrant settlement on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan.



December, 2012: Museum Ornithologist Participates in Winter Bird Count

David Bohlen participated in the 2012 Winter Bird Count. He participated in counts at Meredosia Island and Crane Lake in the Sanganois on December 14.  He noted several unusual birds in this area including a Harris' sparrow, spotted towhee, and common redpolls.  Bohlen counted over 2,000 pintails and 1,000 northern shovellers.  He also recorded an eastern phoebe and greater yellowlegs. The greater yellowlegs would normally have migrated south by this time.



December, 2012: Hine's Emerald Research Results Presented
Dr. Meredith Mahoney presented her genetics research of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly via a Webinar to federal, state, and university wildlife biologists at a United States Fish and Wildlife Service meeting in Marquette, Michigan on December 13.

December, 2012: Archaeozoological Research

Amanda Burtt and Dr. Terrance Martin completed identifying animal remains from several archaeological sites in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Objectives include ensuring that no human remains have been overlooked among collections of animal remains from any of the surveyed and tested sites, and complete faunal analysis of selected sites. Martin will continue analyses on the remaining smaller collections and prepare reports. Burtt’s final day at the RCC was December 14.  Dr. Martin identified animal remains from the 1970 excavations in Grid A (ca. AD 1640-1670) of the Zimmerman site, a collection that is on loan from the La Salle County Historical Society and Museum (Utica, IL).  The collection was discovered in the Historical Society’s attic, and Robert Mazrim (Illinois State Archaeological Survey) restudied and rehabilitated the collection for curation. The faunal assemblage appeared to be in the same paper field bags with no sign that it had been analyzed.

Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site in Fulton County, Illinois, as her master’s thesis project for Illinois State University.  Kristen Walczesky continued work at the RCC identifying animal remains from two eighteenth-century archaeological sites in Quebec for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University.



December, 2012: Reconstructing Plant Invasions
Dr. Eric Grimm and Colleagues from Loyola University and University of Michigan collaborated to reconstruct the spread of invasive cattail Typha using historical aerial photography and paleobotanical analysis of pollen cores.  They demonstrated the value of combining historical images with palynology to document species invasion.  The invasive cattail spread through time in all of their study wetlands.  Typha pollen dominance increased through time corresponding with increased spatial dominance.

November, 2012: Counterpane Research
Angela-Goebel Bain took a rare 1815 counterpane (bed covering) recently donated to the Museum to Colonial Williamsburg to compare it to a similar counterpane curated there. Kim Ivey, Curator of Textiles at Colonial Williamsburg, reviewed the two counterpanes with Angela, and they concluded that the two were designed and made by two cousins-in-law.  They may have worked together on them. Angela and Kim Ivey also presented their findings to an audience of 200 individuals at an international quilt symposium at Colonial Williamsburg in November.

November, 2012: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin is preparing a detailed technical report on the New Philadelphia nineteenth-century archaeological faunal assemblages recovered in 2008, 2010, and 2011 from Blocks 3, 7, and 13 (with co-authors Amanda Burtt and Kaila Akina). This work will be part of a larger website report on the New Philadelphia site being compiled by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin. Dr. Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry (through Feature 916) for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), which was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003.  Dr. Martin continued identifications of animal remains from 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan. The project was a Phase III mitigation by CCRG for the Michigan Department of Transportation.  Amanda Burtt and Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains from archaeological sites in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Objectives include insuring that no human remains have been overlooked among collections of animal remains from any of the surveyed and tested sites, and complete faunal analysis of selected sites. Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site in Fulton County, Illinois, for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University. Kristen Walczesky continued identifying animal remains from two eighteenth-century archaeological sites in Quebec for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University.

November, 2012: Extinction of Mammoth and Mastodonts

Dr. Chris Widga examined mammoth and mastodont skeletons at the Indiana State Museum to further his research of the timing and ecology of their extinction under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation.



November, 2012: Assistance with Universtiy of Illinois Pollen Laboratory and Research
Research Associate Pietra Mueller continues to assist Dr. Surangi Punyasena (Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois Urbana) with the set up of her pollen laboratory and with palynological research.  During November, Dr. Surangi, Pietra Mueller and the University's Illinois Informatics Institute and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications published a paper on improved taxonomic identification of pollen using a supervised, layered, instance-based machine-learning classification system.  Their test case used black and white spruce pollen from the North American Quaternary. They achieved greater than 93% accuracy in grain identification with both fossil and reference materials.

November, 2012: Invasive Species Research

Dr. Hong Qian submitted seven papers for publication in major scientific journals. The papers feature his ongoing research of invasive species, diversity, and latitudinal gradients. Two of the papers on plant diversity and latitudinal gradients have already been accepted for publication in the Journal of Plant Ecology and Global Ecology and Biogeography. A listing of Dr. Qian's publications is available at https://hqian.weebly.com.



November, 2012: Mercury Accumulation and Climate Change at Lake Tulane
Dr. George Jacobson (University of Maine), Dr. Eric Grimm, and other colleagues from the University of Maine and the U.S. Geological Survey (Tampa) published the results of their study of changing concentrations of mercury in the Lake Tulane record during the Quaternary. Sea level rise during deglaciation led to a rising regional water table, flooding the soils around Lake Tulane, and mercury was mobilized and deposited in Lake Tulane resulting in an increased accumulation rate of mercury. They conclude that contemporary policies to lower mercury in the environment will be judged effective only to the extent that they acknowledge the natural variability of mercury in the environment caused by multiple factors including the changing ground water table, which is driven by rising sea level, changes in land use or land cover, changing precipitation and evapotranspiration, all of which are linked to climate change.

November, 2012: Adjunct Research Associate Studies Pathologies in Mammal Skeletons
Dennis Lawler, a retired veterinarian, is working with Museum curators Drs. Chris Widga, Terrrance Martin, and Meredith Mahoney to document shoulder joint pathologies in Museum specimens of mammals (domestic dog, red fox, coyote, raccoon, and beaver) from archaeological sites and modern contexts. Their general hypothesis is that pathological phenotypes have the same gross and microstructural characteristics and are definable morphologically as the same or highly similar disorders. Their studies will broaden the evolutionary understanding of comparative joint disease and should impact breeding and management of mammals in research settings, breeding programs, zoo collections, fur farming, animal welfare situations, and in at-risk populations.

November, 2012: Paleo Databases
Dr. Eric Grimm is participating in meetings for Earth Cube, an initiative of the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Directorate. He is also serving on the Executive Committee for a Cyberinfrastructure Paleo Geosciences grant to the University of Minnesota. In November, he participated in a town hall meeting at the 2012 Geological Society of America meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina and emphasized the importance of including the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and other paleo databases in these initiatives and projects.


October, 2012: Midwest Archaeological Conference
The Museum was well represented at the 58th Midwest Archaeological Conference in East Lansing, Michigan, sponsored by Michigan State University. Dr. Bonnie Styles participated in the meeting and arranged for the manufacture of the Distinguished Career Award, which was presented to Dr. Charles Cleland, Professor Emeritus from Michigan State University.  Dr. Terrance Martin, Dr. Michael Conner, Amanda Burtt, and visiting scholar Malorie Hatch (Arizona State University) presented papers and posters summarizing their research. Christa Christensen presented a paper on educational programs at Dickson Mounds Museum.  These contributions are itemized in the Professional Presentations section of this report.

October, 2012: Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Meeting
Dr. Tim Cashatt attended a meeting in Alton on October 17 to discuss the Museum's past season of research on the federally endangered Hine's Emerald Dragonfly and to develop a strategy and plan for the next season's research. The meeting was attended by Federal and State biologists working on research and recovery for this species.

October, 2012: Neotoma Database Presented to International Forum
On October 11, Dr. Eric Grimm presented a paper on the Neotoma Paleoecology Database at a meeting on Holocene Land-Cover Change in Eastern Asia for Climate Modeling. The meeting was sponsored by PAGES (Past Global Changes), a core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Dr. Grimm's presentation was attended by 70 representatives from Museum and University curators, faculty, and students.

October, 2012: Conference on Illinois History
Claire Martin presented a paper, "'No Marble Pile Rises': New Philadelphia and Civil War," on October 11 at the Conference on Illinois History in Springfield. On October 11, Dawn Cobb (Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Museum Research Associate) and Dr. Harold Hassen (DNR) presented a Teacher Workshop─"Guide to Understanding Illinois' Historic Cemeteries" at the conference. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation sponsor the conference.

October, 2012: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin identified vertebrate remains from the Middle Archaic Palace site (13PK966) for Bill Whittaker (Project Archaeologist, Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist). Dr. Robert Warren identified freshwater mussels, and Dr. Chris Widga analyzed canid remains from this site. Dr. Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), which was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin resumed identifying animal remains from the Upper Mississippian Fisher/Huber occupation of the Collier Lodge site (12PR36), a seasonal encampment along the edge of the Kankakee Marsh in northwestern Indiana that was excavated under the supervision of Dr. Mark Schurr (University of Notre Dame). Dr. Martin began identifications of animal remains from 20OT283, a late prehistoric habitation site along the lower Grand River near Grand Haven, Michigan. The excavations were conducted by CCRG for the Michigan DOT. Amanda Burtt continued identifying animal remains from archaeological sites in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Objectives include insuring that no human remains have been overlooked among collections of animal remains from any of the surveyed and tested sites and completing faunal analysis of selected sites. Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site in Fulton County, Illinois, as her master’s thesis project for Illinois State University.

September, 2012: Conference on French Colonial Studies
Dr. Terrance Martin and Adjunct Research Associate Dr. Kathleen Erhardt presented summaries of their research at the 2012 Conference of the Center for French Colonial Studies at Indiana University.  Dr. Martin addressed use of animals at French heritage archaeological sites in the Midwestern United States (70 attended). Dr. Erhardt Native American use of European copper and brass in the Midcontinent (70 attended).

September, 2012: Illinois Archaeological Survey Meeting
Drs. Michael Wiant, Terrance Martin, and Michael Conner attended the annual meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey, Inc. in Urbana-Champaign on September 8.  Dr. Wiant presented a paper co-authored with Kelvin Sampson on Sac and Fox villages along Henderson Creek.  A paper by Drs. Michael Conner and Jodie O'Gorman presented a paper on the 2012 excavations at the Morton site.

September, 2012: Morton Site Analyses
Drs. Terrance Martin, Bonnie Styles, Michael Conner, and Jodie O’Gorman (Michigan State University) and Marjorie Schroeder met to discuss future funding options for analyses of materials from the Morton Village site excavations (September 14).

September, 2012: Pollen Coalition Workshop
In September, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a Pollen Coalition Workshop, sponsored by the MITRE Corporation, in Washington D.C.

September, 2012: Tyson Spring Cave Fauna Reported
In September, Dr. Chris Widga and colleagues from Penn State University, University of California Santa Cruz, and University of Kansas reported their research of scimitar-toothed cat (Homotherium serum) and stagmoose (Cervalces) remains from the Tyson Spring Cave in Fillmore County, Minnesota.  These records are the first for both species in Minnesota and the first for the scimitar-toothed cat in the Upper Great Lakes Region. Genetic analysis confirmed the identification of the scimitar-tooth cat, and it dates to approximately 26,900 years ago, a time when the Wisconsin glacial ice margin was less than 60 km away.

September, 2012: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin compiled species composition tables for the animal remains from various eighteenth-century features excavated during November 2011 at the Laurens North site near Fort de Chartres State Historic Site by Dr. Margaret Brown and Robert Mazrim. Dr. Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), which was mitigated by Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Illinois State Archaeological Survey between 2001 and 2003. By the end of September, data entry was finished through Feature 904.  Dr. Martin resumed identifying animal remains from the Upper Mississippian Fisher/Huber occupation of the Collier Lodge site (12PR36), a seasonal encampment along the edge of the Kankakee Marsh in northwestern Indiana that was excavated under the supervision of Dr. Mark Schurr (University of Notre Dame).  Amanda Burtt continued identifying animal remains from archaeological sites in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Objectives include insuring that no human remains have been overlooked among collections of animal remains from any of the surveyed and tested sites and completing faunal analysis of selected sites.  Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site in Fulton County, Illinois, as her Master’s thesis project for Illinois State University. Dr. Martin was invited to collaborate with the Duluth Archaeology Center, L.L.C. on a proposed research project focused on an assessment of the Woodland Tradition in West-Central Minnesota, including artifactual characteristics (especially ceramics), basic lifeways (subsistence-settlement pattern), and probable interaction with other known Precontact groups. The research is being coordinated by the Minnesota Historical Society and the Oversight Board of the Statewide Survey of Historical and Archaeological Sites.

August, 2012: Art Department
Robert Sill is researching and developing an exhibition called “Art and the Word” that will be presented at ISM sites and locally will anchor a multi-venue partnership with UIS, Robert Morris Gallery, Springfield Art Association, and Prairie Art Alliance.

August, 2012: Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Research
In August, Dr. Tim Cashatt met with other surveyors and representatives from conservation organizations and photographed new Hine's Emerald sites in Cook County that are suspected to have breeding habitat.

August, 2012: Neotoma Paleocology Database
Dr. Eric Grimm made a presentation on the "Current Status of the Neotoma Paleocology Database" to an audience of about 100 academics, curators, and graduate students at the 13th International Palynological Conference at Chuo University in Tokyo, Japan.

August, 2012: Zooarchaeological Research

R. Bruce McMillan Museum Intern Amanda Burtt and Dr. Terrance Martin finished a technical report on animal remains from the Rider/Watters/Oberbroeckling Farmstead site in Dubuque County, Iowa, a site that was mitigated by Tallgrass Historians L.C. (Iowa City) as part of the Southwest Arterial highway construction project southwest of Dubuque. Contexts consist of two late nineteenth to early twentieth century privies and two animal burials. Dr. Martin identified a small collection of animal remains from five archaeological sites in north central Nebraska investigated by American Resources Group, Ltd. for the Keystone Pipeline Project (August 19).

Amanda Burtt began identifying animal remains from archaeological sites from the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Objectives include insuring that no human remains have been overlooked among collections of animal remains from any of the surveyed and tested sites and completing faunal analyses for selected sites. Dr. Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), which was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. By the end of August, data entry was finished through Feature 861. Dr. Martin continued identification of animal remains from site 20OT283, a late prehistoric Native American habitation site along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan. The site was mitigated in 2011 for the US-31/M-231 Holland to Grand Haven Highway Bypass by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains from the Upper Mississippian Fisher/Huber occupation of the Collier Lodge site (12PR36), a seasonal encampment along the edge of the Kankakee Marsh in northwestern Indiana that was excavated under the supervision of Dr. Mark Schurr (University of Notre Dame). Dr. Martin verified student identifications from previous zooarchaeology workshops for several lots of animal remains from the Fort St. Joseph site (Berrien County, Michigan) and entered them onto the comprehensive database for the site’s faunal assemblage.

Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site in Fulton County, Illinois for her master’s thesis project at Illinois State University.

July, 2012: Archaeologist Presents at Annual Mississippian Conference
Dawn Cobb gave a paper at the annual Mississippian Conference at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (July 28). She presented on the recovery of filed teeth at the Cahokia site and other prehistoric Native American sites.  Over 100 individuals attended her presentation.  Alan Harn and Dee Ann Watt also participated in the conference.

July, 2012: Proposal for Paleobiological Research
In July, Drs. Chris Widga and Eric Grimm submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation for collaborative research with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences and University of Iowa for "Testing the effects of Holocene climate and vegetation change on bison behavior, population structure, and body size on the northern Great Plains, USA."

July, 2012: Zooarchaeological Analyses
Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), which was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. By the end of July, data entry was finished through Feature 841. Dr. Martin and McMillan Museum Intern Amanda Burtt examined the large collection of animal remains at the Dickson Mounds Museum laboratory from 2012 excavations at the Morton Village site in Fulton County by the Michigan State University archaeological field school under the direction of Drs. Jodie O’Gorman and Michael Conner (July 3). Dr. Martin continued identification of animal remains from site 20OT283, a late prehistoric Native American habitation site along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan. The site was mitigated in 2011 for the US-31/M-231 Holland to Grand Haven Highway Bypass by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. Dr. Martin began identification of animal remains from the Upper Mississippian Fisher/Huber occupation of the Collier Lodge site (12PR36), a seasonal encampment along the edge of the Kankakee Marsh in northwestern Indiana that was excavated under the supervision of Dr. Mark Schurr (University of Notre Dame).

July, 2012: Paleobiological Fieldwork in the Black Hills
Dr. Eric Grimm continued his long-term participation in fieldwork with Penn State to document changes in climate and biota in the Black Hills.  The team continued their excavations at and around Rainbow Cave in the southern Black Hills, and Dr. Grimm also collected pollen samples.

July, 2012: Proboscidean Extinctions
Drs. Chris Widga and Jeffrey Saunders inventoried mammoth and mastodont fossils in the collections of the Chicago Academy of Sciences at the Peggy Notebaert Museum.  This research is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

July, 2012: Proposal for Archaeofaunal Research Project
Throughout the month, Dr. Bonnie Styles worked with Dr. Sarah Neusius of Indiana University of Pennsylvania to prepare a proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities to expand representation of Midwestern archaeofaunal data in the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) and demonstrate the research utility of this database. Dr. Terrance Martin wrote a letter agreeing to collaborate with other zooarchaeologists participating in the Eastern Faunal Working Group established for this project by contributing data to the tDAR database (July 11).

July, 2012: Study of Geographic and Climatic Effects on Species Turnover Published
In July, Dr. Hong Qian and a colleague from the University of Tsukuba in Japan published a study of the effects of geographic distance and climate dissimilarity on species turnover in alpine meadow communities across the Tibetan Plateau in the peer-reviewed scientific journal of Plant Ecology.

July, 2012: McMillan Museum Intern Analyzes Archeofaunal Remains
McMillan Museum Intern Amanda Burtt is identifying animal remains from Rider/Watters/ Oberbroeckling Farmstead site in Dubuque County, Iowa, a site that was mitigated by Tallgrass Historians L.C. (Iowa City) as part of the Southwest Arterial highway construction project southwest of Dubuque. Contexts consist of two late nineteenth to early twentieth century privies and two animal burials. Dr. Martin and Amanda Burtt checked box inventories and began examining zooarchaeological collections from the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Objectives include insuring that no human remains have been overlooked among collections of animal remains from any of the surveyed and tested sites, and complete faunal analysis of selected sites.

July, 2012: Masters Student Analyzes Archaeofaunal Remains
Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site in Fulton County, Illinois, as her master’s thesis project for Illinois State University.  Dr. Terrance Martin is assisting her with this work.

June, 2012: Collaboration for Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act
On June 28, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency signed an agreement for Research Associate Dawn Cobb to continue to serve as the Physical Anthropologist for the identification and analyses of human remains recovered under the auspices of the State Human Skeletal Remains Protection and Archaeological and Paleontological Remains Protection Acts.

June, 2012: Documentary Research of Jameson Jenkins
In June, the National Park Service approved a research project on Jameson Jenkins.  Claire Martin will assemble additional documentary evidence on Jenkins, who was a neighbor to Abraham Lincoln in Springfield. She will prepare a report on the life and times of Jenkins, which will help the National Park Service interpret the property in the Lincoln Home area.

June, 2012: Hine's Emerald Research
From June 15-19, Dr. Tim Cashatt participated in fieldwork in Cherry Hill Woods in Cook County, Illinois. The purpose of this fieldwork was to locate breeding habitat and collect genetic samples of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly.

June, 2012: American Quaternary Association Meetings
In June, Drs. Eric Grimm and Bonnie Styles participated in the biennial meeting of the American Quaternary Association in Duluth, Minnesota.  Drs. Styles and Grimm are long-time leaders in this interdisciplinary professional organization.  The theme of this year's meeting was "From Floods to Droughts: Water, Climate Variability, and their Impacts in the Holocene." Drs. Styles and Grimm attended a field trip on the University of Minnesota's Large Lakes Observatory research vessel to collect core and sediment samples to document the visibility of the recent severe floods in Duluth in the Lake Superior sediment record.  Dr. Grimm presented a paper on the high resolution record from Kettle Lake related to hydrological variability, vegetation, and fire in the plenary session. Dr. Chris Widga also attended the meeting and presented a poster with Drs. Stacey Lengyel and Jeffrey Saunders on the ecology and timing of mammoth and mastodont extinctions in the Upper Great Lakes.

June, 2012: Botany Intern Completes Palynological Project
In June, Buzz Nanavanti completed an internship project with Dr. Eric Grimm to analyze pollen samples from Sweeton Pond in Missouri. He will be attending graduate school at Washington State University in the fall and hopes to continue his analysis of the Sweeton Pont data.

June, 2012: Geological Research
On June 6, Dr. Chris Widga collected archaeomagnetic samples from the Morton Village Site in Fulton County and also collected vegetation samples for strontium isotope analyses.

June, 2012: Zooarchaeological Analyses
Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4), which was mitigated by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. By the end of June, data entry was finished through Feature 831. Dr. Martin began identifications on animal remains from site 20OT283, a late prehistoric Native American habitation site along the lower Grand River in Ottawa County, Michigan. The site was mitigated in 2011 for the US-31/M-231 Holland to Grand Haven Highway Bypass by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.  Under the supervision of Dr. Martin, Jessica Haglund continued identifying animal remains from the Myer-Dickson site, located at the site of the Dickson Mounds Museum and parking lot in Fulton County, Illinois, which was excavated during the 1960s. This work is Haglund’s master’s thesis project for Illinois State University. Dr. Martin finished identifying animal remains from Feature 3 in Unit 4 at the Laurens Site North (11R125), which was excavated by Dr. Margaret Brown and Robert Mazrim in late 2011 near the Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, Illinois.  Dr. Brown and Mazrim are reinterpreting this site to be the remnant of a third wood fort that occupied from 1732 to 1751, instead of the first Fort de Chartres that was constructed in 1721 (as previously interpreted by Drs. Edward Jelks and Carl Ekberg).

May, 2012: Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act Coordinator
The Museum and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency renewed an agreement to continue the provision of the skeletal analyst (Dawn Cobb) to serve as the coordinator for the State Human Graves Protection Act for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency in FY13.  The position is funded through the Museum Society.

May, 2012: Paleoecology of Late Quaternary Extinctions
Drs. Chris Widga, Jeffrey Saunders, and Stacey Lengyel completed the annual report for their first year of their NSF-sponsored research of the paleoecology of Late Quaternary Extinctions. By May 11, they had surveyed proboscidean (mammoth and mastodont) collections in 19 regional repositories and will visit four more before the end of the first year of the project.   They collected morphological data to clarify proboscidean taxonomy and explore trends in molar morphology. They have noted great variability in mammoth tooth morphology that they interpret to be a result of interbreeding between different mammoth populations. They collected and have submitted 29 samples for radiometric dating to help determine the timing of occurrence and extinction of mammoths and mastodonts. Lengyel developed educational Web resources for the project to create a portal to "The last Ice Age in the North American Midwest" for the Museum's Web site. They also participated in two outreach projects in collaboration with other institutions: the joint Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM)-Illinois State Museum "2012 Mammoth Expedition" (a MPM distance learning program for grades 5-7), and the joint Illinois State Museum-Waubonsee Community College "Aurora Mastodont Matrix Analysis Project" (engages students in grades 5-12 in sorting matrix from a mastodont locality).

May, 2012: River Otter Research
Gregory R. Fretueg defended his Master’s Thesis in Environmental Science at the University of Illinois Springfield: Latrine Site Selection and Diet Composition of River Otters (Lontra canadensis) in a Restored Illinois Floodplain. Drs. Chris Widga and Terrance Martin assisted Fretueg with various parts of his research at the Research and Collections Center. Dr. Martin assisted by helping with and verifying identification of fragmentary animal remains that were found in samples of river otter scat.

May, 2012: Archeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) mitigation by Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Illinois State Archaeological Survey between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin finished identifying animal remains from excavations by Dr. Margaret Brown and Robert Mazrim that occurred late in 2011 at the Laurens Site North (11R125), located near the reconstructed stone fort at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, Illinois. Dr. Brown and Mazrim are reinterpreting this site to be the remnant of a third wood fort that was occupied from 1732 to 1751, instead of the first Fort de Chartres that was constructed in 1721 (as initially interpreted by Drs. Edward Jelks and Carl Ekberg). Dr. Martin is periodically verifying Jess Haglund’s (Illinois State University) identifications of animal remains from the Meyer-Dickson site, which she is working on for her master’s thesis project.

April, 2012: Conference on Michigan Archaeology
Dr. Terrance Martin attended annual meetings of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology in East Lansing (April 28) and the Michigan Archaeological Society in Durand (April 29).

April, 2012: 2012 Illinois History Symposium
The Museum was well represented at the Illinois History Symposium with presentations by Dr. Michael Wiant, Dr. Robert Warren, and Dawn Cobb.  Dr. Wiant, Kelvin Sampson, and Alan Harn also identified artifacts for the Symposium.

April, 2012: Society for American Archaeology Meeting
Drs. Bonnie Styles, Terrance Martin, Chris Widga, Adjunct Research Associate Dr. Lynn Fisher, and Palynology Intern Buzz Nanavanti attended the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Memphis, Tennessee (April 18-21).  Dr. Widga gave a paper, co-authored with Drs. Stacey Lengyel and Dr. Michael Wiant, on the domestication of dogs in a session organized by former McMillan Museum Intern Angela Perri. Angela Perri also gave a paper in this session on domestication of dogs in temperate forests during the middle Holocene that included research that she conducted as a part of internship. Dr. Michael Conner and Alan D. Harn prepared a paper on Dickson Mounds for the meeting, but Dr Conner was unable to attend because of illness. Dr. Martin participated in a meeting of the Committee on Museums, Collections, and Curation. Dr. Styles participated in a meeting with colleagues from Arizona State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania on the development of a grant proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities to incorporate eastern archeofaunal remains in the Digital Archaeological Record.  Buzz Nanavanti presented a poster on his graduate field research in Peru.  Former McMillan Intern Andie Boon gave a paper, co-authored with Dr. Sarah Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) on faunal remains from horizon 11 at the Koster site, which was the subject of her internship at the Museum. Dr. Michael Wiant was the senior author of a paper with Dr. Jane Buikstra for this same symposium, which introduced new research at the Koster site. Dr. Buikstra presented the paper, which introduced the symposium because Dr. Wiant was unable to attend.

April, 2012: Survey for Vertebrate Fossils
On April 16, Drs. Jeffrey Saunders and Chris Widga conducted a field survey along Buckheart Creek to search for vertebrate fossils.  The Museum’s collections include vertebrate fossils from the area.

April, 2012: Research Associate Assists with Jameson Jenkins Research
Research Associate Claire Martin will be assisting the staff at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site with research on Jameson Jenkins.

April, 2012: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) mitigation by Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Illinois State Archaeological Survey between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains from excavations by Dr. Margaret Brown and Robert Mazrim that occurred late in 2011 at the Laurens Site North (11R125), located near the reconstructed stone fort at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, Illinois. Dr. Brown and Mazrim are reinterpreting this site to be the remnant of a third wood fort that was occupied from 1732 to 1751, instead of the first Fort de Chartres that was constructed in 1721 (as previously argued by Dr. Edward Jelks and Carl Ekberg).

April, 2012: Organization of American Historians Conference
Angela Goebel-Bain participated in the Organization of American Historians and the National Council for Public History Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in April.  While she was there, she had the opportunity to meet the Director of the Chipstone Foundation and discuss potential support from them for the planning of the Museum’s new history exhibits.

April, 2012: Botanists Disentangle Factors Affecting Species Richness
Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the Institute of Applied Ecology and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Alberta completed a study of the factors that generate geographic variation in species richness.  They found that energy-water balance has played the most important role in regulating pteridophyte (fern and fern allies) species richness patterns in China. The study was published in the journal Plant Ecology.

March, 2012: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) mitigation by Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Illinois State Archaeological Survey between 2001 and 2003.  Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains from excavations by Dr. Margaret Brown and Robert Mazrim in November, 2011, at the Laurens North site (11R125), located near the reconstructed stone fort at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, Illinois. Dr. Brown and Mazrim are reinterpreting this site to be the remnant of a third wood fort occupied from 1732 to 1751, instead of the first Fort de Chartres that was constructed in 1721 (as previously argued by Drs. Edward Jelks and Carl Ekberg).

March, 2012: Botanist and Colleagues Critique Study of Beta Diversity
Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the Institute of Applied Ecology and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences critiqued a study of beta diversity along latitudinal and elevational gradients that was published by other scholars in Science in 2011.  They concluded that the earlier study used inappropriate data and inadequate methods of analysis. Their comment was published in Science in March.

March, 2012: Latitudinal Shifts in Introduced Species
Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the United States Department of Agriculture, Brown University, and the University of Evora in Portugal documented that for introduced species of birds, mammals, and plants, relatively more non-native species occur at latitudes higher than those in their native ranges, and fewer occur at latitudes lower than their native ranges.  Possible drivers of latitudinal shifts in exotic ranges may include climate change, greater biotic resistance at lower latitudes, historical limitations on ranges in native regions, and the impacts of humans on species distributions.

March, 2012: Emiquon Science Symposium
Dr. Bonnie Styles participated in and gave a presentation on the value of paleoecological and archaeological research to restoration efforts at the annual Emiquon Science Symposium on March 8. Dickson Mounds Museum hosted the symposium, which was co-sponsored by the University of Illinois at Springfield, The Nature Conservancy, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Drs. Mike Lemke (UIS) and Michael Wiant (DMM) introduced the symposium and speakers. Museum Board Member Dr. Lorin Nevling also attended the session.

March, 2012: Dragonfly Genetics Research
On March 8, Dr. Meredith Mahoney gave an annual update on ongoing research of genetics of endangered dragonfly species and discussed results with researchers and representatives of federal agencies, including the Illinois Department of Transportation and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, in a meeting at the IDOT-Tollway Headquarters in Downers Grove, Illinois.

March, 2012: Neotoma Workshop
In March, Dr. Eric Grimm led a Neotoma Workshop in Santiago, Chile.  He provided an overview of the software capabilities of Tilia (the software for entry of pollen data) and the overall Neotoma database. The workshop trained 23 participants from universities in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. The development of the Neotoma database is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

March, 2012: New Philadelphia Project
Public lectures on New Philadelphia and the archaeological project were presented at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis and at the RCC as part of the weekly Brown Bag lecture series. An article is also in preparation for the next issue of The Living Museum.

February, 2012: Dating of Principia College Mammoth
Drs. Chris Widga and Jeffrey Saunders provided advice and assisted in the sampling of the Principia College Mammoth for radiocarbon dating on February 24.

February, 2012: New Philadelphia Project
In February, the Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative (IREC) pledged $7,500 each year for ten years to develop physical structures and improvements to promote public awareness and educational information about the New Philadelphia site. The donation is being enhanced by support from John Wood Community College (Quincy) and in-kind labor through its construction trades program, and the construction of a kiosk at the site’s entrance.  An 1845 postmark on a letter found on eBay by an avocational historian gained special significance when Frank McWorter’s name was discovered on it. Pittsfield resident Warren Winston purchased the letter, shared it with New Philadelphia Association (NPA) members, and donated it to the NPA. The NPA, in turn, will donate it to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield where it will be preserved.

February, 2012: Aboriginal Dogs Studied
Drs. Chris Widga and Dennis Lawler (visiting researcher/retired veterinarian) are examining dog remains from the Koster archaeological site and other archaeological canid remains in the Museum's collections. Dr. Lawler is interested in pathologies and their etiology in domestic dogs and other canids, and Dr. Widga is interested in the evolution and role of dogs in prehistoric societies.

February, 2012: Global Patterns of Species Turnover
Dr. Hong Qian and Dr. Robert Ricklefs of the Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis attempted to distinguish the effects of geographic distance and environmental dissimilarity on patterns of species turnover in mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.  Their analyses indicate that reptiles and amphibians exhibit greater heterogeneity within their 660 ecoregions and greater turnover among ecoregions with respect to geographic and environmental distance than birds and mammals. This result is consistent with greater habitat specialization and weaker powers of dispersal among reptiles and amphibians.  Species of all classes of terrestrial vertebrates exhibited greater distance-independent heterogeneity among generally tropical compared with temperate realms.  The study was published in Global Ecology and Biogeography, a major scientific journal.

February, 2012: Beta Diversity and Energy Relationships in Terrestrial Vertebrates
Dr. Hong Qian and colleague Ming Xiao of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences completed and published a study of global patterns in the beta diversity-energy relationship in terrestrial vertebrates.  Beta diversity or species turnover, that is changes in species composition between places, has long been thought to increase with increasing energy availability. However, this hypothesis has not been well tested. They examined the beta diversity relationship for mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in ecoregions across the world in each of six biogeographic realms.  They show that beta diversity is generally higher in areas with higher energy availability as measured by annual potential evapotranspiration.  A higher level of beta diversity in areas with higher energy availability may have contributed to the well-known latitudinal gradient (i.e., species richness increases toward the equator).

February, 2012: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin identified a small collection of animal remains from George Rogers Clark National Historic Park in Vincennes (Knox County), Indiana that were recovered during excavations by CCRG, Inc.  Dr. Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) mitigation by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program-Illinois State Archaeological Survey between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains from excavations by Dr. Margaret Brown and Robert Mazrim that occurred late in 2011 at the Laurens Site North (11R125), located near the reconstructed stone fort at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, Illinois. Dr. Brown and Mazrim are reinterpreting this site as the remnant of a third wood fort that was occupied from 1732 to 1751, instead of the first Fort de Chartres that was constructed in 1721 (as previously interpreted by Drs. Edward Jelks and Carl Ekberg).

January, 2012: Museum Paleoecologist Collaborates on Research of Drought Variability
Dr. Eric Grimm collaborated with Dr. David Nelson (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences) on a preproposal to the National Science Foundation for “Resolving the Ambrosia Paradox: Extreme Drought Variability and No-Analog Mid-Holocene Plant Communities in the Northern Great Plains.”  The paradox of Ambrosia (ragweed) is that it was most abundant during the driest phases of the mid and late Holocene, but is drought intolerant today in the northern Great Plains.  Their hypothesis is that plant communities during the mid-Holocene in the northern Great Plains (1) formed in direct response to high precipitation variability and temperature seasonality and (2) lack analogs from prior to European settlement.  They will reconstruct spatial and temporal variations in plant water-stress in the mid and late Holocene using carbon isotopes in Ambrosia and Artemisia pollen.

January, 2012: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying identifications and database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) mitigation by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003. Dr. Martin began identifying animal remains from excavations that occurred late in 2011 by Dr. Margaret Brown and Robert Mazrim at the Laurens Site North (11R125), located near the reconstructed stone fort at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, Illinois. Dr. Brown and Mazrim are reinterpreting this site to be the remnant of a third wood fort that was occupied from 1732 to 1751, instead of the first Fort de Chartres that was constructed in 1721 (as previously interpreted by Edward Jelks and Carl Ekberg).

January, 2012: Adjunct Research Associate Participates in Research of Glacial Dynamics
Adjunct Research Associate Dr. Edwin Hajic collaborated with Dr. Tom Lowell (University of Cincinnati) and Dr. Brandon Curry (Illinois State Geological Survey) on a proposal to the National Science Foundation to study “Initial Deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet—Timing, Magnitude , and Meltwater Production.” Dr. Bonnie Styles helped shepherd the proposal through the Museum Society and it was submitted on January 10.

January, 2012: Research Presented at Annual Conference on Historical Archaeology
Dr. Terrance Martin presented a paper on the zooarchaeological signature of fur trapping and participated in another paper on ethnogenesis at Fort Quiatenon at the Society for Historical Archaeology’s annual conference on Historical and Underwater Archeology in Baltimore, Maryland.

January, 2012: Study of Freshwater Mussels from Emiquon Geomorphic Contexts
On January 7, Dr. Bonnie Styles completed a report on the freshwater mussels recovered from geormorphic contexts during trenching in the area of historic Thompson and Flagg Lakes.  The report was sent to Alan Harn for integration into a larger study of geomorphic and archaeological history of the Emiquon area.

January, 2012: Botanist Collaborates on Beta Diversity Research
Dr. Hong Qian and a colleague from the Chinese Academy of Sciences completed and published  (Acta Oecological 39:67-71) a major study of beta diversity or species turnover.  It is thought that beta diversity increases with increasing energy availability, but very few studies have directly tested this hypothesis. They examined the beta diversity-energy relationships for flour classes of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians) in ecoregions across the world.  The relationship was examined for each class in each of six biogeographic realms. They show that beta diversity is generally higher in areas with higher energy availability, measured as annual potential evapotranspiration.  A higher level of beta diversity in areas with higher energy availability may have contributed to the well-known latitudinal diversity gradient (i.e. species richness increases towards the equator).

January, 2012: Intern Assists with Pollen Research
In January, William “Buzz” Nanavati began work as a volunteer intern in the Botany Section. He will be working with Dr. Eric Grimm in the pollen laboratory over the winter and spring.  He will be working on the core from Sweeton Pond in Missouri.

January, 2012: Art Department Activities
Robert Sill continues researching Illinois contemporary artists for upcoming contemporary art exhibition scheduled for Fall 2013 and Angela Goebel-Bain continues researching the Civil War era in Illinois.

December, 2011: NSF Preliminary Proposal Submitted to Study Plant Diversity
Dr. Hong Qian submitted a preliminary proposal to the National Science Foundation (Division of Environmental Biology) to develop and share a comprehensive plant diversity database for the Himalaya, test ecological and biogeographic hypotheses, characterize distribution patterns of species diversity, study distribution patterns for endemic taxa, and provide baseline statistics to assign conservation priorities.

December, 2011: Neotoma Database
During December, Dr. Eric Grimm worked with collaborators at Penn State University on the Neotoma Database under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation.

December, 2011: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin finished verification of student identifications on animal remains from previous excavations in various areas of the site and updated the database on New Philadelphia animal remains. Dr. Martin will co-author a presentation in a symposium on the New Philadelphia site with Amanda Burtt (University of California Berkeley; New Philadelphia field school student in 2012) at the Conference of Historical and Underwater Archaeology in January 2012.   Dr. Martin is verifying identifications and doing database entry for the Hoxie Farm site (11CK4) mitigation by ITARP/ISAS between 2001 and 2003.  Dr. Martin reviewed the NSF application for the Morton Village Site project being submitted by Drs. Michael Conner and Jodie O’Gorman (Michigan State University) and the draft budget for faunal analysis. On behalf of the ISMS, Dr. Martin submitted a biographical statement and summary of two recent projects from the Upper Midwest for a proposal by CCRG, Inc. to the USACE, Rock Island District, for Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract for archaeological services in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

December, 2011: Art Department Activities
Robert Sill continues researching Illinois contemporary artists for upcoming contemporary art exhibition scheduled for Fall 2013 and Angela Goebel-Bain continues researching the Civil War era in Illinois.

December, 2011: Geological Fieldwork
On December 1, Dr. Chris Widga conducted fieldwork near Collinsville and Chain of Rocks Bridge to identify sources of fossils recently brought to the Museum.

November, 2011: Art Department Research Activities
Robert Sill is conducting ongoing research for an exhibition that is scheduled to open August 25, 2013. This exhibition will travel to ISM sites, but locally will also anchor a multi-venue partnership effort with University of Illinois Springfield, Robert Morris Gallery, Springfield Art Association, and Prairie Art Alliance. Angela Goebel-Bain has been doing research on the Civil War era in Illinois to support a future exhibition in Springfield. Angela also has been doing research for a forthcoming historic clothing Web exhibition, based on the University of Illinois, Bevier collection.

November, 2011: Fur Trade Research
Dr. Terrance Martin critically reviewed and contributed text for a booklet on Fort St. Joseph and the North American fur trade that is being produced at Western Michigan University with funding provided by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council.

November, 2011: Museum Comments on Strategic Plan for Global Climate Change Research
In November, Drs. Bonnie Styles and Eric Grimm provided comment on the U.S. Commission on Global Climate Change Research Program's draft strategic plan. Their comments highlighted the important role that Museum's play in communicating and educating the public about global climate change.

November, 2011: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin completed identification of animal remains from the Mason’s Purchase site, (HNF 09-10-01-567), a lumber camp site and camboose feature in the Hiawatha National Forest of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. An article on the site is being prepared for The Wisconsin Archeologist with John Franzen and Eric Drake (Hiawatha National Forest). Dr. Martin verified student identifications on animal remains from 2005 and 2010 excavations on Block 13, Lots 3 and 4 at the New Philadelphia site in preparation for a New Philadelphia symposium presentation at the Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Baltimore in January. Dr. Martin also began verifying student identifications on animal remains from 2008 excavations on Block 3, Lot 4.  Leah Rogers (Tallgrass Historians, L.C., Iowa City, Iowa) requested analysis of a faunal assemblage from a nineteenth-century farmstead in Dubuque County, Iowa. The collection was shipped to the RCC in November.

November, 2011: Curator Participates in INQUA Meeting
In November, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the United States National Committee of the International Quaternary Association in Irvine, California.

October, 2011: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin began identification of animal remains from site HNF 09-10-01-567, a camboose feature in a lumber camp site in the Hiawatha National Forest of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. American Resources Group, Ltd., was awarded the delivery order for the analysis of 54 archaeological faunal assemblages from historic and prehistoric sites in the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and Oklahoma under terms of an indefinite services contract. Under a subcontract with the Illinois State Museum’s Landscape History Program, Dr. Terrance Martin and Dawn Cobb will examine these faunal assemblages in order to discover the presence of any human remains so that the Ouachita National Forest will be in compliance with NAGPRA. Eleven of the sites selected by Forest Service archaeologists will be analyzed in detail in order to fully document animal exploitation practices. Dr. Martin completed a manuscript on "Subsistence Strategies in Southwestern Michigan and the Spiritual Importance of Lake Sturgeon” that will occur in a Festschrift in honor of Margaret Holman that will be published as a special issue of The Michigan Archaeologist, edited by Janet Brashler, Barbara Mead, and William Lovis.

October, 2011: Oral History Web Site Presented
Dr. Robert Warren was a discussant in a session on oral history moderated by Rand Force Associates at the Oral History Association Conference in Denver.

October, 2011: Paleontological Research Presented
Dr. Chris Widga presented two posters at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  One poster summarized research of mammoth and mastodont extinctions under the auspices of a current grant from the National Science Foundation, the other presented an educational program using matrix from the Aurora Mastodont project.  Dr. Jeffrey Saunders presented a paper on dog remains from Clovis sites at the Plains Anthropological Conference in Tucson, Arizona.

October, 2011: Graduate Student Studies Otter Scats
Greg Fretueg, an environmental studies graduate student at University of Illinois, Springfield, is processing otter scats in the remote processing laboratory at the Research and Collections Center. His thesis project centers on understanding diet and landscape use at Emiquon. He is processing the scat samples and using the Museum's comparative collections to help identify food residues in the scats.

October, 2011: Museum Paleoecologist Moderates Session on Climate
Dr. Eric Grimm moderated a session on "Challenges in Changing Climate" at the 13th Biennial Governor's Conference on the Management of the Illinois River System in Peoria. About 50 individuals attended the session on climate.

October, 2011: Archaeological Research and Career Information Presented
Drs. Bonnie Styles, Terrance Martin, Michael Conner and visiting researchers from the University of Bologna Marco Valerie and Immacolata Valese attended the Midwest Archaeological Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Museum archaeologists and Research Associates presented 9 papers and posters that reached combined audiences of about 960 professional archaeologists and students. Dr. Terrance Martin participated in a careers workshop for students with colleagues Drs. John Doershuk, Sean Dunham, Lynn Goldstein, William Green, and Robert Sasso on "Building Your Career in Archaeology,” which was attended by 99 undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Styles assisted with the development of the Distinguished Career Award.

October, 2011: Tilia Workshops and Paleoecological Presentations
In October, Dr. Eric Grimm gave a program on the structure of the Neotoma Paleoecology Database at Durham University for 12 University professors under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation. He gave a workshop at the University of Southampton on the Tilia software for entering data in the Neotoma Paleoecology Database for 15 professors, graduate students, and undergraduates.  He also gave a presentation on the high resolution record of climate change in the Northern Great Plains of North America at the University for 20 professors and students.

September, 2011: Research Presented at Conference on Illinois History
Claire Fuller Martin (ISM Research Associate) and Anna Agbe-Davies (University of North Carolina) presented “‘I Shall Undertake a School Myself:’ Searching for the Early Schools at New Philadelphia” at the Thirteenth Annual Conference on Illinois History (sponsored by IHPA and Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation) in Springfield on September 29. About 60 adults attended their presentation. Dr. Terrance Martin served as the moderator for the Historical Archaeology Session for this conference on September 30.  About 36 individuals attended this session.

September, 2011: Curator Studies Paleontological Collections
On September 21-22 Dr. Chris Widga reviewed paleontological collections at the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee. He also searched for additional Paul Parmalee records related to collections houses at the Illinois State Museum.  On September 26-28, Drs. Widga and Jeffrey Saunders reviewed mammoth and mastodont remains at the Cincinnati Museum Center as part of their research of the timing and nature of these large Ice Age elephants (funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation).

September, 2011: New Philadelphia Update
Dr. Terrance Martin and Claire Fuller Martin accompanied Deanda Johnson (Midwest Regional Coordinator, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, National Park Service, Omaha) and Terry Ransom to Pike County for a tour of the New Philadelphia site (September 14). Claire Fuller Martin met with Joe Conover, Pat Likes, and Carol McCartney at the New Philadelphia site to begin plans for a walking trail and interpretive signage (September 16).

September, 2011: American Association of State and Local History Meeting
Angela Goebel Bain attended the annual meeting of the American Association of State and Local History in Richmond, Virginia.  Her travel was supported through the 1877 Fund.

September, 2011: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin completed a technical report on a collection of early to mid-19th-century animal remains from Feature 2 at the Meneley Mill site (11V122) in Vermilion County, Illinois, for Brian Adams, Public Service Archaeology & Architecture Program (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). The most unique specimen is a the cranium and mandibles of a male white-tailed deer, including both attached antlers, that were found intact in what was most likely a pit located below the floor of a house or cabin.  Dr. Martin completed a technical report on approximately 400 animal remains from Site 09-10-05-479 and Site 09-10-05-481 in the East Unit of the Hiawatha National Forest in Mackinac County, Michigan. Both sites have been identified by Forest Service archaeologists as open-fire Anishinabe sugar camps west of St. Ignace that were occupied during the period of 1780 to 1850.  Dr. Martin submitted a manuscript titled “Curating Ethnozoological and Zooarchaeological Collections” to editors Jan Salick and Katie Konchar (Missouri Botanical Garden) for the publication, Biocultural Collection Curation Standards. This publication is the culmination of an international workshop “Biocultural Collections: Establishing Curation Standards” in St. Louis on July 11 that was organized by the Missouri Botanical Garden with funding from the National Science Foundation.  The publication is currently under review.

