Friday, June 15, 2012

Native American Mounds Outside of Chicago

A Native American Mound has survived the test of time when it was rediscovered in a suburb outside of Chicago.  Rolling Meadows resident Tom Hahn found the mound after searching through old maps.  The mound is on commercial property right now.  From the story in the Daily Herald, the following describes the re-discovery:


In 1919, a researcher for the Chicago Historical Society named Albert Scharf recorded the existence of an American Indian mound among the prairie land and farms northwest of the city, an area then best known as Palatine Township.
In 2011, Rolling Meadows resident Tom Hahn has virtually rediscovered the mound — almost miraculously undisturbed amid office buildings, apartment complexes and restaurants along bustling Algonquin Road in Schaumburg.
Because the mound is recorded on the agency’s maps, an archaeological survey of the site would have to precede the moving of any earth — even if the mound itself were no longer there, Blanchette said. The state automatically is notified of a pending development through the permitting process even if the municipality issuing the permit isn’t itself aware of a site’s historic or environmental significance, he said.

Mr. Hahn found the old record at a public library while he was doing some research on old cemeteries in the area.


Native American Mounds have been opened up and studied.  They include old skeletons and sometimes artifacts.  This mound should be studied, but by a professional as the area may be related to Atztalan that is in Wisconsin and Cahokia that is in Illinois.  I do believe the Mississipian people were connected and used the main waterways for travel, trade, and living.


There are other places outside of Chicago that contain Native American mounds (most have been destroyed).  The Winfield Mounds is the site of an ancient pre-historic culture.  According to the Winfield Mounds site:


Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve was named for burial mounds of pre-historic Native Americans who lived along the West Branch of the DuPage River. The three mounds at this site are dome-shaped and set in a triangular pattern and are the only documented pre-historic burial site in DuPage County. The mounds lie west of the river, along the edge of a mature oak-hickory forest. After vandals dug up the mounds in the 1920s, and subsequent digs by the University of Chicago and Wheaton College, it is believed that nothing more remains in the mounds.
Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve currently stands as an undeveloped, natural area consisting of restored savannas, open fields and prairie, with the West Branch of the DuPage River flowing through it.

Again, these are probably ancient burial sites that should be respected.  I've already talked about the Galena Mounds and the Aztalan location.  I will be visiting Cahokia some time in the future and will post an article when I do.  But I believe many of these mound cultures are related and perhaps far older then thought.


By Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)



Source:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110509/news/705099959/

http://www.dupageforest.com/Conservation/ForestPreserves/Winfield_Mounds.html

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