Site · United States
Dickson Mounds
Mississippian, Woodland (Eastern), 800–1250 CE
Dickson Mounds records the arrival of Mississippian culture in the central Illinois River valley around 1050 CE, with Cahokian influence visible in the Eveland site's buildings and pottery, and the later Larson phase villages. The museum is the state's principal centre for Illinois archaeology and interprets the ethics of the former burial display.
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State / province | Illinois |
| Dates | 800–1250 CE |
| Status | State Museum and State Historic Site |
| Managed by | Illinois State Museum |
| Access | The museum near Lewistown is open Tuesday to Sunday with galleries on Illinois River valley archaeology and outdoor trails to the Eveland village site. |
| Coordinates | 40.351, -90.093 (public site) |
What was found
Don Dickson exposed over 200 Mississippian burials in 1927 and displayed them in situ until 1992, when the exhibit was closed under NAGPRA-era pressure; excavations recovered shell-tempered pottery, marine shell ornaments, arrow points and the Eveland ceremonial buildings with Cahokia-style structures.
Rules
Nothing may be collected on the site or surrounding state land; Illinois' Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act and Archaeological and Paleontological Resources Protection Act, plus federal NAGPRA, apply. This article is for study and context only and is not a collecting locality.
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Dickson Mounds" (Site). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/sites/dickson-mounds. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-dickson-mounds,
title = {Dickson Mounds},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/sites/dickson-mounds}},
year = {2026},
note = {Site article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.