September, 2011: Illinois Archaeological Survey Meetings
Drs. Bonnie Styles and Terrance Martin attended the annual meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey at Dickson Mounds Museum on September 10. Approximately 125 professional archaeologists from across the State convened to present papers and share research findings. Dr. Michael Wiant was the master of ceremonies for the meeting and Museum archaeologists presented results of recent research (see Professional Presentations).

September, 2011: Illinois Geological Mapping Consortium
On September 8, Dr. Chris Widga participated in the annual meeting of the Illinois Geological Mapping Consortium in Champaign, Illinois.


September, 2011: Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference
Claire Fuller Martin (ISM Research Associate) attended Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Springfield on September 8-9.


September, 2011: Museum Researcher and Colleagues Analyze Causes of Species Turnover
Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the Institute of Botany and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences in Beijing, China used regression and other statistical techniques to examine relationships between species turnover for amphibians and reptiles in eastern China with respect to geographic distance and environmental differences.   These two variables explain about 88% of the variance of species turnover. Environmental difference is a stronger predictor of species turnover especially for reptiles. Their findings have important implications for predicting changes in biodiversity and herpetofaunas under climate change scenarios. Results of their research were published in Ecological Research.

August, 2011: Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Survey
On August 29, Dr. Tim Cashatt participated in a meeting for the federally endangered Hine's Emerald Survey in Alma, Illinois to discuss strategies for the remainder of the field season and to exchange information to inform field work.

August, 2011: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture
With support from a small grant from Ecriture, Inc., research assistant Jonathan Warren, under the direction of Dr. Robert Warren, transcribed and edited eight oral-history interview recordings collected by Northern Illinois University (NIU) in 1986 for publication on the Internet (in the Audio-Video Barn Web module). Fourteen of the 18 NIU transcripts are now ready to be put online.

August, 2011: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin completed a technical report (with former McMillan Museum Intern Angela Perri) on Middle and Late Woodland animal remains from the Getewaaking site behind the Indian Dormitory building on the south end of Mackinac Island in northern Michigan.  The report was prepared for Andrews Cultural Resources (Ann Arbor, Michigan) and the Mackinac State Historic Parks (Mackinac City, Michigan).

August, 2011: High Resolution Study of Climate Change
Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from West Virginia University and the Canadian Forest Service complete a study of paleoecological remains collected through coring of Kettle Lake in North Dakota. The decadal-scale multiproxy record of minerals, pollen, and charcoal from the lake provides a high resolution record of climate and vegetation change spanning the entire Holocene from the Northern Great Plains in North America. The chronology was established by over 50 AMS radiocarbon dates.  The record exhibits millennial-scale trends evident in other lower-resolution studies, but with much more detail on short-term climate variability and on the rapidity of and timing of major climatic shifts. They used the rate of calcium carbonate sedimentation, which depends on groundwater inflow, as a proxy for precipitation. Independent cluster analyses of mineral and pollen data reveal major Holocene mode shifts at 10,730, 9,250, and 4,440 calendar years before present (BP). The early Holocene (11,700 to 9,250 BP was generally wet, with perhaps a trend to higher evaporation with warming temperatures. From 10,730 to 9,250 BP, climate was generally humid but punctuated at 100-300 yr. intervals by brief droughts, including the most severe drought in the entire Holocene at 9,250 BP.  The mid-Holocene from 9,250-4,440 BP was characterized by great variability in moisture on a multi-decadal scale, with severe droughts alternating with more humid periods. The late Holocene (4,440 BP to the present) was also characterized by multi-decadal variability in moisture, but was generally wetter than the mid-Holocene. Dr. Grimm analyzed the pollen data and was the lead for the synthesis of the data. The study was published in Quaternary Science Reviews.

August, 2011: Fort St. Joseph Project
Archaeological excavations at the eighteenth-century site of Fort St. Joseph in southwestern Michigan by Western Michigan University (WMU) resumed on June 30 and continued through August 19.  The principal project researchers consist of Dr. Michael S. Nassaney (Professor of Anthropology at WMU; project director and project archaeologist), Dr. JosJ Antnio Brandno (Professor and Chair of History at WMU; project ethnohistorian), and Dr. Terrance Martin (Illinois State Museum; project archaeozoologist). The project received a $10,175 grant from the Michigan Humanities Council to help support the public Open House event at the Fort St. Joseph site. The theme of the Third Annual Summer Archaeology Lecture Series at the Niles District Library, as well as the Open House, was “The History and Archaeology of the Fur Trade.” Dr. Martin presented the lecture series’ fourth public lecture titled “An Archaeological Perspective on the Fur Trade in the Upper Great Lakes” on August 10. Dr. Martin also presented zooarchaeology workshops for 17 WMU field school students on August 11 and for 12 adults in the Archaeology Summer Camp for Graduate/CEU Credit on August 12, and participated in the site’s Open House by displaying animal remains identified from Forts St. Joseph and Ouiatenon on August 13 and 14.

July, 2011: Digitization and Study of Midwestern Archeofaunal Data
Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. Sarah Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) are key investigators of a proposal submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities by Drs. Kate Spielmann and Keith Kintigh to study prehistoric animalscapes in the Interior East and Southwestern United States using archaeofaunal data in the Digital Archaeological Record, a large database with great research potential.

July, 2011: Stable Isotopic Analysis of Fish Bones
Kayla Little, a graduate student at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and her Advisor Dr. Richard Brugham met with Drs. Bonnie Styles, Terrance Martin, and Chris Widga on July 21 to discuss Ms. Little’s M.S. project involving stable isotope analysis of fish bones (recent and archaeological).  The group discussed methods and archaeological sites that would provide good samples to examine conditions prior to extensive human modification of the Illinois River.

July, 2011: New Philadelphia Project
Laboratory analysis of archaeological collections obtained during June at the New Philadelphia site took place at the ISM RCC during July. Co-directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin, the project is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences of Undergraduates program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students from across the country for ten weeks. Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered from excavations on Block 13, Lot 4 from the cellar of the house that was resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter. On July 29, the students presented oral reports on their individual research projects.  Dr. Martin, Claire Martin, Dr. Chris Fennel, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, and Marge Schroeder attended the presentations.

July, 2011: Koster Site Dog Remains Dates
In July, Dr. Chris Widga received new radiocarbon age assessments based on bones from two dogs from Horizon 11 at the Koster site in the lower Illinois River valley.  They are both 8,800 radiocarbon years before the present.  Earlier dates based on associated wood charcoal were younger (8,500 B.P.) and had a much greater error range.

July, 2011: Curator Participates in Joint Meeting of Ichthyology and Herpetology
Dr. Meredith Mahoney attended the joint meetings of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Herpetologists' League, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, and the American Elasmobranch Society in Minneapolis.  For the past two years, she has served on the planning committee for the joint meeting. As Treasurer of the Herpetologist's League, she participated in the Board and Business Meetings and gave an annual report.  She also served as a judge for the student paper competition for the Herpetologists' League.

July, 2011: Great Plains Paleobiology
Drs. Eric Grimm and Russell Graham (Pennsylvania State University) continued their excavations at Rainbow Cave in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Dr. Graham is studying the animal remains from the cave, and Dr. Grimm collected pollen samples for an analysis of climate and vegetation change.  The data are important to the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.

July, 2011: Paleovegetation Mapping
Dr. Eric Grimm and co-authors from University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wyoming, and Pennsylvania State University published a new methodological framework for reducing temporal uncertainty in paleovegetation mapping for Late Quaternary pollen records using data from the Neotoma Paleoecology Database.

July, 2011: Curator Participates in International Quaternary Association Meeting
Dr. Eric Grimm participated in the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) in Bern. Switzerland.  He presented a co-authored poster on the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and gave a talk on multi-decadal changes in vegetation in the northern Great Plains.  He completed his tenure as a Vice-Chair of the U.S. National Committee for INQUA.

July, 2011: Climate Variability in the Great Plains
Dr. Eric Grimm and co-authors Joseph Donovan (West Virginia University, and Kendrick Brown (Canadian Forest Service) published a major study of climate variability and landscape response based on research for Kettle Lake in the northern Great Plains. A decadal-scale record of minerals, pollen, and charcoal from Kettle Lake, North Dakota provided a high resolution record of climate and vegetation change spanning the Holocene. The early Holocene (11,700-9,250 calendar years B.P.) was generally wet, with perhaps a trend to higher evaporation associated with warming temperatures.  The most severe drought of the Holocene is recorded at 9,250 years. The mid-Holocene (9,250-4,440) was characterized by great variability in moisture on a multi-decadal scale, with severe droughts alternating with more humid periods.  The late Holocene (4,400-present) was also characterized by multi-decadal variability in moisture, but was generally wetter than the mid-Holocene and the magnitude of variability was less.   Precipitation variations in the northern Great Plains have been linked with Pacific and Atlantic sea-surface temperatures and mid-Holocene drought has been linked with sustained La Nina-like conditions in the Pacific. These linkages may explain the decadal and millennial scale variations but cause of the prominent century scale variations remains elusive.

July, 2011: Archeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin compiled species composition tables and began writing text for analyzed Middle and Late Woodland animal remains from the Getewaaking site on Mackinac Island, Michigan, for a technical report to Andrews Cultural Resources and the Mackinac State Historic Parks. Dr. Martin worked with New Philadelphia field school students Amanda Burt and Kaila Akina on the identification of animal remains from two different contexts at the New Philadelphia site.

July, 2011: Plant Biogeography
In July, the National Science Foundation (NSF) accepted Dr. Hong Qian's final report for his NSF-funded study of invasive plant species in eastern North America and eastern Asia.  His research results were published in 10 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and the data are included in four additional publications. On July 8, Dr. Qian submitted a proposal to the NSF to further his research of plant biogeography and invasive species.

July, 2011: Mastodont and Mammoth Ecology and Extinction
In July, Drs. Chris Widga and Jeffrey Saunders collected data on mammoth and mastodont remains at the Indiana State Museum and repositories in Michigan and Ontario. They examined collections at 10 repositories. They are sampling bones for radiometric and isotopic analyses that will help characterize the timing, character, and environmental context of large mammal extinctions at the end of the most recent Ice Age.  Stacey Lengyel is revising the Museum's online exhibitions on Ice Age mammals under the auspices of this project. The work is funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

July, 2011: Consequences of Climate and Vegetation Change on Bison in the Paleorecord
Drs. Chris Widga and Eric Grimm and collaborators from the Central Appalachian Stable Isotope Facility and the University of Iowa have submitted a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation to study the consequences of climate and climate-induced vegetation change on bison in the paleorecord.

July, 2011: Fort St. Joseph Project
Archaeological excavations at the eighteenth-century site of Fort St. Joseph in southwestern Michigan by Western Michigan University resumed on June 30 and will continue through August 19.  The principal project researchers consist of Dr. Michael S. Nassaney (Professor of Anthropology at WMU; project director and project archaeologist), Dr. JosJ Antnio Brandno (Professor and Chair of History at WMU; project ethnohistorian), and Dr. Terrance Martin (Illinois State Museum; project archaeozoologist).

July, 2011: Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Research
On July 1, Dr. Tim Cashatt documented a new Hine's Emerald Dragonfly breeding site at Cherry Hill Woods. Dr. Cashatt participated in a meeting of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly working group in Romeoville, Illinois (July 13). The group discussed surveys, habitat restoration, identification problems with related species, and permits.

June, 2011: New Philadelphia Project
Archaeological investigations continued during June under the direction of Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin. The project is supported by a grant from the NSF REU program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. Graduate students Kathryn Fay and Annelise Morris are supervising excavation of a trench across Louisa McWorter’s house cellar in Block 13, Lot 4. Graduate student Mary Kathryn Rocheford is supervising the excavation of numerous transects of soil probes across the site in order to obtain a better understanding of the site’s local landscape history. Dr. Martin supervised excavation of two test units on Block 12, Lot 3; assisted Chris Fennell with transects of shovel tests in Block 8, Lot 1 and excavated one test unit in the search for evidence of the early schoolhouse. In addition to site excavations, The Marvin J and Thomas Leo Likes Memorial Lecture Series of weekly speakers is sponsored by the New Philadelphia Association, Sprague’s Kinderhook Lodge, and the Illinois State Museum with grant support from the Illinois Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly. Students, artifact collections, and lab equipment were moved to Springfield on the weekend of June 25 in order to begin five weeks of laboratory analyses at the ISM RCC.

June, 2011: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin finished computer data entry of the analyzed Middle and Late Woodland faunal assemblage from the Getewaaking site, which is located behind the Indian Dormitory Building on Mackinac Island, Michigan. Dr. Martin submitted an abstract for a zooarchaeology symposium organized by Dr. Walter Klippel (University of Tennessee-Knoxville) for the annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Baltimore in January.

June, 2011: Curator Chairs Session and Presents Genetics Research
Dr. Meredith Mahoney chaired a session on genetics and presented a paper on her dragonfly genetics conservation research at the annual meetings of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Society for Systematic Biologists, and the American Society of Naturalists on June 18 in Norman, Oklahoma (50 attended the session).

June, 2011: Art History
Judith Lloyd Klauba and Doug Stapleton completed a major study of the life-long work and personal stories of eleven Illinois artists (Ralph Arnold, Morris Barazani, Fred Berger, Gerda Meyer Bernstein, William Frederick, Theodore Halkin, Thomas Kapsalis, Vera Klement, Ellen Lanyon, Elizabeth Rupprecht, and Leopold Segedin) who have influenced generations of other artists through their art, teaching, and community involvement. The research is presented in the Luminous Ground: Artists with Histories exhibition and in a special double-issue of The Living Museum.

June, 2011: Curator Presents on Prehistoric Connections with Mesoamerica
Dr. Jonathan Reyman gave an invited presentation on prehistoric connections between the Southwestern United States and Mesoamerica for the Conference on Archaeoastronomy in the American Southwest.  His presentation considered astronomy, cosmology, and cultural objects.

June, 2011: Mammoth and Mastodont Research
In June, Drs. Chris Widga and Jeffrey Saunders conducted research of Great Lakes mammoth and mastodont remains in the collections at the Field Museum. They also examined museum collections in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The research was conducted under the auspices of their National Science Foundation grant to study the ecology and extinction of Proboscidea in the Great Lakes region.

June, 2011: Curator Presents Agricultural History Research
Dr. Robert Warren presented a paper on the Audio-Video Barn Website, which was developed for the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project at the annual meeting of the Agricultural History Society in Springfield on June 16 (25 attended).

June, 2011: Tilia Training Workshop
Dr. Eric Grimm conducted a Tilia Training Workshop for researchers at the University of Arizona in Tucson in June. Tilia is the software that researchers use to enter pollen data in the North American Pollen and Neotoma Databases.

June, 2011: History of Dickson Mounds Museum
Dr. Bonnie Styles and Andy Hanson reviewed a manuscript by Alan Harn that examines Don Dickson's contributions to American archaeology for inclusion in the summer issue of The Living Museum.  Andy Hanson completed the layout and Dr. Styles and Andy placed images provided by Alan Harn.  Dr. Styles met with Alan Harn on June 9 to review the proposed layout.   Dr. Michael Wiant contributed to the foreword (co-authored with Dr. Styles) and prepared the concluding section for the issue.

June, 2011: Paleoclimatic Research Published
In June, Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from the University of Nebraska, University of Alberta, and University of Colorado published a major study of paleoclimate in the Nebraska Sand Hills. Paleohydrological reconstructions for five lakes based on diatoms refine Holocene drought history of the Nebraska Sand Hills, particularly between about 2200 and 4000 calendar years before present (BP). Extended multi-decadal to centennial scale droughts were more common prior to 1000 years BP, while the last 2000 years were hydrologically more variable and climate conditions alternated on shorter time scales. Many of the observed drought events are contemporaneous with severe droughts documented at sites in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, lending support for the severity and regional significance of these events in western North America. Dr. Grimm collected the sediment core for one of the lakes (Beaver Lake) and carried out the radiocarbon dating for that site. The research was published in Quaternary Science Reviews.

June, 2011: Invasive Plant Species Research
Dr. Hong Qian presented a workshop in China to convey results of his research of invasive plant species in eastern Asia and eastern North America. The workshop focused on biogeography and species diversity of vascular plants and was attended by 35 scholars at Beijing Normal University on June 1. He participated in a field trip in conjunction with a workshop, organized by Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to observe biodiversity in Tibet. Financial support was provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences.

May, 2011: Invasive Plant Species Research
Dr. Hong Qian presented an invited paper in a symposium on ecology and forestry in China to convey results of his research of invasive plant species in eastern Asia and eastern North America. His presentation on "Exotic Plant Species in North America and Eastern Asia" was given at the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang on May 30 (150 attended).

May, 2011: New Philadelphia Project
Archaeological investigations resumed for the 2011 season on May 23.  Students arrived at the Kinderhook Lodge in Pike County, Illinois, and attended project orientation sessions on May 23 and 24. Fieldwork began on May 24. The project is being directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin. A grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. The major focus will be on the excavation in Block 13, Lot 4 of a trench across the cellar of the former house that was resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter.

May, 2011: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin finished fish identifications and began computer data entry of the analyzed faunal assemblage from the Getewaaking site, which is located behind the Indian Dormitory building on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

May, 2011: Quilt Research Records
Negotiations with the Early American Museum and the Illinois Quilt Research Project have begun, which will bring the IQRP records to the Illinois State Museum.

May, 2011: Research for Civil War Quilts Exhibition
Angela Goebel-Bain visited the museums in Quincy doing research for the Civil War quilt exhibition.


May, 2011: Extinction of Late Quaternary Proboscidea
On May 12, the National Science Foundation awarded the Illinois State Museum Society a grant for the study of the chronology and paleoecology of mammoths and mastodonts extinctions in the Great Lakes Region.  Drs. Chris Widga, Jeffrey Saunders, and Stacey Lengyel are the Principal Investigators for this project.

May, 2011: Climate Research Presented
Dr. Eric Grimm presented an invited seminar on the high resolution record of climatic variability and landscape response from Kettle Lake, Northern Great Plains for 20 individuals at Durham University.

May, 2011: Neotoma Paleoecology Database
Dr. Eric Grimm presented "European Pollen Database Tilia-Neotoma Software Workshops" for 50 participants in the United Kingdom and 30 participants in France.  He presented a plenary lecture on "The Neotoma Paleoecology Database: An Open-access Multiproxy Community Database for the Quaternary-Pliocene" for the Pollen Monitoring Programme at their VIII International Meeting in Estonia (60 attended).

May, 2011: Planning for the Digital Archaeological Record
Throughout the month, Dr. Bonnie Styles worked with Drs. Kate Spielmann and Keith Kintigh of Arizona State University and Dr. Sarah Neusius of Indiana University of Pennsylvania to plan a project that will bring archaeozoological data from the interior Midwestern United States and the Southwestern United States into The Digital Archaeological Record and conduct research for a proposal that is being prepared for submission to the National Endowment for the Humanities.

April, 2011: tDAR Database Research Project

On April 27, Dr. Bonnie Styles participated in a conference call with Drs. Kate Spielman and Keith Kintigh (Arizona State University) and Sarah Neusius (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) to discuss dividing a major research demonstration of the utility of the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) database for studies of prehistoric resource use and depression into smaller components to enhance opportunities for funding.



April, 2011: Fort St. Joseph Project
Fort St. Joseph site in southwestern Michigan by Western Michigan University (WMU) have continued since 2002. The principal project researchers consist of Dr. Michael S. Nassaney (Professor of Anthropology at WMU; project director and project archaeologist), Dr. José António Brandão (Associate Chair and Professor of History at WMU; project ethnohistorian), and Dr. Terrance Martin (Illinois State Museum; project archaeozoologist). The website for the Museum of Underwater Archaeology featured “Investigations of a Submerged 18th Century Site in Southwest Michigan” by Dr. Michael Nassaney and Ian B. Kerr on April 28 (https://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/in_the_field/ftsjoe.shtml).

April, 2011: Park Archaeology Program
On April 17, the Illinois State Museum Society was awarded a contract to continue cultural resource management activities for Illinois State Parks. Dr. Stacey Lengyel is the Principal Investigator for the program, and Marge Schroeder manages day-to-day activities.

April, 2011: Archaeologist Participates in Professional Meetings
Dr. Terrance Martin attended annual meetings of the Conference for Michigan Archaeology in East Lansing on April 16 and the Michigan Archaeological Society in Lansing on April 17.

April, 2011: Planning for Online Publications
On April 12, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Pat Burg, Andy Hanson, Dave Bohlen, and Drs. Erich Schroeder, Eric Grimm, Tim Cashatt, and George Godfrey (Research Associate in Zoology) met explore needs for establishing online publications series for the Research Series, Reports of Investigations, and Scientific Papers. Three manuscripts are potential candidates for this online series, including Dave Bohlen's 40 year study of the birds of Sangamon County (currently being edited by Dr. Godfrey), Dr. Eric Grimm and others Neotoma Database protocol, and a study of pollen from archaeological sites in the lower Illinois River valley by Dr. James Schoenwetter (retired professor, Arizona State University). On April 25, Dr. Bonnie Styles met with Pat Burg and Andy Hanson to further discuss this issue.

April, 2011: New Philadelphia Project Update
Archaeological investigations are being directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin, and are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered from excavations during 2010 on Block 13, Lot 4 that revealed the foundations of the house that resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter as well as an abandoned well east of the house in the adjacent Lot 3. During April, Dr. Terrance Martin and the co-directors reviewed applications from 59 undergraduate students for the 2011 field season and selected nine students for the crew. Dr. Fennell received results from the LiDAR low altitude aerial survey of the New Philadelphia vicinity that occurred last fall with grant support from the University of Illinois.

April, 2011: Hines Emerald Dragonfly Planning Meeting
Dr. Everett D. Cashatt participated in a planning meeting for Hine's Emerald Dragonfly field surveys in Alma, Illinois (May 9).  The fieldwork is being conducted under the auspices of a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

April, 2011: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin and Erin Brand completed a technical report for SCI Engineering, Inc. (St. Charles, MO) on the faunal assemblage from 2009 salvage excavations at the Renner-Brenner site (23PL1), a multiple-component Kansas City Hopewell site in far western Missouri.  Archaeologists at the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula requested that Dr.  Martin identify collections of animal remains from two 18th-century maple sugar camps and a lumber camp camboose site.

April, 2011: Syntheses of Aboriginal Use of Fauna in Northeast
Dr. Bonnie Styles summarized American Indian use of fauna and subsistence practices in the Midwest and Northeast during the Holocene, and the results were published in a Smithsonian Institution Contribution to Knowledge. Her research suggests that the natural issues of most importance to the understanding of temporal trends in the human use of fauna in the Northeast include the development of grassland and forest habitats, the stabilization of river systems, changes in Great Lakes water levels, and stabilization of sea levels and coastlines. Human settlement strategies, economies, population sizes, technologies, burning for hunting and land clearing, social and political organization, and customs and cosmologies varied across space and through time. Within-and-between-region differences and changes in these cultural factors affected human use of fauna. As more sedentary occupations were established in some areas, more intensive use of renewable resources resulted. Burning for hunting and land clearing changed through time, and burning had greater impacts in the prairie and prairie parkland settings in the western regions of Northeast. Important changes in hunting and gathering technology included the development of the bow and arrow, nets, and weirs; and changes in food processing and cooking technologies, such as the development of stone boiling and ceramics. Social and political organization changed from Early Archaic family bands to the complex chiefdoms that arose in some areas during the late prehistoric period. These changes affected procurement of animals for food and ritual, as well as food sharing and distribution within and among settlements. Changes in dietary preferences and food taboos based on choice and belief likely occurred. Cosmologies clearly evolved through time and affected use of animals for food and ritual.

March, 2011: High-Resolution Age Model for Kettle Lake
Dr. Eric Grimm completed a high-resolution age model based on 53 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages for Kettle Lake in North Dakota. The radiocarbon ages were calibrated with Bayesian statistical methods.  Removal of ages plagued by slumps, debris flows, and landslides produces a continuous sedimentary sequence for the past 13,000 years with the exception of one 260 year hiatus associated with a slump deposit. All ages except one are on terrestrial macrofossils and charcoal. Two specimens of wood charcoal are too old relative to bracketing ages and glacial geological history and provide a caution about the longevity of wood charcoal in the environment and its suitability for age control in lacustrine environments. The results of the research were published in Radiocarbon.

March, 2011: Training for Archaeomagnetic Sampling
On March 16-17, Dr. Stacey Lengyel trained two archaeologists from the Pacific Northwest Lab in Richmond, Washington how to take archaeomagnetic samples. The training was conducted on the grounds at the Research and Collections Center.

March, 2011: Fort St. Joseph Project
Archaeological, historical, ethnohistorical, and archaeozoological investigations of the Fort St. Joseph site in southwestern Michigan by Western Michigan University have continued since 2002. The principal project researchers consist of Dr. Michael S. Nassaney (Professor of Anthropology at Western Michigan University; project director and project archaeologist), Dr. José António Brandão (Associate Chair and Professor of History at WMU; project ethnohistorian), and Dr. Terrance Martin (Illinois State Museum; project archaeozoologist).  American Archaeology Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 2011 (quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy) includes an article by Michael Bawaya entitled “The Story of Fort St. Joseph.” Dr. Terrance Martin was interviewed for the article and was quoted concerning how the site’s faunal assemblage reveals not only information about the diet of the site’s inhabitants, but also cultural interaction between the French and the local Native American populations of southwestern Michigan during the 18th century.  Dr. Martin completed evaluation forms for the Fort St. Joseph Project Open House last August, required by the Michigan Humanities Council in return for funding they provided (March 15).

March, 2011: Archaeozoological Research
Drs. Terrance Martin and Chris Widga completed a technical report on faunal assemblages from Phase II and III investigations at the Lake Christina site (21DL46) in west central Minnesota. Archaeologists at the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula requested Terrance Martin to identify collections of animal remains from two 18th-century maple sugar camps and a lumber camp camboose site.

March, 2011: Paleontological Remains Salvaged
On March 8, Dr. Chris Widga collected fossils from a paleontological site located along SR24 north of Ripley, Illinois. The Pennsylvanian fossils were exposed by road widening.

March, 2011: New Philadelphia Project Update
Archaeological investigations are being directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin, and are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered between May 26 and June 25 from excavations on Block 13, Lot 4 that revealed the foundations of the house that resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter as well as an abandoned well east of the house in the adjacent Lot 3. Applications for the upcoming 2011 field season are being received by Dr. Fennell at UIUC.

February, 2011: Fort St. Joseph Project
Archaeological, historical, and ethnohistorical investigations of the Fort St. Joseph site in southwestern Michigan by Western Michigan University have continued and intensified since 2002. The principal project researchers consist of Dr. Michael S. Nassaney (Professor of Anthropology at Western Michigan University (WMU); project director and project archaeologist), Dr. José António Brandão (Associate Chair and Professor of History at WMU; project ethnohistorian), and Dr. Terrance Martin (Illinois State Museum; project archaeozoologist).  On February 9, the Fort St. Joseph Project was recognized as the winner of the Archaeological Institute of America’s Online Excavation Outreach contest. Over 10,000 votes were cast in a one-week period. The five other contest entries represented projects in Belize, Florida, Italy, South Carolina, and Spain.  The award text notes: “Based out of Western Michigan University (WMU), the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project, in the city of Niles, Michigan, is located at a mission, garrison, and trading post complex occupied from 1691 to 1781 by the French and British. A major project goal . . . [is] to make archaeology accessible to the public.  . . .  Every year the project holds summer camps for middle school and high school students, teachers, and lifelong learners as well as a university level field school. An annual open house features living history re-enactors, lectures, informational panels and displays, site tours, music, food, and ongoing excavations and has been attended by over 10,000 visitors since 2006” [A.I.A. website, https://www.archaeological.org/news/aianews/4006 ].  Dr. Martin was invited to participate in a series of public lectures to accompany The Treasures of Napoleon exhibition at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis. On February 27, Dr. Martin discussed the French and Creole preference for wild animals based on first-hand archaeozoological research on several French colonial and post-colonial sites in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, including the Fort St. Joseph site.  Forty individuals attended this presentation.

February, 2011: Bison Research
Dr. Chris Widga studied Quaternary vertebrate specimens in the Field Museum's collections and gave a public presentation on Bison in Tallgrass Prairies in the eastern United States for the Midewin Prairie Lecture Series at Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie in Wilmington on February 17 (45 attended).

February, 2011: Hine's Emerald Research
Drs. Everett D. Cashatt and Meredith Mahoney presented results of 2010 Hine's Emerald surveys and genetics research at a meeting of the Hine's Emerald Recovery Team in St. Charles, Missouri on February 15.  They also participated in a discussion and planning for next stages of research and surveys.

February, 2011: Dating of Koster Site Dogs
Dr. Chris Widga embarked on a project to date the early domestic dog remains from the Koster site in Green County, Illinois. He selected two bones from the Koster Horizon 11 dog burials for radiocarbon dating in February. These dogs have been hailed as the earliest domestic dogs in the Midwestern United States.

February, 2011: Archeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin finished verifying identifications and began drafting species composition tables for the Lake Christina site (21DL46) in west central Minnesota.  Research Associate Claire Fuller Martin finished the entry of faunal data into the electronic database for this project. Archaeologists at the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula requested that Dr. Martin identify collections of animal remains from two 18th-century maple sugar camps and a lumber camp camboose site.

February, 2011: Historic Site Assessments at Fort Leonard Wood
Research Associate Dennis Naglich, Stepanie Nutt (Fort Leonard Wood), Dr. Steven Ahler (University of Kentucky), Dr. Terrance Martin, and Dr. Michael Hargrave (Fort Leonard Wood) completed a multi-year study of historic resources at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. They assessed the archaeological potential of a World War II Prisoner of War site and conducted expanded archaeological investigations at two historic sites at the Fort Leonard Wood property.  The technical report was completed and submitted to the U.S. Army Research and Development Center (see Technical Reports).

February, 2011: New Philadelphia Project Update
Archaeological investigations are being directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin, and are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered between May 26 and June 25, 2010 from excavations on Block 13, Lot 4.  These excavations revealed the foundations of the house that was resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter as well as an abandoned well east of the house in the adjacent Lot 3.

February, 2011: Botanical Diversity, Latitude, and Metabolic Theory
Drs. Hong Qian and Robert Ricklefs, University of Missouri St. Louis, published a paper in Global Ecology and Biogeography (2011 (20:362-365: "Latitude, tree species diversity and the metabolic theory of ecology") that questions published species richness and temperature relationships between eastern Asia and North America because of lack of comparability in datasets.

January, 2011: Proposal for Mentoring Museum Partnership Submitted

On January 29, Dr. Robert Warren submitted a proposal to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (National Leadership Grant Program) to support a Mentoring Museum Partnership. The Museum partnered with the Illinois Association of Museums and 30 small museums to evaluate a sustainable Mentoring Museum Partnership model designed to build 21st century skills in small community museums.  These skills will increase the capacity of small museums to share their "hidden assets" with wider audiences. The project is a follow-up to the Museum's Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project, and in the first year the Museum will work with small museums to develop digital resources on a common agricultural theme.  During the second year, museums will develop resources on themes of their own choosing.



January, 2011: Neotoma Database Workshop

In January, Dr Eric Grimm, lead Principal Investigator for the Neotoma paleoecology project, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Geoinformatics Program), led a project workshop at the Research and Collections Center. Dr. Naoko Sasaki of Japan, Suzette Flatura of the Netherlands, and Dr. Jose Prado of Argentina spent a week learning how to enter data into the Neotoma database.  This database is used to model climate change.  Dr. Russell Graham, a Co-Principal Investigator from Penn State and Museum's former Chair of Geology, was also here to work with the group.



January, 2011: Dragonfly Research Presented

Drs. Meredith Mahoney and Tim Cashatt attended a meeting of the I-355 Tollway Environmental Impact Group and the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Working Group on January 14 in Downers Grove, Illinois.  Dr. Mahoney gave a presentation to the group on the Museum's Hine's Emerald dragonfly research, including genetics research. About 30 representatives of federal agencies and other interested parties attended the meeting.



January, 2011: Archaeomagnetic Dating

Dr. Fabio Donadini of the Institute of Geophysics in Zurich, Switzerland spent three weeks in the Research and Collections Center (January 11-31).  He worked with Dr. Stacy Lengyel to enter North American data she has assembled into a global archaeomagnetic date database. This database is being used to develop and refine models of changes in the Earth's geomagnetic field. Drs. Lengyel and Widga hosted a reception for Museum archaeologists and geologists at their home on January 15.  On January 27, Dr. Styles gave him a tour of the Changes, Peoples of the Past, and At Home in the Heartland exhibitions.  Dr. Donadini participated in Jim Zimmer's walkthrough of The Urge to Embellish exhibition.



January, 2011: Paleoclimatic Research Published

Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from The Netherlands (Tim H. Donders, Hugo Jan de Boer, Walter Finsinger, Stefan C. Dekker, Gert Jan Reichart, and Freiderike Wagner-Cremer) published a study of the "Impact of the Atlantic Warm Pool on Precipitation and Temperature in Florida during North Atlantic Cold Spells" in Climate Dynamics (36:109-118).  Using a pollen-climate inference model, they quantified climate changes for Lake Tulane, Florida and consistently found that mean summer precipitation increased (0.5 to -0.9 mm/day) and mean November temperature increased (2-3 degrees C) during pine phases coeval with Heinrich events and the Younger Dryas.  Marine sea surface temperature records indicate that potential sources for these moisture and heat anomalies are in the Gulf of Mexico and the western tropical Atlantic. They explain this low latitude warming by an increased Loop Current facilitated by persistence of the Atlantic Warm Pool during summer. A positive heat anomaly in the Gulf of Mexico and equatorial Atlantic best approximates the pollen inferred climate reconstructions from Lake Tulane during the (stadials) around Heinrich events and the Younger Dryas.



January, 2011: Palynological Research for Augustana College

Dr. Eric Grimm and Pietra Mueller are working with Dr. Adrien Hannus of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on a project to count and analyze pollen from a sediment core from Fish Lake in Minnesota as a part of the development of a predictive model that will include geomorphic, paleoecological, and archaeological data for South Dakota and southern Minnesota.



January, 2011: Research Proposals Submitted to the National Science Foundation

Drs. Chris Widga and Eric Grimm submitted a revised proposal to the National Science Foundation (DEB—Population and Community Ecology Cluster) in collaboration with Dr. David Nelson (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences), and Dr. Mathew Hill (University of Iowa) for "Testing the Effects of Holocene Climate and Vegetation Change on Bison" on January 7, 2011.  Dr. Hong Qian also submitted a revised proposal to NSF (DEB--Population and Community Ecology Cluster) for "Angiosperm Species Diversity Patterns in the Himalaya: Integration and Synthesis of Botanical Information towards Biodiversity Conservation" on January 7.



January, 2011: New Philadelphia Research Presented

Dr. Terrance Martin participated in the 44th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology (sponsored by the Society for Historical Archaeology) in Austin, Texas, January 5-9. He was co-author of a presentation and attended a meeting with co-directors and graduate student assistants of the New Philadelphia Project.



January, 2011: Archaeozoological Research

Erin Brand, Chris Richmond, and Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications, and Claire Martin continued data entry, for a large sample of animal remains from the Lake Christina site, a multi-component Pre-Contact and Post-Contact habitation site in west central Minnesota for a report that is being prepared for the Duluth Archaeology Center. Dr. Martin prepared species composition tables for the Renner-Brenner site (23PL1), the type-site for the Kansas City Hopewell, for a report in preparation for SCI Engineering, Inc., St. Charles, MO. Dr. Martin submitted a manuscript (“Adaptive Strategies in Southwestern Michigan and a Consideration of Lake Sturgeon”) to The Michigan Archaeologist for a special festschrift for the late Margaret B. Holman.



December, 2010: Christmas Bird Count

The 2010 National Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for Springfield, Illinois was conducted on December 26, 2010. H. David Bohlen served as compiler and a field observer for this count, which is the 111th National Audubon CBC. There were a total of 21 participants, which included field observers and feeder watchers. Ninety-two species of birds were tallied with an additional nine species seen during count week, which is defined as consisting of three days before and three days after the actual count day.  Rarities found were two Ross' Geese, a Black-crowned Night Heron (count week), Peregrine Falcon, Orange-crowned Warbler (being entertained at John and Kay Watt's suet feeder for the second winter in a row), and twelve Snow Buntings. There were also several high counts including 17 Cooper's Hawks, 57 Red-tailed Hawks, 3,367 American Robins, 560 American Tree Sparrows, five Savannah Sparrows, and 759 Dark-eyed Juncos.  The 2010 count had the highest number of a species recorded on a Springfield CBC. Other interesting sightings included twelve Bald Eagles, (9 adults, 3 immature), and twelve Turkey Vultures.

December, 2010: Interview on Fort St. Joseph Project

Dr. Terrance Martin was interviewed by Michael Bawaya for an article on the Fort St. Joseph Project that Bawaya is writing for American Archaeology magazine (December 21). Bawaya is Editor of the magazine, which is the publication of the Archaeological Conservancy).  Dr. Martin analyzed the faunal remains for this project.

December, 2010: The Digital Archaeological Record Research Demonstration

In December, Dr. Bonnie Styles participated as a Co-Principal Investigator in the submission of a National Science Foundation (Anthropology Program) proposal with Arizona State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania to demonstrate the value of the Digital Archaeological Record archaeofaunal databases to studies of resource depression and intensification in the midwestern and southwestern United States. The project includes archaeofaunal data from Holocene Illinois sites assembled by Dr. Styles and is based on trends in human use of faunal in the Eastern United States during the Holocene documented in her published syntheses. The proposal was submitted on December 17.



December, 2010: Paleobiological Research

Dr. Eric Grimm was the senior author on a poster and an author on two additional posters presented at the American Geophysical Union meetings in San Francisco.  All of the posters summarized results of multiproxy studies of long-term changes in climate and vegetation in the northern Great Plains based on Grimm's palynological research and other datasets. These posters were viewed by over 300 scientists.



December, 2010: Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Research

In December, Dr. Tim Cashatt met with Tim Vogt of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to discuss their studies of the federally endangered Hine's Emerald Dragonfly and Dr. Cashatt's development of a field guide to dragonflies.



December, 2010: Meeting with Illinois Archaeological Survey President

On December 11, Dr. Bonnie Styles met with former Museum Board Chair Dr. James A. Brown (Northwestern University) in Springfield.  Dr. Brown is the incoming President of the Illinois Archaeological Survey and requested to meet with Dr. Styles on respective responsibilities of the Illinois Archaeological Survey and the new Illinois State Archaeological Survey in the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.



December, 2010: Proboscidean Extinctions in the Great Lakes Region

In December, the Museum received word that a proposal to the National Science Foundation (Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program) was recommended for funding.  The proposed project will examine late Quaternary Proboscidean extinctions in the Great Lakes Region.  Dr. Chris Widga is the lead Principal Investigator for this collaborative research project and worked with NSF to negotiate the budget for the project.

December, 2010: Archeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin examined a collection of 250 calcined and fragmented animal remains from a lumber camp camboose site in Taylor County, (northern) Wisconsin for CCRG, Inc., and identified several pieces of metapodials and phalanges from white-tailed deer.  Angela Perri (McMillan Museum intern, Ph.D. candidate Durham University, U.K.) assisted with the faunal analysis of the Indian Dormitory site on Mackinac Island (Michigan) and inspected dog burials from several collections that are curated at the ISM (Modoc Rock Shelter, Elizabeth Mounds, etc.).  Dr. Martin entered information on Renner-Brenner site (23PL1) animal remains into a database and produced species composition tables for a report to SCI Engineering, Inc, St. Charles, Missouri. Erin Brand, Chris Richmond, and Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains and Claire Fuller Martin entered information into the database for the Lake Christina Site (21DL46), a multi-component Pre-Contact and Post-Contact habitation site in west central Minnesota for the Duluth Archaeology Center.  Dr. Martin is writing an article on prehistoric lake sturgeon exploitation in western Michigan for a special issue of The Michigan Archaeologist.

December, 2010: Neotoma Workshop

Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a Neotoma software training workshop at Penn State from December 1-5.  The workshop was conducted under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation (Geoinformatics Program).  Dr. Grimm and collaborators are expanding the Neotoma paleoclimate database.



November, 2010: IMLS Proposal for Museum Mentoring Project

Dr. Robert Warren worked on a proposal to the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop a sustainable Museum Mentoring Project model designed to build vital 21st century skills in small community museums. The Museum is partnering with the Illinois Association of Museums and 30 small Illinois Museums for the project. On November 19, Dr. Bonnie Styles met with Dr. Warren to review the draft proposal. 



November, 2010: Feather Distribution Project

Dr. Jonathan Reyman reported that the Feather Distribution Project passed the 9 million mark in feathers distributed. An article on the project by Catherine Vine, a bird keeper at the Philadelphia Zoo, was published in Good Bird Parrot Magazine. Dr. Reyman provided panels on the project for use in the November Super Saturday program in A Place for Discovery.

November, 2010: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin finished the technical report on early 19th-century animal remains from the Squire site in Madison County, Illinois that was prepared for the Archaeological Research Center of St. Louis, Inc. Erin Brand is identifying animal remains from the Renner-Brenner site (23PL1), the type site for the Kansas City Hopewell Complex in Platte County, Missouri, under a contract from SCI Engineering, Inc., St. Charles, Missouri. Angela Perri (doctoral candidate, Durham University, U.K.; 2010 McMillan Museum Intern) is assisting with the faunal analysis of the Indian Dormitory site on Mackinac Island (northern Michigan). Excavations by Andrews Cultural Resources revealed a significant Middle and Late Woodland habitation site that was occupied during the Laurel, Pine River, Mackinac, Bois Blanc, and Juntunen phases. A major part of the faunal assemblage consists of canid remains that are being studied in detail by Perri.

Dr. Martin continued identifying animal remains from the Lake Christina site (21DL46) for a report to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources that is being prepared by the Duluth Archaeology Center (Duluth, Minnesota).

November, 2010: The Digital Archaeological Record

Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. Sarah Neusius, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, worked on a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation (Anthropology Program) with lead Principal Investigators from Arizona State University on a demonstration of the research utility of the Digital Archaeological Record database of faunal remains from archaeological sites for examinations of prehistoric resource depression and intensification in the Eastern and Southwestern United States.



November, 2010: New Philadelphia Project

Archaeological investigations are being directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin, and are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered during the 2010 field season from excavations on Block 13, Lot 4 that revealed the foundations of the house resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter as well as an abandoned well east of the house in adjacent Lot 3. On Friday, November 5, Dr. Martin assisted Dr. Art Bettis (University of Iowa) and Ph.D. candidate Mary Kathryn Rocheford in taking soil core samples with their Giddings soil coring machine from various areas as part of a geomorphological and landscape history study of New Philadelphia. On Saturday, November 6, Dr. Fennell, graduate student George Calfas, and Dr. Martin assisted Kat Rocheford with an exploratory trench in Block 7, Lot 7 in order to investigate one of the soil terracing berms on the west side of the site.   Dr. Martin and Claire Fuller Martin attended the New Philadelphia Association annual meeting at the Burdick House at New Philadelphia on November 6.

November, 2010: Neotoma Workshop

Under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Eric Grimm attended Neotoma database software training workshops at Penn State University and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.



November, 2010: DNR Emerald Ash Borer Training

Dr. Tim Cashatt attended a special training session on the Emerald Ash Borer at DNR headquarters on November 4. 



November, 2010: Geological Society of America

Dr. Bonnie Styles represented the Illinois State Museum at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America (November 1-2).  She staffed the American Quaternary Association Booth in the exhibition hall and attended paper sessions on Quaternary geology and ecology, advances in geological research, and global warming. 



October, 2010: American Quaternary Association and GSA

Dr. Bonnie Styles represented the Illinois State Museum at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Denver.  She was inducted as a GSA fellow during the Awards Ceremony.  She made the arrangements for the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) Council Meeting and AMQUA Booth in the Exhibition Hall. She helped install the AMQUA booth and assisted with staffing it.  She attended the Archaeological Geology Division Business Meeting and numerous sessions on Quaternary geology and environments, geoarchaeology, and global warming.



October, 2010: Workshop on the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR)

Dr. Bonnie Styles was an invited participant in a tDAR workshop at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.  She has been serving as an advisor for a National Science Foundation grant to Arizona State University to establish the database and a pilot project to incorporate faunal data from archaeological sites.  Dr. Styles' faunal data from the lower Illinois River valley is in the pilot dataset.  The advisors are currently putting together a proposal to the National Science Foundation to examine resource depression and intensification in the Interior Eastern Woodlands and the Southwestern United States as a demonstration of the research utility of the database. Dr. Styles and Dr. Sarah Neusius of Indiana University of Pennsylvania are the lead Principal Investigators for the Interior Eastern Woodlands.  Dr. Styles gave a presentation at the workshop summarizing trends for the region based on a number of regional syntheses by them and other scholars.



October, 2010: Scientific Research Presentations

Drs. Michael Wiant, Terry Martin, and Michael Conner and Alan Harn presented archaeological research at the Annual Meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey in Normal, Illinois. Museum archaeologists also presented research results at the Annual Midwest Archaeological Conference in Bloomington, Indiana.  Dr. Martin and colleagues presented a paper on the archaeology of Fort Ouiatenon (50 attended). Dr. Martin also presented a paper on animal exploitation based on remains from the Citgo site in the Green Bay Area of Wisconsin (40 attended). Dr. Michael Conner presented several papers in a symposium that he organized on "Rediscovering Illinois Yet Again: Early 21st Century Research in the Central Illinois Valley."   A paper by Alan Harn and colleagues on the geomorphological and archaeological research for the Emiquon project area was also presented at the conference. Dr. Chris Widga presented a paper on assessing the niche of mammoths and mastodonts at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (75 attended).  Dr. Meredith Mahoney gave a presentation on her genetics research for the federally endangered Hine's Emerald Dragonfly at the annual Natural Areas conference in Osage Beach, Missouri (30 attended).



