Illinois Valley Archaeological Society (IVAS)
IVAS hosts archaeology lectures at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month, unless otherwise listed. IVAS programs are free of charge and the public is welcome. Refreshments will be served following the program. To be placed on the monthly IVAS program announcement list click here. For more information call the Museum at 309-547-3721.
2010 Program Schedule
January 5, 2010 - Geology of the Lamoine River valley by Dr. Michael D. Wiant.
February 2, 2010 - Mortuary Site Research in the Lower Illinois River Valley by Dr. Michael Conner.
March 2, 2010 - Lecture on the American Military-Related Installations at Warsaw, IL by David Nolan, Illinois State Archaeological Survey.
April 6, 2010 - Fourteen Seasons of Excavations at the Orendorf Site, Fulton County Part I by Dr. Lawrence Conrad of the Upper Mississippi Valley Archaeological Research Foundation.May 4, 2010 - Fourteen Seasons of Excavations at the Orendorf Site, Fulton County Part II by Dr. Lawrence Conrad of the Upper Mississippi Valley Archaeological Research Foundation.
June 1, 2010 - The origins of Native American cemeteries - Dr. Michael Wiant, Director of Dickson Mounds Museum, will present a lecture on the development of cemeteries during the Archaic Period (10,000 to 3,000 years ago).
July 6, 2010 - Dr. Michael Conner, associate curator at Dickson Mounds Museum, will discuss recent research at the Myer-Dickson portion of the Dickson Mounds site.August 3 , 2010 - Fort Constitution: A Revolutionary War Fortification - At 7 p.m. in the Dickson Mounds Museum auditorium, Dr. Michael Wiant will describe archaeological excavations of Revolutionary War fortifications on the Hudson River in New York.
September 7, 2010 - Dr. Michael Conner will review the three seasons of excavations at the Morton Village site on The Nature Conservancy's Emiquon Preserve conducted by Dickson Mounds Museum and Michigan State University.
October 5, 2010 - Lecture on the Future of the Study of Ancient Human Skeletal Remains - Dr. Michael Wiant, Dickson Mounds Museum Director, will give a presentation on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) titled "NAGPRA at 20: Has Anything Changed?"November 2, 2010 - Lecture on A Protohistoric Iroquoian Gorget from Near Alton - Dr. Lawrence Conrad, Western Illinois University, will give a presentation on A Protohistoric Iroquoian Gorget from Near Alton, Illinois. The lecture is at 7:00 p.m. at Dickson Mounds as part of the monthly meeting of the Illinois Valley Archaeological Society, which is open to the public.
December 7, 2010 - Illinois' First Pioneers: The Paleoindian and Archaic Peoples of Illinois -Brad Koldehoff, Cultural Resources Coordinator, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Illinois Department of Transportation. This lecture will focus on the earliest archaeological evidence of human settlement in Illinois.
2009 Programs
January 6, 2009 - In Search of Kaskaskia Cemeteries. Dawn Cobb, Michael Wiant, Kelvin Sampson, and Nick Klobuchar
February 3, 2009 - Big Eddy: A Stratified Paleoindian Site in Southwest Missouri. Dr. Michael Conner.
February 21, 2009 - The Grand Village of the Kickapoo and the tribe's role in early 19th century Illinois History. Dr. R. David Edmunds at McLean County History Museum, Bloomington, Illinois; by carpool, members only
February 22, 2009 - Artifact Identification Day; Afternoon Presentation: Artifacts from the Illinois State Museum Collection, Dr. Michael Wiant
March 3, 2009 - The Clyde Meador Dugout Canoe: Floating the LaMoine to the Past, Alan Harn
April 7, 2009 - 7 April: The Aztec World, Dr. Jonathan Reyman
April 11 or 18, 2009 - Field Trip: The Aztec World, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois; by motorcoach, open to the public.
Illinois Association for Advancement of Archaeology Annual meeting
May 5, 2009 -The Archaeology of Emiquon, Alan Harn and Sally McClure
June 2, 2009 - Morton Site Research, Dr. Michael Conner and Dr. Jodie O'Gorman.
June 20 or 27, 2009 - Field trip: Morton site tour; by carpool to Morton site, members only
July 11, 2009 - Saturday - Workshop: Developing an On-line Artifact Type Collection, Dickson Mounds archaeologists
August 4 , 2009 - Dr. Michael Wiant, Dickson Mounds Museum Director, will give a presentation on the Black Hawk War.
September 2009 - Archaeology Awareness Month Field trip: Rock River Archaeology and History: Rock Island, Prophetstown, Sterling (Sinissippi Mounds), Stillman Valley, and more; by carpool, members only
October 6, 2009 - IVAS member presentation
November 7, 2009 - Saturday - Workshop: Developing an On-line Artifact Type Collection, Dickson Mounds archaeologists
December 1, 2009 - The 2009 Morton Site Excavation. Dr. Michael Conner.
