Leopold Pokagon, from whom the Pokagon Band takes its name.
The 2001 excavations continued the investigations of the midden (trash dump) near Pokagon's cabin discovered during the 2000 field school at Pokagon's cabin . Excavation units were placed across the midden area to assess its size and depth.
The midden area had previously been dug into by an artifact collector, but it still produced abundant artifacts that can tell us much about life at the Pokagon Village during the Removal period. Feature 1, an especially deep portion of the midden, contained an intact pig's skull and many different types of pottery.
This pig skull had a very long snout, typical of
pigs which are feral (partially wild) and that
were allowed to forage for food on their own.
The 2001 investigations increased our sample of historic artifacts from the site. They are now under study.
Bone preservation was excellent in the midden and animal bones were abundant. Even a few eggshell fragments were
preserved. The faunal remains include deer, squirrel, and many pigs. 
Turtles were also taken. This interesting mix of wild
and domesticated resources will be studied in more detail by Dr. Terry
Martin of the Illinois State Museum . Dr. Martin gave a workshop on
faunal identification. It is already apparent that domesticated animals
were very important at Pokagon Village, compared to other contemporary
sites like the Windrose site in Illinois.
The artifacts from the 2000 and 2001 excavations will tell
us much about life at Pokagon Village as they are
studied. These studies will begin in an archaeology lab
course in the spring semester of 2001 where students will
study the artifacts in class research projects.
Preliminary artifact identification was done during the field school, assisted by Kyle and Kaley (their parents own the site).
Read about prehistoric archaeology and the Goodall Tradition project .
Learn about geophysical surveys at the Rush Lake cemetery .
