Illinois Archaeological Collections at the Logan Museum of Anthropology
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Illinois Archaeological Collections at the Logan Museum of Anthropology William Green The Logan Museum of Anthropology houses thousands of objects from Illinois archaeologi- cal sites. While many objects have useful associated documentation, some collections lack contextual data. Provenance investigations can restore provenience information, mak- ing neglected or forgotten collections useful for current and future research. Provenance research also provides insights about the history of archaeology and the construction of archaeological knowledge. Recent study of Middle Woodland collections from the Baehr and Montezuma mound groups in the Illinois River valley exemplifies the value of analyzing collection histories. Museum collections are significant archaeological resources. In addition to their educational value in exhibitions and importance in addressing archaeological research questions, collections also serve as primary-source material regarding the history of archaeology. If we pay close attention to collection objects and associated documenta- tion, we can learn how past practices of collecting and circulating objects have helped construct our current understandings of the cultures the objects represent. In this paper, I review Illinois archaeological collections housed at the Logan Mu- seum of Anthropology. The principal focus is on Middle Woodland material from the Illinois River valley. I examine the provenance—the acquisition and curation histories— of these collections and identify some topics the collections might address. My goal is to encourage researchers to make more use of these underutilized resources. The Logan Museum of Anthropology The Logan Museum, founded in 1893, is a unit of Beloit College and as such is dedicated to serving the college’s liberal arts educational mission. With its founding collection derived from the anthropology exhibits of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the museum built its archaeological and ethnographic holdings through gifts, purchases, William Green, Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, 700 College St., Beloit, WI 53511, [email protected] ©2016 Illinois Archaeological Survey, Inc., Illinois Archaeology, vol. 28, pp. 309–330. 309 310 Illinois Archaeology Vol. 28, 2016 field research, and exchanges. These collections have fostered student engagement in anthropology, contributing to the college’s long-standing recognition as a leading in- cubator of professional anthropologists (Collie 1928; Green and Meister 2009). The museum’s collections currently include more than 300,000 archaeological ob- jects and approximately 16,000 ethnographic objects. North American material accounts for about two-thirds of the archaeological collections. The museum’s founding patron, Chicago grain broker Frank G. Logan, and its first curator-director, geology professor and Beloit College dean George L. Collie, worked together to acquire diverse collec- tions during the museum’s first four decades. They sought breadth of coverage as well as depth in certain study areas, such as Western Europe, North Africa, and the American Southwest. They purchased some important Wisconsin collections but otherwise did not place particular focus on midwestern archaeology. They were active participants in the regional and national networks that linked museums and private collectors during the turn-of-the-twentieth-century “museum era” of American anthropology (Collie 1928; see also Collier and Tschopik 1954; Stocking 1985). Connections between museums and collectors throughout North America and Europe fostered the purchase and exchange of numerous collections. Museums such as the Logan strove to build up their coverage of underrepresented regions, periods, and object types, while simultaneously thinning out “duplicate” specimens. Some of the Logan’s Upper Paleolithic flint tools, for example, could have been exchanged for another museum’s Northwest Coast ethnographic objects. Such transactions were common throughout the late nineteenth century and much of the twentieth century (Nichols 2014). While these exchanges helped museums acquire wide assortments of material, associated documentation often did not travel with specimens. Many collec- tions, therefore, lack provenience data and clear provenance. However, research into collection history, as well as careful study of the objects themselves, often reveals for- gotten or neglected documentation. Whether conducted for Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) compliance, exhibition development, student projects, or other purposes, collection research can not only restore historic associations but can also generate new knowledge and insights. Overview