AE Harmon

AE Harmon is an archaeological site that was in use during the Archaic, Late Woodland, Emergent Mississippian, and Mississippian periods, according to the most recent archaeological evidence. This site is located near the American Bottom in modern-day Edwardsville, Illinois. There were a total of three recorded excavations; one took place during the 1990s by the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Contract Archaeology Program (CAP) and the two others took place during the early 2000s. A number of features were excavated, uncovering various different artifacts, plant remains and providing evidence for during which the site was in use. With all the data gained, it was predicted that AE Harmon was a horticultural environment.

In 1990, the SIUE CAP conducted a shovel-test on the site. They excavated a structure partially that was in the shape of a keyhole which was about 100 meters east of the excavation that took place in 2002, and it was dated to the Late Woodland Period. In 2000, about 10 meters south of AE Harmon was excavated by the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP). This site was dated to the Late Woodland, Emergent Mississippian and Mississippian Periods. In 2002, the students of SIUE archaeology field school took place at the AE Harmon site and about 0.2% of the site was excavated. During these most recent excavations in 2002, there was a total of eight features excavated. The students found new paleoethnobotanical evidence and data that proves the site's use and occupation during the Late Woodland and Emergent Mississippian Periods.

There were 8 features in total that were excavated during the 2002 excavations that were done by the archaeology field school of SIUE.

Pit feature 101 was one of the features that was located on the western side of the site. It was the deepest pit (50 cm) on that block of the excavation area and was similar in characteristics to F102 and F106, in that they all had dark, organic and artifact-rich sediment. Late Woodland ceramics were discovered in this pit, which helped archaeologists understand the function of the pit. It was a storage pit that was, over time, converted into a trash receptacle.

Pit feature 102 was located on the eastern side of the site. Similarly to F101, this pit was deep (75 cm) and was characterized by dark, organic, and artifact-rich sediment. Late Woodland and Late Woodland Sponemann (750-800 CE) phase ceramics were found in this pit. These periods were identified through a typology of notches that were on the exterior of the ceramic rims, such as Z-twist cord-markings. In this pit there were also several arrow points found dating to the Late Woodland-Emergent Mississippian period.

Feature 103 was not a pit; F103 was a small structure located on the eastern side of the site that looked like a keyhole because it had an entry ramp and 25 post molds that resembled wall structures along the perimeter of the feature. This feature was revealed when F102 was being expanded. Various types of pottery were discovered towards the center of the structure consisting of vessels, jars and stump-ware. There was also a rim sherd found on the entry ramp that had Sponemann typology markings. This led archaeologists to believe this feature and related features, such as F102, dated to the Sponemann phase.

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).