October, 2010: Zooarchaeological Research

Erin Brand continued identifying animal remains from the Renner-Brenner site (23PL1), the type site for the Kansas City Hopewell Complex in Platte County, Missouri, as a contract from SCI Engineering, Inc., St. Charles, MO. Dr. Terrance Martin continued identifying animal remains from the Lake Christina site (21DL046) for a report to the Minnesota DNR in progress by the Duluth Archaeology Center (Duluth, MN). McMillan Museum Intern Angela Perri (doctoral candidate, Durham University, United Kingdom) is assisting with the faunal analysis of the Indian Dormitory site on Mackinac Island (northern Michigan). Excavations by Andrews Cultural Resources revealed a significant Middle and Late Woodland habitation site that was occupied during the Laurel, Pine River, Mackinac, Bois Blanc, and Juntunen phases. A major part of the faunal assemblage consists of canid remains that are being studied in detail by Perri. Dr. Martin and Angela Perri identified animal remains from Feature 9 along with modified animal remains from various contexts at Fort Ouiatenon that were investigated in 1968 and 1969 by Dr. James Kellar (Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University). Neither the artifacts nor biological remains in this early collection have ever been studied systematically or in detail. This project is part of a collaboration with Dr. Timothy Baumann (Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University), who plans to assemble a report on this significant 19th-century French colonial site.  Dr. Martin analyzed 665 animal remains from Feature 17 in Grid A at the Zimmerman. This feature was a Danner phase roasting pit that was excavated by Margaret Brown during the 1970-1972 excavations sponsored by the La Salle County Historical Society.



October, 2010: Vertebrate Paleontology of Turin Quarry

In October, Dr. Chris Widga was awarded an Academic & Research Relations Grant for a Portable XRF for vertebrate paleontology of the Turin Quarry, Monroe County, Iowa. The grant includes the loan of an OLYMPUS Innov-X Portable XRF Analyzer, which will allow Dr. Widga to conduct noninvasive chemical analyses of the bones from the site.



October, 2010: Neotoma Database

Principal Investigator Dr. Eric Grimm continued to work with collaborators on the expansion of the Neotoma paleoecology database under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation. A graduate student supervised by Dr. Alison Smith (Kent State University) is processing and verifying ostracode data for entry into the Neotoma database. These data include fossil ostracode data from 22 cores (Holocene and Plio-Pleistocene) and ostracode and hydrochemistry data from about 150 modern (surface) samples from the North American Non-Marine Ostracode Database.



October, 2010: New Philadelphia Project

Karen Wall, Evelyn Parks, Dona Wells, and Gretchen Wells met with Claire Martin and Dr. Terrance Martin concerning history and archaeology at New Philadelphia. The group from Kansas are descendents of New Philadelphia families who attended the Apple Festival in Barry the previous weekend and took advantage of the trip to Illinois to come to Springfield to see artifacts from New Philadelphia (October 4).



September, 2010: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project Completed

On September 28, Dr. Robert Warren submitted the final report for the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project to the Institute of Museum and Library Services.



September, 2010: Zooarchaeological Research

Erin Brand is identifying animal remains from the Renner-Brenner site (23PL1), the type site for the Kansas City Hopewell Complex in Platte County, Missouri, as a contract from SCI Engineering, Inc., St. Charles, MO. Dr. Terrance Martin compiled a table on 500 animal remains recovered during recent excavations at the Warwick’s Fort site (1774-early 1780s), Pocahantas County, West Virginia, for Dr. Stephen McBride, McBride Preservation Services, Lexington, KY. Dr. Martin began identifying animal remains recovered during excavations at the multiple component Pre- and Post-Contact Lake Christina site (21DL046), located on the county line between Douglas and Grant Counties in west central Minnesota. The faunal analysis is being conducted under a subcontract with the Duluth Archaeology Center (Duluth, MN), the firm that is responsible for the Phase III mitigation of the site. McMillan Museum Intern Angela Perri (doctoral candidate, Durham University, United Kingdom) is assisting with the faunal analysis of the Indian Dormitory site on Mackinac Island (northern Michigan). Excavations at the site by Andrews Cultural Resources revealed a major Middle and Late Woodland habitation site that includes artifacts characteristic of Laurel, Pine River, Mackinac, Bois Blanc, and Juntunen phase occupations along with well-preserved remains of mammals, birds, turtles, fish, and freshwater mussels. Dr. Martin finished data entry for the Squire site (11MS2244) (early 19th century) zooarchaeological collection. The site was mitigated by the Archaeological Research Center of St. Louis, Inc.    Dr. Martin reviewed and commented on chapter on the New Lenox site faunal analysis for Clare Tolme (September 23-27).



September, 2010: Research Associate Helps with Laboratory Setup

Research Associate Pietra Mueller is helping the School of Integrative Biology-Plant Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign configure a pollen laboratory and train students in standard pollen preparation techniques.



September, 2010: Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Inspired by the Archaeology Open House at the site over the weekend of August14-15, local press interviewed Dr. Michael Nassaney (project director at Western Michigan University) about current research and recent finds. Due to the abundance of animal remains recovered during excavations, these stories typically include references to the importance of hunting and local animal procurement, and this information is based on the zooarchaeological research being conducted at the Illinois State Museum. During September, Dr. Terrance Martin continued verifying animal bone identification and data entry for specimens from the various zooarchaeology workshops at Western Michigan University’s fieldschool at the site.



September, 2010: Neotoma Database Workshop

With support from a grant from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Eric Grimm co-led a Neotoma Database Workshop at the University of Wisconsin Madison in September.  Neotoma includes data from a wide variety of records including pollen, macrofossil plants, diatoms, ostracods, beetles, and bones. Dr. Chris Widga also participated in the workshop, which included discussion taphonomic assessments of faunal data.



September, 2010: Invasive Plant Research

In September, Dr. Hong Qian conducted research of exotic species in North America and Eastern Asia under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation grant. He collected data from several herbaria and libraries in Russia, including those at Moscow State University, Moscow Botanical Garden, Komarov Botanical Institute, and nature preserves.  He gave an invited presentation on his research at Moscow University on September 7 (40 faculty and graduate students attended).



September, 2010: Millennial-scale Vegetation Variability Based on Pollen

Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from Spain, France, Arizona, Vermont, New York, Texas, Montana, and Virginia published a study highlighting millennial-scale variability in North American vegetation records of the last glacial in Quaternary Science Reviews. High-resolution pollen records show that terrestrial environments were affected by Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich climate variability during the last glacial. In the western, more mountainous regions, these climate changes are generally observed in pollen records as altitudinal movements of climate-sensitive plant species, whereas in the southeast, they are recorded as latitudinal shifts in vegetation. Heinrich and Greenland stadials are generally correlated with cold and dry climate and Greenland interstadials with warm-wet phases.  The pollen records from North America confirm that vegetation responds rapidly to millennial-scale climate variability, although the difficulties in establishing independent age models for the pollen records make determination of the absolute phasing of the records to surface temperatures in Greenland somewhat uncertain.



September, 2010: Interlibrary Loans for Museum Research

Museum Librarian Pat Burg continued to help Dr. Hong Qian and Marlyana Morgan as needed with special requests concerning interlibrary loans, involving 100 or more items each month.



September, 2010: New Philadelphia Project

Archaeological investigations are being directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin, and are supported by a grant from the NSF REU program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. Work continued at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during September on preparation of progress reports on the 2010 excavations, which will be posted on the New Philadelphia Project’s Web site (https://www.anthro.uiuc.edu/cfennell/NP/). Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered between May 26 and June 25 from excavations on Block 13, Lot 4 that revealed the foundations of the house that resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter as well as an abandoned well east of the house in the adjacent Lot 3.



August, 2010: Paleoecological Database Presented

Dr. Eric Grimm gave an invited presentation on "Neotoma: a Multiproxy Community Database for the Pliocene and Pleistocene" for a Paleochronology Building Workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in August.



August, 2010: New Philadelphia Project

U.S. Representative Aaron Schock (18th Congressional District, Illinois) visited the New Philadelphia site on August 25 and publically dedicated the plaque designating the site as a National Historic Landmark. He spoke about bipartisan legislation he introduced to require a feasibility study to make the site a National Park. Archaeological investigations are being directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin, and are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered between May 26 and June 25 from excavations on Block 13, Lot 4 that revealed the foundations of the house that resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter as well as an abandoned well east of the house in the adjacent Lot 3.



August, 2010: American Quaternary Association Contributions

Drs. Bonnie Styles and Eric Grimm and Adjunct Research Associate Dr. R. Bruce McMillan represented the Museum at the 21st Biennial Meeting of the American Quaternary Association in Laramie Wyoming. Dr. Eric Grimm gave a workshop on "Telling Time: The Use of Radiocarbon (14C) Dating" for the Teaching Climate Change from the Geologic Record pre-conference Workshop in Laramie, Wyoming. The workshop was co-sponsored by On the Cutting Edge: Professional Development for Geosciences Faculty and Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, Northfield Minnesota; the U.S. National Committee for the International Union for Quaternary Research; and the American Quaternary Association (30 teachers attended). He gave a paper on "A New Look at the No-analog Late Glacial through Early Holocene Climates and Ecosystems of the Upper Midwest" in the plenary session for the AMQUA Biennial meeting (150 attended). Drs. Grimm, Styles, and McMillan participated in the pre-conference geological field-trip to the Snowy Range.  They also participated in the plenary and poster sessions and the AMQUA Council meeting on August 13.  Dr. Styles is the Secretary of the American Quaternary Association, and Dr. Grimm is the Immediate past president.  As Secretary, Dr. Styles worked with the AMQUA president to develop the agendas for the Council and Business meetings, took the minutes for the Council and Business meetings, and oversaw all of the awards presentations and travel grants for students. At the Business meeting, Dr. Styles was given special recognition for completing 12 years of service as the AMQUA Secretary.



August, 2010: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin completed a technical report on the faunal assemblage from the multiple component Citgo site (Brown County, Wisconsin). The site was investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. in advance of Wisconsin DOT’s proposed highway renovations on US 41/141 north of the Suamico River on the west side of Green Bay. Erin Brand is identifying animal remains from the Renner-Brenner site (23PL1), the type site for the Kansas City Hopewell Complex in Platte County, Missouri, as a contract from SCI Engineering, Inc., St. Charles, MO. Dr. Martin began identifying animal remains from the Warwick’s Fort site (1774-early 1780s, Pocahantas County, West Virginia) for Dr. Kim A. McBride, Kentucky Archaeological Survey, Lexington, KY.



August, 2010: Native-Exotic Species Richness in Illinois Wetland Communities

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the University of Illinois, Springfield and the Illinois Natural History Survey published a study examining native-exotic species richness across spatial scales and corresponding biotic homogenization in wetland plant communities. Their study demonstrated a clear shift from a positive to a negative native-exotic species richness relationship from larger to smaller spatial scales.  The negative relationship is suggested to result from direct biotic interactions (competitive exclusion) between native and exotic species, whereas positive correlations likely reflect the more prominent influence of habitat heterogeneity on richness at larger scales. Their finding of homogenization at the community level extends conclusions from previous studies that found this pattern at much larger scales.  Furthermore, these results suggest that even while exhibiting positive native-exotic species richness, community level biotas are still being homogenized because of exotic species invasion.



July, 2010: Geological Site Visits
Dr. Chris Widga visited Mazonia State Park to monitor fossil collecting procedures (July 27). He also assembled materials for a virtual field guide to the Mazon Creek area that he is planning to develop. he visited a sink hole north of Decatur on July 29 to assess its potential for fossil accumulation.


July, 2010: Physical Anthropological Research
In July, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency renewed their contract with Illinois Department of Natural Resources to provide support Illinois State Museum Research Associate Dawn Cobb to assess the content of graves encountered under the auspices of the Illinois Human Graves Protection Act and the Illinois Archeological and Paleontological Resources Protection Act.

July, 2010: Archeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin analyzed and prepared a report on historical animal remains from three sites (23PU278, 23PU757, and 23PU1869) at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for a technical report by Steven Ahler (University of Kentucky). Erin Brand completed identification of animal remains from the early 19th-century Squire Farmstead site (11MS2244) in Madison County, Illinois. The site was excavated by the Archaeological Research Center of St. Louis, Inc. Dr. Martin continued preparing species composition tables for the multiple component Citgo site (Brown County, Wisconsin). The site was investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. in advance of Wisconsin DOT’s proposed highway renovations on US 41/141 north of the Suamico River on the west side of Green Bay.

July, 2010: Black Hills Paleoecology Project
In July, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in fieldwork at Rainbow Cave in the Black Hills.  The project is a collaboration of Penn State University and the Illinois State Museum.  Dr. Grimm has reconstructed climate and vegetation changes based on pollen preserved in iron bog deposits, and Dr. Russell Graham (Penn State) is studying vertebrate faunal remains from the cave.

July, 2010: Palynologist Participates in International Meeting
Dr. Eric Grimm participated in the European Palaeobotany-Palynology Conference in Budapest, Hungary.  He presented information on the Neotoma database at a special meeting of the European Pollen Database Advisory Committee. Dr. Grimm is an advisor to the European Pollen Database, which is modeled after Dr. Grimm’s North American Pollen Database and the Global Pollen Database. Support for his participation was provided by an EVOLTREE Network grant.

July, 2010: Research Planning in the Natural Sciences

Dr. Hong Qian submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to compile a comprehensive database of angiosperms in the Himalaya, test a series of ecological and biogeographic hypotheses, characterize geographic patterns of richness, determine the geographic, phylogenetic, and ecological patterns of endemism, and explore species turnover and floristic relationships among different regions.  Dr. Chris Widga submitted an NSF proposal to improve the late Quaternary chronology of proboscidean extinctions in the Great Lakes Region by direct dating of mastodont and mammoth assemblages.  The project will also examine regional evolution in ecological niches by examining proxy records of animal diet, seasonality, and mobility based on analyses of teeth and bones, as well as skeletal records of individual life histories.



July, 2010: Oral History Project Presented at International Meeting
In July, Dr. Robert Warren presented the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture project to an international audience at the International Oral History Association conference in Prague, Czech Republic. Over 500 participants from 70 countries participated in the meeting. About 70 individuals attended Dr. Warren's presentation, which highlighted the Audio-Video Barn Website and the use of digital technology to share oral histories with communities.

July, 2010: Zoologist Participates in Joint Meeting of Herpetologists and Ichthyologists
Dr. Meredith Mahoney participated in a joint meeting of ichthyologists and herpetologists in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Mahoney is the Treasurer of the Herpetologists League and serves on the Meeting Management and Planning Committee (MMPC) as the Herp League representative to this multi-society committee.  She presented the annual Treasurer's report at the Herp League Board and Business meeting and attended committee meetings for the MMPC.

July, 2010: New Philadelphia Project
The laboratory phase of this year’s New Philadelphia Project concluded at the Research and Collections Center on July 30. The project is directed by Drs. Chris Fennell (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Anna Agbe-Davies (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Terrance Martin, and is supported by a grant from the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students for ten weeks. A weekly speakers’ series is also part of the program. Thousands of artifacts and biological remains (plants and animals) were recovered between May 26 and June 25 from excavations at the site of the former house resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter (in Block 13, Lot 4) as well as an abandoned well that was discovered east of the house foundations (in the adjacent Lot 3). UIUC graduate student Kati Fay was supported by Museum curation funds to supervise the students in analyzing and cataloging the 2010 New Philadelphia artifacts. Dr. Martin mentored the nine students in analyzing animal remains from the 2010 excavations at New Philadelphia, Block 13, Lots 3 and 4. ISM Research Associate Claire Martin mentored the students in historical research involving census, probate, and genealogical records. Andy and Pat Sprague (Sprague’s Kinderhook Lodge) visited the Research and Collections Center (July 13) to see the New Philadelphia Laboratory.  Mr. Mel and Mrs. Mary Conrad  (New Philadelphia Association member and fifth generation descendent of Free Frank McWorter) met with Research Associate Claire Martin and to share and discuss genealogical information on family ancestors who lived in New Philadelphia (July 14).

June, 2010: New Philadelphia Project
Archaeological fieldwork resumed at the New Philadelphia site in Pike County, Illinois, on May 26 and continued through June 25 under the direction of Drs. Chris Fennell (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Anna Agbe-Davies (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Terrance Martin. The project is supported by a grant from the NSF REU program, which provides stipends and housing for nine undergraduate students. Although geophysical anomalies in various areas of the site were investigated during the first week, Blocks 12 and 13 were the major areas of attention during June. Lot 4 in Block 13 is the site of the former house resided in by Squire and Louisa McWorter, and efforts were directed at locating and uncovering the foundation in order to find a cellar feature. Excavation of a circular soil anomaly to the east on Lot 3 resulted in the discovery of an abandoned well that was associated with the McWorter household. Excavation of the eastern portion revealed that it was filled in with large limestone slabs. Whereas attempts were made to investigate areas in Block 12 for a possible early schoolhouse, continuous water seepage into test units prevented extensive work in this area. Operations shifted to the Research and Collections Center in Springfield on June 26, where laboratory analysis of recovered materials will occur through July 30. Sandra McWorter (New Philadelphia Association) and Kathryn Harris (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library) visited the RCC on June 29.

June, 2010: Paleoecological Research
Dr. Joe Donovan, West Virginia University, came to the Research and Collections Center in June to work with Dr. Eric Grimm on a paper summarizing their paleoecological research at Kettle Lake in North Dakota.  This study is based on pollen, charcoal, and sediment geochemistry and documents long-term trends and short-term climatic variability in the northern Great Plains.

June, 2010: Dragonfly Genetics Research
Dr. Meredith Mahoney completed a report of genetics research for Hine's Emerald (Somatochlora hineana) dragonfly populations in Missouri. She found genetic variation among and within Missouri populations that was comparable to what is observed across the whole species range. Genetic analyses showed that there is gene flow, and therefore movement of individuals, among disjunct populations in Missouri Ozarks fen habitats. The gene flow increases genetic diversity of populations by moving new variants in, and also supports the idea that these dragonflies could re-colonize extirpated populations. Prior to this study, there was a concern that S. hineana may hybridize with its sister species, S. tenebrosa (Clamp-tipped Emerald). In addition, the larvae are very difficult to tell apart. She used two genes (one maternally and one bi-parentally inherited) to look at all the adults collected for this study and compared the samples with the other three species of Somatochlora, including several S. tenebrosa from Missouri. She didn't find any evidence of current hybridization affecting S. hineana in Missouri. She is now using these markers as a genetic species test to identify a set of larval samples. This research is supported through grant funds from the Missouri Department of Conservation and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

June, 2010: Preparations for American Quaternary Association Biennial Meeting
In her capacity as Secretary of the American Quaternary Association, Dr. Bonnie Styles solicited votes for the 2010, Distinguished Career Award, reviews of applications for the Denise Gaudreau Award for Excellence in Quaternary Studies, and coordinated Student Travel Grant applications and reviews.

June, 2010: Middle Holocene Bison Diet and Mobility
Dr. Chris Widga and colleagues from the University Kansas published a study of middle Holocene bison diet and mobility on the Great Plains. During the Holocene bison were key components of the Great Plains landscape. Their study uses serial stable isotope analyses (tooth enamel carbonate) of 29 individuals from five middle Holocene (ca. 7,000-8,500 years ago) archaeological sites to address seasonal variability in movement patterns and grazing behavior of bison populations in the eastern Great Plains.  Stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) indicate a bison diet that is similar to the C3/C4 composition of modern tallgrass prairie, while strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) values generally indicate very little seasonal movement (less than 50 km) and relatively limited inter-annual movement (less than 500 km) over the course of 4-5 years.  Analyses of variability in serial stable oxygen isotope samples (δ18O) further substantiate a model of localized bison herds that adhered to upland areas of the eastern Plains and prairie-forest border.

June, 2010: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin finished data entry and prepared species composition tables for faunal assemblages from the Late Archaic, Late Woodland, and Oneota components at the Citgo site (Brown County, Wisconsin). The site was investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. in advance of the Wisconsin DOT’s proposed construction activities on highway US 41/141 north of the Suamico River on the west side of Green Bay. Erin Brand continued identifying animal remains from the early 19th-century Squire Farmstead site (11MS2244) in Madison County, Illinois. The site was excavated by the Archaeological Research Center in St. Louis, Inc. Following Dr. Martin’s identification of selected turtle remains, Wesley Andrews sent the entire assemblage of animal remains he recovered during excavations at the Indian Dormitory site at Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan, to Dr. Martin for identification and analysis.

May, 2010: New Philadelphia Project
Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Associate Claire Fuller Martin published two articles on regionalism in subsistence pursuits at New Philadelphia based on faunal remains and historical records in the journal Historical Archaeology. Dr. Martin transported field equipment for the New Philadelphia Project to the site on May 22 in preparation for the 2010 field season. Dr. Martin met New Philadelphia crew member Tyquin Washington (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) at the airport in Springfield (May 23).  He met Keishaia Griffith (Buffalo State College), Courtney Ng (Rice University), and Sedrie Hart (Kennesaw State University, Georgia) at the airport in Springfield and transported them to the Kinderhook Lodge in preparation for the New Philadelphia field season (May 24). The field season began on May 26.  This second of three seasons of excavation is funded by a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant.  The project is co-directed by Drs. Chris Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Terrance Martin. The crew consists of nine undergraduate students (from seven states) along with two graduate student assistants and three graduate student volunteers.

May, 2010: Art Department
Kent Smith edited the transcript of an extended interview and wrote an essay about Springfield artist Kevin Veara. Veara has been selected by Smith to be part of the four solo exhibition show, Focus Four to which four ISM curators contributed. The exhibition opens June 11 at the ISM Chicago Gallery.

May, 2010: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin began data entry for the prehistoric (Late Archaic, Late Woodland, and Oneota) faunal assemblage from the Citgo site in Brown County, Wisconsin. The site was excavated (Phase I and II) by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. for the Wisconsin DOT.  Dr. Martin finished a manuscript on the 18th-century faunal assemblage from the Duckhouse site in the French village of Cahokia (St. Clair County, Illinois). It was submitted to Illinois Archaeology, reviewed, and accepted for publication during May. Erin Brand identified animal remains from the early 19th-century Squire Farmstead site (11MS2244) near Granite City in Madison County, Illinois. The site was excavated by the Archaeological Research Center of St. Louis, Inc.  Dr. Martin received prehistoric turtle remains for examination from Wesley Andrews, who excavated at the Indian Dormitory Site at Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan, under contract with the Mackinac Island Park Commission. Dr. Martin identified animal remains from the Burgess-Williams site on Grand Island in Lake Superior (Hiawatha National Forest) that were obtained in 2009 during excavations directed by Illinois State University graduate student Emma Meyer.

May, 2010: Paleoecological Research
In May, Dr. Eric Grimm worked with collaborators at Penn State University on the next grant proposal for the Neotoma Database project. He worked with Dr. Joe Donovan at West Virginia University on a paper they are preparing summarizing evidence for climatic change in the northern Great Plains.


May, 2010: Environment-species Richness Relationships
Dr. Hong Qian published results of a major study of global and regional environment-richness relationships for mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians using identical sample units and the  same set of climate (temperature, precipitation, annual actual evapotranspiration), productivity (normalized difference vegetation index), and topographic (elevation range) variables.  His results strongly support concomitant availability of energy and water at the principal constraint on global richness for all vertebrate groups, except reptiles, which are largely constrained by temperature.  However, environment-richness models for all taxonomic groups varied widely when applied to single (continental scale) biogeographic realms. He concludes that temperature and water availability are key variables for modeling broad-scale vertebrate richness, but there remains significant room for taxon-specific modeling approaches and for the inclusion of non-climatic factors related to evolutionary history and faunal assembly in different regions. The study was published in the journal Ecological Research.

April, 2010: Museum Research Presented at Society for American Archaeology Meeting

Nine symposia/sessions at the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in St. Louis in April featured research by Museum scholars.  Drs. Bonnie Styles and Michael Wiant presented papers on zooarchaeology and deep site archaeology, respectively, in a special session examining the research contributions of Center for American Archeology in the Illinois River valley.  Tom Styles presented a paper on geoarchaeology in this session co-authored with Research Associate Dr. Edwin Hajic.  Mary Pirkl of the Center for American Archaeology presented a paper (co-authored with Carey Tisdal and Beth Shea) on the Museum Tech Academy field sessions in Kampsville in a companion session on current research and education by the Center for American Archeology.  Dr. Terrance Martin presented a paper on French Colonial faunal remains in a symposium on Historical archaeology of the middle and upper Mississippi River valley. Dr. Chris Widga presented a paper on his isotopic research in a session on current research on isotopic analyses in archaeology and zooarchaeology.  Research Associate Dr. Stacey Lengyel presented a poster summarizing archaeomagnetic research in a session on southeastern archaeology. A paper co-authored by Dr. Michael Conner on ceramics from a site in the lower Illinois River valley was presented in a session on archaeology for a pipeline corridor in Illinois and Missouri. Dr. Eric Grimm summarized climate and vegetation data for the Upper Midwest in a session on human responses to the Younger Dryas in the Northern Hemisphere.   Dr. Hajic also presented a geoarchaeology poster in a session on landscapes in the Great Lakes and Midwest and was a second author on a paper on geoarchaeology of the central Mississippi River valley in a session featuring new perspectives on Kimmswick and Modoc and the Pleistocene to Holocene transition. Dr. Michael Wiant also served as a discussant for a session on Ohio Hopewell earthworks. Titles for each presentation are provided in the Professional Presentations section of this activity report.



April, 2010: Director Participates in Workshop for National Archaeological Database

Dr. Bonnie Styles is an advisor to a major National Science Foundation Grant project to establish the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR).  The grant project is being directed by researchers at Arizona State University. Dr. Styles attended a workshop on the project in St. Louis (April 14) in conjunction with the Society for American Archaeology meetings. Workshop participants reviewed archaeozoological datasets that have been entered into the database, coding schemes for recording archaeological context, and research applications to demonstrate the utility of the database. Data from archaeological sites in the lower Illinois River valley assembled by Dr. Styles already reside in the tDAR database.



April, 2010: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin, Chris Richmond, and Erin Brand completed a technical report on animal remains from Site 23CH348, a late Middle Woodland habitation site in the lower Chariton River valley in north central Missouri. The site was excavated by American Resources Group, Ltd. for the Keystone Pipeline Project. Dr. Martin and Chris Widga have agreed to collaborate with Dr. Susan Mulholland (Duluth Archaeological Center) on the archaeozoological analysis of animal remains that will be recovered during the excavation the multiple component (Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, Plains Village, and 19th-century) Christina-Pelican Lake site (21DL46/21GR41) on the border of Douglas and Grant Counties in west-central Minnesota. The overall project is administered by the Minnesota DNR and Ducks Unlimited, Inc. and will occur this summer.



April, 2010: Curator Presents at Museums and the Web Conference

In April, Dr. Erich Schroeder participated in the Museums and the Web 2010 conference in Denver, Colorado. He did a demonstration of the Audio-Visual Barn Web site that was developed for the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture project (April 16), and his paper on this topic was published in the conference proceedings. He also attended a special session on planning social media for museums and other sessions on Web applications.



April, 2010: Dragonfly Recovery Team Meeting

Dr. Tim Cashatt and Dr. Meredith Mahoney attended a meeting of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Recovery Team in April. Dr. Mahoney presented the results of her dragonfly genetics research.



April, 2010: New Philadelphia Project

Research on New Philadelphia was published as an entire issue of Historical Archaeology, the journal of the Society for Historical Archaeology ("New Philadelphia: Racism, Community, and the Illinois Frontier," Vol. 44, No. 1, 2010).  Dr. Terrance Martin was a co-editor for this volume along with collaborators Dr. Chris Fennell (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland).  Dr. Martin and Research Associate Claire Martin contributed two articles to the volume: one on agriculture and regionalism and one on subsistence and regional origin. Drs. Fennell, Anna Agbe-Davies, and Martin reviewed 72 student applications for nine archaeological field school positions funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. Nine finalists and three alternates were selected. The 2010 field and laboratory season will occur from May 25 through July 30.



April, 2010: Exotic Plant Species Research

Dr. Hong Qian conducted research on exotic plant species in North America and eastern Asia under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation. He collected data from six herbaria (two in Taiwan, one in Hong Kong, and three in mainland China) and libraries in universities (e.g., Taiwan National University, Hong Kong University), botanical gardens (e.g., Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Lijiang Botanical Garden, South China Botanical Garden), and botanical/ecological institutes (e.g., Kunming Institute of Botany, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences). In addition, he made field-observations at several sites, which have been heavily invaded by exotic plants, and gave three invited presentations about plant geography and exotic species in eastern Asia and North America: one at Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan), one at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China), and the other at Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China). About 50-60 people attended each of the presentations.



March, 2010: New Philadelphia Project

Dr. Terrance Martin, Dr. Chris Fennell (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Research Associate Claire Martin, and Pat Syrcle (Mayor of Barry; member of the New Philadelphia Association Board) met with Ian Shanklin and Ruth Heikkinen (Midwest Region Planning Division, Omaha; National Park Service) who made a reconnaissance visit to the New Philadelphia site in advance of a possible Congressionally-mandated Special Resource Study to consider the merits of New Philadelphia to become a property managed by the National Park Service (March 9).  Kay Iftner (Pike County Chamber of Commerce) requested items pertaining to the New Philadelphia site for an exhibition area at their office in Pittsfield. Doug Carr provided photographs of some of the artifacts. Dr. Chris Fennell received a total of 72 applications for field school positions that will be funded by a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) grant for the 2010 field season beginning May 25. Drs. Fennell, Agbe-Davies, and Martin began reviewing applications in order to select finalists and alternates for the nine students who will receive stipends for the eight weeks of the project.



March, 2010: Archeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin completed an ISM Landscape History Program technical report on the archaeological faunal assemblage (over 6,500 specimens) from the Duckhouse site at Cahokia (St. Clair County, Illinois) that was excavated in 2006 and 2007 by Robert Mazrim for The French Colonial Heritage Project at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Dr. Martin inspected and reported on a small collection of animal remains that were obtained from Site 11MS17, a Late Woodland or Mississippian habitation site in the northern portion of the American Bottom of Madison County, Illinois. The site was excavated by American Resources Group, Ltd. for the Keystone Pipeline Project. Chris Richmond, Erin Brand, and Dr. Martin continued identifications on late Middle Woodland animal remains from Site 23CH348, a Randolph phase habitation site in the lower Chariton River valley of north central Missouri. The site was excavated by American Resources Group, Ltd. for the Keystone Pipeline Project.  Dr. Martin identified animal remains from the Citgo site (47BR460), a multiple component Late Archaic, Late Woodland, and Oneota habitation site in Brown County, Wisconsin (near Green Bay) for Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group.  Erin Brand began identifying animal remains from the 19th-century Squire III site (11MS2244) near Granite City for the Archaeological Research Center of St. Louis.



March, 2010: Emiquon Science Symposium

On March 4, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Kent Smith attended the Emiquon Science Symposium at Dickson Mounds Museum.  Scientists from The Nature Conservancy, University of Illinois at Springfield, and the Natural History Survey, as well as students presented the results of numerous research projects documenting the transformation of the landscape with the restoration of Thompson and Flagg Lakes and prairie and forest vegetation.



February, 2010: Formation of Illinois State Archaeological Survey

The Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program has been administratively moved from the Department of Anthropology to the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and re-named as the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. Dr. Bonnie Styles has been asked to serve on the Advisory Board for the Institute to provide expertise on issues related to the administration and management of archaeological research and collections programs.  The State Museum has long-standing relationships with the Scientific Surveys, which reside in the Institute, and with the former Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program.



February, 2010: Dragonfly Database Provided to Researcher
In February, Dr. Tim Cashatt provided an electronic copy of the Museum's dragonfly database to Dr. Christopher Hassall, a postdoctoral fellow at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for incorporation into his studies of dragonflies.

February, 2010: Zooarchaeological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin continued work on an ISM Landscape History Program Technical Report and article for Illinois Archaeology on the faunal assemblage (over 6,500 specimens) from the Duckhouse site at Cahokia (St. Clair County, Illinois) that was excavated in 2006 and 2007 by Robert Mazrim for The French Colonial Heritage Project at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Research Associates Chris Richmond and Erin Brand and Dr. Martin began identifications of late Middle Woodland animal remains from Site 23CH348, a Randolph phase habitation site in the lower Chariton River valley of north central Missouri. The site was excavated by American Resources Group, Ltd. for the Keystone Pipeline Project.



February, 2010: Museum Curator Presents Climate Research
In February, Dr. Eric Grimm gave two presentations on late Glacial climates and ecosystems of the Upper Midwest, one for the Department of Biological Sciences at Eastern Tennessee University (35 attended) and one for the Quaternary Paleoecology Seminar Series at the University of Minnesota (25 attended).  Rapid changes in climate, flora, and fauna at the end of the most recent Ice Age provide important data for modeling biotic responses to contemporary climate change.

February, 2010: Illinois Archaeological Survey Board Convenes in RCC

The Board of the Illinois Archaeological Survey convened in the Illinois State Museum Research and Collections Center on February 5. Dr. Terrance Martin participated in this meeting.



February, 2010: Verbal Approval for NSF Grant
In February, Dr. Eric Grimm received verbal approval that the National Science Foundation grant proposal for the next phase of the Neotoma paleoecology database project has been funded.  Budget negotiations will be conducted later.    Penn State University and the Illinois State Museum are the lead institutions for this project, which includes 10 principal investigators and 15 collaborators. The Neotoma database includes the North American Pollen Database, FAUNMAP (mammals from archaeological and paleontological sites), beetles, and other proxies for climate and provides data critical to long-term studies of changes in climate and biota.

January, 2010: Collaborative Research with SIU-E
The National Science Foundation notified Dr. Julie Zimmerman Holt (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville) of the award of funds for her proposed project MRI-R2: Acquisition of Raman and Infrared Microscopes for Interdisciplinary Research. This equipment will be used to examine ceramics from Illinois prehistoric sites to test hypotheses concerning migration and trade in pre-European contact Illinois. The ISM will be a collaborator in this project by making Museum specimens available for non-destructive microscopic analysis from sites in the American Bottom, the Illinois River Valley, and Missouri.

January, 2010: Paleoclimate and Sea Level Rise
Dr. Eric Grimm presented a paper on the "Paleoecology of Florida" at Keeping our Heads Above Water: Surviving the Challenges of Sea Level Rise in Florida. A Workshop at the Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida on January 18, 2010. About 50 scientists and planners attended his presentation.

January, 2010: Biotic Homogenization and Habitat Type
Recent analyses of a large dataset of native and alien plants in North America by Dr. Hong Qian and Qinfeng Guo of the USDA-Southern Research Station in Asheville, North Carolina, show that biotic homogenization is clearly related to habitat type (e.g., wetlands versus uplands), species invasiveness and life history traits such as life cycle (e.g., annual/biennial and herbaceous versus woody species).  The research was published in the journal Diversity and Distributions.

January, 2010: Mammoth Teeth Sampled for DNA Research
Jacob Enk, a graduate student at McMaster University, sampled mammoth teeth in the Museum's collection for DNA. Drs. Jeffrey Saunders and Chris Widga worked with him on the selection of samples. Drs. Bonnie Styles, Jeffrey Saunders, and Chris Widga met on the research project on January 8, and then Dr. Styles gave him a tour of the Changes exhibition.

January, 2010: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin is preparing a technical report and article for Illinois Archaeology on the faunal assemblage (over 6,500 specimens) from the Duckhouse site at Cahokia (St. Clair County, Illinois). Excavated in 2006 and 2007 by Robert Mazrim of The French Colonial Heritage Project, established by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Sangamo Archaeological Center, the site is associated with the household of Joseph Languedoc, a merchant of Canadian birth who represents the initial French occupation on the lot. The relatively small time frame for this site from the 1760s through ca. 1800 provides an important glimpse at domestic subsistence practices in the village during the transition period from French to English to American economic and political influences.  Using the zooarchaeology reference collections at the ISM RCC, Gregory Young (Wayne State University, graduate student) continued identifying 19th-century animal remains from the site of Corktown in downtown Detroit with assistance from Dr. Martin (January 4-9). Dr. Martin examined cut marks on three white-tailed deer bones from 11MC122, and Doug Carr took detailed photographs, for an Illinois Archaeology article on the early historic Native American site by David Nolan (ITARP).

January, 2010: International Quaternary Association
Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the  United States National Committee for the International Quaternary Association in Washington D.C. in January.

December, 2009: Meeting on White Nose Syndrome in Bats
Drs. Bonnie Styles and Meredith Mahoney participated in a meeting on White Nose Syndrome in Bats at the Department of Natural Resources on December 15. The group discussed strategies to delay arrival of the syndrome in Illinois and plans for dealing with it once it arrives.

December, 2009: Zooarchaeological Research
Analyses of faunal remains from archaeological sites continued under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin. Erin Brand continues to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr. Martin completed technical reports on early 19th-century faunal assemblages from the Tilley site (23PU278) and the Robinson site (23PU757) from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Dr. Martin examined a small sample of animal remains from 47WL6 in Wisconsin for Dr. Katie Egan-Bruhy (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group). Dr. Martin began identifications on historical animal remains from the Blanchette House site, St. Charles County, Missouri, for SCI Engineering.

December, 2009: Curator Participates in International Meetings
On December 2, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in the International Multiproxy Paleofire Database Meeting (Savannah, Georgia). On December 3, he participated in the United States National Committee Chairs Meeting at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C. Dr. Grimm is the Vice-Chair of the International Quaternary Association's United States National Committee.

November, 2009: Paleobiologist Presents at International Meeting
Dr. Eric Grimm was an invited participant at an international meeting (Human Expansions and Global Change in the Pleistocene: Methods and Problems) in Frankfurt, Germany to consider human expansion out of Africa. Dr. Grimm presented the NEOTOMA database at the workshop. The research team hopes to use the database for their assessments of climate change.

November, 2009: Museum Paleocologist Serves on NSF Panel
In November, Dr. Eric Grimm served on the National Science Foundation's Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Panel. He assisted NSF staff with the review of proposals and made recommendations for funding.

November, 2009: Archeozoological Research
A number of studies of faunal remains from archaeological sites continued under the overall direction of Dr. Terrance Martin.   Research Associate Erin Brand continued to identify animal remains from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum from various 19th-century features excavated by Fever River Research. Dr. Martin continued reviewing literature on Anishinabek and Menominee beliefs pertaining to lake sturgeon for a paper being written for a special issue of The Michigan Archaeologist.  He completed a technical report on animal remains from site 11ST540, a Middle to Late Archaic habitation site in Scott County, Illinois (lower Illinois River valley) that was mitigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resource Group, Inc. (Jackson, Michigan) for the REX-East Pipeline Project. He worked with Steve Dasovich and Don Booth (SCI Engineering, Inc.) on a preliminary inspection of a sample of animal remains from the Renner/Brenner site (23P1), Platte County, Missouri, a Middle Woodland Kansas City Hopewell component (November 16). Dr. Martin continued preparing two whooping crane (Grus americana) skeletons obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for addition to the Museum’s skeletal comparative collection.

October, 2009: Study of Rapid Landscape Change in the Sangamon Basin Proposed
In October, Dr. Chris Widga reviewed numerous reports and collections of wood and freshwater mussel shells from archaeological and paleontological sites for a research project that he is developing.  Dr. Widga, Research Associate Dr. Stacey Lengyel, and Dr. Dennis Campbell (Lincoln College) completed and submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation that will support the study of rapid landscape change in the Sangamon Basin through dendrochronology based on wood samples and growth ring analysis of freshwater mussels from the basin.  The project would establish a tree ring laboratory in the Research and Collections Center and generate environmental data valuable to contemporary land managers.

October, 2009: American Quaternary Association Council Meeting
Dr. Bonnie Styles, Secretary of the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA), attended a meeting of the AMQUA Council at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Portland, Oregon.  As AMQUA Secretary, Dr. Styles prepared the agenda and minutes for the meeting.  The Council meeting focused on planning for the upcoming biennial meeting, which will examine the Pleistocene to Holocene transition. Dr. Styles installed and staffed the AMQUA Booth in the GSA exhibition hall, attended the business meetings for the Geoarchaeology Division and Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division, and attended sessions on rapid landscape change, global warming, and the role of extraterrestrial impacts in climate change.

October, 2009: Aboriginal Fishing Practices Summarized at Archaeological Conference
Dr. Terrance Martin gave a paper on “Aboriginal Fishing in Southwestern Michigan: A Unique Regional Fishery?” at the 36th Annual Symposium of the Ontario Archaeological Society at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario on October 17 (50 attended).

October, 2009: Experiences with Student Research Presented at Historic Archaeology Conference
Dr. Terrance Martin participated in a panel discussion featuring faculty perspectives and experiences with student research at the annual meeting of the Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference at the University of Notre Dame (70 adults and college students attended.).

October, 2009: Ongoing Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin continued to oversee a number of analyses of faunal remains from archaeological sites. Erin Brand continues to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Dr. Martin analyzed a collection of ca. 500 animal remains from the Archibald Lake Mound Group II (47OC309), Oconto County, Wisconsin, for Dr. Kathryn Egan-Bruhy. The Terminal Woodland assemblage includes calcined remains of white-tailed deer and moose.  Findings were included in a paper (“Preliminary Report of the Investigation of Archibald Lake Mounds and Village (47 Oc-309): A Wolf River Tradition Settlement”) by Mark E. Bruhy and Kathryn C. Egan-Bruhy at the Midwest Archaeological Conference in Iowa City on October 16.  Dr. Martin measured quadrates and dentaries of 31 individual walleyes (Sander vitreum) and 9 sauger (S. canadensis) having known standard and total lengths in the ISM modern osteological collection. These data were requested by Dr. Suzanne Needs-Howarth and integrated with osteometric information she compiled for an analysis of archaeological Sander remains, which she presented in a paper (“Fish Resource Selection at the Peace Bridge Site, Located at the Junction of Lake Erie and the Niagara River”) by Suzanne Needs-Howarth and Robert I. MacDonald at the 36th Annual Symposium of the Ontario Archaeological Society, Waterloo, Ontario on October 17. Needs-Howarth and Dr. Martin hope to continue and expand these collaborations with museum reference specimens in Illinois and Ontario so that more osteometric information can be obtained from archaeological specimens.   Dr. Martin began searching for and reviewing literature on Native American beliefs (especially those of the Anishinabek [Ojibwa, Odawa, and Potawatomi] and Menominee) pertaining to lake sturgeon for a paper to be written for a special issue of The Michigan Archaeologist.  Dr. Martin resumed identifications of animal remains from flotation samples acquired from site 11ST540, a Middle to Late Archaic habitation site in Scott County, Illinois (lower Illinois River valley) that was excavated by CCRG, Inc. (Jackson, Michigan) for the REX-East Pipeline Project. Dr. Martin prepared a short research proposal and cost estimate for analysis of animal remains from the Renner/Brenner site, a Kansas City Hopewell assemblage from Platte County, Missouri, which was requested by SCI Engineering, Inc. (St. Charles, MO).  Dr. Martin finished cleaning and preparation of one of three whooping crane (Grus americana) skeletons that were obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for addition to the ISM reference collection.

October, 2009: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project Presented at Oral History Conference
Dr. Robert Warren chaired a session entitled “Oral History of Illinois Agriculture: Building the Audiovisual Barn at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Oral History Association in Louisville, Kentucky. Project team members Dr. Robert Warren, James Oliver, Dr. Erich Schroeder, and External Evaluator Tom Clark presented papers on the project.

October, 2009: Museum Research and Curation Efforts Presented at Midwest Archaeological Conference
Drs. Bonnie Styles and Michael Conner represented the Illinois State Museum at the annual Midwest Archaeological Conference in Iowa City. Dr. Styles presented a paper by Drs. Michael Wiant and Terrance Martin (“The State of Illinois Archaeological Collection”) summarizing the development of the Museum’s curation program for archaeological collections in a special session on archaeological curation in the Midwest. Dr. Styles then participated in a panel discussion with the audience on this topic.  Dr. Michael Conner presented a paper on the Mississippian occupation of the Myer-Dickson site, which was excavated for the parking lot at Dickson Mounds Museum. Dr. Jodie O'Gorman (Michigan State University) presented a paper, co-authored with Dr. Conner on their summer excavations at the Morton site in Fulton County, Illinois. A paper co-authored by Dr. Terrance Martin and colleagues on “Deer, Nuts, and Floodplain Sand Ridges: Data Recovery Excavations at 11ST540, a Multi-component Archaic Site in the Lower Illinois River Valley” was also presented.  About 50 individuals attended each of these presentations. Dr. Styles attended a special dinner for former ISM Board Member Dr. James Brown, Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University, in recognition of his receipt of the 2009 Distinguished Career Award.

October, 2009: Archaeology and Paleontology Tools Workshop
During October, Dr. Eric Grimm attended a workshop on "The development of analysis and visualisation tools for database orientated palaeoenvironmental and climatic studies" at Umeå University in Umeå, Sweden. The workshop was financed by the Swedish Research Council, Umeå University Faculty of Arts, and the SEAD Project (Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database), and hosted by the Environmental Archaeology Lab at Umeå University. The workshop brought together a diverse group of expert developers, project representatives, and users with common goals: the creation of efficient, community based, user friendly and inter-linkable tools for the analysis and visualization of environmental archaeology and palaeoecology databases. The NEOTOMA database, funded by the National Science Foundation, is central to this effort. NEOTOMA is merging a number of international databases, including the North American Pollen Database, which Dr. Grimm coordinates at the ISM.

October, 2009: Environmental Gradients and Breeding Bird Diversity
In October, Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and East China Normal University (Shanghai, China) published the results of their study of breeding bird diversity in relation to environmental gradients in China.  They analyzed breeding bird richness in 207 localities across China and found that a measure of plant productivity best explained the variance in breeding bird richness. Based on their study, species richness of breeding birds is best predicted by a combination of plant productivity, elevation range, seasonal variation in potential evapotranspiration, and mean annual temperature, with the first two variables explaining the most variance.

October, 2009: Dragonfly Genetics Research Presented at Management Meeting
Dr. Meredith Mahoney summarized her genetics research for the Hine’s Emerald dragonfly at the Regional Meeting of Threatened and Endangered Species Coordinators (including representatives from state agencies and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service), in Camdenton, Missouri on October 7 (30 attended).

