Modoc Rock Shelter

Modoc Rock Shelter. . This sandstone bluff provided shelter for Native American groups beginning shortly after the Ice Age, then continuing for almost 8000 years. Periodic floods from the Mississippi River and nearby Barbeau Creek buried the abandoned camps, creating 25-feet of layered archaeological deposits., Excavations uncovered well-preserved hearths, tools, and food remains (animal bones, shells, and plant remains). Archaeologists, botanists, zoologists, and geologists studied these remains to determine how the environment and culture of the Native Americans changed through time. , (clockwise:), Projectile Points - These points were fastened on shafts and thrown with a spear thrower., Perforator - This deer bone perforator was used to punch holes in hide and other materials., Freshwater Mussel Shell - Native Americans ate mussel meat and sometimes used the shells for spoons and scrapers., Bannerstone - Made from banded slate, this tool was used as a weight on a spear thrower , Pitted cobble - Native Americans used these to make stone tools and crack and grind seeds., Preforms - These flaked-chert preforms would later be modified into projectile points and other tools., The shelter has a long history of archaeological research. Archaeologists from the Illinois State Museum and the University of Chicago excavated here in the 1950s. The Museum and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee returned to carry out additional work in the 1980s, Modoc Rock Shelter is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. Further information on this site can be obtained from the Illinois State Museum in Springfield. Please remember that it is against the law to collect artifacts or excavate at this site.