Walk and Talk at Therkildsen Field Station at Emiquon: "Ongoing Archeology of the Morton Site"

WHAT: The public is invited to an open house for the Morton Site archeology dig at the Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve. An introductory lecture will be presented by Michael Conner, Associate Curator of Anthropology from Dickson Mounds Museum, Lewistown, IL.

WHEN: Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Alfred O. and Barbara Cordwell Therkildsen Field Station at Emiquon (formerly the Emiquon Field Station) near Lewistown, Illinois

DETAILS: Conner will discuss the significance of the Morton Site excavation, which has been investigated for three years in collaboration with researchers from Michigan State University. This dig is the latest in a series of digs on or near Emiquon since the 1930s. The most recent discoveries about this village site dating from A.D. 1300 will be introduced. Visitors will then take a short walk (or drive) from the Field Station to the Morton Site to view the activities of the scientists.

UIS’ Therkildsen Field Station is at The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve, located between Havana, IL and Lewistown, IL near the Dickson Mounds Museum. The program is free and open to the public; reservations are not required. Entrance to the field station is on Prairie Road, located off Illinois Rts. 97/78, approximately one-and-a-half miles north of the Dickson Mounds turnoff. A sign will be posted at the turnoff and a map is also available online at www.uis.edu/emiquon/.

Everyone entering the property will be asked to sign a liability waiver. Participants younger than 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult and must have their waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian

For more information, contact Michael Lemke, Director of the Therkildsen Field Station at Emiquon, at lemke.michael@uis.edu or 217/206-7339.

Photo courtesy Michigan State University