October, 2009: New Philadelphia Site
The three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site,  funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, continued under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin.

October, 2009: Botanist Compares Animal and Plant Diversity and Biogeographic Patterns
In October, Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the Smithsonian Institution, North Carolina State University, Hope College (Holland MI), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks contributed to an editorial on patterns and methods in intercontinental and intracontinental biogeography for a special issue of the Journal of Systematics and Evolution that examines biogeographic patterns and new analytical methods.  Dr. Hong Qian contributed a paper for this volume presenting a global study of beta diversity (species turnover) among mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in this issue.   Beta diversity was lower for birds and mammals (endothermic taxa) than for reptiles and amphibians (ectothermic taxa) in each of six biogeographic realms. Beta diversity was slightly higher at the small scale than at the large scale. Beta diversity was higher at the species rank than at the genus and family ranks.

October, 2009: Research Associate and Former Board Member Present at Conference on Illinois History
Research Associate Claire Fuller Martin presented a paper on population and landownership at New Philadelphia on October 1 at the annual conference on Illinois History in Springfield (sponsored by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum).  About 50 individuals attended the presentation.  Former Museum Board Member Dr. James Ballowe gave the luncheon address on Joy Morton’s contribution to the creation and development of Burnham and Bennett’s Plan of Chicago on October 1.

September, 2009: Museum Hosts Illinois Archaeological Survey Annual Meeting
On September 25-26, the Illinois State Museum hosted the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey (IAS) at the Illinois State Museum. The meeting included an IAS Board Meeting, Business Meeting, and a New Members Reception on September 25 and a Workshop with paper presentations and an Awards dinner on September 26. As an IAS Board member, Dr. Terrance Martin attended the Board Meeting. Dr. Bonnie Styles, Dr. Martin, Dr. Mike Conner, Dee Ann Watt, and Carol Pigati attended the Business Meeting and Reception in the Museum. Dr. Bonnie Styles, Dr. Martin, Dr. Michael Wiant, Dr. Michael Conner, Dee Ann Watt, and Carol Pigati attended the IAS Workshop and Awards Dinner.  Dr. Michael Connor presented a paper on the Morton site research during the Workshop. In recognition of his 47 interviews on WUIS with the presenters of the Museum’s Paul Mickey Science Series Programs, Dr. Martin presented Rich Bradley (WUIS) an IAS Public Service Award at the Awards Dinner. Dr. Michael Wiant presented Scott Fowler and Dean Spindler (Department of Natural Resources) with Public Service Awards for their help with the Illinois State Archaeological Site File GIS database. Dr. Michael Wiant was presented with a Charles J. Bareis Distinguished Service Award by ISM Board Member Dr. Brian Butler.  Dr. Bonnie Styles presented the Career Achievement Award to former ISM Board Member, Dr. James A. Brown.  Dr. Martin organized the meetings, program (solicited presentations, edited and assembled presentation abstracts), and awards presentation.  Carol Pigati and Dee Ann Watt assisted Dr. Martin with meeting preparations; Doug Carr operated the audio-visual equipment and took photographs; and Sue Collins prepared presentation schedule boards.

September, 2009: New Philadelphia Site
The three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, continued under the co-direction of  Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Dr. Terrance Martin.  Dr. Harold Hassen (Department of Natural Resources), Dawn Cobb, and Dr. Martin met with Lonnie Wilson (Texas), Sandra McWorter (Chicago and New Philadelphia Association) at the New Philadelphia Site on September 22. They inspected the McWorter Cemetery near New Philadelphia, assessed damage to headstones, and discussed the possibility of nominating the cemetery to the National Register of Historic Places. Gene and Ann Stauffer (St. Charles, Missouri) met with Research Associate Claire Martin to view documentary materials and selected artifacts from the New Philadelphia Project (September 24).

September, 2009: Preparation of NSF Proposal to Study Rapid Landscape Changes
On September 22, Dr. Chris Widga reviewed wood and freshwater mussel shell samples from various Illinois sites (Pabst site, Hood/Melinda/Davis site, Golarte site, Airport site, Clear Lake site, Rockwell Mound site, Warren Banes site, and Noble Wieting site) for a National Science Foundation proposal that he and Research Associates Dr. Stacey Lengyel and Dr. Dennis Campbell (Lincoln College) are developing to establish a dendrochronology laboratory at the Illinois State Museum’s Research and Collections Center and study rapid landscape changes during the Late Quaternary in the Midwestern United States based on dendrochronology and studies of growth increments in freshwater mussels from the Sangamon River Basin.

September, 2009: Planning for 2010 Laboratory Courses with Arizona State University
Dr. Terrance Martin worked on scheduling, publicity, and other details with Dr. Jane Buikstra (Arizona State University) for a two-week zooarchaeology laboratory course that will take place in late summer at the Research and Collections Center in conjunction with Arizona State University’s 2010 Field School at the Center for American Archeology’s field station in Kampsville. The Museum will also offer short courses in dating and isotopic analyses (Dr. Chris Widga and Research Associate Stacey Lengyel) and pollen analysis (Pietra Mueller).

September, 2009: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture
An exhibition on the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project was featured in the exhibition hall for the 5th National Small Farms Conference in Springfield.  The exhibition was shown for two (September 16-17) and was staffed by Dr. Robert Warren.  On September 21, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Karen Witter met Dr. Warren and other project team members to discuss a press conference to launch the Audio-Video Barn Web site.

September, 2009: Pine River, Michigan Faunal Assemblages
Dr. Edward C. Lorenz (Director, Public Affairs Institute, Alma College, Alma, Michigan) contacted Dr. Martin to inquire about natural resource damages to the Pine River in Gratiot and Midland Counties, Michigan (a tributary of the Saginaw Bay), and whether there is archaeological evidence of lake sturgeon in the Pine River watershed. Dr. Martin replied that lake sturgeon remains were present (along with porcupine and passenger pigeon) among the animal remains he identified from the 1850s Bethany Mission Site on the Pine River (September 16).

September, 2009: Collaboration for NEOTOMA Database
During September, Dr. Eric Grimm and Dr. Russell Graham (Penn State), eight additional principal investigators, and 15 international collaborators submitted a second proposal to the National Science Foundation to support the further development and use of the NEOTOMA database.  This database includes the North American Pollen Database and FAUNMAP, both of which were originally developed at the Illinois State Museum, several other climate proxy databases.  Dr. Grimm gave a presentation on the NEOTOMA database at the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology meeting.

September, 2009: European Pollen Database Progress
Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and the United States published an update on the European Pollen Database in the journal Vegetation History Archaeobotany.  Dr. Grimm is an advisor to the database, which was established in the 1980s and was developed to be compatible with the North American Pollen Database (established at the Illinois State Museum) and with the ultimate goal of contributing to the Global Pollen Database.  It provides a structure for archiving, exchanging, and analyzing Quaternary pollen data for Europe. It currently archives 1,032 pollen sequences; 668 of which have age-depth models that allow chronological comparisons.

September, 2009: Assessment of Error in Radiocarbon Dates
Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Illinois (Institute for Genomic Biology) compared radiocarbon dates from conventional bulk-sediment dating and accelerator mass spectrometry dating to assess the magnitude of error for the older dating technique.  Although the radiocarbon-reservoir problem with bulk-sediment radiocarbon dates from lakes has long been recognized, many synoptic studies continue to use chronologies derived from such dates.  They evaluated chronologies based on conventional radiocarbon dates from bulk sediment versus chronologies based on accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from terrestrial plant macrofossils for four sites in central North America (Rice Lake in North Dakota, Cottonwood Lake in South Dakota, Devils Lake in Wisconsin, and Chatsworth Bog in Illinois).  The carbon-reservoir error varies among sites and temporarily at individual sites from 0 to 8000 years.  An error of 500-2000 years is common.  This error has important implications for resolution of precise chronologies.  The results of their research were published in Quaternary Research.

September, 2009: Ongoing Faunal Analyses
Numerous archaeozoological research projects are underway under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin.  Erin Brand continued to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr. Martin retrieved seven boxes of collections from the Prison Farm Site (20IA58) from Grand Valley State University to verify student identifications and integrate data entry of the 1996 animal remains. A final site report on the Middle Woodland site is in preparation with Dr. Janet Brashler of Grand Valley State University.  Dr. Martin prepared a time-and-cost estimate for the Duluth Archaeology Center, L.L.C., for the faunal analysis of the proposed Phase III mitigation of Site 21RO39 for a water diversion project in Roseau County, Minnesota. The project will be administered by the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Dr. Martin began identifying animal remains from Upper Mississippian contexts at the Collier Lodge Site (12Pr36), Porter County, Indiana. The multiple component prehistoric and historic site is on the edge of the former Kankakee Marsh in northwest Indiana and is being excavated by Dr. Mark Schurr (University of Notre Dame) and the Kankakee Valley Historical Society.  Dr. Martin analyzed a small sample of animal remains from a specific provenience at the Citgo Site (47BR460) in Brown County, Wisconsin. The multi-component Archaic and Oneota habitation site was excavated for a Wisconsin Department of Transportation highway project. Dr. Katie Egan-Bruhy (CCRG) may have to sacrifice this particular sample of animal remains to obtain a radiocarbon date for the Archaic component.

August, 2009: Botanical Research of Relationships between Plant and Animal Richness
In August, Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from University of California, San Diego and La Jolla; University of Alberta, Edmonton; and the Natural History Museum of London published the results of their research of the effects of woody plant species richness on mammal species richness in southern Africa. They determined that the geographical variation of mammal species richness in southern Africa was strongly and positively related to that of woody plant species richness. The paper was published in Journal of Biogeography (36:1685-1607). On August 31, Dr. Hong Qian met with Dr. Yangjian Zhang of the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources at Rutgers University to collect data for their research of relationships among plant and animal species.

August, 2009: Consultation for Graduate Seminar on Eastern North American Prehistory
In August, Dr. Bonnie Styles provided Dr. Christopher Carr of Arizona State University with references pertaining to Holocene environmental and subsistence changes in the Eastern Woodlands for a graduate seminar he is teaching on Eastern North American Prehistory.

August, 2009: Collaboration for National Science Foundation Proposal
Dr. Terrance Martin served as a collaborator for Dr. Julie Zimmerman Holt's (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville) proposal to the National Science Foundation (“MRI-R2: Acquisition of Raman and Infrared Microscopes for Interdisciplinary Research").

August, 2009: New Philadelphia Site Project
The three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, continued under the direction of co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. On August 18, Dr. Bonnie Styles submitted a letter of commitment to the National Endowment for the Humanities (America's Media Makers Development Grant Program) for the Illinois State Museum to serve as a partner with Illinois Public Media for a proposal for the New Philadelphia Documentary Development Project.  If the proposal is funded, Dr. Martin will contribute his time to the project and the Museum will provide access to the New Philadelphia artifacts in the Research and Collections Center.

August, 2009: Archaeozoological Research
Several projects continued under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin. Erin Brand continues to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr. Martin completed a technical report on early 19th-century animal remains the Jones/Hillerman site (11MX306) that was mitigated for construction of the Joppa Power Plant by Fever River Research.  Dr. Martin sorted the earliest-excavated features from the Prison Farm site (Middle Woodland habitation site in Ionia County, Michigan) in preparation for assembling the final report.

August, 2009: Synchronization of Climate Changes in Illinois and the North Atlantic
Dr. Leila Gonzales of the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Dr. Eric Grimm published a study comparing the high resolution pollen record and well-controlled age model for Crystal Lake in northeastern Illinois and the North Atlantic Event Stratigraphy as represented in the Greenland ice-core records. Late-glacial Crystal Lake pollen assemblages are dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana) and black ash (Fraxinus nigra) with lesser amounts of fir (Abies) and larch (Larix), suggesting relatively wet climate.  Vegetation changes at Crystal Lake are coeval with millennial-scale trends in the Greenland ice-core records, but major changes in vegetation at Crystal Lake lag the ice-core record by 300-400 years.  The lag may be due to the influence of the Laurentide ice sheet in northeastern Illinois, the ice sheet's inherent slowness in response to rapid climate changes, and its effect on frontal boundary conditions and lake-effect temperatures.

August, 2009: Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project
Dr. Terrance Martin participated as research collaborator with Dr. Michael Nassaney (Department of Anthropology) and Dr. José António Brandão (Department of History) at Western Michigan University’s 2009 Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project in Niles, Michigan (July 29-August 2). Dr. Martin presented faunal analysis demonstrations with a display of identified animal remains from the project at the public Open House on August 1 and 2.

July, 2009: 2009 Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project
Dr. Terrance Martin participated as research collaborator with Dr. Michael Nassaney (Department of Anthropology) and Dr. José António Brandão (Department of History) at Western Michigan University’s 2009 Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project in Niles, Michigan (July 29-August 2).

July, 2009: Radiometric Dating of Remains from Paleontological Sites
In July, Dr. Chris Widga received radiocarbon age estimates of about 25,000 years for bones from Giant Beaver and Woolly Mammoth from Clear Lake Sand and Gravel. Bat bones from Bat Cave in the Mammoth Cave complex submitted by Dr. Widga and Mona Colburn yielded dates extending back to early Holocene, showing that considerable time depth is represented in the deposits.

July, 2009: Archaeology Field School on Grand Island
Dr. Terrance Martin participated in the Illinois State University (ISU)/Hiawatha National Forest 2009 Archaeology Field School on Grand Island in Lake Superior off Munising, Michigan (July 20-23). Dr. James Skibo (ISU) and John Franzen (Hiawatha National Forest) are Principal Investigators for the project.

July, 2009: New Philadelphia Archaeological Project
The three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, continued under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin.

July, 2009: Rainbow Cave Fieldwork
In July, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in paleoecological fieldwork at Rainbow Cave in the southern Black Hills. He is collaborating on the project with Dr. Russell Graham of Penn State University. Dr. Grimm is involved with a number of research projects that are examining long-term changes in climate and biota on the Great Plains.

July, 2009: Curator Participates in Meeting on Herps and Fish
In July, Dr. Meredith Mahoney participated in the annual professional meeting for the American Association of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Mahoney is the Treasurer of the Herpetologists' League, which met in conjunction with the Association.


July, 2009: Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Working Group
Drs. Meredith Mahoney and Everett D. Cashatt presented results of genetic research for the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly to 20 researchers and representatives from State and Federal agencies at the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Working Group and Agency Coordination Meeting on July 9 in Romeoville, Illinois.


July, 2009: Collection of Archaeomagnetic Samples from Kincaid Mounds
On July 8, Dr. Chris Widga traveled to Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site, a major Mississippian mound center in southern Illinois, to collect archaeomagnetic samples as part of the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale field school directed by Dr. Brian Butler. These samples will contribute to the ongoing development of a regional dating reference curve.


July, 2009: Regional Effects on Species Richness of Plants and Vertebrates
Dr. Hong Qian examined regional effects on species richness of vascular plants and four groups of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians) in the same set of ecoregions in seven biogeographic realms across the globe. Species richness of each taxon is compared across biogeographic realms. Regional and historical factors have played a role in regulating large-scale patterns of species richness of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians across the globe. However, Dr. Qian's analyses indicate that species richness in different regions of the world cannot be predicted by a global richness-environment model.  Also, species richness in areas of similar environments may differ significantly between regions, and thus species richness in one biogeographic region cannot be predicted using the richness-environment relationship derived from the data of another biogeographic region.  The research was published in the journal Ecography.

July, 2009: Archeozoological Research
Analyses of faunal remains from archaeological sites continued under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin.  Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr. Martin completed a short technical report on animal remains, primarily Middle and Late Mississippian, from site 15Mt271 in western Kentucky (Muhlenberg County). Kentucky.  Dr. Martin finished identifying 19th-century animal remains the Jones/Hillerman site (11MX306) that was mitigated for construction of the Joppa Power Plant by Fever River Research. A technical report is in preparation. Dr. Martin completed identifications of animal remains recovered by Hiawatha National Forest archaeologists at the Moses and Lambert sites in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Both sites are lumber camps that were operated by local Native Americans during the early 20th century.

June, 2009: NEOTOMA Database Presented
Dr. Eric Grimm gave a presentation of the NEOTOMA database at the Ninth North American Paleontological Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 25 (30 attendees).  The development of this climate proxy database for the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene has been funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.  The North American Pollen Database, developed at the Illinois State Museum, is a major component of this database, which also includes macrofossil plants, beetles, and vertebrate fauna.

June, 2009: Archaeomagnetic Sampling at the Morton Site
In June, Drs. Stacey Lengyel and Chris Widga collected archaeomagnetic samples from the Morton Village site during the Michigan State University archaeological field school (directed by Drs. Jodie O'Gorman and Michael Connor). These samples will potentially contribute to a better understanding of chronological relationships within the site.


June, 2009: Student Assists with Invasive Plant Species Research Project
On June 22, Marlayna Morgan was hired as a research assistant to work with Dr. Hong Qian on his research of invasive plant species. The project is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.


June, 2009: Dragonfly Research Presented
Dr. Meredith Mahoney summarized genetics research for the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly in a paper co-authored with Dr. Everett D. Cashatt at the Annual Meeting of the Dragonfly Society of America in Sullivan, Missouri on June 20.  About 45 entomologists attended this session. Dr. Cashatt led field trips to examine Odonata populations along Indian Creek in Franklin County, Missouri (June 19) and along the Kay Branch in Reynolds County, Missouri (June 21) for meeting participants.  About 20 individuals participated in each field trip. Dr. Cashatt also collected specimens for the Museum's collections.

June, 2009: Archaeozoological Research
Work continued on a series of archaeozoological research projects under the overall direction of Dr. Terrance Martin. Research Assistants Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr. Martin continued analyses of animal remains from site 11ST540 in Scott County, a Middle Archaic site mitigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group (CCRG) as part of the REX-East Pipeline Project. A report will be prepared once CCRG personnel finish sorting the flotation samples and send additional high priority samples.  Dr.  Martin continued identifying small collections of animal remains from 23PU278 and 23PU757, two historical sites at Fort Leonard Wood for a report being prepared by Dennis Naglich. Dr. Martin continued identifying 19th-century animal remains the Jones/Hillerman site (11MX306) that was mitigated for construction of the Joppa Power Plant by Fever River Research.

June, 2009: Fieldwork for Field Guide to Illinois Dragonflies
In June, with support from an 1877 Fund grant, Dr. Everett D. Cashatt conducted dragonfly fieldwork in Wisconsin.  He is collecting and photographing species that he needs to complete his field guide to the dragonflies of Illinois. Approximately 514 images of the more common Illinois dragonflies have been processed to be included in the field guide.  Eleven of the more difficult species to find in Illinois remain to be collected and photographed.  To collect and photograph the remainder of the species, Dr. Cashatt made the field trip to Wisconsin and will also need to make a trip to Alabama.

June, 2009: Art Research
Bob Sill is researching past and present painters from the central Illinois region in preparation for a lecture titled: Painters from the Heart of Lincolnland to be presented in November at University of Illinois, Springfield.


June, 2009: New Philadelphia Site, Pike County, Illinois
Analyses for this three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, continued under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin.


June, 2009: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project
On June 2-3, at the invitation of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Dr. Robert Warren, the Principal Investigator for the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project, served on the IMLS National Leadership Grant Panel in Washington D.C. Dr. Warren reviewed and provided commentary on 12 grant applications, and 24 applications overall were considered.


May, 2009: New Philadelphia Site Archaeological Project
The three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site, Pike County, Illinois, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program continued under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. Planning continued for a public lecture series that will be presented in Kinderhook during June and July.  The lectures will be sponsored by the New Philadelphia Association, the Illinois State Museum, and Spragues Kinderhook Lodge.

May, 2009: Archaeomagnetic Research
Drs Stacey Lengyel and Chris Widga conducted archaeomagnetic research at Ames Mound in western Tennessee in collaboration with the University of Memphis Field School directed by Dr. Andrew Mickelson. These data will contribute to ongoing efforts to construct a dating reference curve for the Midcontinent.


May, 2009: Isotopic Research Presented at UIS Science Symposium
A poster prepared by 2008 Illinois College Intern Dana Roberson and Drs. Chris Widga and Jeffrey Saunders was presented at the Annual University of Illinois, Springfield, Science Symposium on May 16.  The poster, "Incremental stable isotope analyses of mammoth tooth enamel (Mammuthus cf. M. jeffersonii) from the Missouri Ozarks," featured isotopic research with a mammoth tooth in the Museum's collections. Tooth enamel forms throughout the early life of an individual mammoth and is a biogeochemical archive of dietary preferences and behavior. An adult mammoth molar, consisting of many individual enamel ridge-plates, develops over the course of 3-6 years, depending on the tooth. A single ridge-plate, on the other hand, may form over the course of a single year. A ridge-plate of Mammuthus cf. M. jeffersonii (unidentified molar) from the Jones Spring locality in the Missouri Ozarks (~38,000 BP) was sampled incrementally for stable isotope analyses. To measure seasonal changes in animal diet and behavior during the formation of the tooth, δ13C and δ18O of tooth enamel CO3 were examined along the growth axis, representing ~1 year. During this time, both δ13C and δ18O values oscillate in a pattern that is likely associated with seasonal changes in diet and ambient temperature, respectively.

May, 2009: Principia Mammoth Project
Drs. Jeffrey Saunders and Chris Widga visited Principia College on May 15 to assist with the continued preparation of the Jefferson's mammoth skeleton discovered on campus. Dr. Saunders has participated in the excavation and analyses of this individual.


May, 2009: Illinois Archaeological Survey Board Meeting
Dr. Terrance Martin attended the Illinois Archaeological Survey executive board meeting in Champaign (May 15).


May, 2009: Ongoing Studies of Faunal Remains from Archaeological Sites
Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, work continued on a series of projects. Research Associates Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr. Martin completed computer data entry for analyzed animal remains from site 11ST540 in Scott County, a Middle Archaic site mitigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group (CCRG) as part of the REX-East Pipeline Project. A report will be prepared once CCRG personnel finish sorting the flotation samples and sending any recovered animal remains. Dr. Martin identified small collections of animal remains from 23PU278 and 23PU757, two historical sites at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for a report being prepared by Research Associate Dennis Naglich.  Dr. Martin began identifying 19th-century animal remains the Jones/Hillerman site (11MX306) that was mitigated for construction of the Joppa Power Plant by Fever River Research.

May, 2009: Identification of Freshwater Mussels from Emiquon Project Area
In May, Dr. Bonnie Styles completed the identification of freshwater mussel shells recovered through trenching for the Ameren Emiquon Gasline project.  The mussels were collected from trenches in the area of historic Thompson and Flagg Lakes by Alan Harn and Sally McClure in 2004.  There are 17 species represented in the sample. Most of the species are associated with flowing water in medium to large river habitat.  Very few species are associated with lake environments.  These data were provided to Alan Harn for incorporation into his summary report.

May, 2009: Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem Database Project
On May 7, the National Science Foundation awarded a supplement to the grant for the Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem Database project.  Dr. Eric Grimm is working with colleagues from Penn State and other institutions to develop this database of climate proxy data.  The supplement will fund the incorporation of newly contributed pollen datasets.

April, 2009: Archaeozoological Research

Drs. Terrance Martin and Chris Widga submitted a technical report on the animal remains from site 25CD87, a prehistoric Native American site in Cedar County, Nebraska, that was mitigated by American Resources Group, Ltd. as part of the Keystone Pipeline Project. The site is significant because of the discovery of the remains of one individual bison, which analysis revealed to be a very old female. Dr. Terrance Martin identified animal remains from site 11PK540 in Pike County, a Middle Archaic site mitigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group (CCRG) as part of the REX-East Pipeline Project. A report will be prepared once CCRG personnel finish sorting the flotation samples and sending any recovered animal remains. Dr. Martin prepared final reports on the faunal assemblages from Late Woodland and Mississippian components at site 23FR521 and 32FR523 for technical report to the Missouri Department of Transportation by Dr. Steven Ahler (University of Kentucky). Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Dr. Terrance Martin entered information on the faunal assemblages from Lincoln Presidential Library Tract Features 4, 5, and 6 into the database.

 

 

 

 



April, 2009: Invasive Plants Research

Dr. Hong Qian participated in field research in South Korea and Japan (April 16 to May 5). He collected published data for his National Science Foundation-funded research of exotic plants species in North America and eastern Asia. During this trip, Dr. Qian and his South Korean collaborator, Dr. Jong-Suk Song, visited libraries in eight South Korean and Japanese institutions, which include Andong National University, Kitayusyu Museum of History and Human History, Kobe University, Hyogos Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Ministry of Environment (Government of Japan), Nature Conservation Society of Japan, Tokyo University, Natural History Museum and Institute (Chiba) to locate research data for their study. They located over 150 publications with data needed for the project. In addition to collecting data for the project, Dr. Qian gave two invited presentations, one at Andong National University, South Korea, and the other at Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan.

 

 

 

 



April, 2009: Ft. Leonard Wood Archaeology

An interdisciplinary team of Museum scientists completed a major study of two prehistoric sites and six historic sites in Pulaski County at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri under the direction of Dr. Steven Ahler (formerly a Research Associate and now affiliated with the University of Kentucky). The sites were investigated through excavations and analyses of stratigraphy, features, artifacts, and plant and animal remains from 2005 to 2009, because they were subject to potential damage by Army training activities. Research Associate Marge Schroeder analyzed the botanical remains, and Dr. Bonnie Styles and Research Assistant Erin Brand analyzed the faunal remains. One of the prehistoric sites, Red Oak Shelter, had already been determined as eligible for the National Register of Historic sites, and the current investigations confirmed that it has a deep, stratified sequence of cultural deposits including Early Archaic, Early-Middle Woodland, and Late Woodland components. Although near surface deposits were badly disturbed at Wilson Shelter, the other prehistoric site, intact deposits were discovered including Late Archaic, Early Woodland, Middle Woodland, and Late Woodland deposits, and thus it also appears to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Three of the six historic sites constituted by the remains of the Palace Schoolhouse (1930-1941), a farmstead residence (1894-1941), and the W. S. Williams site (1880-1941) appear to have sufficient integrity to eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.  Recommendations are provided to avoid future disturbance of these sites.

 

 

 

 



April, 2009: Botanical Review Praises Work by Museum Botanist

An article by Jinshuang Ma ("Recent Progress in Systematics in China"), published in Progress in Botany, Vol. 67 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin), praised recent research by Dr. Hong Qian. The author notes (p. 372) "...some excellent papers have come from Chinese scholars who work abroad, for example Dr. Hong Qian at the Illinois State Museum...."

 

 

 

 



April, 2009: Empirical Evaluation of Spatial and Non-spatial Regression in Geographical Ecology

A major focus of geographical ecology and macroecology is to understand the causes of spatially structured ecological patterns. However, achieving this understanding can be complicated when using multiple regression, because the relative importance of explanatory variables, as measured by regression coefficients, can shift depending on whether spatially explicit or non-spatial modeling is used. However, the extent to which coefficients may shift and why shifts occur are unclear. Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from throughout the world analyzed the relationship between environmental predictors and the geographical distribution of species richness, body size, range size and abundance in 97 multi-factorial data sets. Their goal was to compare standardized partial regression coefficients of non-spatial ordinary least squares regressions (i.e. models fitted using ordinary least squares without taking autocorrelation into account; "OLS models" hereafter) and eight spatial methods to evaluate the frequency of coefficient shifts and identify characteristics of data that might predict when shifts are likely. They generated three metrics of coefficient shifts and eight characteristics of the data sets as predictors of shifts. Typical of ecological data, spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of OLS models was found in most data sets. The spatial models varied in the extent to which they minimized residual spatial autocorrelation. Patterns of coefficient shifts also varied among methods and datasets, although the magnitudes of shifts tended to be small in all cases. They were unable to identify strong predictors of shifts, including the levels of autocorrelation in either explanatory variables or model residuals. Thus, changes in coefficients between spatial and non-spatial methods depend on the method used and are largely idiosyncratic, making it difficult to predict when or why shifts occur. They conclude that the ecological importance of regression coefficients cannot be evaluated with confidence irrespective of whether spatially explicit modeling is used or not. Researchers may have little choice but to be more explicit about the uncertainty of models and more cautious in their interpretation.  This research was published in the journal Ecography.

 

 

 

 



April, 2009: Curators Participate in Anthropological Conferences

Dr. Jonathan Reyman presented two papers at the annual meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society in Urbana (April 2, 3). Dr. Terrance Martin attended annual meetings of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology (April 4) in East Lansing and the Michigan Archaeological Society (April 5) in Lansing.

 

 

 

 



April, 2009: New Philadelphia Site Project Update

A three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, continues under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. Phillip Bradshaw (President of the New Philadelphia Association) met with Dr. Terrance Martin on April 1. Dr. Martin attended a meeting at the Bureau of Tourism, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity with representatives of the New Philadelphia Association, President Phillip Bradshaw and Vice President Joe Conover (April 8). A public lecture series in Kinderhook during June and July is being organized by Dr. Chris Fennell, which will be sponsored by the New Philadelphia Association, the Illinois State Museum, and Spragues Kinderhook Lodge.

 

 

 

 



March, 2009: New Philadelphia Site Update

The three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, continued under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. Dr. Martin attended a meeting with New Philadelphia Association President Philip Bradshaw, Vice President Joe Conover, and representatives of the Archaeological Conservancy on March 27.

 

 

 

 



March, 2009: Archaeological Contract Reports Scanned for Online Resource

On March 25, Dee Ann Watt assisted Dr. Michael Wiant in reviewing and selecting Illinois contract reports to be scanned by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program for a Web resource they are developing.

 

 

 

 



March, 2009: Archeozoological Research

Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, work continued or was completed on the following projects. Dr. Martin compiled a quantitative listing of animal remains from the Hovey Lake site (Caborn-Welborn phase, A.D. 1400-1700) in the lower Wabash Valley of Indiana for an exhibition being organized by Cheryl Munson (Indiana University). Dr. Martin identified and tabulated 122 animal remains from the mid-19th to early 20th-century Feek Property Site Number 2 in St. Joseph County, Michigan. This is part of a master’s thesis project by Andrew Robinson, a graduate student in anthropology at Western Michigan University. Dr. Terrance Martin completed identifications (and verification of students’ identifications) and database entry for 18th-century animal remains from high-priority contexts for Western Michigan University’s 2006 excavations at the Fort St. Joseph site in Niles, Michigan. The collection was returned to Michigan on the weekend of March 21-22.  Dr. Martin identified animal remains from site 25CD87 in Cedar County, Nebraska, that was excavated by American Resources Group, Ltd. as part of the Keystone Pipeline Project. The site consists primarily of the remains of one individual bison. Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).

 

 

 

 



March, 2009: Museum Research Featured in Major Synthesis of Prehistoric Archaic Societies

A major synthesis of prehistoric Archaic Period societies in the Midcontinent features paleoecological and archaeological research by Museum scholars. Museum Director Dr. Bonnie Styles and Museum Director Emeritus Dr. R. Bruce McMillan summarized changes in climate and environment from the Early Holocene to the Late Holocene (12,500 to 5,700 calendar years before present) and changes in human use of fauna during the Archaic Period of prehistory based on quantitative analyses of faunal remains from 48 components from 19 archaeological sites in the Prairie Peninsula and surrounding regions of the Midcontinent.  They documented regionally distinct exploitation strategies that correspond to regional variation in resource availability.  These differences in resource availability increased in the mid-Holocene with time-transgressive and differential effects of mid-Holocene warming and drying, the development of aquatic systems, and the evolution of anthropogenic fire in the ecosystem. These landscape changes interplayed with changes in settlement and mobility, leading to regionally different subsistence strategies. Dr. Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum, and Adjunct Research Associates Kenneth Farnsworth and Dr. Edwin Hajic did an overview of the Archaic Period in the Illinois River Basin.  They document the substantial landscape evolution and cultural changes that occurred during the Archaic Period in this region. The volume resulted from a symposium convened at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was published by the State University of New York Press, Albany.

 

 

 

 



March, 2009: Modeling Eastern North American Plant Taxa

Continental-scale modern pollen-climate data repositories are a primary data source for palaeoclimate reconstructions. However, these repositories can contain artifacts, such as records from different depositional environments and replicate records, that can influence the observed pollen-climate relationships as well as the palaeoclimate reconstructions derived from these relationships. Because the depositional environment determines the relative strength of the local and regional pollen signals, combining data from different depositional environments results in pollen abundances that can be influenced by the local pollen signal. Replicate records in pollen-climate datasets can skew pollen-climate relationships by causing an overweighting of pollen abundances in a climate space. In a recent study, Leila Gonzales (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Dr. Eric Grimm, and other colleagues address the issues related to these artifacts as they define the methods used to create a research dataset from the North American Modern Pollen Database (NAMPD) (Whitmore et al., 2005). The research dataset they present consists of 2,613 records in eastern North America, of which 70.9% are lacustrine sites. The research dataset encompasses the majority of the temperature and summer precipitation ranges of the NAMPD’s climatic range, and 40% of its winter precipitation range. They present their analyses of the research dataset and demonstrate that it improves upon regional pollen-climate relationship modeling of eastern North American taxa.  The study was published in the journal Grana (48(1):1-18).

 

 

 

 



March, 2009: European Pollen Database Update

Dr. Eric Grimm assisted colleagues with a historical sketch and review of current activities for the European Pollen Database. Dr. Grimm is an adviser for the European Pollen Database, and it follows the protocols for the North American Pollen Database, which was developed by the Illinois State Museum. The article was recently published online by Springerlink.com.

 

 

 

 



March, 2009: Effects of Historical and Regional Factors on Species Richness at the Global Scale

A study of factors affecting species richness at the global scale by Dr. Hong Qian was published online through Wiley InterScience and will be printed in the journal Ecography.  Determining the effects of regional and contemporary factors on large-scale patterns in species richness has been a fundamental question in modern ecology and biogeography. However, few studies have examined effects of historical and regional factors on species richness at the global scale, and conclusions are often inconsistent or controversial. Dr. Qian used a comprehensive dataset to examine regional effects on species richness of vascular plants and four taxa of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians) in the same set of sample units (ecoregions) in seven biogeographic realms across the globe. The same spatial scale and the same set of environmental variables, which are thought to influence large-scale patterns in species richness of vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates, were used for all the five taxa. Species richness of each taxon was compared across biogeographic realms. Regional effects on species richness have been found for all the five taxa. Of the 90 realm-pair comparisons for the five taxa between observed richness of a region and the richness of the region predicted by the richness–environment relationship derived from the data of another region, 74 (82.2%) showed significant differences between observed and predicted species richness, indicating that a species richness–environment relationship developed for one region cannot accurately predict species richness in other regions of similar environments.

 

 

 

 



February, 2009: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project Update

The Museum team of Dr. Robert Warren, Mike Maniscalco, James Oliver, and Sue Huitt has completed all but two of the oral history of Illinois agriculture interviews and are processing files.  They have digitally indexed almost all of the older audio interviews.  One work study student (Ashley Aloruzzo) and two interns (Anthony Colantino and Rachel Thompson) from University of Illinois at Springfield and two volunteers (Amy Moore and Lind Brand) are assisting with the project.  The volunteers are assisting with transcriptions and editing of the interviews. The Museum is collaborating with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for this project, and it is funded by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and.  At the Invitation of IMLS, Dr. Robert Warren presented the project to 300 individuals at the annual Web Wise meeting in Washington D.C. on February 26.

 

 

 



February, 2009: Archaeology of Illinois State Parks

Marge Schroeder, Research Associate, compiled a comprehensive overview of archaeological assessments in Illinois State Parks for the 2007-2008 seasons for the Department of Natural Resources. The Museum will continue to participate in archaeological assessments for construction projects in the parks under the auspices of a renewed three-year contract.  Dr. Stacey Lengyel will serve as Principal Investigator for these projects, and Marge Schroeder will continue to serve as project manager.

 

 

 



February, 2009: Coring of Lake George

Dr. Eric Grimm participated in fieldwork (February 15-20) with Dr. Sheri Fritz, University of Nebraska, to core Lake George, a saline lake in North Dakota.  The field work is part of research project, “Collaborative Research: Holocene Drought in the North American Interior,” funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.  Dr. Grimm is a co-principal investigator on the project, along with Dr. Fritz, Dr. Paul Baker (Duke University), and Dr. Yongsong Huang (Brown University).  They are will track climate changes based in part on temperature signals derived from alkenones (organic compounds produced by algae in saline lakes). The team extracted a 14-m long core.

 

 

 



February, 2009: Ongoing Archeozoological Research

Under the overall direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, analyses continued or were completed for a number of projects. Research Assistants Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr. Martin completed identification and tabulation of a small collection of prehistoric animal remains recovered during Phase II investigations at the Lake Owen site (47BA374) in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin for Dr. Kathryn Egan-Bruhy (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Minocqua Office). Dr. Martin also completed identifications of fish and miscellaneous problematic small animal remains from the Carmen site, a late prehistoric Iroquoian habitation site near the Finger Lakes region of western New York that is the subject of University of Pittsburgh Ph.D. dissertation research by Angela Lockard-Reed.

 

 

 



February, 2009: Paleobiological Research Planning

Drs. Eric Grimm and Chris Widga are working with Dr. Matthew Hill at the University of Iowa to plan paleoecological research that would integrate data from fossil pollen and isotopic studies of bison teeth from a three state area in the Great Plains.

 

 

 



February, 2009: Students Assist with Invasive Species Research

Dr. Hong Qian's research of invasive species, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is being aided by two students (Heather Kent and Elizabeth Turner) hired through the NSF grant.

 

 

 



February, 2009: New Philadelphia Site Update

Laboratory analyses continued for the three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site in Pike County, Illinois. This project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, and co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin.

 

 

 

 



January, 2009: NEOTOMA Database Workshop

On January 31-February 1, Dr. Eric Grim, Chairperson of Botany, participated in a workshop at the Keck Center at the National Academy of Sciences for planning a renewal proposal for the support of the NEOTOMA database. The current NEOTOMA database project is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Geoinformatics Program. The renewal will also be submitted to this program, which has a deadline in July 2009. The database is merging the Global Pollen Database, FAUNMAP, the North American Plant Macrofossil Database, and a fossil beetle database. The time period is the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene. Several European database projects would also like to join the NEOTOMA project. These projects include the European Pollen Database, the Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database (based in Sweden), the BUGS Database (European beetles), and the Roceeh Out of Africa Database, which is part of The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans project based in Frankfurt, Germany. NEOTOMA is a community database that provides underlying database cyberinfrastructure for disciplinary database projects. The database is centralized; facilitating cross-disciplinary, multi-proxy analyses and common tool development, yet each database project can retain its own identity, have control over data input and quality, and have its own Web interface.  Workshop participants included Allan Ashworth, North Dakota State University; Brian Bills, Pennsylvania State University; Simon Brewer, University of Wyoming; Angela Bruch, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt, Germany; Phil Buckland, Umeå University, Sweden; Thomas Giesecke, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany; Russell Graham, Pennsylvania State University; Eric Grimm, Illinois State Museum; Steve Jackson, University of Wyoming; Laura Strickland, United States Geological Survey, Denver; and Jack Williams, University of Wisconsin.

 

 

 



January, 2009: Hoxie Farm Site Research

Dr. Terrance Martin examined two boxes of unanalyzed animal remains from non-feature midden contexts at the Hoxie Farm site in order to insure that all human remains had been located and segregated for analysis by Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program  physical anthropologists (January 21). Dr. Martin is analyzing the faunal remains from this late prehistoric site in the Chicago area.

 

 

 



January, 2009: Meeting of United States National Committee

In January, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the United States National Committee for the International Quaternary Association at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C. The committee discussed convening another Teacher Workshop at the AMQUA Biennial meeting in 2010 and sponsoring a symposium at the 2010 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

 

 



January, 2009: New Philadelphia Project Update

Co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin continued the three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program.  On January 16, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne formally announced that the New Philadelphia town site was one of nine National Historic Landmarks designated from nine states.

 

 

 



January, 2009: Great Plains Research

Following the presentation by Dr. Mathew Hill, University of Iowa for the weekly Brown Bag on January 14, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Drs. Hill, Chris Widga, Eric Grimm, and Stacey Lengyel met to discuss collaborative research opportunities involving palynological, archaeozoological, and isotopic research for Great Plains archaeological and paleontological sites.

 

 

 



January, 2009: Research of Angiosperm Diversity Patterns Proposed

In January, Dr. Hong Qian submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation to study angiosperm diversity patterns in the Himalaya. The project will provide important baseline information on overall angiosperm diversity in the Himalaya, particularly distributions of endemic, rare, and endangered species in the region. This study could help pinpoint areas of endemism and high biodiversity, and will have a clear positive impact for conservation.

 

 



January, 2009: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin presented a report co-authored with John Franzen and Eric Drake of the Hiawatha National Forest (with headquarters in Escanaba, Michigan) on an archaeological investigation of the Trespass Cambuse site, a circa 1869 lumber camp in the western portion of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Analysis of the animal remains revealed the importance of local wild animals for food and pelts. The presentation was in a general session on Industry and Work at the 42nd Annual Society for Historical Archaeology Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Toronto, Ontario, on January 9.  On January 10, Dr. Bonnie Styles revised her report of faunal remains from Red Oak Shelter at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri to accommodate changes in the designated cultural affiliations for some of the excavation units.

 

 

 



January, 2009: Beta Diversity of North American Mammals

Dr. Hong Qian, Curator of Botany, and colleagues from the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota determined that the latitudinal gradient in beta diversity of North American mammals corresponds to a macroclimate gradient of decreasing mean annual temperature and increasing seasonality of temperature from south to north.  Most of the variance in spatial turnover is explained by distance and environmental differences jointly rather than distance, climate, or topography separately. The high predictive power of geographical distance, climatic conditions, and topography on spatial turnover could result from the direct effects of physical limiting factors or from ecological and evolutionary processes that are also influenced by the geographical template.  Their research was published in an article in Global Ecology and Biogeography.

 

 

 



January, 2009: Late Quaternary Climate Change Research

Dr. Eric Grimm was awarded a National Science Foundation Grant to support collaborative research of floral and faunal community responses to Late-Quaternary climate change.  The research is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. John T. Williams (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Dr. Russell W. Graham (Pennsylvania State University), and Dr. Stephen T. Jackson (University of Wyoming).  The research will use the NEOTOMA database to investigate relationships between non-analogue floras and faunas through space and time. The grant extends from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2012.

 

 

 



December, 2008: History of Illinois Agriculture Project

Dr. Robert Warren, James Oliver, Mike Maniscalco, and Sue Huitt are working on a second proposal to the Institute of Museum Library Services to further the efforts of the history of Illinois Agriculture Project by partnering with museums and developing a history of agriculture Web site. On December 29, in response to a request from Sue Huitt, Dr. Terrance Martin, Dee Ann Watt, and Carol Pigati developed a list of archaeological sites that would have artifacts that reflect Native American farming, French colonial farming, and early settlement farming.

 

 

 



December, 2008: Morton Village Site Research

Drs. Terrance Martin and Bonnie Styles contributed to a research proposal to the National Science Foundation that is being developed by Dr. Michael Conner (Dickson Mounds Museum) and Dr. Jodie O’Gorman (Michigan State University) for a multi-year archaeological investigation of the Morton Village Site. Drs. Martin and Styles provided information for the analyses of faunal remains for the project.

 

 

 



December, 2008: Christmas Bird Count

The 109th National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season recently ended, and Springfield conducted its count on December 14, 2008 with H. David Bohlen, ISM ornithologist, as the compiler. This year there were 12 participants (including Bohlen) counting birds in the field and four counting at feeders. The weather was fairly mild but quite windy. Eighty-eight species of birds were seen and or heard. A few species were at record high numbers for a CBC including, Wood Duck and American Robin, and there were more Purple Finches than usual. There were 22 species of waterfowl, including a White-winged Scoter. Other observations of note were three Bald Eagles and a Peregrine Falcon and the first ever (on a CBC) Great Egret. One species with the lowest count ever on a CBC was the Blue Jay­, which is perhaps still recovering from the West Nile virus.

 

 

 



December, 2008: Feather Distribution Project

In December, Dr. Jonathan Reyman distributed feathers and attended dances in New Mexico and discussed the future of the Feather Distribution Project with people at Acoma Pueblo and Zuni Pueblo. He also met with education staff at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center to discuss giving one or more presentations there in the spring.

 

 

 



December, 2008: New Philadelphia Site Update

The continuation of this three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program with co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Terrance Martin. The Advisory Board Landmark Committee of the National Park Service met in Washington, D.C. in late October, and its approval of the New Philadelphia Town Site as a National Historic Landmark awaits the signature of approval from the Secretary of the Interior. Media coverage during December included “New Philadelphia gets Designation” by Beth Zumwalt, Pike Press, December 29.

 

 

 



December, 2008: Archaeozoological Research

Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, analyses of faunal remains for a number of archaeological projects continued.  Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation Project in Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research).  Dr.  Martin finished the technical report co-authored with Angela Mallard on the Fort Ashby (West Virginia) faunal analysis for McBride Preservation Services, Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Martin completed identifications, data entry, and drafting tables for 19th-century animal remains from the Trespass Cambuse site, a lumber camp in the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A report on this project is being prepared with John Franzen and Eric Drake (both archaeologists with the Hiawatha National Forest, Escanaba, Michigan), and the project will be presented at the annual conference of the 2009 SHA Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Toronto in January. Dr. Martin completed identification of animal remains from 47FL187 and from 47FL25, a 19th-century farmstead in far northeastern Wisconsin, for Dr. Katie Egan-Bruhy (Commonwealth Cultural Resource Group).

 

 

 



November, 2008: Fort St. Joseph Project, Berrien County, Michigan

Dr. Terrance Martin provided an interview for the newsletter of Support the Fort, Inc. and answered questions about archaeological faunal analysis for the Fort.
 

 



November, 2008: New Philadelphia Site, Pike County, Illinois

Research for this three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site continued under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. Drs. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Terrance Martin are the project directors.

 

 

 



November, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project Presented

On November 13, Mike Maniscalco and Dr. Robert Warren presented a poster on the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project in an invited session including representatives from five Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant Projects at the annual Museum Computer Network in Washington D.C.  An estimated audience of 500-1000 individuals viewed the poster. On November 20, Mike Maniscalco and Sue Huitt attended the Illinois Education and Technology Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield.   Over 500 individuals attended this conference, and Maniscalco and Huitt spoke with teachers and presenters about the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture project to help develop of network of teachers to review the online resources.

