News

3rd Annual Benefit Walk for
the Preservation of Archaeological Sites
Saturday, May 12th

Lace up your tennis shoes and join us Saturday, May 12th for an education-filled benefit walk to help fund the preservation of archaeological sites in the Metro St. Louis area.

This year’s Walk Through the PARC will begin at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site outside of the Interpretive Center doors. We will begin gathering outside of the doors around 8:30 a.m. and will depart at 9:00 a.m. sharp. The Walk is approximately 4.5 miles long and is expected to take approximately 3 hours from start to finish. Along the Walk, participants will be guided by noted archaeologists and will hear about research into nearby archaeological sites (including Cahokia), how the sites are related to each other, and the efforts underway to preserve them from further destruction. Read more >

View and print your registration form >

Trivia Night and Silent Auction
Saturday, April 28th
In conjunction with the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society, PARC will hold a Trivia Night and Silent Auction at the Cahokia Mounds Interpretative Center. This is PARC’s largest fundraiser of the year. The cost is $10 a person and tables hold 8 to 10 people. View the flyer for this event.

PARC is in need of items for the Silent Auction, the area where we raise the most money. Read more on how you may donate or solicit donations for the Silent Auction.

We also seek a person or business to be a sponsor to make this fundraiser a success. A sponsor may donate any amount, and they will get special recognition for their sponsorship. If you are unable to participate in Trivia Night or donate a Silent Auction item, we welcome and encourage you to make a monetary donation through the donation widget on the front page of our website.

Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to give. We hope to see many of you for a fun evening on April 28th for this important cause: the purchase and protection of endangered archaeological sites in the region.

If you have any questions you may contact Cricket Kelly of PARC at lkelly@powellarchaeology.org or Lori Belknap of Cahokia Mounds at MuseumSociety@cahokiamounds.org.

Read the Winter 2012 PARC Newsletter.

Read about excavations at the East St. Louis Mound Center.

Read the Winter 2011 PARC Newsletter.

Past Events:
September 2007

A WALK THROUGH THE PARC:
2nd Annual Benefit Walk for the Preservation of Archaeological Sites
Saturday, September 29, 2007

Put on your walking shoes and join us Saturday, September 29 for an information-packed benefit walk that will help fund the preservation of archaeological sites in the Metro St. Louis area. Read more >

Register and pledge for the Walk.

2007 Walk Through PARC Route Map

Summer 2007

Summer Excavations
All excavations may be viewed when in progress. Excavations are normally held Monday through Friday from 8 am to 3 pm.
Read more (pdf) >

May 21–June 8
The University of Missouri-St. Louis field school offers a unique opportunity this summer to students majoring in Anthropology or those just fascinated by archaeological digs. A three-week field school will be held at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, once the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. Nearly 70 mounds of the original 120 are currently preserved in this 2,200-acre World Heritage Site. Over 50 million cubic feet of earth were moved in construction of the mounds.

This field school will focus on Mound 34, located east of Monks Mound; and students’ efforts will concentrate on defining a possible copper workshop area just to the north of Mound 34. This work will complement an ongoing research project whose primary goals have been to relocate excavations conducted in the 1950s and remap them using methods not available during the earlier investigations. This project has yielded large quantities of artifacts, including copper, marine shells, drilled shark’s teeth, and finely made pottery.

Enrollment is limited, so students should register early!

Current UM-St. Louis students may register beginning April 1.
Visiting students may register beginning in mid-April.

For more information click here.

Please contact Nichelle Hardy, hardyn@umsl.edu or 314-516-5974 to register. For more course information, please contact Dr. Kelly at kellyls@umsl.edu.

June 4–July 13
The Washington University field school, under the direction of Dr. John E. Kelly at Mound 34, will continue the search for the copper work shop first discovered during 1950s excavations. Mapping of the site will continue as well and these data are being combined into a GIS map of the Cahokia site through Washington University in conjunction with the Illinois State Museum and George R. Milner. For more information, contact Dr. John Kelly at jkelly@artsci.wustl.edu.

June 11–August 3
The Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville field school under the direction of Dr. Mary Vermilion, will focus on the northeast corner of the Central Palisade to pursue one of the Palisade walls where it turns west to go behind Monks Mound, and also other walls that continued to the north. Other prehistoric residential features will also be excavated and documented. For more information, contact Dr. Julie Holt at SIUE juholt@siue.edu or Dr. John Kelly at jkelly@artsci.wustl.edu.

PUBLIC FIELD SCHOOL OPPORTUNITY
Cahokia Mounds Museum Society (CMMS) members have the unique opportunity to participate in this important project by volunteering their time this summer. The public may participate by becoming members of CMMS. Participants may volunteer for field and lab work between the dates of May 21 and July 27, 2007. Volunteers may sign up to participate for several days, a week, or for several weeks. The normal workday will be from 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Volunteers are responsible for providing their own transportation, housing and lunch. Participants must provide proof of medical insurance and must be 18 years or older.

Click here for an application form.

DEADLINE FOR THE RECEIPT OF VOLUNTEER APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2007.

April 2007

Trivia Night
Saturday, April 14, 7–10 pm
Cahokia Mounds Interpretive Center
30 Ramey Street
Collinsville, Illinois

To register or for more information
Call 618.344.7316
or email cmms@ezl.com

Join the Fun While You Support the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society & the Powell Archaeological Research Center.

Read more (pdf) >

Walk Through the PARC Fundraising Walk

On September 30, 2006 The Powell Archaeological Research Center held a fund-raising walk, "Walk Through the PARC”. The walk followed the Indian Lake Heritage Trail along Collinsville Road from the East St. Louis Mound group (the 2nd largest Mississippian mound center in the United States), where lots have been purchased with mound remnants, to the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

The complete Walk was approximately 6 miles, although participants could choose one of two shorter segments. Dr. John Kelly (Washington University) was the guide for the first portion of the Walk and described the archaeological history of the area and pointed out archaeological features such as remaining mounds, and the location of lost mounds. Bill Iseminger (Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site) ended the Walk beginning at Woodhenge within the Cahokia Site and guided the group to Monks Mound and the Interpretive Center.

Registration was $30 and each participant was encouraged to seek additional pledges, which proved to be very successful. Their efforts are greatly appreciated. Each participant was also given a Walk T-shirt. PARC is planning to hold another walk later in the summer, so check back for more information. Here are several pictures from the Walk. We had about 20 – 25 participants and hope more will join us this year.

John Kelly, center wearing green windbreaker, is describing the central portion of what was once the East St. Louis Mound Center, near where excavations were conducted in the early 1990s that found portions of the site still intact under about 3 feet of historic debris. Efforts are underway by PARC to preserve portions of what is left by purchasing lots in the area as they become available.

Victoria Graves, a member of the Osage tribe and Walk participant, provided a valuable American Indian perspective to the other Walk participants. This photo was taken near a piece of property owned by PARC that contains the portion of a mound within the East St. Louis Mound Group.

John Kelly explains test excavations being conducted on property within the East St. Louis Mound Group that is being transferred to the Archaeological Conservancy for permanent protection. The remnants of a small mound were discovered in the test excavations.

Refreshments were enjoyed by the Walk participants at about the halfway point of the Walk, which was located at the Chucallo Mound in Fairmont City. The owners of this mostly intact mound, Paul and Mary Chucallo, recently donated the mound to the State of Illinois to ensure its continued preservation.