Date of Award

6-2007

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Anthropology

First Advisor

Dr. Michael S. Nassaney

Second Advisor

Dr. William Cremin

Third Advisor

Dr. Michael McNerney

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Situated on upper Galum Creek at the northwest margin of the Big Muddy River drainage basin, the primary occupation at Gal um Crossing consisted of an early Late Woodland habitation dating from approximately A.D. 450 to the early A.D. 700s. The cultural-historical affiliation of the Woodland occupation and the relationship of Galum Crossing to local and regional contemporaneous sites were assessed using radiocarbon dating and an attribute-based analysis of the Woodland ceramic assemblage. This provided data for examining the designation of the proposed Jamestown phase (Moffat 1991, 1992) as a transitional unit between the Middle Woodland Crab Orchard Tradition and the Late Woodland Raymond phase. Regional comparisons indicated during the early Late Woodland, the upper Gal um Creek valley was utilized by groups associated with cultural systems in the Big Muddy and American Bottom. For the Jamestown phase to be a useful heuristic construct of Late Woodland systematics in southern Illinois, it should be redefined as a local subphase for the Big Muddy drainage reflecting a period of interaction resulting from an influx of groups from the south and west/northwest. The interval should be adjusted to A.D. 400 to A.D. 750 and its geographic relevance limited to the northwestern margins of the Big Muddy drainage pending further investigations in the upper Big Muddy, the Marys, and the lower Kaskaskia river drainages.

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