 

 

 



November, 2008: Archaeozoological Research

ISM McMillan Museum Intern Angela Mallard completed her identification of animal remains from Dr. Margaret Brown’s 2004-2007 excavations at the Louvier site, an 18th/19th-century French post-colonial habitation site in Prairie du Rocher. Mallard and Dr. Terrance Martin visited Dr. Brown in Prairie du Rocher and toured the excavated site on November 5. Angela Mallard also finished analyzing human remains from a variety of contexts under the direction of Dawn Cobb. Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation in Springfield (fieldwork undertaken by Fever River Research). In order to fill a gap in the Museum's osteology reference collection, Dr. Martin contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and received information on how the ISM can acquire whooping crane specimens. Whooping crane skeletons are needed to verify identifications of large crane specimens from archaeological sites, especially French colonial period sites in the American Bottom. Dr. Martin continued identifications of animal remains from the Trespass Cambuse site (Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula). Dr. Martin provided Dr. Mark Schurr (University of Notre Dame) a copy of the database of the Pokagon Cabin site faunal assemblage and criteria for MNI estimations for white-tailed deer and swine.

 

 

 



October, 2008: Archaeozoological Research

Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, faunal remains are being analyzed for a number of projects.  Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Dr. Martin is identifying 19th-century animal remains from the Trespass Cambuse site, a lumber camp in the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Dr. Jodie O’Gorman (Michigan State University) delivered three boxes of animal remains from the Morton site to evaluate for analysis (October 23).

 

 



October, 2008: Feather Distribution Project

During October, Dr. Jonathan Reyman met with Eric Jeltes, Bird Keeper at the St. Louis Zoo, about the feathers the Zoo collects for the Feather Distribution Project and educational programs that Dr. Reyman will present at the Zoo. Dr. Reyman provided turkey feathers to the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma for use by their Honor Guard. The Kentuckiana Feathered Friends donated monies to further the efforts of the Feather Distribution Project.

 

 

 



October, 2008: Chinese Delegation Visits Illinois State Museum

On October 20, Dr. Gwenn Bennett of Washington University, St. Louis toured a delegation of three Chinese archaeologists (Dr. Zhijun ZHAO, Director of the Paleobotanical Laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Dr. Shuicheng LI, Anthropology Professor, Peking University, and Mr. Zhanghua JIANG, Assistant Director of the Chengdu City Institute of Archaeology) through the Research and Collections Center.  Drs. Hong Qian and Terrance Martin gave the group an overview of the Museum's archaeological, paleontological, archaeobotanical, and botanical research and collections.

 

 



October, 2008: Leadership and Presentations at Midwest Archaeological Conference

Dr. Bonnie Styles, President of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, chaired the Executive Committee and Business Meetings. Dr. Styles coordinated and presented the organization's first Distinguished Career Awards, which were given to two professional archaeologists who both once served as curators of anthropology at the Illinois State Museum: Dr. Melvin L. Fowler (former Professor Emeritus at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a posthumous award) and Dr. Robert L. Hall (University of Illinois, Chicago Circle).  Dr. Terrance Martin brought collections for and participated in a workshop on Early Woodland ceramics and presented papers on animal exploitation patterns at French Colonial sites in the Midwestern United States and prehistoric use of sturgeon in Western Michigan.  About 300 individuals attended these three sessions.

 

 



October, 2008: New Philadelphia Site

The continuation of a three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site  (Pike County, Illinois) is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program with co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. On October 29, the Advisory Board Landmark Committee of the National Park Service met in Washington, D.C. and voted unanimously to approve the nomination of New Philadelphia as a National Historic Landmark. The nomination was prepared and presented by Charlotte King (University of Maryland). While over 80,000 properties in the United States have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, fewer than 2,500 have received this higher distinction as a National Historic Landmark. Patricia McWorter presented an eloquent and moving statement on behalf of the McWorter family on the powerful legacies of New Philadelphia and Frank McWorter. This nomination received official support from U.S. Senators Barak Obama and Richard Durbin; U.S. Representatives Ray LaHood and John Shimkus; Illinois Senators Deanna Demuzio, Emil Jones, Jr., and John Sullivan; Illinois Representative Jill Tracy; and Governor Rod Blagojevich, among others.  Upon final approval by the Secretary of the Interior in January, the New Philadelphia town site will be formally designated as a National Historic Landmark. New Philadelphia research was presented at three conferences in October. Dr. Christopher Fennell was moderator, and Drs. Terrance Martin and Anna Agbe Davies were panelists for a session on Midwestern African-American archaeology at the Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis on October 4. The theme for the conference was The Archaeology of Diversity in the Midwest. Dr. Christopher Fennell presented “Footprint of Freedom: What Archaeology Tells Us about the New Philadelphia Community” at the October 21 Lunch and Learn Series at the University of Illinois at Springfield.  Claire Martin and Dr. Terrance Martin discussed subsistence patterns at New Philadelphia on October 30 at the 2008 Conference on Illinois History in Springfield in a concurrent session on historical archaeology. The conference is sponsored by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

 

 

 



October, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture

The Museum completed the first year of the Oral History of Illinois Agriculture project under the direction of Dr. Robert Warren.  The Museum has completed 45 interviews and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum completed 29. Project results were summarized in a professional poster developed by Dr. Robert Warren, Mike Maniscalco, James Oliver, Sue Huitt, and Dr. Erich Schroeder, and collaborators Doug Lambert and Dr. Michael Frisch (Randforce Associates) and Dr. Mark DePue (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum) and were presented in the plenary session at the Oral History Association Annual Conference (by Dr. Warren, Maniscalco, and Oliver) in Pittsburgh and at the Annual Conference on Illinois History in Springfield (by Maniscalco, Oliver, and Dr. DePue). Approximately 300 individuals attended the plenary session at the oral history meeting, and 500 heard the presentation at the Illinois History Conference.  The oral history project is funded through a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services

 

 



October, 2008: AMQUA Council Meeting

On October 6, Drs. Bonnie Styles and Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the American Quaternary Association Council in Houston. Dr. Styles is the Secretary and Dr. Gimm is the Immediate Past President. Both also participated in the Geological Society of America meetings, including a daylong session on the nature and impacts of global warming from the distant past to today with predictions for the future.

 

 

 



October, 2008: McMillan Museum Intern Analyzes French Colonial Faunal Remains

McMillan Museum Intern Angela Mallard is identifying animal remains from Dr. Margaret Brown’s 2004-2007 excavations at the Louvier site, an 18th/19th-century French post-colonial habitation site in Prairie du Rocher. Dr. Terrance Martin is directing her internship project. She also identified a smaller faunal assemblage from the Fort Ashby site in West Virginia and is assisting Dawn Cob with the analysis of some human skeletal remains from a variety of contexts

 

 

 



September, 2008: Hine's Emerald Recovery Team Meeting

Dr. Tim Cashatt, Chairperson of Zoology, and Dr. Meredith Mahoney, Assistant Curator of Zoology, presented their studies of Hine's Emerald Dragonfly genetics and future genetics research at a meeting of the Hines's Emerald Dragonfly Recovery Team in Kirksville and St. Louis, Missouri on September 24. Dr. Cashatt is a member of the Recovery Team.

 

 



September, 2008: Museum Archaeologists Participate in Illinois Archaeological Survey Meeting

Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, participated in the Board and Business meetings of the Illinois Archaeological Survey on September 19 and gave a presentation on the 2008 field season at New Philadelphia to approximately 100 students and professional archaeologists on September 20 at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Dr. Michael Wiant gave a report on the Illinois Archaeological Survey Site File on September 20.  Dr. Michael Conner and Jody O'Gorman (Michigan State University) presented a paper on the excavations at the Morton Village site in the central Illinois River Valley.  Museum Board member Dr. Brian Butler and Jessica Howe presented a paper on the "The Prehistory of Southern Illinois: the WPA Connection."

 

 



September, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture

The project team under the direction of Dr. Robert Warren completed their 38th interview. On September 16 the group reviewed their plans to develop a proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities to expand the project with Dr. Bonnie Styles.

 

 



September, 2008: Late Quaternary Bison Diminution

Dr. Chris Widga, Dr. Mathew Hill, Jr. (University of Iowa), and Dr. Mathew G. Hill (Iowa State University) published collaborative research on Late Quaternary bison diminution in the Great Plains of North America. Body size changes of bison and mortality age structure data document the effects of climate-driven environmental change and human hunting pressure on large mammals in North America based on morphometric and mortality data for 58 archaeological and 9 paleontological sites dating between 37,000 and 250 calendar years before the present. Dramatic diminution in body size occurred in several short bursts, rather than a continuous gradual decline.  These periods of rapid size reduction correlate with times of ecological reorganization, when aridity-driven changes in grasslands decreased forage quality and availability.  Mortality age data indicate that the decrease in body size occurred in a context where there was no evidence for a progressively severe juvenile bias in bison populations.  Overall, it appears that the changes in body size were a reaction to environmental conditions rather than the result of human predation pressure.

 

 



September, 2008: Art Department Research

Bob Sill continues research and writing on the catalogue for the Across the Divide exhibition. Angela Goebel-Bain met with curators from other museums and researching items to be used in the Lincoln's Illinois exhibition

 

 



September, 2008: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Group Meets

Dr. Meredith Mahoney attended the Midwest PARC (Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation) conference in Iowa at the beginning of the month. This regional subgroup of the national organization (PARC) focuses on conservation and facilitates interactions among biologists from universities, museums, and zoos, and state and federal agencies.  Dr. Mahoney made several new contacts around the state and also was able to report to the group on the activities of the Herpetology ESTAC (Endangered Species Technical Advisory Committee). She is a member of this group, which advises the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board.

 

 



September, 2008: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin continued to oversee analyses of faunal remains for a series of archaeological projects. Dr. Martin compiled unit and feature totals from and identified more than 50 animal taxa for the Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois, as part of the French Colonial Heritage Project being undertaken by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program and Sangamo Archaeological Center. Angela Mallard, the new McMillan Museum Intern, is identifying animal remains from Dr. Margaret Brown’s 2004-2007 excavations at the Louvier site, an 18th/19th-century French colonial and post-colonial habitation site in Prairie du Rocher.  Research Assistants Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation Project, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Dr. Martin began identifying 19th-century animal remains from the Trespass Cambuse site, a lumber camp in the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  For the REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations on prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike, Scott, and Morgan counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.), tables on the faunal assemblage from KAA 102 were completed and the analyzed Phase II faunal assemblage from 11PK1771 was submitted in preparation for the Phase III mitigation of the site.

 

 



September, 2008: Effects of Introduced Species on Floristic Similarity

Dr. Hong Qian, Curator of Botany, Dr. Michael McKinney (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) and Ingolf Kühn (Helmholtz Centre to Environmental Research in Halle, Germany) completed a study comparing effects of introduced species on floristic similarity in California and Florida. They examined whether introduced species contributed to increasing (homogenizing) or decreasing (differentiating) floristic similarity for pairs of counties in each state. They found a strong pattern of differentiation for introduced species among nearly all Florida counties. In California, introduced species have a differentiating effect in about half of the county comparisons.

 

 



September, 2008: New Philadelphia Site, Pike County, Illinois

The continuation of a three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program with co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. In addition to presenting lectures on the project, attention during September focused on generating letters of support for the nomination hearing in Washington, DC, on October 28-29 for listing of New Philadelphia as a National Historic Landmark.

 

 



August, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture

In August, the Museum team for the oral history of Illinois agriculture project conducted its 31st interview, including an interview at a dairy farm in Sangamon County where music is routinely played for the cows and multiple days interviewing farmers and taking digital images of livestock at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. This project is directed by Dr. Robert Warren and funded through a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

 

 



August, 2008: Botany Chair Participates in Pollen Database Workshop

Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, participated in the Quaternary Pollen Database of China Workshop at Tongji University, Shanghai, China (August 11-13).  Dr. Grimm gave presentations on the "History and Status of the Global Pollen Database" and "NEOTOMA: A Multiproxy Database for Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene." There were 26 invited participants at the workshop including 24 from China, one from the United States, and one from Australia.  The workshop was sponsored by PAGES (Past Global Changes).

 

 



August, 2008: Archeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, continued to oversee analyses of faunal remains from the following archaeological projects:

  • Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois, as part of the French Colonial Heritage Project being undertaken by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program and Sangamo Archaeological Center.
  • Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features.
  • REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations on prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike, Scott, and Morgan counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.). Tables and reports on faunal assemblages from 11DO201, 11PK1759, and 11PK1771 were completed during August.

 

 

 



August, 2008: Zooarchaeology Short Course

The ISM hosted a two-week short course on zooarchaeology (August 4-15) as part of the Arizona State University Kampsville Field School (held in conjunction with the Center for American Archeology).  The session was attended by 6 undergraduate students from around the United States. Students had hand-on experience in identifying and analyzing archaeological animal remains using the extensive skeletal reference collection at the Research and Collections Center. Instructors were Drs. Terrance Martin and Bonnie Styles. Special presentations by staff members included the following: freshwater mussels as environmental indicators (Dr. Robert Warren), stable isotopes and paleoecology (Dr. Chris Widga), evolution of prehistoric human subsistence strategies in the lower Illinois River valley (Dr. Bonnie Styles), Clovis hunters and their relationship with dire wolves (Dr. Jeffrey Saunders), ancient DNA from bones and museum specimens (Dr. Meredith Mahoney), and modified animal remains in ethnographic collections (Dr. Jonathan Reyman).

 

 



August, 2008: New Philadelphia Site Archaeological Research Project

The continuation of a three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site in Pike County, Illinois is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences (NSF-REU) for Undergraduates program with co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, UIUC), Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. Laboratory work by the NSF-REU undergraduate students concluded on August 1. Dr. Martin and Research Associate Claire Martin submitted two revised manuscripts that were accepted for the special issue on the New Philadelphia project, edited by P. Shackel, C. Fennell, and T. Martin that will appear in Historical Archaeology, Vol. 44, No. 1 (2010).  

 

 



July, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture

In July Dr. Robert Warren and Research Associate Mike Maniscalco conducted their 23rd digital video interview of Illinois farmers. Research Associate James Oliver, Sue Huitt, and Mike Maniscalco completed the indexing of audio interviews. This project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (National Leadership Grant Program) and is collaboration with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.



July, 2008: Logan County Stagecoach Stop

Dr. Terrance Martin met with Mr. Greg Laun regarding his work and discoveries pertaining to a 19th century stagecoach stop along the Springfield to Peoria road in Logan County (July 22).



July, 2008: Curator Participates in Ichthyology and Herpetology Meetings

Dr. Meredith Mahoney participated in the Joint Meetings of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Monreal, Canada, from July 22-29. Dr. Mahoney serves as Treasurer for the Herpetologists' League (HL) and also as a board member for the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR). She attended the board meetings for both societies at the start of the conference. During the conference, as an SSAR board member, she participated in activities to increase graduate student involvement with the society. As HL Treasurer, she had several different responsibilites during the conference including moderating the society's student paper award session.



July, 2008: Archeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin continued zooarchaeological analyses for the Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois, as part of the French Colonial Heritage Project being undertaken by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP) and Sangamo Archaeological Center.  He is also overseeing analyses for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features; Animal remains from 11DO201, 11PK1759, and 11PK1771 were analyzed during July for the REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations on prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike, Scott, and Morgan counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.).  Work continued on faunal remains from the Fort St. Joseph site (20BE23) in Niles, Berrien County, Michigan (Western Michigan University).  Dr. Martin mentored National Science Foundation-Research Experiences for Undergraduates students in the analysis of animal remains recovered from all contexts at the New Philadelphia site (11PK455) for the 2008 investigations.

 



July, 2008: Mammoth Cave Paleontology
In July, Dr. Chris Widga and Mona Colburn collected samples of sediment containing numerous bat bones from exposures along trails in Mammoth Cave. These sediments have the potential to be very old, but their age has not yet been determined. This paleontological assessment is being undertaken in collaboration with the University of Kentucky, with funding from the National Park Service.

 



July, 2008: Neotoma Database Project
In July, the National Science Foundation's Geoinformatics Program Director informed Dr. Eric Grimm that his supplement to the grant for the development of the Neotoma multiproxy paleodatabase for the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene was approved. The supplement will fund an additional six months work on the database by Research Associate Nicola Evans.

 



July, 2008: Factors Affecting Avian Species Richness
Recent research by Dr. Hong Qian demonstrates that regional and historical processes have played a role in regulating large-scale avian species richness patterns across the globe.  Avian species richness in different regions of the world cannot be accurately predicted by a single global model.  Avian species richness in areas of similar environments may differ significantly between regions, and thus avian species richness in one biogeographical region cannot be predicted using the richness-environment relationship derived from the data of another biogeographical region, even one with similar environments.  This research was recently published in the Journal of Biogeography.

 



July, 2008: New Philadelphia Site Investigations
Interdisciplinary archaeological investigations of the New Philadelphia site, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, continues under the direction of Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, UIUC), Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin. Field investigations concluded on July 1, and activities shifted to the RCC in Springfield where the laboratory analysis of artifacts and biological materials occurred from July 7 through August 1. The “African-American Heritage in the Midwest Speaker Series,” funded by a mini-grant to the New Philadelphia Association from the Illinois Humanities Council, continued in July (see Education/Outreach/Public Programs section for weekly speakers). Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies, Claire Fuller Martin, and Dr. Terrance Martin attended a board meeting of the New Philadelphia Association in Griggsville on July12. Marvin and Pat Likes (New Philadelphia Association) came to the RCC on July 21 to view the artifacts from the 2008 excavations.

 



June, 2008: Archeozoological Research

During June, animal remains from sites 11ST540/541 were analyzed under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin for the REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations on prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike, Scott, and Morgan counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.).

 



June, 2008: Collection of Archaeomagnetic Samples

In June Research Associate Dr. Stacey Lengyel collected archaeomagnetic samples from a Pawnee Earth Lodge in central Kansas. The samples will be analyzed in Dr. Lengyel's laboratory in the Illinois State Museum's Research and Collections Center to shed light on internal chronology and age of the earth lodge.

 



June, 2008: Late Pleistocene and Holocene Paleoecological Change

In June, Dr. Chris Widga met with Drs. Jack Hofman, Rolfe Mandel, and Mary Adair at the University of Kansas to develop plans for collaborative research of Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoecological change in the central Kansas Plains.

 



June, 2008: Mammoth Cave Paleontology Project Extended

In collaboration with Dr. Steven Ahler, University of Kentucky, Dr. Chris Widga and Mona Colburn have collected paleontological samples along cave trails within Mammoth Cave. The project has been extended for a second year to allow additional time for analyses of the remains.

 



June, 2008: Tyson Springs Cave Fauna

In June, Dr. Chris Widga visited the Tyson Springs Cave in southeastern Minnesota at the invitation of David Mather (Minnesota State Historic Preservation Officer) and John Ackerman (Director of the Minnesota Karst Preserve). He was asked to examine a fossil found in one of the Preserve’s caves. The fossil is a cervid skull with an antler that puts it into the realm of stag-moose (Cervalces), but it may be even older. The antler morphology is more akin to extinct moose (Alces latifrons) which is the Illinoian/Sangamon predecessor to Cervalces. If the specimen is A. latifrons, it would be an extremely rare find because the only well-documented A. latifrons specimens in the New World have a holarctic distribution.  Dr. Widga assessed the possibility for the cave to preserve old deposits.  Coldwater Cave and Spring Valley Caverns—both nearby and part of the same preserve—contain very long speleothem records. Dr. Widga also examined the context for the fossil, assessed the potential for more fossil bearing localities within the cave, and explored options for dating the cervid (14C or U-series).

 



June, 2008: Black-necked Stilt Eggs Rescued

In June David Bohlen rescued Black-necked Stilt eggs from an abandoned nest. After determining that the eggs were viable, he made arrangements for their transfer to the St. Louis Zoo. All of the rescued eggs produced viable birds.

 



June, 2008: Salamander Genetics Research

Dr. Meredith Mahoney received a grant for DNA lab work on salamanders. A few years ago, she was involved in a project studying genetic variability and population relationships of two closely related salamander species from northern California and southern Oregon. The DNA lab work was supported by the Forest Service, and they also collected a number of samples for the study. This new grant will support DNA sequencing of over 40 additional samples collected by her collaborators in the Forest Service. The goal of this study is a more fine-scale examination of genetic variation and investigation of potential gene flow between the main genetic groups identified in her previous study.

 



June, 2008: American Quaternary Association Biennial Meeting

In June, Dr. Eric Grimm, President of the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA), Dr. Bonnie Styles, AMQUA Secretary, Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, Director Emeritus and AMQUA Councilor for Archaeology, Dr. Chris Widga, and Pietra Mueller participated in the AMQUA Biennial Meeting at Penn State University. AMQUA is a professional organization of North American scientists devoted to studying all aspects of the Quaternary Period, about the last 2 million years of Earth history.  It is the interdisciplinary organization most relevant to the Museum’s Landscape History Program.  The 2008 biennial meeting focused on Quaternary ice-sheet-ocean interactions and landscape responses. Dr. Richard Alley of Penn State University started the meeting with a keynote address on estimating an upper bound for sea-level rise.  Other sessions explored Quaternary ice sheet evolution and sea level change; interactions with human populations from a long-term perspective; Quaternary coastal evolution; the role of earthquakes, tsunamis and storms as driving mechanisms of Quaternary seal level change and coastal evolution; and modern ice-sheet, sea-level dynamics and sea-level rise in the 20th century. Dr. Grimm presented a poster co-authored with Drs. Russell Graham (Penn State), Stephen Jackson (University of Wyoming), Allan Ashworth (North Dakota State University), John Williams (University of Wisconsin, Madison), and Brian Bills (Penn State) on Neotoma, a multiproxy paleodatabase for the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene. Dr. Chris Widga also presented a poster (“Paleoecology and Behavior of Bison in the Western Great Lakes: The Itasca Bison Site and Beyond”).  As President, Dr. Grimm presided over the AMQUA Council and Business meetings. Dr. Grimm completed his tenure as President at this meeting. As Secretary, Dr. Styles announced the election results, coordinated awards and grants, and revised the AMQUA bylaws to accommodate electronic elections. Dr. Styles was elected to another term as Secretary. Dr. McMillan presented the citation for the 2008 Distinguished Career Award, which was given to his long-time colleague and collaborator Dr. W. Raymond Wood, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri.

 



June, 2008: Morton Site Excavations

Dr. Jodie O’Gorman (Michigan State University), in partnership with Dickson Mounds Museum, brought her archaeological field school to the central Illinois River valley to excavate at the Morton site.  The Morton site lies on the ridge top to the north of Dickson Mounds Museum and overlooks Emiquon.  Previous excavations at the site by Illinois State Museum and earlier University of Chicago archaeologists have documented extensive Mississippian and Oneota materials. DMM archaeologist Dr. Michael Conner is participating in these excavations.

 



June, 2008: AMQUA Workshop for Teachers

Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a special workshop for teachers (June 2,3) on teaching about climate change with ice core data. The session was convened at Penn State prior to the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) Biennial Meeting. The workshop was part of the celebrations for the International Polar Year and was co-sponsored by the U.S. National Committee for Quaternary Research, AMQUA, and the On the Cutting Edge Workshop series.

 



June, 2008: International Quaternary Association U.S. National Committee

On June 2, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the International Quaternary Association's U.S. National Committee for Quaternary Research at Penn State University.

 



June, 2008: New Philadelphia Site

Interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site (Pike County, Illinois) continues with funding from a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program.  Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin are co-directing this project. Field work began on May 28 and continued through the end of June with 9 undergraduate students and 3 graduate student supervisors. The project included four days of filming for Time Team America, a new television series on North American archaeology originating from Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, Oregon). The New Philadelphia Association received a mini-grant from the Illinois Humanities Council for the “African-American Heritage in the Midwest Speaker Series” in conjunction with the field project (see Education/Outreach/Public Programs section for weekly speakers during June). In addition to supervising excavations at New Philadelphia, the threat of floods and levee failures along the Mississippi River resulted in periods of volunteer sandbag-filling in the nearby community of Hull on June 13 and 18. The crew also assisted in relocating artifacts from the Hull Museum to trailers in preparation for moving outside the floodplain (June 14).

 



May, 2008: Archaeological Investigations of Early African-American Settlement in Brooklyn, Illinois

Drs. Terrance Martin and Chris Fennell (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) attended a meeting on May 31 with Dr. Thomas Emerson and Joseph Galloy (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program) in Brooklyn, Illinois, with Mayor Nathaniel O’Bannon concerning the possibility of conducting an archaeological investigation of Brooklyn modeled after the New Philadelphia National Science Foundation-Research Experiences for Undergraduates project. A book on the early history of the community by Dr. Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua (UIUC), published by the University of Illinois Press in 2000, would provide a foundation for the project.

 



May, 2008: New Philadelphia Site

The continuation of interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site (Pike County, Illinois) is being funded by a second grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program with co-directors Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin.  Student assistant Megan Bailey arrived in Springfield from Buffalo, New York on May 24, and the project team assembled field equipment at the RCC and transported it to the New Philadelphia site on May 25 where they met with Dr. Fennell and two students from UIUC.  Dr. Martin met two of the crew members who flew in from Oregon and Washington and transported them to Kinderhook where the rest of the field crew assembled on May 27. Field work began on May 28.

 



May, 2008: Fieldwork at Fort Leonard Wood

In collaboration with Dr. Steven Ahler, University of Kentucky, the Museum is conducting archaeological fieldwork at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The project is examining archaeological features for six historic sites, including a WWII German POW camp (1943-46). Two of the sites also have prehistoric components. The Museum participated in fieldwork in May and will be involved in analyses of remains, including plant and animal remains.

 



May, 2008: Zooarchaeological Research

Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, research continued for four major projects.  Remains are being analyzed for the Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois (ITARP/Sangamo Archaeological Center). Research Assistants Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Animal remains from site 11PK1245 were analyzed during May for the REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations of prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike, Scott, and Morgan counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.). Faunal analyses continued for the Fort St. Joseph site (20BE23) in Niles, Berrien County, Michigan (Western Michigan University).

 



May, 2008: Geology of Northern Illinois

On May 16-18, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Eric Grimm, Jeff Saunders, and Chris Widga participated in the annual Friends of the Pleistocene Geological Fieldtrip. They were joined by Director Emeritus R. Bruce McMillan. This year's trip featured the deglacial history and paleoenvironments of northeastern Illinois and included a research presentation by Dr. Jeffrey Saunders at Mastodon State Park in Aurora.

 



May, 2008: Research Presented at French Colonial HIstorical Society Conference

Dr. Terrance Martin participated in a symposium “Ten Years of Archaeology at Fort St. Joseph: A French Colonial Mission-Garrison-Trading Post Complex in the North American Interior” (organized by Dr. Michael S. Nassaney, Western Michigan University) at the 34th Annual Conference of the French Colonial Historical Society, which met in Quebec, May 15-18. The conference coincided with the 400-year anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. Dr. Martin and Rory Becker (University of Wyoming) included Fort St. Joseph in a synthesis of animal exploitation patterns based on several archaeological faunal assemblages from Illinois and Indiana.

 



May, 2008: Fine-Scale Vegetational Responses to Abrupt Climate Change

Dr. Eric Grimm and collaborators at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; the University of Minnesota; and the Illinois State Geological Survey are collecting data on Late-glacial vegetation and climate in the Midwest and developing paleovegetation models and modeling methodologies to assess vegetational responses to climate change at the end of the most recent glaciation.  Within this century, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will likely exceed values greater than at any time during the past several million years, and the potential for vegetation change during the 21st century may exceed that of the past 10,000 years.  Many regional climate regimes will be unlike any current conditions, challenging the ability to predict ecological responses to these novel climate states. The research team has demonstrated that Late-glacial vegetation in the Midwest was also unlike any existing today, and these “non-analog” communities present an ideal opportunity to predict vegetation responses to climate change.  Data assembled by Dr. Grimm and his collaborators show that the vegetation of northeastern Illinois was different from any existing today and that major changes were coveval with broad northern hemisphere global changes.  During the next year, the team will test the paleovegetation models and methodologies that they are developing and run them with actual data.  The research is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Ecological Biology Cluster Program.

 



May, 2008: Planning for AMQUA Biennial Meeting

In May, Dr. Eric Grimm, President of the American Quaternary Association, and Dr. Bonnie W. Styles, Secretary of the American Quaternary Association were involved in the planning for the June AMQUA Biennial meeting. Dr. Styles coordinated the Distinguished Career Awards for 2007 and 2008, the Denise Guadreau Award for Excellence in Quaternary Studies, and the student travel grants. Drs. Grimm and Styles also organized the AMQUA Council and Business meetings, including the awards presentation.

 



May, 2008: Diversity Patterns for Vascular Plants and Terrestrial Vertebrates

Recent research by Dr. Hong Qian and Dr. Robert Ricklefs of University of Missouri-St. Louis examines diversity patterns for vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates.  The factors that determine large-scale patterns of species richness are poorly understood. In particular, biologists have not determined the relative roles of taxon-specific characteristics that influence diversification and distributions and region-specific features that promote and constrain diversity.  Drs. Qian and Ricklefs show that the numbers of species of vascular plants and of four terrestrial vertebrate taxa (mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians) vary in parallel across 296 geographic areas covering most of the globe, even after accounting for sample area, climate, topographic heterogeneity and differences between continents. Thus, a common set of regional characteristics and processes appear to shape patterns of species richness in a diverse set of taxa, despite substantial differences in their biological traits.  The research was published in Ecology Letters.



May, 2008: Exotic Plant Species Diversity in North America

Recent research by Dr. Hong Qian demonstrates that beta diversity for exotic vascular plants in North America decreases with increasing latitude.  This finding is consistent with that for native vascular plants in North America.  The decrease in beta diversity with latitude has a very similar pattern to the decrease in beta diversity for temperature and with the first principal component of the seven climate variables examined, suggesting that latitude is merely a proxy for underlying environmental gradients.  Determining the relationships between the ranges of introduced species and geographical and environmental factors is an important step in understanding the mechanisms and processes for the spread of introduced species.  The research was published in Biodiversity Research.



April, 2008: Collaborative Archaeological Research
In his new capacity as editor of the newsletter Le Journal, Dr. Michael Nassaney (Western Michigan University) was in Springfield to attend an executive board meeting of the Center for French Colonial Studies. He visited the RCC with Dr. Terrance Martin on April 26. Dr. Martin is collaborating with Dr. Nassaney on research for the French Colonial Fort St. Joseph site in Berrien County, Michigan.

April, 2008: Bison Remains from Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights
Drs. Michael Wiant, Chris Widga and Terrance Martin met Mike Miller at the Forest Park Nature Center on April 24 and transported to the RCC a collection of large mammal bones that were found in Lake Peoria near Mossville. With funding provided by the ISMS’s 1877 Fund, the bison skull will be sampled for a radiocarbon date. The other bones will be identified in order to document the species diversity in the collection.

April, 2008: New Philadelphia Site, Pike County, Illinois
A grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program will provide for an additional three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site. Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin are co-directors of the project.  Field work will resume after Memorial Day. The final selection of nine students and three alternates was completed on April 4.  The Series Producer of Time Team America, a new television series on North American archaeology originating from Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, Oregon), has expressed interest in filming a segment from New Philadelphia. Drs. Terrance Martin met with Paul Gardner (Archaeological Conservancy) and Philip Bradshaw (New Philadelphia Association) concerning property acquisition of portions of the New Philadelphia site that have significant archaeological resources (April 22).

April, 2008: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin is directing analyses of faunal remains for the Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Sangamo Archaeological Center) and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Research Assistants Chris Richmond and Erin Brand continue to identify animal remains from various 19th-century features for this project.  Faunal studies are also being conducted for Fort St. Joseph site (20BE23) in Niles, Berrien County, Michigan (Western Michigan University) and the REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations of prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike, Scott, and Morgan counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.); animal remains from site 11MG405 were analyzed during April. Small samples of animal remains recovered from shovel tests at four historic sites in the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula were identified. This research is part of a project to examine the use of “savusaunas” (smoke sauna) at logging camps and the use of these facilities for cooking foods outside of the main cook’s camp. A small sample of animal remains from the Bark Dock site (20CH95), a stratified prehistoric Woodland site in Chippewa County, Michigan, within the eastern portion of the Hiawatha National Forest, was identified.



April, 2008: Archaeologist Participants in State Conference
Dr. Terrance Martin attended the annual meeting of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan (April 11) and the annual business meeting of the Michigan Archaeological Society at the Michigan Historical Center in Lansing, Michigan (April 12).

April, 2008: Arizona State University Zooarchaeology School Short Course
Drs. Terrance Martin and Bonnie Styles will offer a zooarchaeology short course that will take place at the Research and Collections Center in early August as part of a larger collaboration with Arizona State University and the Center for Advanced Spatial Studies at the University of Arkansas. An interdisciplinary field school will include excavations with the Center for American Archaeology in Kampsvile this summer and short courses in human osteology, Geographic Information Systems and geophysical survey, and paleoethnobotany.

April, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture
During April, Dr. Robert Warren and Research Associate Mike Maniscalco conducted digital video interviews of farm families.  Research Associates James Oliver and Sue Huitt continued indexing extant audio interviews so that they will be searchable by topic.

April, 2008: Professional Presentation
Dr. Terrance Martin was an invited presenter at the Ganey Research Awards Dinner at the University of Notre Dame on April 2. Dr. Martin introduced Dr. Mark Schurr as the recipient of the 2008 Rodney G. Ganey, Ph.D., Faculty Community-Based Research Award and provided information on Schurr’s collaboration with the Kankakee Valley Historical Society in Porter County, Indiana, and their ongoing Collier Lodge archaeological research project (attendance: 240).

March, 2008: Feather Distribution Project
On March 22, Dr. Jonathan Reyman met with feather donors from St. Louis Zoo and Wyndsong.


March, 2008: Zooarchaeological Field School Short Course
Drs. Terrance Martin and Bonnie Styles drafted a description for a zooarchaeology short course that is slated to take place in the Research and Collections Center in early August as part of a larger collaboration with Arizona State University for a field school at the Center for American Archaeology in Kampsville, Illinois. Also planned are courses in human osteology, field archaeology and geophysical survey, GIS and geophysical survey, and paleoethnobotany.

March, 2008: Archaeozoological Research
Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, identification and analyses of faunal remains proceeded for the following projects: Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Sangamo Archaeological Center); and Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research). Research Assistants Chris Richmond and Erin Brand are identifying animal remains from various nineteenth century features for the latter project. Faunal research is also underway for the REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations on prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike, Scott, and Edgar counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.) and Fort St. Joseph site (20BE23) in Niles, Berrien County, Michigan (Western Michigan University). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Extern Sarah Erwin assisted with identifications for the Fort St. Joseph Site on March 19.


March, 2008: Fieldwork and Collaboration for Exotic Plant Species Research
Dr. Hong Qian worked with colleagues from China as part of a research project funded by a National Science Foundation grant for the study of the characteristics and distributions of exotic plant species in North America and eastern Asia. During March, Dr. Qian met with a number of collaborators working on this project in several universities and research institutes in China, including Peking University, East China Normal University, Anhui Agricultural University, Institute of Applied Ecology, and Institute of Botany.  He worked with collaborators to collect data from a vast body of the literature published in Chinese and trained students who were hired to work for this project. The project team has collected over 200 publications that are relevant to exotic and invasive species. Dr. Qian also gave three invited presentations, one at East China Normal University, one at Anhui Agricultural University, and the other at the Institute of Applied Ecology.

March, 2008: New Philadelphia Site, Pike County, Illinois

A grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (NSF REU) will provide for the continuation of a three-year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site. Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, UIUC), Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin are co-directors of the project. Field work will resume after Memorial Day. Dr. Martin reviewed the New Philadelphia project in a symposium on historical archaeology at the Illinois State Historical Society’s annual Illinois History Symposium at Millikin University in Decatur on March 13.  In late March, Drs. Fennell, Agbie-Davies, and Martin reviewed 35 student applications for the nine field school positions to be funded by NSF REU.  Final selections will be made on April 4.



March, 2008: Growth Form and Distribution of Introduced Plants

Dr. Hong Qian and colleagues from the University of Missouri, St. Louis and United States Department of Agriculture, Southern Research Station in Asheville, North Carolina published results of their studies of the growth form and distribution of introduced plants in native and non-native ranges in eastern Asia and North America. The researchers related the extent of 1567 introduced species distributions in each region to growth form and the distinction between upland and wetland habitats. There were significant relationships between geographic distribution and plant traits in both native and exotic ranges as well as regional difference in the relationships.  Range size was larger for herbaceous graminoids (rushes, sedges, and grasses) and forbs, especially annuals compared to perennials, than for woody species.  Range size was larger for plants of wetland compared to upland habitats. Distributions were more extensive in North America than in Eastern Asia, although native plants from both regions had broader distributions than non-natives.  Growth form and environment explained more of the variance in distribution of plants in North America than in Eastern Asia.  The influence of growth form and habitat on distributions suggests that these traits might be related to tolerance of ecological conditions. In addition, the smaller extent of species in non-native compared to native areas suggests roles for dispersal limitation and adaptation to region-specific ecological conditions in determining distribution.



February, 2008: Archaeological Research for the New Philadelphia Site, Pike County, Illinois

A grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program will provide for the continuation of a three year interdisciplinary archaeological investigation of the New Philadelphia site. Dr. Christopher Fennell (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University), and Dr. Terrance Martin are co-directors of the project. Field work will resume during the last week of May.  On February 28, Shirley McWorter-Moss (Anaheim, California) donated to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield a bust of Free Frank McWorter that she sculpted, and the New Philadelphia Association donated a bound set of articles and news reports pertaining to the history and research at the New Philadelphia site. Kathryn Harris hosted a reception and press conference at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, where Dr. Martin spoke on behalf of the Illinois State Museum and Dr. Chris Fennell represented UIUC.  Dr.  Martin reviewed a draft of a grant proposal for a mini-grant to the Illinois Humanities Council written by Dr. Chris Fennell on behalf of the New Philadelphia Association seeking funds for a lecture series for the New Philadelphia field school.



February, 2008: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin is overseeing analyses of faunal remains from the following archaeological sites: Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Sangamo Archaeological Center; French Colonial era); Fort St. Joseph site, Berrien County, Michigan (Western Michigan University; French Colonial era); Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research; early to late 19th century); REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations on prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pike and Scott counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.; prehistoric and historical occupations at 11PK1662, 11PK1718).

February, 2008: Curator Becomes Charter Member of AAA Association
On February 22, Dr. Jonathan Reyman became a charter member of the Association of Indigenous Anthropologists within the American Anthropological Association.


February, 2008: Alligator Snapping Turtle Recovery Team
Dr. Meredith Mahoney joined the Illinois recovery team for the alligator snapping turtle. The team is reviewing proposals for pilot re-introductions in the Cache River area of southern Illinois.


February, 2008: Collaborative Research on Great Plains Climate and Vegetation
In February, Dr. Joe Donovan, West Virginia State University, worked with Dr. Eric Grimm at the Research and Collections Center on collaborative research on deep lakes in the northern Great Plains.


February, 2008: Late Neogene Database
Dr. Eric Grimm worked with colleagues at Penn State on "Neotoma," the late Neogene faunal and botanical database. The group met with staff members from the Center for Environmental Informatics to refine the infrastructure for the database, which will include the FAUNMAP and North American Pollen Database, as well as several other climate proxy databases. The project is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.


February, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project
During February, the Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum selected the 50 candidates for interviews. The Museum team will conduct digital video interviews with 25 farm families.  These interviews are already underway. The team is also digitizing existing audio interviews on file at the University of Illinois at Springfield and Northern Illinois University. Dr. Robert Warren is directing this project for the Museum.  It is funded through a National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

January, 2008: NEOTOMA Database Workshop

Dr. Eric Grimm and Dr. Russell Graham (Penn State University) participated in a workshop at Penn State (January 29-31) on the development of the NEOTOMA database.  The database includes fossil pollen, mammalian macrofossils, and beetles for the last 5 million years and is being established under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Geoinformatics Program. The principal investigators for the project finalized the database structure and met with representatives from the Center for Environmental Informatics at Penn State, who will be developing the Web interface to the database.



January, 2008: Zooarchaeological Short Course Proposed

Drs. Terrance Martin and Bonnie Styles drafted a description for a zooarchaeology short course that would be given at the Research and Collections Center in early August as part of a larger collaboration with Arizona State University to launch a summer field school for undergraduate college and graduate students centered at the Center for American Archeology in Kampsville, Illinois.  The Arizona State University field school will also offer courses in human osteology, field archaeology, GIS and geophysical survey (presented by the University of Arkansas, Center for Advanced Spatial Studies), and paleoethnobotany (presented by University of Washington St. Louis).  The zooarchaeology short course will be led by Dr. Martin and will include presentations by Drs. Styles, Chris Widga, Jeff Saunders, and Meredith Mahoney.



January, 2008: Ongoing Faunal Analyses

Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, work continued on the following faunal assemblages from archaeological sites:

  • Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program/Sangamo Archaeological Center);
  • Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research); and
  • REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II investigations on prehistoric and historical archaeological sites in Pipe and Scott counties, Illinois (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.).

Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Assistant Erin Brand prepared species composition and inter-site distribution tables and databases for the faunal analyses of prehistoric sites 23FR521 and 23FR523 in Franklin County, Missouri for Dr. Steven Ahler (now at University of Kentucky). Both sites were investigated in 2004 by the Illinois State Museum Society under the direction of Dr. Ahler. Dr. Ahler submitted a draft report to MoDOT in January. Dr. Martin provided rodent remains from two historical sites in Michigan to Dr. Mark Schurr and R. Kyle Bocinsky for stable isotope analysis. Results will be presented in a poster session on Methods in Zooarchaeology in March at the Society for American Archaeology meeting in Vancouver. 



January, 2008: New Philadelphia Site, Pike County, Illinois

Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) received a $284,856 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) Program to continue interdisciplinary archaeological investigations of the New Philadelphia site for three more years. Drs. Fennell, Terrance Martin, and Anna Agbie-Davies (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University) are co-directors of the project. William Fury (Executive Director of the Illinois State Historical Society) invited Terrance Martin to give a presentation on the New Philadelphia project in a symposium on historical archaeology at the Illinois State Historical Society’s annual Illinois History Symposium, March 13 at Milliken University in Decatur.  Katie Fay (graduate student in the Anthropology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) inspected supplies and equipment for laboratory work for the NSF-REU New Philadelphia project (January 21).  Dr. Martin provided editorial comments to Charlotte King (graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland at College Park) on a manuscript on New Philadelphia she is preparing for Illinois Antiquity.



January, 2008: Oral History of Illinois Agriculture

The ISM is collaborating with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) to collect and digitize oral histories of Illinois farm families and serve the oral histories on the Web in a searchable format.  This project is funded by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Dr. Robert Warren is the Principal Investigator and Dr. Mark DePue, Director of Oral History for the ALPLM, is the co-Principal Investigator. In January, Mike Maniscalco, an oral historian and graduate student at University of South Dakota, Vermilion, and Tom Clark, a professional evaluator, joined the ISM project team. The ISM convened a project workshop at the Research and Collections Center on January 15-16.  Team members and advisors to the project presented during the first day, and the second day was devoted to the digitization and search process for the interviews.  Dr. Bonnie Styles welcomed the group to the workshop, participated in the first day, and attended a dinner, hosted by Bob Warren, for participants on January 15. Numerous ISM staff members participated in the workshop.



January, 2008: Springfield Christmas Bird Count
David Bohlen, Assistant Curator of Zoology, compiled the 2007-08 Springfield Christmas Bird Count, which was conducted as part of the 108th National Audubon Christmas Bird Counts.  Museum Technician Beckie Dyer, Adjunct Research Associate Richard Leary, Volunteer Clark Olson, and other individuals participated in the count. There were 12 observers in 9 parties and 7 at feeders. The count was taken on January 3 (after being postponed from December 16) and tallied 92 species (just 2 species below the all-time high of 94 in 1999) and 35,204 individuals. It was cold and windy most of the day. Water birds, especially geese (4 species) were present in large numbers, and there was a variety of ducks (17 species), but nothing unusual. Both Pied-billed and Horned Grebes were seen. Nineteen Turkey Vultures were seen at the roost before light. There were more observations of diurnal raptors than last year, with 4 Bald Eagles, 3 Northern Harriers, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and 2 Rough-legged Hawks recorded. Of the eight species of gulls that could be present in the area, only 4 were observed. A first-year Glaucous Gull with an injured wing successfully fought off 2 adult Bald Eagles. Owls, especially Screech Owls were scarce.  Only one Ring-necked Pheasant and one Wild Turkey (and no Northern Bobwhite) were seen. Woodpecker numbers were low and so were songbirds especially any species that depends on berries. However, Orange-crowned Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen as well as Field and Fox Sparrows and Purple Finch and one Pine Siskin. There were 10 count-week (three days prior to and three days after the actual date of the count) species, which included Red-necked Grebe, Ross's Goose, Little Gull, Thayer's Gull, Iceland Gull, and Lesser Black-backed Gull. For the complete report see https://cbc.audubon.org/cbccurrent/current_table.html (count code=ILSP).

December, 2007: Curator Participates on Illinois Archaeological Survey Board

Dr. Terrance Martin participated in a board meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey, Inc., at the home of President Len Stelle north of Mahomet (December 17).



December, 2007: New Philadelphia Research

Dr. Terrance Martin and Claire Fuller Martin completed manuscripts on “Agriculture and Regionalism at New Philadelphia” and “Courtly, Careful, Thrifty: Subsistence and Regional Origin at New Philadelphia” for a volume, New Philadelphia: Racism, Community, and the Illinois Frontier, edited by Drs. Christopher Fennell, Terrance J. Martin, and Paul A. Shackel.  The volume was submitted to Historical Archaeology (Journal of the Society for Historical Archaeology) for consideration as a special edited issue containing 12 manuscripts on New Philadelphia.



December, 2007: Zooarchaeological Research

Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, identification of faunal remains continued for the following archaeological sites and projects:

  • Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia in St. Clair County, Illinois (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program and Sangamo Archaeological Center);
  • Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Archaeological Mitigation, Springfield, Illinois (Fever River Research);
  • Nahma Sawmill Site (20DE104), Delta County, Michigan (Hiawatha National Forest) (technical report completed);
  • REX-East Pipeline Project, Phase II (Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group); and
  • 23FR521 and 23FR523 in Franklin County, Missouri; two prehistoric sites excavated mitigated under the direction of former Research Associate Dr. Steven Ahler (now at the University of Kentucky) for the Missouri Department of Transportation. 


