In Chesterfield Valley

Visit active archeology dig at ancient Indian site

If you hurry, you can watch archeologists excavate what was a pre-historic Indian settlement in what is now the Chesterfield Valley area.

Archeologizt Joe Harl

Joe Harl is the supervising archeologist for the dig located near the Spirit of St. Louis Airport. The archeologists are searching the site before it's buried as part of a levee-building project along the Missouri River.

Harl said his crew isn't in the tour business but they do welcome visitors who can find their site amid the earthmoving equipment elsewhere on the Corps of Engineers levee-strengthening project.

But, he added, "We get about 30 to 40 people a day coming by to see the excavation work. We'll be here for another month or so."

(If you want to visit the site, you can call the Archeological Research Center (ARC) of St. Louis at (314) 426-2577 for directions. Or you can go to the group's website at www.ARC-StL.com.)

So far, the archeologists have excavated the foundations of several buildings. Also, they have set up an impromptu display case for arrowheads, pottery shards, shell beads and some copper objects recovered so far.

In addition, there will be a number of pamphlets providing history of this area. Also, Harl said there are copies of a book written about the ancient history of the Chesterfield area.

The book was written by Mark W. Leach and is titled, "A Guide to Chesterfield's Ancient History. The Past 10,000+ Years."

Harl said the active dig site is only a small part of what was in the 1300-1400s a major Indian trading center. "These Mississippian Indians are linked to the ones who lived in what we know as the Cahokia Mounds area in Illinois," he said.

There's an on-going mystery of what happened to the Indians.

"About 1400, all the Indians in this area disappeared and no one knows where they went," Harl said. "Before that, these Indians were gathered together in elaborate and rich societies," he added.

"One theory is that the resident Indians were attacked and driven out. But, we've found no evidence of such attacks," he said.

Evidence at the Chesterfield site indicates that it was a "major trading center" not just a group of homes, Harl said. "One of the buildings had five hearths and probably was a food store," he said.

A box of recovered artifacts

He said the beads recovered were made from shells from the Gulf of Mexico and were made into jewelry. He said the copper which was used in other forms of jewelry came from northern areas in what is now Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"These people weren't just roaming Indians. They were organized into sophisticated societies," he said.

Another example of their complex society can be found by examing building sites which have been uncovered.

An excavated site of Indian store

The buildings had trenches dug for the foundations. The wooden frames for the sidewalls were put together on the ground. Then, the whole frame was tipped up vertical and locked into place in the trench.

Then, smaller limbs were woven together and mud plaster was applied to make the building air- and weather-tight.

The method of construction is very similar to the pre-fabricated framing of modern houses, Harl said.

He said, "Finding arrowheads and other artifacts isn't what is exciting about archeology. It's learning what those artifacts tell us about early people."

Harl said the excavation in the Chesterfield Valley is the only current one involving pre-historic Indian sites.

He noted the recent purchase by a group of Indians of the Sugar Loaf Mound near the intersection of Interstate 55 and Broadway near downtown St. Louis. Harl said, "That may be the last Indian mound in St. Louis."

He said his group was involved in research of that mound.

"St. Louis has some of the best archeological resources in the country. But, sites are being dug up or covered over all the time," he said.

Harl said he is often struck by the fact that Europeans seem to have a better appreciation of early American history, especially Indian history.

The way Corps of Engineers contracts are written is evidence that at least someone is interested in studying and preserving the past, he said.

He said developers, before getting a Corps contract, have to allow for a search to see if the site has any historic preservation value. That's how the ARC got involved in the archeological dig in the Chesterfield Valley.

However, Harl said authorization of the dig doesn't mean the site will be preserved. In the case of this site, the archeologists have a certain time frame for their dig and then the area can be developed as part of the overall project, he said.

But, Harl said the grant for the excavation includes money for extensive photography and collection of artifacts. Also, by the end of 2010, there will be an extensive history of the Chesterfield Valley excavation written.

The history, photos and artifacts will be available at the Corps of Engineers museum in Springfield, IL, he said.

He said the Corps of Engineers plans to print 300 copies of the Chesterfield excavation report to be available for scientists who will be studying early Indian civilizations in this area.