2008 Programs
January 8, 2008 - Dickson Mounds Museum archaeologist, Michael Conner gave a lecture titled "Searching for Slave Cemeteries on Barbados."
February 5, 2008 - Showing of the National Geographic film Mysteries Underground. This film devotes a segment to the archaeolgical remains found in Mammoth and other nearby caves in Kentucky. After the showing, Dickson Mounds Museum Exhibits Preparator Kelvin Sampson will describe IVAS participation in the production of this film.
March 4, 2008 - Mona Colburn of the Illinois State Museum, in Springfield, will discuss her research on the bats of Mammoth Cave.
April 1, 2008 -
May 6, 2008 -
June 3, 2008 -
July 1, 2008 - Jodie O'Gorman will discuss this summer's Michigan State University field school excavations she directed at the Morton Village site located near Dickson Mounds.
July 29 , 2008 - Greg Wilson will present a program titled "Mississippian Archaeology at the Moundville site in west-central Alabama."
September 2, 2008 - Dr. Michael Wiant presents a program describing the Dickison Mound Group, located near the Mossville, Illinois Caterpillar Tractor Company plant.
October 9, 2008 - The Big Read project showing of the film "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Discussion of the treatment of Native Americans in the film and in the middle 1800s will take place after the film showing.
November 4, 2008 -
December 2, 2008 -
2007 Programs
January 2, 2007 - No Meeting.
February 6, 2007 - Collections night. Members and guests will have the opportunity to view the Dickson Mounds Museum pottery vessel collection of nearly 500 examples available for viewing.
March 6, 2007 - The program will be a narrated slide lecture featuring photographs of Paleo Indian materials produced by Pete Bostrom, who owns and operates Lithic Casting Lab, in Troy, Illinois.
April 15, 2007 - IVAS will be held in conjunction with the Study of Ancient DNA lecture by Dr. Anne Stone hosted by the museum at 2 p.m.
May 1, 2007 - Laboratory Night. IVAS will begin the processing of a large collection of material recently donated to the Museum.
June 5, 2007 - The program will be a presentation by Illinois Transportaion Archaeological Research Program archaeologists describing their recent work along the proposed Route 336 project.
July 6, 2007 - The program will be a slide lecture by Dickson Mounds Museum Director Mike Wiant describing his travels to archaeological sites in China.
August 7, 2007 - The program will be a slide lecture by Michael Conner, Dickson Mounds Museum Curator of Anthropology, who will describe his research on Late Woodland remain in The Sny Bottom of Western Illinois.
September 23, 2007 - Meeting will be held in conjunction with Dickson Mounds Museum Archaeology Awareness Month Lecture. Alan Harn, Dickson Mounds Museum Curator of Anthropology, will present, "Igniting the Torch: Amateurs, Adventure, and the Advancement of American Archaeology." Through an analysis of pioneering excavations at Dickson, Ogden-Fettie, Liverpool, Tampico, Meyer, and the Washburn Ossuary, the defining role of central Illinois amateurs toward the birth of American archaeology is examined.
October 2, 2007 - Regular Meeting Night - Could be changed due to proposed field trip to Kampsville Museum and nearby archaeological sites on October 20.
November 6, 2007 - Lab night at Dickson Mounds.
December 8, 2007 - Field trip to Peoria's historic Springdale Cemetery. Guided tour to be presented by Rodger Kutzner.
2006 Programs
January 3, 2006 - 2006 Program Planning Meeting. Special viewing of Dickson Mounds Museum artifact type collection.
February 7, 2006 - Brag night. IVAS Members will tell their stories of how their interest in archaeology began.
March 7, 2006 - National Geographic Film: In the Shadow of Vesuvius - Since the days of the Roman Empire, Italy's Mount Vesuvius has erupted more than 50 times, devastating whole cities and towns. In A.D. 79 it destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, burying people alive as they ran to escape the volcano's fury. Lost and forgotten for more than 1,600 years, the once-thriving trade center of Pompeii has been successfully uncovered by archaeologists. At Herculaneum, human skeletons were found in a fatal embrace. Although Vesuvius is sleeping now, this active volcano is never far from the minds of the two million people who live in its shadow.
April 4, 2006 - IAAA Annual Meeting Planning Session. IVAS members will meet to finalize plans and the upcoming event.
April 22, 2006 - IAAA Annual Meeting at Dickson Mounds. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Business meeting, chapter reports, and archaeological lectures. The public is welcome to attend.
May 2, 2006 - Special showing of the film Ishi: The Last of the Yahi.
June 6, 2006 - Special viewing of the Dickson Mounds Lab and artifact type collections.
July 7, 2006 - Lecture by Larry Conrad on the WIU / Upper Mississippi River Valley Research Foundation excavations at the Orendorf site.