December, 2007: Curator Participates in International Quaternary Association National Committee
Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the International Quaternary Association's United States National Committee at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco (December 10-13).


December, 2007: Director Participates in Center for American Archeology Board Meeting

On December 8, Dr. Bonnie Styles participated in a Board meeting of the Center for American Archeology in St. Louis. Dr. Styles is the Board Secretary. Following the Board meeting, Dr. Styles participated in a second meeting to discuss research and educational collaboration with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University (ASU) and the Center for American Archeology.   Dr. Sander van der Leeuw, Director of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Dr. Jane Buikstra, ASU Professor of Bioarchaeology and CAA President, Dr. Christopher Carr, ASU Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Frederick Limp, Director of the Center for Advanced Spatial Studies at University of Arkansas, Dr. Gayle Fritz, Professor of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, and Dr. Gregory Vogel ASU Post Doc participated in these discussions.



December, 2007: Curator Attends Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council

As Museum representative, Dr. Terrance Martin attended the quarterly meeting of the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield on December 7th to hear nominations of six properties to the National Register of Historic Places.



December, 2007: Struvite Deposits Linked to Mid-Holocene Droughts

Research by Drs. Joseph Donovan (Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University) and Dr. Eric Grimm (Director of the ISM’s Landscape History Program and Chairperson of Botany) at Kettle Lake, North Dakota suggest that episodic deposits of struvite in the lake can be linked to concentrations of waterfowl on remaining lakes during mid-Holocene droughts. Struvite is a guano mineral (a biogenic salt of phosphate, sulfate, and oxalate) associated with decay of animal waste products.  They found 34 layers of struvite in Kettle Lake. The struvite layers dated between 4650 and 870 cal years Before Present (BP), with particularly high frequency between 8006 and 8700 cal years BP. They surmise that large populations of waterfowl would have used the lake during mid-Holocene droughts. However, the struvite events are linked to humid phases within these droughts when water levels would have been sufficient to attract waterfowl and conditions would have been right for preservation of this mineral.  Thus, the struvite events are ephemeral prairie features of the generally arid period but tend not to occur at precisely the most arid intervals.  This research was published in The Holocene, a journal that appeals to interdisciplinary audiences.



November, 2007: Coring at Mastodon Lake

On November 30, Dr. Eric Grimm and Research Associate Pietra Mueller conducted fieldwork at Mastodon Lake in Aurora with Dr. Brandon Curry (Illinois State Geological Survey).  The group pulled a new sediment core that will be used in their studies of climate and vegetation change in Illinois.  Dr. Curry will examine the ostracods and Dr. Grimm and Mueller will examine the pollen from the core.  This research is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.



November, 2007: Planning for Isotopic Research
Drs. Terrance Martin, Bruce McMillan, and Chris Widga meet with Drs. Thomas Emerson and Kris Hedman (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program) concerning a cooperative project to conduct stable isotope analysis on bison remains from Illinois (November 27).


November, 2007: Faunal Remains from Excavations for the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin, Research Associates Chris Richmond and Erin Brand began identifications on various faunal assemblages from archaeological excavations by Fever River Research for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Project. Work was initiated on remains obtained from the areas of the Parking Garage complex near the Library and Museum.


November, 2007: Planning for AMQUA Biennial Meeting
On November 19, Drs. Eric Grimm and Bonnie Styles participated in a conference call to finalize the schedule for the American Quaternary Association biennial meeting, which will be convened at Penn State University in June. Dr. Grimm is AMQUA President and Dr. Styles is AMQUA Secretary.


November, 2007: Archaeozoological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin continued identifying animal remains from 2006 excavations at the Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia in St. Clair County, Illinois, as part of The French Colonial Heritage Project, by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Dr. Thomas E. Emerson) and the Sangamo Archaeological Center (Robert Mazrim). Dr. Martin also obtained for analysis a high priority collection of animal remains from French colonial contexts at the Fort St. Joseph site (Berrien County, Michigan) as part of a collaborative project with Dr. Michael Nassaney (Western Michigan University).  Dr. Martin identified animal remains from 11PK1664, a prehistoric site in Pike County that was investigated by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group for the REX East Pipeline Project.  He began analysis of a collection of animal remains that was recovered from the Nahma Sawmill site (20DE104) in Delta County, Michigan, by John Franzen, archaeologist for the Hiawatha National Forest.  He selected rodent remains from the Cater and Bethany Mission sites in Michigan for a bone chemistry project being carried out by Dr. Mark Schurr and a student at the University of Notre Dame.

November, 2007: Mammoth Research
From November 14-16, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders worked with Dan Joyce at the Kenosha Public Museum to finalize a report of the Schaefer Mammoth from Wisconsin.


November, 2007: Curator Participates in National Science Foundation Panel

Dr. Eric Grimm served as an invited participant on the National Science Foundation’s Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program Panel in Washington D.C. in November.  He reviewed grant proposals and helped make recommendations for funding.



November, 2007: Curator Represents Museum at Conference
Dr. Terrance Martin participated in the Midwest Historical Archaeological Conference at DePaul University in Chicago (November 2-3).


October, 2007: New Philadelphia Research
Adjunct Research Associate Claire Fuller Martin and Dr. Terrance J. Martin completed a manuscript for a book-length edited volume on the archaeological and historical investigations of New Philadelphia.

October, 2007: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin resumed identifications of animal remains discovered during 2006 excavations at the Duckhouse site in the village of Cahokia in St. Clair County, Illinois. This French colonial site is one of several being investigated by The French Colonial Heritage Project, which is supported by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Dr. Thomas E. Emerson, Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program) and the Sangamo Archaeological Center (Robert Mazrim). Preliminary information on this faunal assemblage was included by Dr. Martin in a recent manuscript on French colonial animal exploitation in the Illinois Country. The article will be published in a special issue of the journal Archéologiques that will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.  Research Assistant Chris Richmond finished identifications of animal remains from Arbuckle’s Fort(46GB13), the third of three late 18 th/early 19th century sites in West Virginia that were excavated by McBride Preservation Services of Lexington, Kentucky.



October, 2007: Museum Scientists Shine at Regional and National Meetings
As President of the Midwest Archaeological Conference (MAC), Dr. Bonnie Styles helped chart a course for the organization’s future at the MAC annual meeting at the University of Notre Dame in October. Dr. Terrance Martin presented interpretations of animal remains from the prehistoric Native American Scott Point site in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and served as a discussant for a session on archaeological research at French-Colonial Fort St. Joseph in southwest Michigan at the MAC meeting. Drs. Styles, Chris Widga, and Eric Grimm summarized results of Museum excavations at the Ice Cave and Kenzy archaeological sites and climate and vegetation change based on pollen from iron bogs in the Black Hills at the Plains Anthropological Conference in Rapid City, South Dakota (100 adults attended each of these presentations).  Dr. Widga also summarized landscape evolution and paleoecological change based on Great Plains faunal assemblages (100 adults attended this presentation).  Dr. Jeffrey Saunders presented new interpretations of mammoth and mastodont remains from the southern Great Lakes region at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meetings in Austin, Texas. Approximately 300 individuals attended Dr. Saunders’ presentation. As Secretary, President, and Councilor for Archaeology, respectively, of the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA), Drs. Bonnie Styles, Eric Grimm, Director Emeritus R. Bruce McMillan helped plan a conference on the timely subject of ice sheet-ocean interactions and landscape responses at an AMQUA Council meeting held at the Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting in Denver.  AMQUA is an international interdisciplinary organization focused on climate change, landscape evolution, and human-land interaction during the Pleistocene and Holocene. A paper co-authored by Dr. Grimm summarizing climatic and hydrologic responses recorded in lake sediments in the northern Great Plains was presented at the GSA meeting.

September, 2007: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin examined a collection of calcined large mammal bones from the Big Eddy site in the Sac River valley in Missouri. Although none of the fragments could be identified positively to species, three small specimens are most similar to white-tailed deer cervical vertebra. A letter report on these findings was sent to Jack Ray at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Dr. Martin and Research Assistant Chris Richmond completed an analysis and report on animal remains discovered during archaeological investigations of five sites by Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group in the path of the Rockies Express East Pipeline in Pike, Sangamon, and Macon Counties, Illinois.



September, 2007: Illinois Archaeological Survey Meetings

Drs. Bonnie Styles, Michael Wiant, Terrance Martin, and Michael Conner attended the Illinois Archaeological Survey (IAS) annual business meeting and workshop in Carbondale (September 14-15). Dr. Martin was elected to the IAS Board of Directors on September 14 and attended a guided site tour of the Kincaid site on September 16.



September, 2007: Mammoth Cave Paleontology

In September, the University of Kentucky asked Museum paleontologists to participate in additional work with paleontological resources in Mammoth Cave National Park.  On September 5, Dr. Bonnie Styles met with Dr. Chris Widga and Research Associate Mona Colburn to plan the work.



August, 2007: Senachwine Creek Fieldwork

On August 20, 21, Drs Bonnie Styles, Director Emeritus R. Bruce McMillan, Jeffrey Saunders, and Chris Widga met with representatives from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Illinois State Geological Survey, the Natural History Survey, and Dr. John Tandarich and colleagues from Dominican University to conduct fieldwork to asses the potential for buried archaeological and paleontological sites in Senachwine Creek near Chillicothe, Illinois. Based on examination of the exposures along the creek the group saw little potential for finding deposits of interest. They did, however, feel that they should return to the locality in the fall to examine terraces where archaeological materials have been found in the past. 



August, 2007: Paleoecological Research at Rainbow Cave

In August, Dr. Eric Grimm collaborated with Dr. Russell Graham, Penn State University, on excavations at the Rainbow Cave site in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota.  Deposits from the cave and from a related pit yielded abundant, well-preserved faunal remains.



August, 2007: Radiocarbon Laboratory Representative Visits ISM

Dr. Nancy Beavan Athfield (Scientist and Marketing Representative for Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, New Zealand) visited the Illinois State Museum and Research and Collections Center to discuss future projects and needs for radiocarbon dating (August 16).  She met with numerous staff members including Dr. Bonnie Styles, Director Emeritus R. Bruce McMillan, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Dr. Chris Widga, Research Associate Dr. Stacey Lengyel, Dr. Terrance Martin, Research Associate Pietra Mueller, and others. Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory has the facilities to process and date small samples of bone and has recently dated bison and mammoth remains for the Museum. Dr. Styles gave Dr. Beavan Athfield a tour of the Illinois State Museum on August 17.



August, 2007: Trenching Monks Mound
On August 11, Drs. Bonnie Styles and Michael Wiant viewed the trenching at Monks Mound at the Cahokia site, which was undertaken to deter slumping on the east side of the mound. Dr. Wiant retuned on August 12 to collect sediment samples.

August, 2007: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Associate Chris Richmond finished a technical report on the analysis of animal remains from the multiple components 78th Street Site (11S821) in East St. Louis, Illinois, for Fever River Research. Chris Richmond continued identifications of animal remains from three late 18th/early 19th century sites in West Virginia that were excavated by McBride Preservation Services of Lexington, Kentucky.  Dr. Martin received a small collection of poorly preserved calcined animal remains from late Pleistocene-early Holocene deposits at the Big Eddy site (23CE426). The samples were sent by Jack H. Ray (Center for Archaeological Research at Missouri State University) in hopes that some species could be identified. Dr. Martin examined animal remains from the South Flats Earthwork (20MU2) in Muskegon County, Michigan, at the request of Dr. Janet Brashler (Grand Valley State University). The Late Woodland site was originally discovered and investigated by George Quimby in 1937.  Dr. Brashler returned to the site with a field school over the last couple of summers.  Dr. Martin examined animal remains and prepared tabulations for the area of Feature 54 at the Middle Woodland Prison Farm site in Ionia County, Michigan. Dr. Janet Brashler (Grand Valley State University) is preparing a presentation on a possible house basin at the site for the Midwest Archaeological Conference.



August, 2007: Research by Museum Botanist Featured in Four Journals
In August, Dr. Hong Qian, was an author or co-author for four major syntheses of botanical research.  An article co-authored with Dr. Robert Ricklefs of University of Missouri, St. Louis, on a latitudinal gradient in large-scale beta diversity for vascular plants of North America was published in Ecology Letters. The authors note that species turnover (beta diversity) has been predicted to decrease with increasing latitude, but few studies have tested the relationship. Based on analyses of species lists of native vascular plants for entire states or provinces in North America (north of Mexico), they found that decreasing beta diversity from south to north reflects decreasing climate differentiation within more northerly latitude zones, and primarily post-glacial dispersal limitation north of 50º N.  An article on the environmental determinants of amphibian and reptile species richness in China, co-authored by Dr. Qian and colleagues from East China Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in Ecography.  The team examined the relationship between amphibian and reptile species richness and 30 environmental variables.  The best-fit models that include the explanatory variables of temperature, precipitation, net primary productivity, minimum elevation, and range in elevation explain 70% of the variance in species richness.  Water variables explain more of the variance in amphibian species richness than in reptile species richness; while temperature explains more the variance in reptile richness than in amphibian richness, which is consistent with the physiological requirements of the two groups of organisms. An article by Dr. Qian highlighting relationships between plant and animal species richness at a regional scale in China was published in Conservation Biology. He used correlation and partial regression analyses to examine relationships between species richness of vascular plants and four major groups of vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians).  Plant richness correlated with animal richness more strongly than the richness of different animal groups correlated with each other with the exception for reptile richness, which had a slightly higher correlation with amphibian richness than with plant richness.  Plant richness explained 41 times more variance in the species richness of the four vertebrate groups than environmental variables did, suggesting that plant richness influences terrestrial vertebrate richness.  An article co-authored by Dr. Qian and 24 colleagues from throughout the world on a global evaluation of metabolic theory as an explanation for terrestrial species richness gradients was published in Ecology.  The research team compiled 46 data sets of species richness for a wide variety of terrestrial plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates in all parts of the world.  They found the relationship between richness and temperature is both taxonomically and geographically conditional, and there is no evidence for a universal response of diversity to temperature.

July, 2007: Collaborative Research in Archaeology and Paleoecology

On July 30, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Michael Wiant, and Director Emeritus R. Bruce McMillan gave Dr. Sander van der Leeuw [Director of the School of Human Evolution & Social Change, Arizona State University (ASU)], Dr. Jane Buikstra (Professor of Anthropology at ASU and Director of the Center for American Archeology), and Dr. Claire Gordon (CAA Board Member) a tour of the Research and Collections Center and an overview of the Museum’s Landscape History and Archaeological Research Programs. The group discussed potential for collaborative research projects in the lower Illinois River valley.

 




July, 2007: Zooarchaeological Research
Dr. Terrance Martin submitted an invited manuscript on the archaeozoology of the Illinois Country to the journal Archéologiques (Association des Archéologues du Québec). For the article, Martin identified 18th century faunal assemblages from the villages of Cahokia (Duckhouse site and the Trotier site) and Prairie du Rocher (Louvier site).  Chris Richmond continued identifications of animal remains from Jarrett’s Fort (46ME251), one of three late 18th/early 19th century sites in West Virginia that were excavated by McBride Preservation Services of Lexington, Kentucky.

July, 2007: Zooarchaeology Workshops
Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Assistant Chris Richmond presented an animal bone identification workshop with 12 college students in the Illinois State University archaeology field school directed by Dr. James Skibo at Grand Island in Lake Superior, Michigan, on July 18. On July 21, a workshop was presented at the Chippewa Nature Center for 11 members and friends of the Oxbow Chapter of the Michigan Archaeological Society, directed by Dr. Scott Beld.

July, 2007: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, assisted by Dr. Chris Fennell (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), is preparing a research proposal to the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program for three more years of investigations at the New Philadelphia site.



July, 2007: More Mammoth Remains Discovered in Sugar Creek
On July 14, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Jeff Saunders, and Eric Grimm met with Dr. Dennis Campbell of Lincoln College to examine additional mammoth remains that he collected in Sugar Creek and discuss the possibility of launching an excavation at the locality.


July, 2007: Curator Participates in National Zoology Meetings
Dr. Meredith Mahoney, Assistant Curator of Zoology, participated in the annual meeting of the American Association of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in St. Louis (July 11-16).  Dr. Mahoney participated in a Board meeting of the Society of Amphibians and Reptiles on July 11.  This group and the Herpetologists' League met in conjunction with the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.  Dr. Mahoney is a member of all three groups.

July, 2007: Collaborative Archaeological Research
On July 9, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director, Dr. Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum, Dr. Jane Buikstra (Arizona State University and the Center for American Archeology), and Dr. Gregory Vogel (Center for American Archeology) met in the Research and Collections Center to discuss two proposals that are being submitted to the National Science Foundation to further analyses for the Koster site (NSF Anthropology Program) and landscape evolution in the lower Illinois River valley (NSF Geography Program).

June, 2007: Museum Director Participates in NSF ITEST Panels

At the invitation of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Dr. Bonnie Styles participated in two National Science Foundation Panels for the Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Program in Washington D.C. (June 27-29). Dr. Styles participated as one of eight panelists selected to review and make recommendations for funding for proposals for youth-based projects. Dr. Styles also served as one of five panelists selected to review proposals submitted for the establishment of the ITEST Learning Resource Center to coordinate all of the ITEST projects and project evaluations. A grant from this NSF program has funded the Museum and Center for American Archeology's Museum Tech Academy over the last three years.



June, 2007: Woodlawn Farm Project
Edward Russo, Curtis Mann, Dennis Naglich, and Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, completed the final report on architectural and archaeological resources at the Woodlawn Farm property east of Jacksonville for the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society. On June 6 the Woodlawn Farm was officially listed by the National Park Service on the Register of Historic Places in Washington, D. C. Dennis Naglich and Jill Bickel excavated a test unit and several shovel tests on June 26 and 27 south of a small outbuilding in an area that was inaccessible during previous field work. The area did not provide evidence for early historic structures.

June, 2007: Archaeozoological Research

Research Associate Chris Richmond finished identifications of animal remains from Fort Donnally (46GB15), and continued identifying specimens from Jarrett’s Fort (46ME251). Both sites are late 18th/early 19th century sites in West Virginia that were excavated by McBride Preservation Services of Lexington, Kentucky.  Dr. Robert Warren, Curator of Anthropology, completed a study of freshwater mussels from Late Woodland occupations at the Billhartz site in Clinton County, Illinois. The most abundant species are Wabash pigtoe (Fusconaia flava), threeridge (Amblema plicata), and yellow sandshell (Lampsilis teres). The site is located on the bank of Sugar Creek, but the mussel assemblage suggests that the Late Woodland inhabitants traveled 5 km to the Kaskaskia River to exploit mussels, perhaps indicating local depletion of mussel resources.



June, 2007: Principia Mammoth Project Published
Drs. Janis Treworgy (Principia College), Jeffrey Saunders (Chairperson of Geology), and David Grimley (Illinois State Geological Survey) published their preliminary findings on the well preserved remains of a mammoth (Mammuthus) excavated on the campus at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois in the journal Quaternary International. The publication has been available online through ScienceDirect since October 2006, but only became available in print media in June. The mammoth remains are preserved in Wisconsin Peoria Loess on the blufftop above the Mississippi River valley.  The remains have been excavated by students under the direction of the research team. Estimates of the geological age of the mammoth based on the position of the remains within the loess and an AMS radiocarbon age for poorly preserved collagen from tooth dentine place it around 17,500 radiocarbon years ago.  The remains are from a mature male that was apparently buried where he died. Dr. Saunders is studying the remains to determine if they are from woolly mammoth (M. primigenius) or Jefferson’s mammoth (M. jeffersonii).

June, 2007: Climate and Vegetation Research in the Great Plains
Dr. Eric Grimm participated in fieldwork at Brush Lake in Montana to collect additional sediment cores for vegetation and climate research as a part of long-term collaborative research on climate and vegetation change in the Great Plains.


June, 2007: Fort St. Joseph Project
Dr. Terrance Martin presented two zooarchaeology workshops in conjunction with the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Field School in Niles, Michigan, that was co-sponsored by Western Michigan University (Dr. Michael Nassaney) and the Fort St. Joseph Museum (Carol Bainbridge, Museum Director). On June 13, 12 students in the High School Day Camp and on June 14, twenty college students and supervisors participated in the workshops.


June, 2007: Museum Director Participates in NSF Site Visit Panel
At the invitation of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Dr. Bonnie Styles, participated in an NSF Site Visit Panel for the Geomorphology and Land-use Dynamics Program to review the progress of the National Center for Earth Surface Dynamics (NCED) at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (June 12-14). The NCED is an NSF-funded Science and Technology Center. It is a collaboration of the Fon du Lac Tribal and Community College, Johns Hopkins University, Science Museum of Minnesota, University of California, Berkley, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Louisiana State University, University of Texas at Austin, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, and University of Minnesota. Dr. Styles was one of eight panelists asked to assess the Center's progress over the last year in achieving their mission to catalyze development of an integrated, predictive science of the processes shaping the surface of the Earth, in order to transform management of ecosystems, resources, and land use.


June, 2007: Late Glacial Vegetational Response to Abrupt Climate Change

Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, completed an annual report to the National Science Foundation (Ecological Biology Program) of his investigations of late glacial vegetational response to climate change in northern Illinois.  The pollen diagram from Crystal Lake in McHenry County shows marked correlation with the Greenland/North European climate sequence.  Spruce (Picea) begins to decline at the beginning of the Bolling-Allerod and steadily declines until the beginning of the Younger Dryas.  Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra) increases during the Bolling-Allerod, decreases during the Younger Dryas, and increases again in the early Holocene.  The pollen profile from Brewster Creek in DuPage County is quite different. Spruce does not decline at the beginning of the Bollerod, but switches primarily from white spruce (Picea glauca) to black spruce (P. mariana).  Spruce does decline during the Allerod, reaching low values by the end of the Allerod, the increase is almost entirely in black spruce.  Sphagnum increases during the Allerod and larch (Larix) stomata are very abundant when the lake sediment turns to peat at the top of the profile.  The pollen and sediment data indicate that Brewster Creek became a conifer fen or bog during the Bolling-Allerod.  Whereas, the Crystal Lake pollen stratigraphy may be indicating primarily temperature changes, Brewster Creek is indicating moisture and hydrological changes. Climate modeling by Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Jack Williams and Ph.D. student Leila Zajac at the University of Wisconsin, Madison using BIOME4, an equilibrium vegetation model, demonstrates that climate is the primary control of post-glacial vegetation dynamics, although changes in atmospheric CO2 are an important secondary influence.



June, 2007: Dragonfly Research Presented
On June 10, Dr. Tim Cashatt, Chairperson of Zoology, presented "Odonata of Interest in Illinois" to the Great Lakes Odonata Meeting at Volo Bog in Ingleside, Illinois. Approximately 40 scientists attended the meeting.


June, 2007: Study of Plant Species Richness Published

A major study of plant species richness by Dr. Hong Qian, Associate Curator of Botany, and colleagues from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Andong National University, Andong, Korea, was published in the journal Ecology. They analyzed a comprehensive dataset of 471 floras from eastern North America and eastern Asia to examine whether the contribution of region relative to climate persists from small to large floras and increases from cooler to warmer climates. They found that eastern Asia is richer than eastern North America when sample area, maximum elevation, and climate are accounted for, that this difference diminishes toward higher latitudes, and that elevation plays a much stronger role in eastern Asia than in eastern North America.  The strength of the region effect itself varies with location and ranges of climatic conditions.



May, 2007: Faunal Analysis Projects

Research Associate Chris Richmond finished identifications of animal remains from Fort Donnally (46GB15), and began identifying specimens from Jarrett’s Fort (46ME251). Both sites are late 18th/early 19th century sites in West Virginia that were excavated by McBride Preservation Services of Lexington, Kentucky.  Dr. Terrance Martin began analyzing 18th century faunal assemblages from Lot 28 at the village of Cahokia (excavated during the fall of 2006 by Robert Mazrim) and the Louvier site at Prairie du Rocher in preparation for completion of an invited manuscript on the archaeozoology of the Illinois Country for the journal Archéologiques (Association des Archéologues du Québec).



May, 2007: Invasive Species Research

Effective May 15, the National Science Foundation formally announced a three-year grant award from the Division of Environmental Biology (Ecological Biology Cluster) to further research of “Exotic Plants in Eastern Asia and North America: Using Regional Comparisons to Test Hypotheses about Invasion Success.”  Dr. Hong Qian, Associate Curator of Botany, Dr. Qinfeng Guo (United States Geological Survey), and Dr. Robert Ricklefs (University of Missouri, St. Louis) are the principal investigators for this project.  The team will use a comprehensive database of exotic species in eastern Asia and North America to characterize rates and asymmetry of introduction and naturalization, the propensity for introduced species to become invasive, relative invasion success in terms of ecological and geographic distribution, biological traits associated with invasion success, and parallels in the distributions and characteristics of species in their native and exotic regions.



May, 2007: Woodlawn Farm Project
Edward Russo, Curtis Mann, Research Associate Dennis Naglich, and Dr. Terrance Martin completed the final report on architectural and archaeological resources at the Woodlawn Farm property east of Jacksonville for the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society.


May, 2007: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Joe Conover (New Philadelphia Association [NPA], Quincy) and Dr. Terrance Martin finalized a schedule and list of speakers for a weekly history and archaeology lecture series to take place during June at Sprague’s Kinderhook Lodge. Despite the lack of a field school at the New Philadelphia site this year, NPA members and local community residents expressed interest in having the lecture series continue this June.

 

May, 2007: Ancient Leather DNA Project
On May 1, Drs. Bonnie Styles and Meredith Mahoney met with Dr. Lynn Snyder of the Smithsonian Institution (National Museum of Natural History) to review work remaining on a collaborative project to analyze DNA from leather and hide clothing in the Smithsonian's ethnographic collections. The project was initiated by Dr. James R. Purdue and is being completed by Dr. Mahoney.


April, 2007: Prehistoric Lake Sturgeon Research Project

While in East Lansing to attend the annual meeting of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology on April 14, Dr. Terrance Martin acquired specimens of lake sturgeon pectoral spines from the late prehistoric Elam site in the Kalamazoo River valley. The collection is on loan from the Department of Anthropology at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo) to Dr. Jodie O’Gorman at the Michigan State University Museum. Martin is collaborating with Kregg Smith (Fisheries Biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in Plainwell) on a project to sample DNA from prehistoric lake sturgeon populations from the major river drainages in western Michigan.



April, 2007: Archaeologists Participate in Regional and National Meetings

Dr. Terrance Martin attended annual meetings of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology (April 14) in East Lansing, Michigan, and the Michigan Archaeological Society (April 15) in Lansing.  Drs. Bonnie Styles and Terrance Martin also attended the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Austin, Texas (April 25-29).  Dr. Styles and Dr. Donald Grayson, University of Washington, Seattle served as invited discussants for a symposium honoring Dr. Paul Parmalee. Dr. Parmalee was one of the founding fathers of zooarchaeological research and was a former Curator of Zoology and Assistant Director at the Illinois State Museum.  He initiated and contributed substantially to the Museum’s world-class vertebrate skeleton and freshwater mussel shell comparative collections.



April, 2007: Curator Participates in INQUA Meeting
On April 13, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the U.S. National Committee of the International Quaternary Association in Washington D.C. Grimm was appointed as next year's Co-Chair for the U.S. National Committee.


April, 2007: Faunal Analysis Projects

Dr. Terrance Martin completed a technical report on animal remains from a late Middle Woodland occupation at site 11HA913 in Hancock County, Illinois, for Environmental Compliance Consultants, Inc. Data entry is underway for animal remains identified from Fever River Research’s investigations of the historic period 78th Street Site (11S821) in East St. Louis, which includes deposits as early as 1790. The major concentration of historic features indicates the location of the Boneau family’s residence and commercial interests.  Research Associate Chris Richmond continued identifying animal remains from Fort Donnally (46GB15), a late 18th to early 19th century site in West Virginia that was excavated by McBride Preservation Services of Lexington, Kentucky.



April, 2007: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Dr. Chris Fennell (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), two UIUC graduate students, and Dr. Terrance Martin, accompanied by Angie Maranville and Emily Helton, worked at the New Philadelphia McWorter Cemetery on Saturday, April 7. To help interpret anomalies detected by Dr. Michael Hargrave’s geophysical survey last spring, they made a detailed topographic map of the cemetery, marking depressions, headstones, and unidentified buried stones, which can be overlaid on Hargrave’s survey maps. Ms. Nango Yuan, UIUC graduate student in architectural planning, interviewed New Philadelphia Association members to compile information to draft several alternative landscape designs for interpreting the site for the public.



April, 2007: Archaeomagnetic Laboratory Established in RCC
Dr. Stacey Lengyel has established an archaeomagnetic Laboratory in the Research and Collections Center. Dr. Lengyel has a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Her dissertation examines archaeomagnetic dating in the Midcontinent and established a regional secular variation curve for the region. She will be an Adjunct Research Associate in Anthropology and will begin analyzing samples this spring.


April, 2007: Assistant Curator of Geology
In April, Dr. Chris Widga joined the Museum staff as Assistant Curator of Geology. Dr. Widga has a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. His innovative dissertation research examined Holocene bison paleoecology in the eastern Great Plains and incorporates biogeochemical approaches.


March, 2007: Archaeology of Anthropogenic Environments
Dr. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director participated in a conference on “The Archaeology of Anthropogenic Environments,” sponsored by the Center for Archaeological Investigations at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (March 23-24).  Director Emeritus R. Bruce McMillan also attended. Participants discussed a wide range of topics such as sustainable harvesting, prehistoric human impacts on marine and terrestrial resources, and anthropogenic environments from a worldwide perspective.

March, 2007: Prehistoric Lake Sturgeon Research Project

Dr. Terrance Martin acquired specimens of lake sturgeon pectoral spines from collections from prehistoric sites in the Kalamazoo River valley (Schwerdt, Hacklander, Allegan Dam) and St. Joseph River valley (Wymer West Knoll, and Dieffenderfer) that are curated by the Department of Anthropology at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo) on March 16. Dr. Martin is collaborating with Kregg Smith (Fisheries Biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in Plainwell) on a project to sample DNA from prehistoric lake sturgeon populations from the major river drainages in western Michigan.



March, 2007: Geoinformatics Workshop

Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a National Science Foundation Geoinformatics Workshop at the United States Geological Federal Center in Denver (March 13-16).  Dr. Grimm is collaborating with Dr. Russell Graham (Penn State) and others to develop the Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystems Database under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Geoinformatics Program.



March, 2007: Faunal Analysis Projects

Research Associate Chris Richmond completed identifications of 19th century animal remains from Fever River Research’s investigations at the 78th Street Site (11S821) in East St. Louis, which includes deposits as early as 1790. The major concentration of historic features indicates the location of the Boneau family’s residence and commercial interests. Dr. Terrance Martin submitted a report on animal remains from the Cahill Site (23FR485), a 19th century site near Washington, Missouri, in Franklin County. This site was excavated by SCI Engineering, Inc.
Chris Richmond began identifying the faunal assemblage from Fort Donnally (46GB15), a late 18th to early 19th century site in West Virginia that was excavated by McBride Preservation Services of Lexington, Kentucky. Research Assistant Erin Brand is identifying animal remains from Site 23PU264 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Drs. W. Stephen and Kim A. McBride (University of Kentucky) delivered animal remains from three West Virginia historical sites to Terrance Martin for analysis (March 9).



March, 2007: Synthesis of Aboriginal Use of Fauna Published

A synthesis of prehistoric and early historic Native American use of animals in the Northeast by Dr. Bonnie Styles was published in the Handbook of North American Indians (“Northeast Animals,” Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 3, Environment, Origins, and Population, edited by Douglas Ubelaker, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.). Styles summarizes  the natural issues of most importance to the understanding of temporal trends in the human use of fauna in the Northeast, which include post-Pleistocene development of grassland and forest habitats,  stabilization of river systems, changes in Great Lakes water levels, and stabilization of sea levels and coastlines. Human settlement strategies, economies, population sizes, technologies, burning for hunting and land clearing, social and political organization, and customs and cosmology varied across space and time and these cultural factors also affected human use of fauna. As more long-term occupations were established in some areas, more intensive use of renewable resources, such as fish in interior settings and marine resources along the coast, resulted.



March, 2007: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Dr. Terrance Martin presented two invited lectures on New Philadelphia during March, the first at Illinois College in Jacksonville on March 5, and the second in Homewood, Illinois, for the monthly meeting of the South Suburban Archaeological Society on March 15.  Drs. Paul Shackel, Christopher Fennell, and Terrance Martin continued to discuss their plans to produce two books on the project, an ISM Reports of Investigations and a series of edited articles for a university press volume or special volume of Historical Archaeology.



March, 2007: Curator Visits Historic Mansion

Dr. Terrance Martin was invited to tour the Governor Duncan Mansion in Jacksonville on March 5.



February, 2007: National Science Foundation Workshop for Database Project

In February Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, and Dr. Russell Graham (Pennsylvania State University) convened a planning workshop at Penn State University on the database development for their project to establish the Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem Database. The database will merge a series of databases of fossil data for the last five million years, including the North American Pollen Database, FAUNMAP (North American mammals), and several other climate-proxy databases.  The project is supported through a grant from the Geoinformatics Program of the National Science Foundation.



February, 2007: Archeozoological Research

Research Associate Chris Richmond continued identifying 19th century animal remains from Fever River Research’s investigations at the 78th Street Site (11S821) in East St. Louis, which includes deposits as early as 1790. The major concentration of historic features indicates the location of the Boneau family’s residence and commercial interests. Dr. Terrance Martin identified animal remains from the Cahill Site (23FR485), a 19th century site near Washington, Missouri, in Franklin County. This site was excavated by SCI Engineering, Inc.  Research Associate Erin Brand and Dr. Martin selected several specimens of white-tailed deer teeth for Kristen Hedman (Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program) to submit for isotope analysis (February 13).



February, 2007: Early Agriculture in Illinois

Dr. Robert Warren, Curator of Anthropology, is working with staff from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library on a proposal to the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop oral histories on early agriculture and serve them on the Web. Dr. Bonnie Styles met with Dr. Warren on February 13 to review the budget for the project. The proposal was submitted on February 28.



February, 2007: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

As part of Black History Month commemorations, the Rockford Register Star published several stories by staff writer/columnist Aaron Chambers and prepared a special Web site on the New Philadelphia Project. The stories and Web site included interviews of project personnel, participating students, McWorter family members, and New Philadelphia Association members. The programs included “An Uncommon Man” (February 14), “An Uncommon Town?” (February 15), “New Philadelphia, Today and Tomorrow” (February 16), “Journey Away from Springfield Well Worth Effort” (February 17), “Guilford Grad Spent Summer in the New Philly Mud” (February 17), and “Former Slave Founded Town that Vanished” (February 18). Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, presented two invited lectures in Springfield on New Philadelphia during February. On February 9, he spoke to the Abe Lincoln High Twelve Club (Master Masons). He presented a lecture at the Illinois State Library on February 21 in the Black History Month series “From Slavery to Freedom.”  Drs. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Christopher Fennell (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), and Terrance Martin discussed plans for publishing two books on the project, an ISM Reports of Investigations and a series of edited articles for a university press volume.



January, 2007: Prehistoric Lake Sturgeon in the Lake Michigan Basin

Dr. Terrance Martin corresponded with Kregg Smith (Fisheries Biologist, Michigan DNR, Plainwell, Michigan) regarding samples of prehistoric lake sturgeon osteological specimens that can be used for extraction of mitochondrial DNA to be used for population genetics research. Dr. Martin hand-delivered specimens from the Battle Point site (Ottawa County, Michigan) on January 23 and discussed the use of specimens from sites in the Kalamazoo and St. Joseph river valleys that are curated at Western Michigan University (WMU). Access to these samples was approved later that day by Dr. Robert Ulin, Chairman of the Anthropology Department at WMU.



January, 2007: Hine's Emerald Surveys and Genetics Research

On January 23, Drs. Tim Cashatt and Meredith Mahoney participated in a planning meeting with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in St. Louis, Missouri on proposed 2007 field surveys and genetics research on the Hine's Emerald dragonfly.



January, 2007: Illinois State Academy of Science Annual Meeting Planning

Dr. Bonnie Styles finalized the budget and agenda for the 100th anniversary meeting of the Illinois State Academy of Science. Drs. Styles and Brian Anderson, Lincoln Land Community College, are the Vice Presidents for the meeting, which will be held in Springfield on April 20-21, 2007.



January, 2007: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Dr. Terrance Martin and ISM Research Associate Claire Martin attended the annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, January 10-14 at Colonial Williamsburg and participated in a symposium on the New Philadelphia Project. Presenters included Dr. Paul Shackel (“The Public Memory of New Philadelphia”); Dr. Michael Hargrave and Dr. Christopher Fennell (“Geophysical Investigations at New Philadelphia, 2004-2006"); Christopher Valvano (“Sampling Capitalist Relations on the Illinois Frontier: New Philadelphia’s Position in the National Agricultural Market”); Emily Helton (“Education and Gender at New Philadelphia”), Dr. Terrance Martin and Claire Martin (“Family, Economy, and Subsistence at New Philadelphia”); Carrie Christman (“Voices of New Philadelphia: Memories and Stories of the People and the Place”); Charlotte King (“Separated by Death and Color: The African-American Cemetery of New Philadelphia, Illinois”) , and Dr. Anna Agbie-Davies (Discussant).

Dr. Martin was an invited speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at Western Michigan University, where he presented an overview of the project on January 23.  He also presented “Family, Economy, and Subsistence at New Philadelphia: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives” at the ISM Brown Bag lecture series at the RCC on January 31. Yuan Nanguo (Department of Landscape Architecture, UIUC) was recruited by Dr. Chris Fennell to assist the New Philadelphia Association with tourism landscape designs for the New Philadelphia Town Site. She has previous experience with several projects in China.



January, 2007: 78th Street Site (11S821) Faunal Studies

Research Associate Chris Richmond continued identifying late 18th and 19th-century animal remains from Fever River Research's investigations at this multiple component historical site in East St. Louis, which includes deposits as early as 1790. The major concentration of historic features indicates the location of the Boneau family's residence and commerical interests.



December, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological, Historical, and Architectural Investigation

In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm was funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois, with Dr. Terrance Martin as the Principal Investigator. The final draft report to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Tourism, was submitted in December. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers prepared the Historic Structures Report, the Historical and Architectural Assessment, and the National Register of Historic Places nomination, which was approved by the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council at the December quarterly meeting. Research Associate Dennis Naglich and Dr. Martin prepared the technical report on the archaeological investigations.



December, 2006: Archeozoological Database

On December 18, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. Kate Speilman, Arizona State University (ASU), discussed inclusion of achaeofaunal data for archaeological sites in Illinois assembled by Dr. Styles in a national database that is being developed at ASU under the auspices of a grant from the National Science Foundation.  Dr. Styles agreed to participate in the project, which will facilitate regional comparisons and examinations of issues such as resource depression and intensification.



December, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Dr. Terrance Martin responded to inquiries for information on the project. He and ISM Research Associate Claire Martin are preparing a paper for a New Philadelphia symposium at the annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology in January at Williamsburg, Virginia.



December, 2006: History of Illinois Agriculture Project

Dr. Robert Warren continued to work with Dr. Mark DePue, Director of Oral History at the Lincoln Presidential Library, and other collaborators on the development of a proposal to the Institute of Museum and Library Service to support the collection of oral histories to document the history of agriculture in Illinois.   On December 12, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Robert Warren, Tom Schwartz, and Mark DePue met to discuss the subcontract for the Lincoln Presidential Library's participation in this project.




December, 2006: Plant Species Invasions along Latitudinal Gradient in the U.S.

An article published by Jason D. Fridley of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Dr. Hong Qian, Peter White, Oklahoma State University, and Michael Palmer, Syracuse University, commented on a previously published study of plant species invasions along latitudinal gradients in the United States. Contrary to the findings in the original study, Fridley et al. documented a significant relationship between latitude and native plant richness at the country level for the coterminous United States.  The comment was published in Ecology.



December, 2006: 78th Street Site (11S821) Faunal Studies

Research Associate Chris Richmond continued identifying late 18th and 19th-century animal remains from Fever River Research’s investigations at this multiple component historical site in East St. Louis, which includes deposits as early as 1790.  The major concentration of historic features indicates the location of the Boneau family’s residence and commercial interests.



December, 2006: Exotic Plant Species Role in Homogenization of North American Flora

An article by Dr. Hong Qian and Dr. Robert Ricklefs of the University of Missouri, St Louis evaluated the homogenization of vascular plants in North America (north of Mexico) by comparing similarity in the complete native and exotic floras between states and provinces of the USA and Canada.  Compared with native species, exotic plants are distributed haphazardly among areas but spread more widely, producing differentiation of floras among neighboring areas but homogenization at greater distance.  The number of exotic species is more closely associated with the size of the human population than with ecological conditions, as in the case of native species, and their distributions are less influenced by climate than those of native species. The article was published in Ecology Letters.



November, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological, Historical, and Architectural Investigation

In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm was funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois with Dr. Terrance Martin as the Principal Investigator. The final report to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Tourism, is due in December. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are preparing the Historic Structures Report, the Historical and Architectural Assessment, and the National Register of Historic Places nomination. Research Associate Dennis Naglich and Dr. Martin are preparing the technical report on the archaeological investigations.  Dr. Martin attended a meeting on the preparation of the final report on Woodlawn Farm with Edward Russo, Curtis Mann, and Dennis Naglich at the Sangamon Valley Collection at the Lincoln Public Library (Springfield) on November 21.



November, 2006: 78th Street Site (11S821) Faunal Research

Research Associate Chris Richmond continued identifying late 18th and 19th-century animal remains from Fever River Research’s investigations at this multiple component historical site in East St. Louis, which includes deposits as early as 1790. Prehistoric faunal remains from the Lohmann, Stirling, and Groves phases are being analyzed by Dr. Lucretia Kelly of Washington University.  The major concentration of historic features indicates the location of the Boneau family’s residence and commercial interests.



November, 2006: Mammoth Research Published Online

An article co-authored by Drs. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, Janis Treworgy, Principia College, and David Grimley, Illinois State Geological Survey was published online in ScienceDirect.  The print version will appear in Quaternary International.  Principia College students excavated the mammoth remains from late Wisconsin Peoria Silt on top of the bluffs of the Mississippi River on the Principia campus.  A radiometric date places the age of the mammoth at about 17,800 radiocarbon years ago.  Dr. Saunders is studying the remains to determine if the Jefferson’s or woolly mammoth is represented.



November, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, answered inquiries from local groups for information on the project. He and ISM Research Associate Claire Martin are continuing research in preparation for a symposium at the annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology in January at Colonial Williamsburg. On November 13, they inspected probate records and other historical documents pertaining to New Philadelphia and Hadley Township at the Pike County Courthouse in Pittsfield. On November 16, Terrance Martin sent photocopies of articles on Upland South subsistence patterns and New Philadelphia faunal analyses to Ms. Katherine Fay at Northern Illinois University who is doing a senior thesis on the subject.



November, 2006: NSF to Support Research of Invasive Plant Species

In November, Dr. Hong Qian received notification that the National Science Foundation (Ecological Biology Cluster) planned to recommend funding for his proposed study of exotic plants in eastern Asia and North America using regional comparisons to test hypotheses about invasion success. The co-principal investigators are Dr. Quinfeng Guo of the United States Geological Survey and Dr. Robert E. Ricklefs of the University of Missouri, St. Louis.  The team will use a unique, comprehensive database of exotic species in eastern Asia and North America to characterize rates and asymmetry of introduction and naturalization, the propensity for introduced species to become invasive, relative invasion success in terms of ecological and geographic distribution, biological traits associated with invasion success, and parallels in the distribution and characteristics of species in their native and exotic regions. 



November, 2006: Archaeology and Indigenous Heritage Management Conference

Dr. Robert Warren, Curator of Anthropology, attended and presented a paper at a special conference on archaeology and indigenous heritage management.  The conference was sponsored by the Council of Michigan Archaeology and Michigan State University and was convened at Michigan State University on November 10.  Dr. Warren’s paper described the collaborative efforts of the Illinois State Museum and Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma to preserve the heritage of the Illinois Indians.



November, 2006: Botanical Research Published

In November, an article by Dr. Hong Qian, Associate Curator of Botany, and colleagues from the Institute of Applied Ecology and the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Sun Yatsen University, and University of Alberta, Edmonton was published in the Annals of Botany. The research team studied 261 local floras, 28 province-level floras, and one national-level flora in China. Genera of seed plants in each flora were assigned to 14 floristic elements according to their worldwide geographical distributions. The composition of floristic elements was related to climatic and geographical features. Variations in percentages of cosmopolitan, tropical, and temperate genera among local floras tended to be greater at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes. Climate was strongly correlated with the proportions of floristic elements in local floras.  Geographical coordinates independently explained about four times as much variation in floristic elements as did climate.

 

 



November, 2006: Study of Climate and Fire in Development of Prairie Peninsula Published

In November, a major study of the role of aridity and fire on the development of prairie communities in the Midwestern Prairie Peninsula by Dr. Eric C. Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, and colleagues from the University of Illinois, the Illinois State Geological Survey, and Northern Illinois University was published in Ecology.  Based on interdisciplinary analyses of pollen, sediment mineral composition, carbonate δ18O, charcoal influx, charcoal δ13C, ostracodes, and diatoms from two Illinois localities (Chatsworth Bog and Nelson Lake), the team assessed long-term climatic, vegetational, and fire variability in the region. Fire-sensitive trees declined and prairie taxa expanded with increased aridity from 10,000 yr BP to 8500 yr BP. Between 8500 and 6200 BP, aridity declined, and prairie coexisted with fire-sensitive and fire-tolerant trees. After 6200 BP, prairie taxa became dominant. Along with aridity, fire appears to have played a significant role in the establishment and maintenance of prairie communities.



November, 2006: Museum Co-hosts Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology Conference

The Illinois State Museum and the Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program (ITARP) co-hosted the 13th annual meeting of the Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology Association at the Illinois State Museum (November 3-5). Illinois State Museum Research Associate Dawn Cobb was one of the organizers for the meeting. Dr. Thomas Emerson of ITARP and Drs. Bonnie Styles and Terrance Martin and Dawn Cobb attended the conference reception at the Illinois State Museum on November 3.  Cobb participated in all aspects of the conference and presented a paper.