of Illinois Collections Illinois archaeological material at the Logan Museum derives from 44 counties through- out the state (Figure 1). A total of 2,275 separate catalog numbers have been assigned to Illinois archaeological objects in the museum. The actual number of objects is much higher because many catalog numbers encompass a site’s entire collection or an entire class of objects from a site. Acquisitions resulted from all four means noted above: through gifts, purchases, exchanges, and field research. While many objects have only county-level provenience, 139 recorded archaeological sites are represented. Several collections not attributed to known sites are associated with locational documentation sufficiently thorough to enable completion of archaeological site Green 311 Figure 1. Map of Illinois showing counties represented by Logan Museum archaeological collections (shaded) and locations of the Baehr and Montezuma sites. 312 Illinois Archaeology Vol. 28, 2016 forms. Some objects with county-level provenience (e.g., nondiagnostic stone tools) are employed in exhibitions and other educational programs and may have limited research potential. For other specimens, such as fluted points and Mississippian hoes, knowing even the county provenience can be helpful in distributional and morphological studies (e.g., Loebel et al. 2016; Winters 1981). Most collections with site-specific provenience derive from systematic archaeologi- cal projects conducted by Logan Museum staff and Beloit College faculty and students. Projects whose collections the museum curates are primarily small- to moderate-scale excavations and surveys conducted within approximately 30 km of Beloit in the Rock River and Pecatonica River valleys in Winnebago County. Examples of such projects include the following: • the State-Line Mound Group (aka Hutchinson site, 11WO460 and 47RO39), excavated by Beloit students in 1967 (Lange 1968) • the Domeier/Watson Mound Group (11WO482), excavated by Beloit students in 1972 (Pfannkuche and Green 2007) • the Pecatonica River valley survey, conducted in 1974 by Beloit students under the direction of Robert Salzer as part of the Illinois Historic Sites Survey program; more than 9,100 artifacts were collected from 132 sites (Hennings 1975; Pfannkuche 2008) • testing of 11WO506 to determine whether it is the location of the circa 1830 Ho- Chunk village of Ke-Chunk (which it is not), conducted in 2012 by Beloit students, volunteers, and Midwest Archaeological Research Center Inc. staff (Green 2013) In addition, the Logan Museum curates a type collection of Middle Woodland pottery from the Pool site (11Pk1) in the lower Illinois River valley, an assemblage derived from University of Illinois excavations in 1950 (McGregor 1958). The sherds came to Beloit as part of the routine circulation of ceramic type collections among regional researchers, among whose ranks in the 1950s was Logan Museum director Andrew B. Whiteford. This material continues to serve as a useful reference collection. The Logan Museum also currently houses Woodland material from the Dillinger, Sugar Camp Hill, and Cove Hollow sites in Jackson and Williamson counties near Carbondale, Illinois. Moreau S. Maxwell excavated these sites as part of a Works Progress Administration relief project in the Crab Orchard locality in 1939–1941. Maxwell joined the anthropology faculty at Beloit in 1946 and completed his analysis of the collection by 1950 (Maxwell 1951). Most of these sites’ collections are housed at the Illinois State Museum and Southern Illinois University (Stephens 1993; acces- sion records on file, Logan Museum of Anthropology, Illinois State Museum-Research and Collections Center, and Southern Illinois University-Center for Archaeological Investigations). Because the Crab Orchard material has no direct connection to Beloit College (Maxwell departed Beloit in 1952), we are transferring these collections to the Illinois State Museum. Williamson County is not shaded in Figure 1 because the Sugar Camp Hill material, which is being transferred, is the only collection from that county. Green 313 The Logan does not house collections from all of its field projects. Most notably, the Illinois State Museum curates the collections and associated documentation from Beloit College’s 45 weeks of field-school excavations in 1969, 1971, and 1972 at Ca- hokia’s Merrell Tract (Kelly 1980; Kelly 1979; Salzer 1975). In addition to the collections generated by Beloit’s own archaeological investiga- tions, the museum also houses material of research value obtained from other sources. In the remainder of this article, I examine two groups of Middle Woodland artifacts acquired from other museums. Baehr Mounds Cobden-Dongola Disk Cores Museums often find uncataloged specimens in collection-storage areas. Such “found in collections”