August 1, 2006 - Special presentation of Noval film "Averica's Stone Age Explorers".
September 17, 2006 - Meeting held in conjunction with Annual Archaeology Awareness Month event held by Dickson Mounds. Lecture by Dr. Michael Wiant on the Illinois Excavations of Greg Prenio.
October 3, 2006 - Special showing of the newly released film "The Early History of the Illinois Indians".
November 19, 2006 - Meeting held in conjunction with Dickson Mounds Archaeology Lecture Series presentation: King Tut and the age of Pharoahs, by Larry Conrad.
December 5, 2006 - I.V.A.S. Holliday Potluck.
2005 Programs
January 4, 2005 - Dickson Mounds Museum Director Mike Wiant presented "Humans in North America 50,000 Years Ago".
February 27, 2005 - Ivas will be held in conjunction with the Dickson Mounds Artifact Identification day events listed in the Special Programs section above.
March 13, 2005 - Ivas meeting held in conjunction with the Dickson Mounds program series. Dickson Mounds Museum Director, Michael Wiant, Ph.D., will present a slide-illustrated lecture titled "Peopling the Landscape" describing the human history of the Illinois River Valley, starting with the arrival of its earliest inhabitants.
April 5, 2005 - Dickson Mounds Museum Exhibit Preparator Kelvin Sampson will present a lecture titled The History of Modern Flintnapping: Do We Know as Much as We Think We Do?
May 3, 2005 - Dickson Mounds Museum Archaeologist Alan Harn will present a slide-illustrated lecture describing the excavation of Bison remains at the Lonza site.
June 18, 2005 - Field trip to Starved Rock, Buffalo Rock, and other points of interest.
July 5, 2005 - Dickson Mounds Museum Exhibit Preparator Kelvin Sampson will show slides from his recent tour of Southeastern Archaeological sites.
August 2, 2005 - Special showing of the film "Black Robe".
September 6, 2005 - Dickson Mounds Museum Director Mike Wiant will present a slide illustrated lecture: Hopewellian Disk Cores.
October 4, 2005 - Dickson Mounds Museum Exhibit Preparator Kelvin Sampson will present: Recent Finds Brought into the Museum.
November 1, 2005 - The Emiquon Audubon Society will convene together this month to learn about developments at the Nature Conservancy's Emiquon Wildlife Preserve, presented by Jason Beverlin, of the Illinois Nature Conservancy. The program is free and open to the public. Call (309) 547-3721 for details.
December 6, 2005 - Dickson Mounds Museum Archaeologist Alan Harn presented an update on this summer's excavations at the Lonza Bison Site.
2004 Programs
January 6, 2004 - Laurel Klindinst: Oral History of the Havana, Illinois River, Thompson Lake area.
February 3, 2004 - Kelvin Sampson, of Dickson Mounds Museum, presents "Archaeology on the Internet".
March 2, 2004 - Alan Harn, Dickson Mounds Museum Archaeologist, presents "The Buckeye Bend Site".
April 6, 2004 - Video Presentation - The Domain of the Calusa.
May 4, 2004 - Kelvin Sampson and Mike Wiant, of Dickson Mounds Museum, presents "Exhibit Planning and the Newell Site".
June 13, 2004 - IVAS Picnic at Dickson Mounds, 11:30 am. Program by Duane Esarey, Mysteries, Misdirection, Mishaps, and Misdeeds: The First 150 Years of Illinois River Maps, in the museum auditorium at 2 pm.
July 6, 2004 - Video Presentation "Interviews with the Choctaw of Western Tennessee".
August 3, 2004 - Video Presentation - "Part 2 of Interviews with the Choctaw of Western Tennessee".
August 28-29, 2004 - IVAS trip to sites in northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa.
September 7, 2004 - Powerpoint presentation by Kelvin Sampson featuring exhibits and sites visited during the August IVAS trip to northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa.
October 5, 2004 - Sally McClure, The Nature Conservancy, and Alan Harn, presented "The Emiquon Archaeo-Geological Project: Deep Views of the Past." This discussion will present new findings at Emiquon and feature a reassess- ment of its ever-changing human and geomorphological landscapes.
November 9, 2004 - Archaeology Meets Art History: The Imagery of Squier and Davis's Ancient Monuments. This program was presented by Dickson Mounds Museum Education Assistant Erika Nunamaker.
December 9, 2004 - Author to Share Memories of Family Fishing on the Illinois River. Author, scientist, and self-described former Illinois River rat Kenneth F. Higgins will share a slide-illustrated presentation titled Family-Operated Commercial Fishing on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers: A Passing Era in Cultural History. Higgins spent much of his childhood in Florence, Illinois. A third-generation commercial fisherman, Higgins will share images and memories of life along the Illinois River in the 1940s and 50s.