October, 2006: 78th Street Site Zooarchaeological Studies

Research Associate Chris Richmond began identifying late 18th and 19th century animal remains from Fever River Research’s investigations at this multiple component historical site in East St. Louis (St. Clair County).  The site includes deposits as early as 1790. In addition to prehistoric features (fauna from the prehistoric Lohmann, Stirling, and Groves phases under analysis by Dr. Lucretia Kelly of Washington University, St. Louis), the major concentration of historic features indicates the location of the Boneau family’s residence and commercial interests.



October, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological, Historical, and Architectural Investigation

In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee (UGRR) of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm was funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois with Dr. Terrance Martin as the Principal Investigator. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are writing the Historic Structures Report and the Historical and Architectural Assessment. They have submitted  a nomination for the structure to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places to the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council. Dr. Martin analyzed over 500 animal remains from the Phase I and II archaeological investigations. Research Associate Dennis Naglich and Dr. Martin are preparing the technical report on the archaeological investigations. In addition, Dr. Martin prepared the final quarterly report to the UGRR Committee on all activities through the end of September. The final report to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Tourism, is due in December.



October, 2006: American Quaternary Association Council Meeting

Er. Eric Grimm presided over a meeting of the American Quaternary Association Council in Philadelphia on October 23. Dr. Bonnie Styles participated in this meeting as the Secretary of the American Quaternary Association, and Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, participated as a Councilor for Archaeology.



October, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

Dr. Terrance Martin received inquiries from individuals and requests from local groups to present lectures on the project. He and ISM Research Associate Claire Martin are continuing research in preparation for a symposium at the annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology in January at Colonial Williamsburg. On Sunday evening, October 22, ABC7/WLS television in Chicago broadcast a 30-minute special, “Rediscovering a Black Pioneer’s Dream,” hosted and produced by Janet Davies.



October, 2006: Palynologist Works with ISM on Age Modeling

Dr. Vera Markgraf came to the Research and Collections in October to work with Dr. Eric Grimm on the calibration of dates for pollen localities in South America. Dr. Grimm is the coordinator of the Global Pollen Database.



October, 2006: Bioarchaeological Research Presented

Research Associate Dawn Cobb presented an analysis of the artifacts recovered from Museum excavations at the Brunson-Sisson Cemetery in Will County Illinois at the symposium on Death and Loss in America: Colonial Era to the Present. The symposium was sponsored by the Museum of Funeral Customs and was held at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. Approximately 45 individuals heard Cobb's presentation.



October, 2006: Landscape History Program Research Featured at Midwest Archaeological Conference

Dr. Bonnie Styles (Museum Director), Dr. Michael Wiant (Director, Dickson Mounds Museum), Dr. Terrance Martin (Chairperson of Anthropology), Dr. Robert Warren (Curator of Anthropology), Dr. Bruce McMillan (Director Emeritus), Alan Harn (DMM Assistant Curator of Anthropology), Dr. Eric Grimm (Director of the ISM Landscape History Program and Chairperson of Botany), Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Dawn Cobb (Research Associate in Anthropology), Dr. Edwin Hajic (Adjunct Research Associate in Landscape History) and Dr. Dale Henning (Adjunct Research Associate in Anthropology) participated in the joint meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference and the Illinois Archaeological Survey in Urbana (October. 12-14).  Dr. Styles chaired a special symposium, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Landscape Evolution and Cultural Change in the Prairie Peninsula: A Symposium Honoring R. Bruce McMillan, that was presented as a plenary session of the Midwest Archaeology Conference on October 12. In this session, Dr. Raymond Wood, Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri, Columbia, gave a paper, “R. Bruce McMillan: A Life Spent in the Pursuit of Excellence,” summarizing Dr. McMillan’s numerous contributions to archaeology and interdisciplinary research.  Dr. Grimm and David Nelson synthesized data on climate and vegetation changes. Dr. Saunders examined the distribution of mammoth in Illinois.  Drs. Hajic and Wiant summarized evidence for landform and related environmental changes.  Dr. Marvin Kay, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas, examined the importance of proximity to water for settlement patterns. Dr. Warren and Drs. Styles and Buikstra presented interdisciplinary perspectives on environmental change and parameters for subsistence and diet. Dr. Martin and Alan Harn examined new evidence for the distribution and human use of bison in Illinois.  Dr. James A. Brown, Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University, presented a paper, “Before the Plow: Human Impact on the Prairie Peninsula Landscape,” examining Aboriginal impacts on the landscape.  Dr. McMillan served as discussant for the session, which was attended by over 100 archaeologists and allied scientists from across the Midwestern United States. Dr. Styles and Alan Harn served as invited participants in a special symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Illinois Archaeological Survey on October 13.  Dr. Styles presented the long history of archaeozoological research in Illinois, and Alan Harn summarized archaeological research in the Spoon River Valley of Illinois. Approximately 150 individuals attended this session. Dr. Terrance Martin and his colleagues, Michael Hargrave, Christopher Fennell, and Paul Shackel presented a poster summarizing the geophysical investigations for the New Philadelphia site at the meetings.  Dawn Cobb presented a paper, co-authored with Dr. Wiant, Kelvin Sampson (DMM Exhibits Preparator), and Research Assistant Nicholas Klobuchar on the use of historic documents and computer imaging to reconstruct the town of Old Kaskaskia, which was destroyed by a cataclysmic Mississippi River flood in 1881. Approximately 30 archaeologists attended this paper. Dr. Dale Henning presented a paper examining interactions between late prehistoric Mississippian and Oneota populations to an audience of approximately 50 archaeologists.



September, 2006: Young Date for Lincoln College Mammoth Tusk

An AMS date of 11,650 + 45 radiocarbon years before the present for the woolly mammoth tusk discovered near Lincoln College, is leading Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, to reassess the environmental conditions that woolly mammoths tolerated.  Woolly mammoths have been traditionally associated with full-glacial open spruce woodland and tundra environments, but this late date and fossil pollen assemblages from deposits of this age in Illinois suggest that this animal was living in a more mesic forest environment.  Dr. Saunders took a sample from the woolly mammoth tooth that was recovered near the tusk and it will be submitted for radiometric dating to substantiate the young age of the find.



September, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation

In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers conducted architectural history research on the property and prepared a draft nomination for the structure to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Research Associate Dennis Naglich is analyzing materials and preparing a report on the project.



September, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

This archaeological project was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (NSF-REU) to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project was directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). On Friday evening, September 8, and Saturday morning, September 9, WUIS and WIPA (National Public Radio outlets in Springfield and Pittsfield) broadcast an Illinois Editions program on Pike County, Illinois, by reporter Amanda Vinicky.  The program included a 10-minute-long segment on New Philadelphia that incorporated interviews of project personnel at the Research and Collections Center. During September, Dr. Martin presented five lectures on the project, including two for touring groups at the RCC (Academy of Science of St. Louis, September 8, and the Archaeological Conservancy, September 15), one at the McLean County Museum of History (September 5), one at Quincy University (with NPA Vice President Joe Conover on September 22), and one at Davenport, Iowa, as part of an ISM session at the Association of Midwest Museums meeting (September 28).



August, 2006: Quaternary Research

Dr. Bonnie Styles, Dr. Eric Grimm, Director of the Museum’s Landscape History Program, and Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, Director Emeritus, participated in the 19th Biennial Meeting of the American Quaternary Association at Montana State University in Bozeman.  As elected Secretary, Dr. Styles reported on the elections and awards at the Council and Business meetings and took the minutes for both meetings.  Dr. Grimm assumed the presidency at the Business meeting.  Drs. Styles, Grimm, and McMillan attended sessions featuring this year’s theme “Ocean/Atmosphere Interactions and Continental Consequences: Environmental Forecasting from the Quaternary Sciences.”  They also participated in field trips focusing on Quaternary geology, ecology, and archaeology.



August, 2006: Archaeozoological Research

Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, was officially invited by the State Museum of Military History and Natural Preserve “Kulikovo Field” (Director Vladimir Gritsenko and Vice Director Andrei Naumov) to visit several historical museums and estates in and around the Tula Region in Russia and the 12th to 14th century archaeological site of Kolesofka I, where Martin was consulted on the recovered faunal assemblage. He also met with archaeologist Dr. Michael Gonyiani of the State Historical Museum in Moscow regarding faunal assemblages from cultural resource management projects in the southern Moscow region. Dr. Bonnie Styles and Research Associate Erin Brand completed two reports of faunal remains from sites along the Ohio River in southern Indiana for the Caesars Archaeological Project under the auspices of Indiana State University, Terra Haute. They analyzed faunal remains from stratified Archaic, Woodland, and Historic components at the Knob Creek site, located in the flood plains of Knob Creek and the Ohio River in Harrison County, Indiana. Bones from white-tailed deer and freshwater drum dominated the poorly preserved Late Archaic (Riverton) assemblage from the Knob Creek site providing a lesson in preservation bias.  The poorly preserved Middle Woodland assemblage from this site included remains from white-tailed deer, river otter, cottontail rabbit, turkey, box turtle, softshell turtle, and freshwater drum. An assemblage collected from a mid-nineteenth century privy provided evidence for diet that differed greatly from the Aboriginal diet.  This assemblage included domestic animals (cat, pig, cow, possibly domestic chicken), marine fish (Atlantic mackerel), introduced carp, and a few native species (sucker and shovelnose sturgeon).  Faunal remains from stratified Archaic deposits at the nearby Townsend site were also poorly preserved. The late Middle Archaic assemblage at this site included fragments from white-tailed deer, turkey, tree squirrel, woodchuck, raccoon, muskrat, box turtle, aquatic turtle, freshwater drum, and catfish.



August, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation

In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural history research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places. ISM Research Associate Dennis Naglich concluded exploratory excavations in the backyard southwest of the house and has begun analyzing materials that were recovered.



August, 2006: Cultural Resource Management

On August 20, Dr. Bonnie Styles negotiated with Thaddeus Willoughby of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District for a project to document the distributions of historic Native American groups along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers within the St. Louis District.



August, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation

A collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year long archaeological project was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) Program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project was directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Preliminary reports on the 2006 season were posted on the University of Maryland Center for Heritage Resource Studies Web site. Dr. Michael Hargrave and collaborators will present a poster on the geophysical survey at New Philadelphia at the Midwest Archaeological Conference in Champaign in October. A symposium on New Philadelphia will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg in January, 2007.

During August, Dr. Fennell submitted a grant proposal to the NSF-REU program to support continued research at the site. Dr. Anna S. Agbe-Davies (DePaul University) will join Drs. Fennell and Martin as a research collaborator.



August, 2006: Records of Bison in Illinois

In August, the Museum published a major study in its Scientific Papers series, edited by Director Emeritus Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, assessing the distribution of bison in Holocene Illinois based on archaeological and paleontological data.  The volume includes a report of the bison discoveries at the Lonza-Caterpillar site in Peoria County, including the earliest (around 2,400 years old) and only known bison kill site in Illinois (by Alan Harn and Dr. Terrance Martin, Curators of Anthropology), a report of Late Holocene bison remains (4,350-4,000 years old) from paleontological contexts in Ottawa, Illinois (by Dr. William Turnbull of The Field Museum), and a major synthesis of bison remains from archaeological and paleontological sites in Illinois (by Dr. McMillan).  Dr. McMillan synthesizes distributional data from archaeological and paleontological sites and presents the results of radiometric (AMS) dating of remains to assess the timing and distribution of bison in the Holocene of Illinois. Bison are documented in Illinois for a dry phase of the early Holocene (ca. 9,000 years ago) and after the full development of prairie, they persisted, likely in small scattered herds, throughout the remainder of the Holocene.  



August, 2006: Climate and Environmental Controls on Plant Abundances

Dr. Eric Grimm and colleagues from Brown University, University of Minnesota, and the Institute for Quaternary Studies at the University of Maine published the results of a study of climate and environmental controls on the variation of C3 and C4 plant abundances in central Florida for the past 62,000 years based on a sediment core from Lake Tulane.  Characterization of the core based on compound-specific carbon isotopic analyses allowed quantitative assessment of atmospheric pCO2 levels during the last glacial-interglacial cycle.  Results indicate large changes in the relative abundance of C3 and C4 plants, with an almost 40% higher input from C4 plants during the last glacial maximum than during the Holocene.  During the last glacial period, C4 plant abundance decreased dramatically during the pine phases when precipitation increased, indicating that increasing precipitation overrode the impact of low atmospheric pCO2 leading to expansion of C3 plants. These results provide the first insights on the forcing mechanisms and first quantitative estimates for C3 and C4 plant variation in central Florida for the last 62,000 years.   



August, 2006: Role of Climate and Fire in Prairie Development and Maintenance
Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, and colleagues from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northeastern University published the results of a study of the role of climate and fire in prairie development and maintenance. The team examined the effects of fire and climate on species composition of tallgrass prairie in the eastern part of the Prairie Peninsula. They conducted multiproxy analyses on early and middle Holocene sediments for two Illinois lakes (Chatsworth Bog and Nelson Lake) to assess long-term climatic, vegetational, and fire variability in the region. Sediment mineral composition, carbonate *18O, ostracode assemblages, and diatom assemblages were integrated to infer fluctuations in moisture availability. Pollen and charcoal *13C were used to reconstruct vegetation composition, and charcoal influx was used to reconstruct fire. Results indicate that fire-sensitive trees (elm, hophornbean, ash, and sugar maple) declined and prairie taxa expanded with increased aridity from 10,000 to 8,500 yr. B.P. Between 8,500 and 6200 B.P., aridity declined, and prairie co-existed with fire-sensitive and fire-tolerant trees (for example, oak and hickory). After 6200 yr. B.P., prairie taxa became dominant, although aridity was no more severe than it was around 8500 yr. B.P. Along with aridity, fire appears to have played an important role in the extablishment and maintenance of prairie communities in the eastern Prairie Peninsula, consistent with the speculation of early ecologists.


July, 2006: Curator Participates in Dragonfly Recovery
On July 27, Dr. Everett D. Cashatt, Chairperson of Zoology participated in a meeting of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Recovery Team. The team discovered recovery plans and genetics research.


July, 2006: Role of Climate and Fire in Prairie Development and Maintenance
On July 27, Dr. Everett D. Cashatt, Chairperson of Zoology participated in a meeting of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Recovery Team. The team discovered recovery plans and genetics research.


July, 2006: Faunal Studies and Identification of Points
Dr. Terrance Martin met with Dr. Mark Schurr at the University of Notre Dame to inspect animal remains that Dr. Schurr’s field school recently recovered from the site of an 1830s trapper’s cabin at the Collier Lodge site near the Kankakee Marsh in northwestern Indiana. Dr. Schurr also inspected and identified projectile points from Ganges, Michigan that were recently donated to the ISM by J. T. Burkhardt (July 24).



July, 2006: Gifford Farmstead Site, Peoria County, Illinois
Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Associate J. Chris Richmond completed a report on the faunal assemblage recovered during excavations at the late 1830s Gifford Site by Fever River Research. The collection contained an interesting combination of domestic animals (swine, cattle, turkey, and chickens) that was supplemented by white-tailed deer, raccoon, squirrel, cottontail, and prairie chickens. Fish remains were also present and include redhorse and rock bass from nearby Kickapoo Creek, buffalo fish from the Illinois River, and Atlantic cod that was obtained from a market.


July, 2006: Collaborative Research on the Koster Site
On July 16-17, Dr. Bonnie Styles; Dr. Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum; and Research Associate Marge Schroeder, met with representatives from the Center for American Archaeology and colleagues from across the country in Kampsville, Illinois. The group discussed the development of a proposal to the National Science Foundation to initiate major analyses for Horizon 11, an Early Archaic occupation, at the Koster Site, in Greene County, Illinois. Drs. Styles and Wiant also participated in a ceremony with Dr. Jane Buikstra, Director of the Center for American Archaeology, and others to disperse the ashes of  Dr. James B. Griffin, the father of Eastern North American archaeology, in the Illinois River.



July, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural history research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places. Research Associate Dennis Naglich continued small-scale excavations in the backyard southwest of the house during July.


July, 2006: Observations about Distributions of Exotic Plants Published
In July, a letter prepared by Dr. Hong Qian, Associate Curator of Botany, and collaborators from the United States Geological Survey; University of Missouri, St Louis; and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill was published in Ecology Letters.  The authors observe that distributions of introduced plants highlight the influence of regional factors on the spread of introduced species in non-native regions and suggest, that, to some extent, regional native plant diversity constrains the spread.


July, 2006: Hoxie Farm Site in Cook County, Illinois
Funded by a series of small grants from the Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program (ITARP), Research Associates Erin Brand and Chris Richmond continued analyzing animal remains from a well-known, intensively occupied Upper Mississippian site in the Chicago Lake Plain region that was investigated by ITARP from 2000 through 2003. The mitigation was necessitated by IDOT modifications to the I-80/294 Tollway. During July, Dr. Terrance Martin prepared a report on the collection of 3,650 calcined and very poorly preserved animal remains from the spatially isolated, fortified village area that was occupied during the 14th century (late Fisher phase). More than 77% of the specimens were from flotation samples, and the small proportion of identified specimens (less than 5% from the macro-recovery) consists mostly of white-tailed deer.


July, 2006: Museum Receives Grant to Integrate Paleobiological Databases
Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany and Director of the Museum’s Landscape History Program, received a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Geoinformatics Program to establish the “Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem Database.”  This project is a collaboration with Dr. Russell Graham of Penn State, and also includes researchers from the University of Wyoming; University of Wisconsin, Madison; and North Dakota State University. The database will incorporate fossil data for the past 5 million years (the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene epochs), the time during which modern species, including humans and modern ecosystems appeared. The purposes of the database are (1) to facilitate studies of ecosystem development and response to climate change, (2) to provide the historical context for understanding biodiversity dynamics, including genetic diversity, (3) to provide the data for climate-model validation, (4) to provide a safe, long-term, low-cost archive for a wide variety of paleobiological data, and (5) to decrease the overall cost of paleodata management. This database fulfills the critical needs of archiving invaluable paleobiological data and providing essential infrastructure for paleoenvironmental research. This new database will integrate four existing databases into a single integrated database. The existing databases are the Global Pollen Database, the North American Plant Macrofossil Database, FAUNMAP (a mammalian database), and BEETLE, a fossil beetle database. They will be merged into a new database using state-of-the art software for Web servicing and using a completely new data model suitable for disparate types of paleobiological data. The databases that will be subsumed have become critical infrastructure for paleobiological research. They are used for almost every aspect of this research, from broad-scale synoptic studies to understanding the context of local site studies to using the database as a taxonomic standard. They are also widely used as teaching tools. Their integration will facilitate new lines of research and even more use of these data.


July, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, a three-year long archaeological project is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). During July, project personnel worked at the Research and Collections Center, analyzing and cataloging materials excavated from the New Philadelphia site during June. Ms. Lena Guerly (Chicago) volunteered to help with lab work on July 14. Kati Fay (Northern Illinois University, crew member in 2004) volunteered on July 20 and 21.  Dr. Chris Fennell and Terrance Martin began preparing a grant proposal to the NSF-REU program for a continuation of more research at the site in the coming years. Dr. Anna S. Agbe-Davies (DePaul University) will participate as a research collaborator.


June, 2006: Archaeologist Identifies Materials from Illinois Archaeological Sites
In June, Dr. Robert Warren, Curator of Anthropology, identified artifacts from DeWitt County, Illinois on the basis of images provided by Mark Greenly of the Phillip Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.  The artifacts were donated to the Phillip Exeter Academy by an Exeter alumnus and are surface finds from DeWitt County.  The 60 artifacts in the collection include a diverse mix of ceramic sherds and ground and flaked stone tools. The collection is slated for an exhibition in the Anthropology Museum at the Phillips Exeter Academy. Based on Dr. Warren’s assessment, the artifacts range in age from Early Archaic to Oneota.



June, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Project
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year long archaeological project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). The final season of field work under the current grant continued during June. Excavations were carried out in four house lots, including an area that was the suspected location of a blacksmith area. On June 19, Drs. Bonnie Styles and Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, Director Emeritus, visited the excavations. Dr. Vergil Noble (Midwest Archeological Center, National Park Service) visited the site to discuss possible National Landmark status for New Philadelphia. The field school shifted operations to the Research and Collections Center on the weekend of June 24-25 to begin analyses and cataloging.



June, 2006: Archaeological Research Presented at International Conference
Dr. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director, presented a paper on prehistoric Native American subsistence and health at the International Conference on Rivers and Civilization in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  The session was attended by 50 scientists involved in river research. The paper, co-authored with Dr. Jane Buikstra, Director for the new Center for Bioarchaeological Research at Arizona State University, was part of a special symposium on “Lessons from the Deep History and Recent History of the Upper Mississippi River.” Drs. Styles and Buikstra presented long-term changes in environments, subsistence, and health, with a focus on the lower Illinois River valley.  Analyses of remains from archaeological sites in this region document changes in human-land interaction.  Early Holocene occupants exploited deer, small mammals, and a diverse variety of nuts from the closed, mesic forests that replaced the boreal settings of the Late Pleistocene. The development of productive, bottomland lakes and an open, patchy forest-prairie mosaic in the mid-Holocene enhanced productivity of fish, white-tailed deer, and certain nut resources.  These changes in resource productivity and distributions stimulated changes in human settlement, mobility, and subsistence practices.  Mid-Holocene populations made greater use of white-tailed deer, aquatic resources, and hickory nuts than did their early Holocene predecessors.  In large river valleys, the trend toward increased use of aquatic resources, particularly fish, continued into the late Holocene.  Residentially more sedentary horticulturalists made increased use of seed crops and fish—cultivated and renewable resources that can withstand heavy exploitation.  However, representation of white-tailed deer and other terrestrial mammals declined because of hunting pressure and human impacts on habitat.  This pattern continued and intensified after the introduction of maize around A.D. 600. Increased population aggregation and subsistence change in late prehistory are associated with increases in infectious disease, shorter lifespan, high infant mortality, and diminished dental health. The broad patterns of subsistence change and human health correspond to diachronic patterns in landscape evolution and settlement and mobility strategies.


June, 2006: Museum Participates in Evaluation of Skulls Found in Bloomington Home
Research Associate Dawn Cobb and Alan Harn, Dickson Mounds Museum archaeologist,  assisted officials from law enforcement and the Historic Preservation Agency with the review of skeletal remains discovered in a long-vacant home in Bloomington, Illinois. On June 13, Cobb, Harn, Kelvin Sampson, and staff from the Historic Preservation Agency met at the Bloomington Police Department to examine 26 skulls that had been recovered from the home. Cobb and Harn determined that the remains are prehistoric Native American and that they are likely from the Crable site. They then met with the new owner of the home to examine other items that had been discovered, including pottery and shell spoons.  The current home owner expressed an interest in donating the remains to the State Museum for further study. The discovery of the remains and negotiations over their potential disposition drew much attention from the media.



June, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee (UGRR) of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural history research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places. During June, Research Associate Dennis Naglich continued excavations in the backyard southwest of the house. A clay-silt layer with brick and mortar was found to terminate at a thin gravel layer 30 to 40 cm below the ground surface, under which is another clayey silt lens that includes more brick and mortar. Artifacts below the gravel layer consist exclusively of materials from the first half of the nineteenth century. Two possible post molds were discovered in a north-to-south alignment, about 5 m apart. A rough flooring or driveway surface of re-used hand-made bricks was found 27-29 cm deep. Aside from the possible remains of an early building, these excavations are accumulating an interesting assemblage of artifacts that will contribute to an interesting exhibit on the archaeological investigations for the people who visit Woodlawn Farm in the future. Dr. Terrance Martin submitted a quarterly report to the UGRR Committee on findings to date.



June, 2006: Results of Long-term Paleoecological Research Published
In June, the results of a long-term research collaboration among Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany) and colleagues from Trinity College in Dublin, the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, the Limnological Research Center at the University of Minnesota, and the Department of Geography at the University of Montana was published in Quaternary Science Reviews. Dr. Grimm is the lead principal investigator and author for this research. According to their summary paper, analyses of pollen and plant macrofossils from a new core spanning the past 60,000 years from Lake Tulane, Florida show a strong antiphase relationship in temperature between Florida and the North Atlantic region. During the Pleistocene, oak-scrub and prairie phases were coeval with long, intense warm periods (Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials) that initiated Bond cycles.  Pine phases were coeval with North Atlantic cold periods (long stadials) that ended Bond cycles and were terminated by Heinreich events.  Lake levels were higher during the pine phases, and climate was wetter.  However, climate in Florida was also warmer during these phases, which were cold periods in the North Atlantic.  Perhaps diminution of thermohaline circulation before and during Heinrich events reduced northward heat transport and retained warmth in the subtropical Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. 



June, 2006: Collaborative Research with the Center for American Archaeology
Drs. Bonnie Styles and Michael Wiant met with Dr. Jane Buikstra, President of the Center for American Archaeology, to further discussions of collaborative research in the lower Illinois River valley (May 8).



June, 2006: Field Trip and Field Research in the Northern Plains
Dr. Bonnie Styles, Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, and Dr. R. Bruce McMillan participated in a geological and archaeological field trip in North Dakota (June 2-4).  The trip was sponsored by the North Dakota Geological and Archaeological Surveys and featured Pleistocene glacial features and Holocene archaeological sites. Following the field trip, Drs. Grimm and McMillan, accompanied by Dr. W. Raymond Wood, Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri, collected sediment samples from a series of North Dakota reservoirs for Dr. Grimm’s analyses of modern pollen rain under known vegetation conditions.



May, 2006: Lonza-Caterpillar Bison Site
Dr. Terrance Martin finished analyzing bison bones and teeth from Bone Concentrations 9 and 11 (discovered in 2005) and added specimens to the database from some of the previous surface collections for the manuscript on the site being co-authored with Alan Harn.


May, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, a three-year long archaeological project is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). During early May, Dr. Martin made final arrangements for the June weekly lecture series for the students and public that will occur at Sprague’s Kinderhook Lodge. Field equipment was transported to the site on May 21; students arrived on May 22; the first day orientation for the new students was held at the RCC on May 23; and excavations for the 2006 field season were underway on May 24.


May, 2006: Collaborative Research with the Center for American Archeology
On May 9, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director, and Dr. Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum, met with Dr. Jane Buikstra, Director of the Center for American Archeology (CAA), and Gregory Vogel, Post-doctoral Associate with the CAA, to plan proposals that will be submitted to further collaborative archaeological and paleoecological research at the Koster site, a stratified Archaic site, in the lower Illinois River valley.



May, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee (UGRR) of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural history research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places.  On May 5, Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Assistant Angela Maranville finished shovel testing the tree hedge row on the south end of the large agricultural field west of the house in Tract B in the attempt to detect the presence of former tenant cabins. A total of 41 shovel tests were dug at 10-meter intervals, but aside from a modern nail, a small charcoal fragment, and some clinkers, they found no other artifacts (e.g., flat glass or cut nails) or alterations to the ground surface (e.g., depressions or small mounds) to suggest the presence of a nineteenth century structure in this area. On May 12, a crew consisting of Erich Beckner (Pleasant Plains High School), Angie Maranville, and Research Associate Leila Zajac, and Dr. Martin began investigating the backyard immediately southwest of the house (Tract A). A series of north-to-south test units were established where some early nineteenth century sherds were found in the initial series of shovel tests in 2005. This work continued on May 19 with Dr. Martin, Maranville, Erin Cormaney, and Dennis Naglich.



April, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year long archaeological project is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) Program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin, and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).  The project was featured at two conferences in April. Drs. Michael Hargrave, Fennell, Martin, and Shackel displayed a poster on the geophysical investigations at New Philadelphia at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 27. Dr. Martin presented a summary of the work to date at the annual meeting of the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology at Dickson Mounds Museum on April 22. Dr. Martin also attended the opening reception at Hannibal-LaGrange College for the traveling photographic exhibit assembled by the New Philadelphia Association titled Faces of New Philadelphia (on exhibit from April 18 through 28). During April, approximately 40 applications for the 2006 REU positions were reviewed and the crew was selected.  Dr. Martin continued to search for information about a pin labeled “Illinois State Fair, 1903” that was found during the 2004 excavations at New Philadelphia. On April 24, Mr. Jack Sandrin of Springfield shared information with Dr. Martin on four Illinois State Fair badges from the early 1900s depicting military officers from the Civil War and the Spanish-American War in his possession. Although Mr. Sandrin did not have a badge from 1903, the similarity in the design of the whole badges makes it very likely that the 1903 pin from New Philadelphia is from that same series of badges that recognized war veterans. Dr. Martin reviewed Charlotte King’s (National Park Service intern) lesson plan titled New Philadelphia–a Bi-Racial Town on the Illinois Frontier for the NPS’s Teaching with Historic Places Program.



April, 2006: Museum Research Featured at IAAA Meeting
Museum archaeologists summarized their research at the annual meeting of the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology at Dickson Mounds Museum on April 22. Dr. Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum, presented a paper on the Middle Woodland Havana Tradition. Alan Harn, Assistant curator of Anthropology gave two papers–one the Lonza bison site excavation and another on historical reflections on the Dickson Mounds Legacy. Dr. Terry Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, presented a summary of the excavations the New Philadelphia site.  Kelvin Sampson, DMM Exhibits Preparator, gave a paper on the Morton site and its place in archaeological history. Dr. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director, also attended the meeting.



April, 2006: Archaeological Survey for Pleasant Plains
Dr. Terrance Martin supervised a survey of a 40-acre tract west of Bradfordton for the Pleasant Plain School District that was conducted by Jill Bickel and Angela Maranville.


April, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee (UGRR) of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural history research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places. On April 18, Dennis Naglich and Dr. Terrance Martin met at the site to discuss future field work. On April 21 Dr. Martin and Angela Maranville began shovel testing the tree hedge row on the south end of the large agricultural field west of the house in the attempt to locate former tenant cabins. Dr. Martin submitted a quarterly report to the UGRR Committee on findings to date.



April, 2006: DNA Analyses of Ethnographic Leather
In April, Dr. Bonnie Styles met with Dr. James R. Purdue, Curator of Zoology, about completion of a project with the Smithsonian Institution to identify species of origin for leather clothing in the Smithsonian’s ethnographic collections.  Dr. Purdue completed a listing of results for all specimens and an executive summary for the project.  On April 18, Dr. Styles met with Dr. Lynn Snyder of the Smithsonian Institution on progress on this DNA research.


April, 2006: Lonza-Caterpillar Bison Site
Dr. Terrance Martin measured and analyzed bison bones and teeth from Bone Concentrations 9 and 11 for the manuscript on the site being co-authored with Alan Harn. Martin also washed and identified other collections of bones and teeth from the site that were collected by Rick Scott. Martin transported the remains to Dickson Mounds Museum where Kelvin Sampson prepared an exhibit of the remains in time for the annual meeting of the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology (IAAA) on April 22.     Harn presented a summary of the project at the annual meeting of the IAAA at Dickson Mounds Museum on April 22, and Dr. Martin gave a lecture on the findings at the monthly meeting of the Kaskaskia Archaeological Society in Shelbyville on April 17.



April, 2006: Hine's Emerald Working Group Meeting
On April 13, Dr. Tim Cashatt, Chairperson of Zoology, attended a meeting of the Hine's Emerald Working Group in Lemont, Illinois. The group discussed the status and recovery efforts for this federally endangered dragonfly.


April, 2006: Curator Presents Research at Pennsylvania State
On April 10 and 11, Dr. Eric Grimm presented two lectures in the School of Earth and Minerals Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. The presentations featured his studies of paleoclimate and vegetation change in Florida and the central United States.


April, 2006: Faunal Studies for Eastern Missouri Archaeological Sites
Research Assistant Erin Brand finished analyzing faunal assemblages from two sites (23FR521 and 23FR523) in Franklin County, Missouri, that were investigated by Research Associate Dr. Steven Ahler. The project was funded by the Missouri Department of Transportation.


April, 2006: Studies of Illinois Vegetation and Climate
The Museum initiated two studies of Illinois vegetation and climate change in April.  Research Associate Pietra Mueller will be analyzing fossil pollen from Chatsworth Bog in a study of Late-Glacial vegetation and climate change in the Grand Prairie of Illinois under the direction of Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany.  Research Associate Nicola Evans will be digitizing plant checklists for Illinois and updating botanical nomenclature for the Museum’s herbarium under the direction of Dr. Hong Qian, Associate Curator of Botany. These research projects are funded through the Environmental Protection Trust Fund.



March, 2006: Research Partnerships with the Center for American Archeology
On March 24, Drs. Bonnie Styles and Michael Wiant, Director of Dickson Mounds Museum, met with Dr. Jane Buikstra, to continue discussions of collaborative archaeological research on the Koster site and related projects.


March, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year archaeological project is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). On the weekend of March 16-18, Drs. Paul Shackel, Christopher Fennell, Michael Hargrave, and Terrance Martin, and Charlotte King (National Park Service Intern) were assisted by Michelle Huttes, James Farris, Angela Maranville, Larry Armistead, and Sandra McWorter at the New Philadelphia site. The following tasks were accomplished: (1) a pedestrian survey of lots north of New Philadelphia that included the site of the New Philadelphia School; (2) ground-proofing of several soil anomalies on house lots in Blocks 3, 4, and 8; and (3) an electrical resistivity survey of three 20 m x 20 m grids in Block 8 and four grids in the McWorter Family cemetery.  Dr. Martin and Museum Photographer Gary Andrashko assisted the New Philadelphia Association in preparing a traveling photographic exhibit on New Philadelphia, titled Faces of New Philadelphia, that will be at Hannibal-LaGrange College from April 18 through 28. Charlotte King is preparing a lesson plan titled New Philadelphia–a Bi-Racial Town on the Illinois Frontier for the National Park Services’s Teaching with Historic Places Program. She requested information on passenger pigeon remains that Dr. Martin had identified from a cellar that was associated with Kasiah Clark, an African-American woman who inhabited the site during the mid-nineteenth century. Martin also made some inquiries about the Illinois State Fair pin from 1903 that was found during excavations in 2004. 



March, 2006: Potential Partnership with Public Radio Station
The Museum partnered with the WUIS Public Radio Station to develop a proposal to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Partnership for a Nation of Learners Program) to develop a public radio program series on the Illinois River. Dr. Bonnie Styles, Dr. Michael Wiant, Karen Witter, Bill Wheelhouse (WUIS), and Lisa Stott (WUIS) completed the proposal and submitted it to IMLS for consideration.


March, 2006: Curator Participates in Workshop on Lacustrine Core Curation
Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, participated in the LacCore Workshop at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  The workshop brought together 25 researchers who use lake sediment cores to study paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the pros and cons of having a NSF core analysis and curation facility.  The group was also asked to outline the desirable characteristics of such a facility. A report of the workshop will be submitted to NSF for an anticipated Request for Proposals for the establishment of a lacustrine core analysis and curation facility.  Dr. Grimm gave presentations on the global pollen database and the support needs of small institutions. 



March, 2006: Three Prehistoric Sites on the Flint River, Saginaw County, Michigan
Dr. Terrance Martin finished a report on small assemblages of animal remains recovered during excavations at archaeological sites 20SA367, 20SA369, and 20SA372  along the Flint River in Saginaw County, Michigan by CCRG, Inc. (Jackson, Michigan). Excavations at these three Late Woodland sites were necessitated by a flood control project.



March, 2006: Hine's Emerald Genetics
Dr. Tim Cashatt, Chairperson of Zoology, attended a planning meeting on the collection of specimens for genetics research with representatives from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Missouri Department of Natural Resources at the Tyson Research Center in Tyson, Missouri on March 9. 



March, 2006: Meeting on Cultural Resource Management Projects
On March 7, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Terrance Martin, and Steven Ahler (Research Associate) met to discuss management of cultural resource management projects after Dr. Ahler leaves to take a position at the University of Kentucky.


March, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural history research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places. During March, Research Associates Dennis Naglich and Jill Bickel dug a series of shovel tests in two locations. They investigated the southwest side of the pond in an attempt to located former tenant cabins. They also checked in the backyard in order to trace the boundaries of a large feature that may be the cellar of the original cabin that preceded the present house.  Sangamon Researchers continued work on their Historic Structures Report for the house.



March, 2006: Graduate Student Studies Pollen from Crystal Lake
Leila Zajak, a graduate student from the University of Chicago who is transferring to the University of Wisconsin Madison, is spending the spring semester working with Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany. She is identifying fossil pollen from Crystal Lake in northern Illinois as a part of her dissertation research. 



February, 2006: Faunal Analyses for Prehistoric Sites on the Flint River, Saginaw County, Michigan
Dr. Terrance Martin finished identifications and tabulations of small assemblages of animal remains recovered during excavations at archaeological sites 20SA367 and 20SA369 along the Flint River in Saginaw County, Michigan by CCRG, Inc. (Jackson, Michigan). Identifications are nearly finished for 20SA372. Excavations at these three Late Woodland sites were necessitated by a flood control project.



February, 2006: Faunal Identification Workshop at the University of Notre Dame
Dr. Terrance Martin was invited by Dr. Mark Schurr (University of Notre Dame) to present a workshop on the identification of animal remains for Notre Dame students and members of the Kankakee Valley (Indiana) Historical Society who have been working with Dr. Schurr for the last two years on excavations at the multiple-component Collier Lodge Site (12PR36) in Porter County, Indiana. Artifacts suggest that Upper Mississippian occupations are prevalent at the site. Twenty people eagerly participated in learning how to identify animal bones and teeth. The diverse collections were found to include remains of white-tailed deer, black bear, muskrat, beaver, wild turkey,  turtles, and fish. The session was held on February 21 at the archaeology laboratory at the University of Notre Dame.



February, 2006: Lake Sturgeon Research
Dr. Terrance Martin received a request for historical and archaeological information on lake sturgeon from Dr. Edward A. Baker, Fisheries Research Biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in Marquette. Dr. Philip A. Cochran (Saint Mary’s University, Winona, Minnesota) also contacted Dr. Martin for permission to include some of this information in a poster presentation that he is preparing for the annual meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Dr. Cochran was awarded a research grant from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust for his project on the Historical Distribution and Abundance of Lake Sturgeon in the Lake Michigan Basin.  The Great Lakes Fishery Trust is also funding a lake sturgeon restocking program in Wisconsin and Michigan that was proposed by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee, Michigan, who point out that the species was not only historically vital as a food resource, but also as a barometer of the environmental health of the Great Lakes. The restocking project is being done in collaboration with the Wisconsin and Michigan Departments of Natural Resources and is being targeted for the Milwaukee and Manitowoc rivers in Wisconsin and the Cedar and Whitefish rivers in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 



February, 2006: AAAS Annual Meeting
On February 19, Drs. Bonnie Styles, R. Bruce McMillan, Director Emeritus, and Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, attended the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Archaeology in St. Louis. They attended a symposium on the peopling of the new world, and Dr. Styles also attended a special session on "Evolution on the Frontline."


February, 2006: Statewide Archaeological Database
In February, Drs. Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum, and Erich Schroeder, Associate Curator of the Technology Learning Center, met with DNR cultural resource management staff on a project to improve their accessibility to up-to-date version of the statewide archaeological database. The team is also working on a project to create a Web-enacted viewer for the data for the professional archaeological community. 



February, 2006: Brewster Creek Mastodont Remains Dated
In February, collaborator Dr. Brandon Curry of the Illinois State Geological Survey, notified Museum researchers that Mastodont remains excavated by a Museum crew along Brewster Creek in DuPage County Illinois yielded a date of 11,455 radiocarbon years before present, which gives a calibrated age of about 13,200 calendar years before present.


February, 2006: Hine's Emerald Working Group Meeting
Dr. Tim Cashatt, Chairperson of Zoology, attended a meeting of the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Working Group in Lemont on February 9 to discuss the status and recovery of this federally endangered species.


February, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigations
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year long archaeological project is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Celebrations for Black History Month resulted in Dr. Martin being invited to present lectures on the project at Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois (February 1), Laurel Methodist’s Mens Club in Springfield (February 7), University of Notre Dame (February 20), and Dickson Mounds Museum (February 26). Dr. Martin hosted the executive board meeting of the New Philadelphia Association at the Research and Collections Center on February 11 (attendance: 20).  Publicity included: “Uncovering the Story of New Philadelphia” by Brenda Bowen, Peoria Journal Star (p. B7, February 25, 2006).  Dr. Martin and Museum Photographer Gary Andrashko are assisting the New Philadelphia Association in preparing a traveling exhibit on the New Philadelphia Project, tentatively titled Faces of New Philadelphia, that will open in April at Hannibal-LaGrange College.



February, 2006: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigations
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, an archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural historical research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places. During February, Research Associate Dennis Naglich analyzed artifacts from last fall’s excavations, and Sangamon Researchers continued work on their Historic Structures Report for the house.



January, 2006: Museum Research to Be Featured on Public Television
Mark McDonald of Illinois Stories (WSEC) came to the Research and Collections Center on January 31 to film a piece about the Museum’s Landscape History Program.   Dr. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director, gave an overview of the Museum’s Landscape History Program; Dr. Jeffrey Saunders spoke about recent discoveries of mammoth remains in Illinois and the Museum’s collections of Ice Age mammals; Dr. Eric Grimm highlighted reconstructions of past vegetation and climate from studies of fossil pollen; Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, Alan Harn, and Dr. Terry Martin described the history of bison in the state and the recent discovery of the earliest bison kill site in Illinois; and Dr. Tim Cashatt spoke about his research of the Hines Emerald Dragonfly and the Museum’s insect collections.



January, 2006: Bison Remains at the Lonza/Caterpillar site on the Illinois River
Alan Harn and Dr. Terrance Martin were interviewed by Chris McCloud (IDNR) on January 31 for a video segment on the bison discovery that will be used in an information outpost station in the Changes natural history exhibition. One of the segments for the Mark McDonald piece for Illinois Stories for WSEC public television featured the bison discovery with interviews of Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, Alan Harn, and Dr. Martin.



January, 2006: Woodland Farm Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, an archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is underway (funded through a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois). Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural historical research on the property in preparation for nominating the structure to the National Register of Historic Places. Dr. Terrance Martin prepared a quarterly report to the Committee in January on activities and artifact analyses that have been completed to date. Curtis Mann, Dennis Naglich, and Dr. Martin met at the RCC on January 12 to discuss future research activities. On Sunday, January 22, Martin displayed some of the artifacts recovered on the property at an open house to celebrate the second year anniversary of the Historical Society’s acquisition of the property. Approximately 100 people attended the function.



January, 2006: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, a three-year long archaeological project is underway (funded by a grant from the NSF-REU program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies). The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).  Plans are being made to return to the site on March 16, 17, and 18 in order to conduct a pedestrian walkover survey of the property north of the New Philadelphia town site and the blacktop in hopes of locating and documenting the house site of the town’s founder Free Frank McWorter. The speakers’ program series for June is also being planned.  


December, 2005: Historical Distribution of Sturgeon
Dr. Terrance Martin provided Dr. Philip A. Cochran (Saint Mary’s University, Winona, Minnesota) with published and unpublished zooarchaeological information on the occurrence of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) remains at 19 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites in the Lake Michigan drainage basin (December 30). Dr. Cochran and Rob Elliott (USFWS, Green Bay) received a grant from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust to produce a report on the Historical Distribution and Abundance of Lake Sturgeon in the Lake Michigan Basin


December, 2005: Planning for Collaborative Archaeological Research
On December 18-19, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Acting Museum Director, and Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum, and Alan Harn, Assistant Curator of Anthropology, and Research Associate Dawn Cobb, met with Dr. Jane Buikstra of Arizona State University, and Dr. George Milner of Penn State University, to plan for the development of a proposal to the National Science Foundation to further research of Mississippian subsistence and health in the central Illinois River valley.   



December, 2005: Guthrie Farmstead Site (23SC1041) in St. Charles County, Missouri
Dr. Terrance Martin prepared a technical report on animal remains from an early- to mid-nineteenth-century farmstead overlooking Peruque Creek that was investigated by SCI Engineering, Inc. of St. Charles, Missouri. The collection was obtained during excavations at a summer kitchen in a building that local oral history suggests was a former slave house


December, 2005: Christmas Bird Count
The Springfield Christmas Bird Count was held Sunday, December 18, 2005. The weather was not unbearable this year with temperatures ranging from 8ÌŠ-20ÌŠF accompanied by a moderate northwest wind, and about an inch of snow on the ground. The count was conducted by 17 observers in the field and 10 at feeders. Assistant Curator of Zoology H. David Bohlen was a participant in the field as well as compiler for the entire Springfield count. No rare species were seen except for a Mottled Duck which has been in and around Lake Springfield since 2004, however several species were observed in record numbers. These included 62 Great Blue Herons, 13 Cooper’s Hawks, 184 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 604 Cardinals, and 174 Eurasian Tree Sparrows. To view the complete results of the Springfield count and others throughout the state log on to the National Audubon Website at https://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/biblio.html
and click on current years results.



December, 2005: Bison Remains at the Lonza/Caterpillar site on the Illinois River
Bison remains from the Lonza/Caterpillar site were examined by Dr. Terrance Martin as time permitted in December. He refit various broken ribs and vertebrae and identified and refit small isolated bone fragments. AMS radiocarbon dates were received from a New Zealand laboratory confirming the 2,300 year old age of Bone Concentration #11 and revealing a 600 year old age for Bone Concentration #9, which was located higher on the bank. An article on the project by Alan Harn, Assistant Curator of Anthropology at Dickson Mounds Museum, and Dr.  Martin was published in the Winter issue of The Living Museum, and Ms. Jeanne Handy interviewed Harn and Dr. Martin for an article she is preparing for Outdoor Illinois


December, 2005: Woodlawn Farm Arcaheological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, an archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is underway (funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois). Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers are conducting architectural historical research on the property and will prepare the nomination for the National Register of Historic Places. In December, the Museum team met with the National Register of Historic Places coordinator for Illinois in order to obtain an advisory letter of opinion from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency staff. Russo and Mann took detailed measurements of the farmhouse’s interior and exterior. Russo also met with an architect for a physical evaluation of the property (i.e. examination of interior plaster deterioration, mechanicals, general condition of the property) to help satisfy requirements for a Historic Structure Report.



December, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, a three-year long archaeological project is underway (funded by a grant from the NSF-REU program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies). The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Donovan Weight (graduate student in history at UIS) worked with Dr. Martin on a research project involving mancala gaming pieces that were discovered among ceramic and glass sherds unearthed during the 2005 field season. Dr. Martin guided Weight in searching through sherds from Block 9 that were obtained in 2004 in hopes of finding additional mancala pieces. Weight’s research paper reviewed the literature on the topic from historical archaeology and African Studies.




December, 2005: Phylogenetic Relationships of Whales and Artiodactyls
Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, and Scott E. Foss, John Day Fossil Beds Monument in Kimberly, Oregon, completed and published a study of potential relationships between whales and artiodactyls based on teeth (Journal of Mammal Evolution).  Deciduous lower premolars (milk teeth) of the Eocene artiodactyl family Cebochoeridae possess accessory denticles and are remarkably similar to both deciduous and adult teeth of the cetacean family Basilosauridae, suggesting that morphological characters of juvenile dentition are important to understanding the phylogenetic origin of whales and morphological transitions in the cetartiodactyl lineage. 



November, 2005: Graduate Student Research
Leila Zajak, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, is working with Dr. Eric Grimm and Reseach Associate Pietra Mueller, to learn pollen identification for her dissertation research on modeling non-analog vegetation of the Late Glacial Period in the Upper Midwest.


November, 2005: Workshop on Age-Modeling Peat Deposits
Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, participated in a workshop at the Center for Investigation in Mathematics in Guanajuato, Mexico on 14C age-modeling peat desposits and an introduction to the use of Bayesian statistics for interpolating ages based on 14C dates. Dr. Grimm was an invited participant and presented on the age model development for the Global Pollen Database at the workshop.


November, 2005: Woodlawn Farm Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society, an archaeological and architectural investigation of the Woodlawn Farm is being funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois. Dr. Terrance Martin recruited the services of Edward Russo and Curtis Mann of Sangamon Researchers to conduct the architectural history research on the Woodlawn Farm and prepare the nomination of the property for the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum’s team met with the executive board of the Underground Railroad Committee of the Morgan County Historical Society on November 10. Field crew members Dennis Naglich and Jill Bickell excavated a 1 x 2 m test unit on the south side of the house on November 10 and 11 to expand one of the shovel test units where an 1830s hand-painted ceramic sherd was found. On Saturday, November 12, Dr. Martin organized a pedestrian walkover survey of circa 80 acres of plowed fields at the Woodlawn Farm along with the excavation of 13 shovel tests along the I-72 right-of-way fence in the northwest area of the property. Supervisory assistance was provided by Dr. Lynn Fisher (UIS), Field Crew Members Dennis Naglich and Jill Bickel, and Angela Maranville (University of Illinois at Springfield Work Study Student). Twenty-three undergraduate students from Illinois College, McMurray College, and the University of Illinois at Springfield volunteered.  Media coverage is listed below.



November, 2005: Mammoth and Mastodont Research
In November, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, assisted Dennis Campbell, a professor at Lincoln College, and his students with preservation of a mammoth tusk discovered in Sugar Creek near Lincoln, Illinois. An Associated Press article based on an interview with Dr. Saunders about recent discoveries of mammoth and mastodont remains in Illinois was widely carried in online and print newspapers.  In November, an article (“Woolly Mammoth Tusks Yield Clues to Animals’ Lives” by John Roach) National Geographic Online included a link to the Museum’s Web exhibit on the Midwestern United States 16,000 Years Ago. On November 30, the Discovery Channel of Canada came to the Museum and Research and Collections Center to film the mastodont skeleton in the Changes exhibition and interview Dr. Saunders about his studies of mastodont and mammoths and the recent discoveries in Illinois for a program they are producing.



November, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, a three-year long archaeological project is underway (funded by a grant from the NSF-Research Experiences for Undergradutes program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies). The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). On November 3 (following consultation with IHPA), Dr. Martin and Claire Martin assisted the New Philadelphia Cemetery Committee to locate and document the tombstone bases for the graves of Frank McWorter, Lucy McWorter, and Solomon McWorter; place temporary markers; and transport the original broken tombstones to the ISM RCC for storage and conservation. The project co-directors prepared a short entry on New Philadelphia for the Encyclopedia of North American Archaeology, edited by Francis McManamon, that will be published by Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, Connecticut. Artifacts from the New Philadelphia site were exhibited at the open house tour of the RCC for the ISMS 1877 Club on the evening of November 1. Dr. Martin presented a lecture on the project to the Ansar Retiree’s Club of Springfield on November 9.



November, 2005: Bison Remains at the Lonza/Caterpillar site on the Illinois River
Bison remains from the Lonza/Caterpillar site were exhibited at the open house tour of the RCC for the ISMS 1877 Club on the evening of November 1.


October, 2005: AMQUA Council Meeting and GEON Metadatabase
Dr. Bonnie W. Styles and Dr. Eric Grimm, participated in a meeting of the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) Council in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Dr. Styles is the AMQUA Secretary and took the minutes for the meeting.  Dr. Grimm is the President Elect.  Much of the discussion centered on ways to increase membership to this interdisciplinary professional organization and planning for the program for the upcoming biennial meeting. Drs. Grimm and Styles attended a special reception on GEON where they spoke with Dr. Herman Zimmerman,  NSF Geosciences Program Chairperson, and Chaitan Baru (GEON Database Director; National Center for Supercomputing, San Diego) about hosting the North American Pollen and FAUNMAP databases on GEON.  GEON is a metadatabase, supported by NSF Geosciences, that provides a portal to a wide range of geological data. 



October, 2005: Workshop on Archaeozoology
Dr. Terrance Martin presented a lecture on faunal assemblages from historic Native American and Euroamerican sites at or near the Chippewa Nature Center in Midland, Michigan at the Annual Fall Workshop of the Michigan Archaeological Society, Midland, Michigan, October 23.


October, 2005: Paleontologist Presents Research
Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, presented a paper on deciduous dentition in ecent and fossil artiodactyls to an audience of approximately 400 individuals at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Mesa, Arizona on October 21.


October, 2005: Archaeologists Participate in Midwest Archaeological Conference
Drs. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director Pro Tem, and Terrance Martin represented the Museum at the annual meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference in Dayton, Ohio (October 20-22).  Dr. Styles is the President-Elect for the organization and attended the Executive Board meeting on October 21 and the Business Meeting on October 22.  She took the minutes for the Secretary (who was unable to attend) at both meetings.



October, 2005: Collaborative Projects with the Center for American Archeology
On October 19, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. Michael Wiant met with Dr. Jane Buikstra, School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University and the President of the CAA, on preparation of grant proposals for collaborative research projects related to the prehistory of the lower Illinois River valley.


October, 2005: Research of Ice Age Proboscidea
Members of the press interviewed Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, following the discovery of mastodont teeth in the DuPage County Forest Preserve District in Tri-County (now Pate Phillip) State Park.  Dr. Saunders and other ISM staff members participated in test excavations at the locality in September, and the DuPage County Forest Preserve District had a press conference on the finds on October 1.  The ISM crew recovered wood above and below the in situ mastodont rib during the September excavation.  Dr. Brandon Curry, Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), arranged for the ISGS to radiocarbon date the samples.  The wood samples have been dated to between about 13,400 and 13,700 before the present. In October, Dr. Saunders received radiocarbon dates from Tom Stafford for bone collagen from mastodont teeth from Mastodon Lake in Aurora.  The age range for collagen from three teeth extends from about 12,770 to 13,190 calendar years ago. In October, Dr. Saunders hosted a workshop in the RCC for DuPage County Forest Preserve staff to show them how to consolidate the mastodont remains.  Dr. Saunders was also contacted by the press in regards to the discovery of mammoth tusks in Sugar Creek in Logan County Illinois in September.  The tusks were discovered by a Lincoln College student, and Dr. Saunders identified the remains and provided advice and assistance in consolidating them.



October, 2005: Ponton Site at the Chippewa Nature Center in Midland, Michigan
Dr. Terrance Martin identified a small collection of nineteenth-century animal remains from the Ponton site in Michigan in preparation for a presentation on the site with Dr. Scott Beld at the Annual Fall Workshop of the Michigan Archaeological Society.



October, 2005: Excavation of Bison Remains at the Lonza/Caterpillar site on the Illinois River
Alan Harn, Assistant Curator of Anthropology at Dickson Mounds Museum, and Dr. Terrance Martin co-authored a manuscript on the bison bone discovery for The Living Museum, and e-mailed a selection of photographs to Michael Tawaba for an article he is preparing for American Archaeology magazine (published by the Archaeological Conservancy).



October, 2005: National Forum for Geoscience Information Technology
Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, attended the National Forum for Geosciences Information Technology in Washington D.C. (October 6-7).  The forum was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.  Dr. Grimm and Dr. Russell Graham, Penn State University, have submitted a proposal to NSF to combine the Global American Pollen Database, the FAUNMAP database, the North American Plan Macrofossil database, and a fossil beetle database.



October, 2005: Woodlawan Farm Archaeological Investigation
Research Associate Dennis Naglich and Dr. Terrance Martin began Phase I archaeological investigations at the Woodlawn Farm southeast of Jacksonville as part of a archaeological and architectural assessment of the site in preparation for the establishment of the Morgan County Underground Railroad Cultural, Educational, and Research Center. The work is funded by a Tourism Attraction Grant from the State of Illinois (Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity) to the Morgan County Historical Society.



October, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year archaeological project  is funded by a grant from the NSF-REU program to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). On October 1, Drs. Shackel and Martin attended the dedication of the National Register of Historic Places plaque at the site and a meeting of the New Philadelphia Association. An article by Drs. Martin, Shackel, and Fennell summarizing the 2005 season appeared in the October issue of Outdoor Illinois magazine (published by IDNR).  Dr. Martin presented lectures on the project for the monthly meeting of the Underground Railroad Committee at Woodlawn Farm (October 13) and at the Springfield Sertoma Club (October 17).



September, 2005: Sugar Creek Proboscidean Remains
On September 27, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, investigated a discovery of Ice Age elephant tusks in Sugar Creek near Lincoln, Illinois.  The tusks were first discovered by one of  Dr. Dennis Campbell’s students at Lincoln College.  Dr Saunders verified that the tusks were from mammoth and is assisting with the recovery and preparation of the specimens.



September, 2005: Mammoth Bone Identified
Drs. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, and Terrance Martin identified a mammoth femur shaft that was found by Samuel Whitley on a sandbar in the Sangamon River one mile north of Oakford (July 5).


September, 2005: Archaeological Research at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
In September, Dr. Steven Ahler, Research Associate in Archaeology, completed a final report of archaeological investigations at Kerr and Martin caves in Pulaski County, Missouri.  These caves are located along Roubidoux Creek on the Fort Leonard Wood Military Reservation.  The report includes specialized analyses by Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn (vertebrate faunal remains), Dr. Robert Warren (freshwater mussels), Marjorie Schroeder (archaeobotanical remains), and Dawn Cobb (skeletal remains from Martin Cave only).  Testing at Kerr Cave revealed intact, stratified cultural deposits that date to the Middle Archaic, Early-Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, and possibly Late Archaic periods. Expanded excavations at Martin Cave yielded isolated remnants of what were once extensive strata dating to the Middle and Late Woodland Periods.


September, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
The 2005 Illinois Archaeology Awareness poster, “Archaeology and African-American Heritage: Places on the Pathways of Freedom,” features images from New Philadelphia and Miller Grove in the Shawnee National Forest.  The New Philadelphia Archaeological project is a collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association.  This three-year archaeological project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for undergraduates Program to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).  The New Philadelphia Project was the topic of four presentations and a laboratory open house at the 49th Annual Conference on Illinois Archaeology at Parkland College in Champaign on September 16 and 17.  The topic on the conference was Ethnic and Racial Identities in the Archaeological Record.  Dr. Martin presented lectures on the project at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis (September 6), at the Pike County Historical Society in Pittsfield (September 12), at the Springfield Rotary Club South (September 15), and at the Mini-Seminar in Historical Archaeology at  Illinois State University (September 28), and exhibited selected artifacts from the site at the “Celebrate Archaeology!” family event at the Illinois State Museum on Saturday, September 10.


September, 2005: Museum Research Presented at Illinois Archaeological Survey Meeting
Drs. Terrance Martin and Michael Wiant, Director of Dickson Mounds Museum, attended the annual business meeting of the Illinois Archaeological Survey in Champaign on September 16.  Dr. Wiant also participated on the panel for a forum on “Illinois Archaeology, Illinois Ethnohistory, Cultural Preservation, and Ownership” on September 26.   Dr. Martin was an author of a paper presented by Dr. Chris Fennell (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) on geophysical investigations at New Philadelphia and presented a paper on the faunal remains from the site on September 17. Drs. Fennell and Martin also displayed materials and audiovisual presentations for the site on the same day.



September, 2005: Brewster Creek Mastodont
In September at the invitation of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director Pro Tem, Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, Museum Director (on research leave), Dr. Brandon Curry, Illinois State Geological Survey, and James Oliver, ISM Adjunct Research Associate, investigated the location near Brewster Creek in Tri-County State Park where a worker had discovered mastodont teeth.  A preliminary investigation of the locality on September 1 revealed numerous fragments of fractured bone and ivory in the area where the teeth were found. Further exploration of the site on September 8 with the aid of a backhoe revealed disturbed fragments of bone and ivory throughout the sediments, but also led to the discovery of an  in situ rib fragment that provides the original context for the bones.  Based on previous geological and palynological research at the site by Drs. Curry and Grimm, the mastodont likely died and the bones were deposited near the end of the last glacial episode.



September, 2005: Faunal Analysis of Old Brownsville Site in Southern Illinois
Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Associate Chris Richmond completed a technical report on nearly 5,000 animal remains from early 19th century refuse deposits at the former Jackson County seat of Old Brownsville, a site that was excavated by American Resources Group, Ltd. (Carbondale).



September, 2005: Archeozoological Research
Funded by a series of small grants from the Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program (ITARP), Research Assistant Erin Brand (under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin) continued analyzing animal remains from a well-known, Hoxie Farm site in Cook County, Illinois, an intensively occupied Upper Mississippian site in the Chicago Lake Plain region that was investigated by ITARP from 2000 through 2003. The excavation was necessitated by highway modifications to the I-80/294 Tollway. Identifications of faunal remains have been completed for more than 1,300 features. Dr. Terrance Martin identified a bison tooth from a site in southern Indiana for Dr. Cheryl Munson (Indiana University) (September 7).  At the request of Dr. Lucretia Kelly (Washington University in St. Louis). Dr. Martin identified a bison calcaneus and radius and a lumbar vertebra that was from either bison or cattle. These were found in Missouri by collectors and loaned to Dr. Kelly for identification (September 7). 



September, 2005: Taxonomic Database Working Group
Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, participated in an invited Taxonomic Database Working Group meeting at the Zoological Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia in September. The invitation was a spin off from the collections database workshop that she convened at the RCC.  Theodor’s existing National Science Foundation grant for the database workshop at the ISM also supported her participation in the Russian meeting. 



August, 2005: Salvage Excavations of Bison Remains at the Lonza/Caterpillar site on the Illinois River
Drs. Terrance Martin and Bruce McMillan, Museum Director (on research leave) worked with Alan Harn, Assistant Curator of Dickson Mounds Museum, and  David Stiles excavating bison remains that were exposed along the Illinois River shoreline near Mapleton (August 29 and 30). On August 29, the field crew discovered that the remains from one of the bison included a broken projectile point in the area of the rib cage.  Laboratory examination of the bones revealed that two of the ribs had human-made cut marks. The site now appears to be a bison kill site  rather than a natural accumulation as was previously thought.  News focused on the early age (ca. 2,300 years old) of the bison remains was published in local newspapers and was also carried in the New York Times and USA Today (See Publicity/Promotion).



August, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigations
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year archaeological project is  funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (UMD), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).  On August 8, the National Park Service approved the nomination of the New Philadelphia Town Site to the National Register of Historic Places as an archaeological site. Dr. Martin presented lectures or summaries of the field season at a meeting of the Springfield Breakfast Optimists Club (August 19) and at the annual meeting of the New Philadelphia Association in Pittsfield (August 20). This project continues to generate positive press (see Publicity/Promotion).



August, 2005: Human Use of Fauna in the Midwest during the Archaic Period
On August 16, Drs. Bonnie Styles, Museum Director Pro Tem, and R. Bruce McMillan completed a study of human use of fauna in the Midwest during the Archaic Period of prehistory. They concluded that the organizational strategies of Archaic hunter-gatherers in the American Midwest were closely linked to Holocene ecosystem evolution.  The productivity and availability of faunal resources varied geographically and changed through time, influencing the mix of species procured by Native American populations.  Human agency as manifested in subsistence and settlement strategies and social organization also contributed to these differences.  Faunal remains from archaeological sites documented the changing landscape and variability in human subsistence practices across the Midwest.  The study is being published in a volume by University of Nebraska Press.


August, 2005: Excavations at Rainbow Cave
In August, Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, collaborated with Dr. Russell Graham of Penn State University in excavations at Rainbow Cave in the Black Hills National Forest.  The team is recovering animal remains from in and around the cave for studies of changes in environmental conditions in the region.



August, 2005: Paleontological Survey of Mammoth Cave
During August, Mona Colburn, Research Associate in Geology, completed a report of the paleontological inventory of selected passages at Mammoth Cave in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. This extensive study describes long-term paleontological field work and animal remains recorded in the cave by a team of ISM paleontologists. The project was funded by the National Park Service.



July, 2005: Forensic Archaeology
The Sangamon County Sheriffs Department called Dr. Terrance Martin to inquire about the use of ground penetrating radar at a potential crime scene (July 27).


July, 2005: Environmental Historian Tours Facilities
On July 21, Dr. Susan Flader, a Professor of environmental history at University of Missouri, Columbia, a Chinese colleague, and her son came to the ISM to learn more about the Museum's Landscape History Program. Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, Museum Director, and Dr. Bonnie Styles, Director Pro Tem, gave her an overview of the program and a tour of the Research and Collections Center. She then toured the Changes exhibition.


July, 2005: Faunal Analysis of Historic Sites in Southern Illinois
Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Assistant Chris Richmond finished identifications of nearly 5,000 animal remains from early nineteenth century refuse deposits at the former Jackson County seat of Old Brownsville, a site in Jackson County that was excavated by American Resources Group, Ltd. (Carbondale). All data entry is also finished, and a report is in preparation.


July, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigations
Nine undergraduate students, one undergraduate volunteer, and three graduate student assistants on the NSF-REU crew and 14 undergraduate students and two graduate student field assistants in the UIUC archaeological field school are participating in the summer program at the New Philadelphia site. After excavations were concluded (on June 25), the crews moved to the ISM-Research and Collections Center (RCC) to analyze and catalog artifacts, process flotation samples, sort and identify plant and animal remains, and work with historic census and tax records at the RCC and with nineteenth century newspapers on microfilm at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Dr. Fennell continued to supervise several students in shovel-testing lots near the Burdick House. The UIUC students departed to work with Dr. Tim Pauketat in the American Bottom on July 15, whereas the laboratory phase for the REU crew concluded on July 29. An article summarizing the 2005 season was prepared for Outdoor Illinois magazine by Drs. Martin, Shackel, and Fennell. They collaborated with Mary McCorvie on photograph captions for the 2005 Illinois Archaeology Awareness poster, “Archaeology and African-American Heritage: Places on the Pathways of Freedom,” which will feature images from New Philadelphia and Miller Grove in the Shawnee National Forest. Media coverage of the project continued to be strong (see Publicity section below).  Dr. Terrance Martin, ISM Chairperson of Anthropology, reviewed text drafts (July 27-28) by Paul Shackel for the year-end report on New Philadelphia that will be posted on the University of Maryland Web site.  In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year long archaeological project is funded by a grant from the NSF-REU program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland, Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).



July, 2005: Fire History Research Highlighted in Science Editors' Choice
The editor of Science magazine highlighted collaborative research on fire history in the Northern Great Plains by the Illinois State Museum, Duke University, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, West Virginia University, and the University of Minnesota in the Editors’ Choice Column (Science 309:21, July 1, 2005).  The selection was precipitated by the publication of an article summarizing the research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102(25):8865-8870.  Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, and Research Associate Pietra Mueller are among the authors for the cited paper.  The editor heralds the focus on relationships between fire and climate in a grasslands environment.  He comments that the study of charcoal, grass pollen, and soil carbonates from a sediment core from Kettle Lake in North Dakota provides evidence that fires (based on charcoal production) were most prevalent when grass cover was plentiful.



June, 2005: Dedication of Iliniwek Village State Historic Site
At the invitation of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Drs. R. Bruce McMillan, Museum Director, Bonnie Styles, and Michael Wiant attended the dedication of the Iliniwek Village State Historic Sites (June 25). Located near Wayland, Missouri, the site marks part of a large Illinois Indian Village that Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet visited on their 1673 voyage down the Mississippi River.   The site was dedicated with a ceremony on the 135-acre grounds and the unveiling of outdoor exhibits developed by the Missouri State Museum.  Dr. Terrance Martin, ISM Chairperson of Anthropology, has analyzed faunal remains excavated from this site.

June, 2005: Future Collaborations with the Center for American Archaeology
On June 20, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. Michael Wiant, Director Dickson Mounds Museum, met with Dr. Jane Buikstra and Cynthia Sutton, President and Vice President of the Center for American Archeology (CAA), respectively, at the CAA headquarters in Kampsville, Illinois.  The group discussed long-term plans for research, collections curation, and educational programming.



June, 2005: New Dates for Younger Dryas in Northern Illinois

Drs. Eric Grimm and Brandon Curry, Illinois State Geological Survey, received results of radiometric dating of samples from their research at Brewster Creek in DuPage County, Illinois. These dates place the Younger Dryas, a cold period when spruce re-advanced in Illinois, between 12,500 and 11,300 years ago. Changes in sediment at this northern Illinois locality correspond with changes in atmospheric circulation recorded across broad areas.

 



June, 2005: Survey of Human Use of Fauna in the Northeast
Dr. Bonnie W. Styles, Associate Museum Director, completed a major survey paper summarizing human use of fauna based on data from Holocene archaeological sites in the Northeast.  The paper will be published as a chapter in the Smithsonian Institution’s Handbook of North American Indians series. The study traces major temporal trends and geographic differences in Native American use of animals over the last 10,000 years and covers the Midwestern Prairie Peninsula, Interior Woodlands, Great Lakes, Appalachian Mountains, and the Atlantic Coast, including the Maritime Provinces, New England, and the Mid-Atlantic States. Mid-Holocene environmental changes, including the expansion of grasslands, opening of the forest, stabilization of river systems, development of floodbasin lakes in some areas, and dramatic changes in Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean water levels and coastlines, contributed to temporal changes and regional differences in resource availability and human subsistence practices.



June, 2005: Lake Annie Workshop
Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a workshop on Lake Annie at the Archbold Biological Station in central Florida.  Lake Annie is a pristine, 90-acre sinkhole lake, that has been studied for many years.  A group of scientists from different disciplines was assembled to interpret the limnological and water quality data for the locality.  Dr. Grimm presented an overview of the paleoecological data based on sediment cores taken from lake bottom.



June, 2005: Hoxie Farm Site in Cook County, Illinois

Funded by a series of small grants from the Illinois Transportation Archaeology Research Program (ITARP), Research Assistant Erin Brand (under the direction of Dr. Terrance Martin) continued analyzing animal remains from a well-known, intensively occupied Upper Mississippian site in the Chicago Lake Plain region that was investigated by ITARP from 2000 through 2003. Identifications of faunal remains have been completed for more than 1,300 features. Analysis was completed during June on features and flotation samples associated with a stockaded village on the eastern end of the site, which will be the subject of a symposium at the Midwest Archaeological Conference in Dayton, Ohio, in October.

 



June, 2005: INQUA National Committee
On June 10, Dr. Eric Grimm participated in a meeting of the National Committee of the International Quaternary Association in Washington DC.


June, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigations
Summer fieldwork continued at the New Philadelphia site. In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year archaeological project is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).  Nine undergraduate students, one undergraduate volunteer, and three graduate student assistants on the NSF-REU team and 14 undergraduate students and two graduate student field assistants from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign archaeological field school are participating in the summer program. Guest speakers at the Thursday evening lecture series at the Kinderhook Lodge consisted of Mr. Art Wilson (Woodlawn Farm Underground Railroad Museum, Jacksonville; June 2), Dr. Anna Agbe-Davies (DePaul University; June 9), Dr. Vibert White (University of Central Florida; June 16), and Dr. Gerald McWorter (University of Toledo; June 23).  Michelle Huttes (University of Illinois at Springfield graduate student in history) presented the nomination of the New Philadelphia Town Site to the National Register of Historic Places at the June 2 meeting of the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council in Romeoville. The property was nominated as a nationally significant archaeological resource. The Council approved the nomination by a unanimous vote, and the nomination had letters of support from Illinois Governor Blagojevich and U.S. Senators Durbin and Obama. The nomination packet will next be forwarded to the National Park Service for review during August.  On the weekend of June 24-26, fifth generation descendants of Free Frank McWorter, the founder of New Philadelphia, organized a McWorter family reunion that was held in Springfield. More than 50 family members (from as far away as Alaska, California, and Texas) traveled to Pike County to view the excavations, visit the family cemetery, enjoy a barbeque sponsored by the New Philadelphia Association, and examine artifacts and documents at the ISM Research and Collections Center.  There was abundant coverage of the project by the media (see section on Publicity below). At the end of the month, the students began processing the materials from their summer excavations in the ISM Research and Collections Center.
 

June, 2005: ISM Invited to Participate in National Consortium of Taxonomic Research Centers
In June, Dr. Michael Mares of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History invited Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, to be a core participant in the Research Coordination Network. The Network is preparing a proposal titled “Legacy Infrastructure Network for Natural Environments: a Revitalization of Taxonomy and Biological Collections leading to the development of the LINNE Cyberlaboratoy.” The LINNE initiative grew out of two NSF-funded workshops and will be a national consortium of taxonomic research centers and natural history collections linked to form a national cyberlaboratory for taxonomic research. Dr. Theodor was selected because of her contributions to collections-based research on vertebrate fossils.



June, 2005: Fire History in Northern Great Plains
Collaborative research of the fire history of the Northern Great Plains by Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, and Research Associate Pietra Mueller, and colleagues at Duke University, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, West Virginia University, and the University of Minnesota highlighted the relationships between fire history and climate. High-resolution analyses of a sediment core from Kettle Lake in North Dakota reveal coeval fluctuations in loss on ignition carbonate content, percentage of grass pollen, and charcoal flux.
The fluctuations indicate climate-fuel-fire cycles that prevailed on the Northern Great Plains for most of the late Holocene. High charcoal flux occurred during moist periods when grass was abundant and fuel loads were high.  Spectral and wavelet analyses show that approximately 160-year cycles persisted over that last 4,500 years. Cycles of similar duration have been documented in others areas of the Northern Great Plains, western North America, and Greenland, which suggests some regional coherence to climate forcing.  An article on the research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102(25 ): 8865-9970.



June, 2005: Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council Meeting
Dr. Terrance Martin attended the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council meeting in Romeoville on June 2 as the Museum's representative. As noted above, the Council provided state approval for the nomination of the New Philadelphia Town Site for the National Register at this meeting.


June, 2005: Collections Database Workshop
An NSF-sponsored Workshop on Paleontological Museum Databases that was held at the ISM Research and Collections Center was completed on June 1. Twenty-eight panelists representing twenty museum and university paleontological collections, the National Park Service, the Specify Software Project, MANIS project, the CHRONOS Project and the Paleobiology Database met and discussed issues relating to creation, maintenance, and upgrading museum collections databases, data sharing and distributed database initiatives, as well as ways to improve proposals to funding agencies to support these activities. The workshop was very productive, and resulted in the submission of a paleontology extension to the XML-based DarwinCore 2 project. This standard is used as the basis of a distributed database protocol currently in use for many vertebrate zoology collections, but it lacked attributes needed for use in paleontology. Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, organized and chaired the session.



June, 2005: Cultural Resource Management Program
In June, Dr. Michael Sheehan, Director of the Museum’s cultural resource management program, left the Museum to take a position in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Dr. Bonnie Styles is overseeing the program with assistance from Research Associate Dr. Steven Ahler for contract-funded projects with the Department of the Army, the Missouri Department of Transportation, and the IDNR.



May, 2005: Museum Hosts Collections Database Workshop
Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, initiated a workshop, sponsored by the Biological Research Collections Program of the National Science Foundation.  The workshop, held in the Museum’s Research and Collections Center, began on  May 31 and will be completed on June 1. It brings twenty-eight participants representing diverse paleontological collections at numerous institutions, the National Park Service, and several research database projects to discuss critical issues in creating and maintaining paleontological collections databases, improving database funding proposals, and networking and linking paleontological collections and research data for use over the Internet by researchers, teachers, and the general public.

May, 2005: Faunal Remains from Missouri Caves
In May, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Mona Colburn, Research Associate, completed a report of faunal remains from Martin and Kerr Caves at Fort Leonard Wood, Pulaski County, Missouri.  The remains were collected during archaeological test excavations by Research Associate Steve Ahler and represent a mixture of food refuse and natural accumulation.  Both caves are located along Roubidoux Creek. Deer bones and small fragment of unidentifiable mammal bones, most likely from deer, dominate the early Late Woodland and Late Woodland assemblage from Martin Cave and the Archaic and Woodland assemblages at Kerr Cave.  Species composition suggests reliance on mammals of the open forest. The paucity of aquatic remains at these and other secondary stream sites in the region suggest that these caves may have been primarily occupied during the cool season.  Secondary stream sites overall show lower species diversity and fewer aquatic species than sites located along the Big Piney River.



May, 2005: Powder Mill Creek Cave Fieldwork
Adjunct Research Associate Dr. Blaine Schubert conducted small-scale excavations in Powder Mill Creek Cave in Shannon County, Missouri in an attempt to recover ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersoni) remains that had been previously observed in the cave.  A partial scapula with a stalagmite on top of it was removed from the cave in 2003. Three days of new field work recovered the articulated vertebral column and a femur coated in flowstone.  A piece of wood was recovered that will be identified and potentially dated. Stalagmites above and below the specimens will be assessed for potential dating and isotopic studies for climatic reconstructions. The sloth remains will ultimately be curated at the ISM-Springfield.



May, 2005: Fire History Research
In May, Dr. Eric Grimm, Chairperson of Botany, and colleagues from Geological Survey of Denmark, Duke University, and West Virginia University, summarized their high-resolution fire, drought, and vegetation time series for the mixed grass prairie in northwestern North Dakota at a workshop on Fire History and Climate Synthesis in Western North America. The data presented by Grimm and colleagues are from a 22-m long core from Kettle Lake.  The core was sampled at 1-cm resolution for particulate charcoal, sediment mineralogy, loss-on-ignition, and pollen.  Spectral and wavelet analyses reveal that multi-decadal to centennial drought cycles have persisted on the northern plains for the last 10,000 years, though there were intervals when the cycles were muted, further compounding the dynamics of climate on the plains. A major environmental shift occurred about 5,000 years ago, probably associated with a change in the seasonality of precipitation.  A dominant 160-year cycle of drought, fire, and vegetation has existed for the past 5,000 years.  Sediment mineralogy is a principal indicator of drought. Aragonite precipitation, which is dependent on ground water sources of calcium carbonate, distinguishes wet periods; whereas high quartz from eolian and slopewash sources, typifies dry periods.  Fires were more common during wet phases because moist conditions enhance grassland productivity, resulting in greater fuel loads.  In addition, wetter conditions favored grasses, which declined during droughts, when Ambrosia, Artemisia, and Chenopodiinae dominated the pollen record.       



May, 2005: Woodland Farms Archaeology
In May, the Morgan County Historical Society received a Tourism Attraction Development Grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the Woodland Farms Complex in Jacksonville, Illinois, which has been associated with the Underground Railroad. As a part of this project, Museum archaeologists, under the overall ddirection of Dr. Terrance Martin, will conduct archaeological survey and testing, a historical and architectural assessment, and prepare a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the locality.


May, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year archaeological project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (NSF-REU) to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is directed by Dr. Paul Shackel of the University of Maryland, Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell of the  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Nine students and one volunteer compose the NSF-REU team, and Dr. Fennell brought in 14 additional students through the UIUC archaeological field school to participate in the project.  On  May 6, Dr. Martin and volunteer Jim Farris transported field equipment to the site and met with Dr. Fennell, two of his students, and Dr. Mike Hargrave (CERL) to conduct electrical resistivity survey work at the site.  Dr. Martin met with Dr. Kamau Kemayo and Dr. Lionel Kendall, both of the African-American Studies Program at University of Illinois at Springfield, regarding their potential participation in the New Philadelphia project (May 17).  On May 22, Dr. Martin met with Drs. Shackel and Fennell at the RCC to discuss details and scheduling for the first week of the field season. Martin met students Kimberly Eppler (from Northwest State University in Louisiana) and Andrea Torvinen (from Albion College in Michigan) on May 24 at the Springfield airport and drove them to Sprague’s Kinderhook Lodge where the remaining NSF-REU students were arriving. Dr. Martin organized the Orientation Session and Dr. Bonnie Styles, Associate Museum Director for Science and Education, welcomed the students and gave them an overview of the Museum’s Landscape History Program at the RCC on May 25.  Later in the day, Dr. Martin  transported the students to Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site near Petersburg where Robert Mazrim led the New Philadelphia personnel on a walking tour of the site.  Excavations at New Philadelphia began on May 26. Project directors took the students on a field trip to the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park on May 28 to see the Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand exhibition, and the St. Louis Arch along the Mississippi Riverfront.  Publications and media coverage during May included the following: Quincy Herald-Whig, Tuesday, May 24, “Fresh Crop of Students Takes to New Philadelphia Dig Site” by Deborah Gertz Husar; and The SAA Archaeological Record 5(3):33-35 (May), “Local Identity, National Memory, and Heritage Tourism: Creating a Sense of Place with Archaeology, by Paul A. Shackel.



May, 2005: Curator Serves on Thesis Committee
Dr. Terrance Martin attended a M.A. thesis committee meeting for Richard Cohen at the University of Illinois at Springfield (May 4).


April, 2005: Michigan Archaeology
Dr. Terrance Martin attended the annual meeting of the Conference on Michigan Archaeology in East Lansing, Michigan on April 16.



April, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
The nine students selected to participate in the summer field school all accepted and have confirmed their participation in the summer program. Dr. Terrance Martin, Chairperson of Anthropology, made arrangements for guest presentations for the orientation session and Thursday night lecture series. Michelle Huttes (graduate student in history at University of Illinois Springfield) submitted the nomination of the site for the National Register of Historic Places to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, and Governor Blagojevich endorsed the nomination. It will be considered at the June meeting of the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council. The project is a collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association and is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program to the University of Maryland's Center for Heritage Resource Studies. Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Dr. Terrance J. Martin, and Dr. Christoper Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) are the principal investigators for this project.

March, 2005: Science Advisory Committee Meeting for the Illinois River
On March 31, Dr. Bonnie Sytles attended a meeting of the Science Advisory Committee for the Illinois River at the University of Illinois. The group discussed the proposal to establish an Illinois Hydrologic Observatory at the University of Illinois.

March, 2005: Aurora Mastodont Project
Filming for a documentary program on the Aurora Mastodon at Phillips Park Project occurred in the RCC on March 16. Dr. Bonnie Styles, Associate Museum Director for Science and Education, gave an overview of the Museum’s Research and Collections Center and the Landscape History Program. Scenes in the Osteology Laboratory featured interviews of James Oliver and Terrance Martin, and segments in the Geology Collections Range featured an interview with Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology. The film will be used for educational television and promotion of additional fieldwork at Mastodon Lake. In March, Waubonsee Community College was recognized by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations for the outstanding work undertaken by the college staff and project partners (including the Illinois State Museum) for the Mastodon Project 2004 initiative. Waubonsee received the Silver Paragon Award for the Mastodon Project 2004 Government and Community Relations Project and the Bronze Paragon Award for the Mastodon Project 2004 Web site. The projects were selected from 2,500 entries from community colleges nationwide.

March, 2005: Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council Meeting
Dr. Terrance Martin attended the quarterly meeting of the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council in Springield on March 11. Martin is the Museum's representative on the Council.

March, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigation
Michelle Huttes (graduate student in history at University of Illinois at Springfield) continues work on the nomination of the site for the National Register of Historic Places. Mr. Todd Plattner (social studies teacher at Barry High School) and seven Barry High School students viewed the archaeological collection from the New Philadelphia site and discussed with Dr. Terrance Martin plans for a scale model of the nineteenth century town they are planning to construct for the museum in Barry (March 2). On March 7, Martin also provided a showing and discussion of the New Philadelphia archaeological collections to a group of six Lincoln College (Lincoln, Illinois) students and their instructor, Ms. Barbra Burnett. On March 29, nine students and five alternates were selected from a total of 30 applicants for the summer field school at New Philadelphia. Mr. Christopher Valvano, a graduate student in anthropology at Michigan State University, will be one of the graduate student assistants for the 2005 field season. Carrie Christman and Charlotte King (both of the University of Maryland) will return as the other field and laboratory assistants. The New Philadelphia project is a collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association and is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

March, 2005: Esarey Appointed as Adjunct Research Associate
On March 2, Museum Director Dr. R. Bruce McMillan, appointed Duane Esarey, former Associate Curator at Dickson Mounds Museum, as an adjunct Research Associate in Archaeology.

February, 2005: Fellowship Application Review
Dr. Bonnie Styles reviewed proposals for the Denje Kenyon Fellowship for the Society for American Archaeology. The fellowship is awarded to a female graduate student to support outstanding research in archaeozoology.

February, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigations
In collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association, this three-year archaeological project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies. The project is being directed by Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chair of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennell (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). On February 24, Governor Blagojevich celebrated African-American History Month by announcing that a section of Interstate 72 in Pike County will be known as the Frank McWorter Memorial Highway in honor of the founder of New Philadelphia. Press coverage on the ongoing archaeological project helped to call attention to the site and the heroic accomplishments of the former slave from South Carolina and Kentucky who bought the freedom of his wife, children, and several other relatives. Fifth generation descendant Sandra McWorter also attended the Black History Celebration in Springfield at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Newspaper articles on the event appeared in the February 25 issues of the Springfield State Journal-Register and The Quincy Herald-Whig. Martin helped Michelle Huttes (graduate student in history at University of Illinois at Springfield) find information in the Illinois Inventory of Archaeological Sites at the Research and Collections Center and edit drafts of the text that Ms. Huttes is preparing for nominating the New Philadelphia Town Site to the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination will be submitted to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency for consideration at the June meeting of the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council. Drs. Fennell and Martin sent out recruitment announcements for the summer field school at New Philadelphia to an extensive list of social science and history faculty at historically Black colleges and universities.

February, 2005: Bioanthropological Research Featured
An interview of Research Associate Dawn Cobb by Kavitha Cordova of WUIS Public Radio was featured in 4-minute and 30-minute segments for the “Sound Treatment” program (February 25, 27, 28). Cobb discussed ancient disease and the human skeleton.

February, 2005: Phylogeny of Artiodactyls
In February, an overview of the groups and origins of the artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) by Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, and colleagues Drs. Kenneth Rose (Johns Hopkins University) and Jorg Erfurt (Martin Luther Universität, Halle, Germany) was published in a book published by The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Theodor and her colleagues conclude that the Artiodactyla probably originated in the late Paleocene of Asia or possibly the Indian subcontinent or Africa, well after the Cretaceous, probably in the mid to late Paleocene. Both morphological and molecular data indicate that the Artiodactyla is the sister taxon to the Cetacea. Recent discoveries of double-trochleated astragali in fossil whales from Pakistan show that this diagnostic criterion of Artiodactyla is shared by early Cetaceans.


February, 2005: Woodland Period Faunal Exploitation in South-Central Indiana
In February, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Associate Museum Director for Science and Education, and Research Assistant Erin Brand completed a report of Woodland Period faunal remains from the Knob Creek Site in the Ohio River Drainage in Harrison County, Indiana. Poorly preserved faunal remains from the Early Woodland component documented exploitation of white-tailed deer from forest or forest-edge settings, woodchuck from more open areas, and beaver and freshwater drum from aquatic environments. Faunal remains from the Middle Woodland component included white-tailed deer, turkey, box turtle, softshell turtle, and freshwater drum. Faunal preservation is marginal, and remains provide an incomplete picture of subsistence practices. Analysis of the faunal remains was funded by Indiana State University.


February, 2005: Faunal Analysis of Early Mississippian Hamlet in Madison County
Dr. Martin completed a technical report on a small, poorly preserved faunal assemblage from ten refuse pits and one structure associated with the Lange Site (11Ms2049), an Early Mississippian agricultural hamlet in the uplands above the American Bottom in Madison County. The report was prepared for Environmental Compliance Consultants, Inc. of Springfield.


February, 2005: Faunal Analysis of Historic Sites in Southern Illinois
Dr. Terrance Martin and Research Assistant Chris Richmond completed a technical report for American Resources Group, Ltd. on animal remains from archaeological investigations at site 11SA539, a nineteenth century habitation site that was inhabited by tenant farmers. This site along with 11SA510 and 11SA526 are located within the Wildcat Hills Mine, Cottage Grove Pit in Saline County. Together, these sites represent a group of rural households and farmsteads along local and state transportation routes in southern Illinois. They are currently analyzing animal remains from early nineteenth century refuse deposits at the former Jackson County seat of Brownsville (11J1171).

February, 2005: Aurora Mastodont Project
In February, the Museum received early dates for bone samples taken from the Mastodont Remains on display in the Interpretive Center at Phillips Park in Aurora. These remains were excavated in the 1930s, but were sampled by Research Associate James Oliver as a part of the Museum’s ongoing research at Mastodon Lake. Radiocarbon dating of a sample from a tooth suggests that it may only be 10,430 years old, which is younger than other dated remains of mastodont. However, another sample from the same tooth yielded a date of 10,980. Given the potential significance of the early date as well as the potential for contamination, more samples will be submitted for a more refined radiometric assessment. News of the early date was featured in an article in the Aurora Beacon News (“Mastodon May be Youngest,” by Dave Parro, February 19, 2005). On February 18, Dr. Jeffrey Saunders, Chairperson of Geology, and James Oliver, and their colleagues from Waubonsee Community College and the Illinois State Geological Survey, participated in a broadcast featuring the collaborative excavations at Mastodon Lake for Aurora Cablevision.

January, 2005: Forensic Identification
In January, Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. Terrance Martin identified a "suspicious" bone for the Peoria County Coroner's Office. It was from a domestic pig.


January, 2005: Illinois River Hydrologic Observatory Proposal
On January 24, Dr. Bonnie Styles, Associate Museum Director for Science and Education, gave  Ben Ruddell of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Jim Mick of DNR a tour of the Illinois River gallery (including the Digital River Basin) in the Changes exhibition.  Styles then met with Ruddle to discuss the Museum’s role in the Hydrologic Observatory for the Illinois River that the University of Illinois is planning.  The University of Illinois is in the process of developing a proposal to the National Science Foundation to establish the Observatory.



January, 2005: Planning for the Hine's Emerald
In January, Dr. Everett D. Cashatt, Curator of Zoology, Participated in a Recovery Team planning meeting to review habitat issues and the status of the endangered Hine's Emerald dragonfly.


January, 2005: New Philadelphia Archaeological Investigations
The New Philadelphia project continues to receive attention from the media. A two-full-page article by free-lance writer Dana MacKenzie appeared in the January issue of Smithsonian magazine (“Ahead of Its Time” in Vol. 35, No. 10), and an article was published in the Winter issue of The Living Museum (Vol. 66, No. 4). The project principal investigators Dr. Paul Shackel (University of Maryland), Dr. Terrance J. Martin (ISM Chairperson of Anthropology), and Dr. Christopher Fennel (Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) attended the 38th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in York, England (January 5-10), where they and two of the participating graduate students from last year (William White of the University of Idaho and Carrie Christman of the University of Maryland) presented a total of five papers on the project. The project is a collaboration with the New Philadelphia Association and is funded by a grant from the NSF-REU program to the University of Maryland’s Center for Heritage Resource Studies.


January, 2005: Research of Oneota Site Published
In January, Adjunct Research Associate Dr. Dale R. Henning and co-editor Thomas Thiessen (Midwest Archeological Center)  published results of long-term investigations of archaeological features and materials from the Blood Run site in northwestern Iowa.  This Oneota site was occupied from about A.D. 1500 to the early eighteenth century.  Dhegihan-speaking Omaha and Ponca tribes and later, Chiwere-speaking Ioway and Oto tribes, occupied the site. It yielded spectacular incised catlinite tablets that Dr. Henning analyzed during his tenure at the Illinois State Museum.  A hide bundle was also recovered at the site and was studied and described by Dr Jonathan Reyman, Curator of Anthropology, Dr. Henning, Dr. James R. Purdue (now Curator Emeritus in Zoology), and Duane Moore (University of New Mexico).  Dr. Purdue determined that the hide was from deer based on DNA analyses.



January, 2005: The Miocene Defined
Dr. Jessica Theodor, Assistant Curator of Geology, was selected to write the definition for the Miocene Epoch for the Encyclopedia of Geology (published by Elsevier).  Dr. Theodor notes that the Miocene (23.8 to 5.3 million years ago) is the interval during which the world began to assume much of the configuration and topography that we know today. Significant developments include the large radiations for whales and snakes and the evolution of grasslands and kelp forests, which form the foundation for modern conditions.



January, 2005: Beta Diversity of Angiosperms
Dr. Hong Qian, Associate Curator of Botany, and colleagues Dr. Robert Ricklefs (University of Missouri, St. Louis) and Dr. Peter White (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), published a study examining differences in beta diversity (turnover in species across geographic space) between eastern Asia and eastern North America. The species richness of flowering plants is two times greater in eastern Asia than in eastern North America in spite of similarities in area and climate.  Beta diversity is also greater in eastern Asia. The difference in beta diversity between the two regions is strong in both north-south (2.6 times greater in eastern Asia) and east-west (3.3 times greater in eastern Asia) directions.  The more marked difference along the east-west axis reflects the extreme east-west physiographic heterogeneity of eastern Asia, and this variation may be more important than the north-south gradient in climate. The overall patterns suggest that history and geography have had a strong influence on regional diversity.




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