EAST ST LOUIS, ILLINOIS—For the past two years, scientists from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey have been analyzing the artifacts they recovered during their work to clear land for the construction of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge across the Mississippi River. They’ve concluded that the city, located near Cahokia Mounds, was an immigration center that flourished for about 150 years. “This is the first big city in North America. Now we have details, and it’s—wow. Some conjecture had been that all Cahokia moved to East St. Louis, but that’s not it,” chief state archaeologist Brad Koldehoff told The News-Democrat. The team has identified pottery from southern Missouri or northern Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin, suggesting that the immigrants brought their own pottery with them. Eventually those pots were replaced with pots made in the local style, however. “The bowls become smaller…less like group eating from big communal bowls,” said research archaeologist Alleen Betzenhauser. Arrowheads from North Dakota, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wisconsin were also found. “Most every other tool was made locally,” added research archaeologist Steve Boles. But the site had been nearly abandoned by about 1200. “There is evidence of severe drought,” explained Tamira Brennan, the interim field station manager for the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. For more on prehistoric immigration to the area, see "Cahokia Was a Melting Pot."
