Center for American Archeology

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Center for American Archeology, or CAA, is an is an independent non-profit 501(c)3 research and education institution nestled along the banks of the Illinois River in scenic Calhoun County in Kampsville, Illinois dedicated to the culture of prehistoric Native Americans.

Founded on what is often referred to as the "Nile of North America," the region surrounding the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Illinois River, the Center for American Archeology specializes in North American pre-Columbian cultures of the area, which is particularly rich in Woodland Period, especially Middle Woodland Hopewell culture, and Mississippian culture artifacts. The center is located about 90 minutes from the Cahokia mounds of Cahokia, Illinois.

Their website can be found at [1]

Taken from [2] :

Originally formed in 1953, the CAA's mission is to discover and disseminate the unwritten story of earlier Americans' lifeways, accomplishments, and changing natural environment. Through integrated programs of archeological investigation, educational outreach and cultural stewardship, the CAA strives to accomplish this mission.

From 1968-1979, the CAA and Northwestern University conducted investigations at the Koster Site in Greene County, Illinois. This location was home to many communities over 10,000 years of human occupation recorded at the site, with at least 26 separate living Horizon (archaeological) defined. Major villages were present at Koster ca. 3300, 5000, and 6600 BC. Archeologists found evidence of the earliest house structures in North America, one of the earliest domesticated dog burials in the new world (5000 BC), millions of artifacts, and evidence of extensive trade networks that stretched from Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The Koster Site set the standard for multidisciplinary archeological investigation, and reshaped how archeologists have come to understand the lifeways of the prehistoric peoples of North America. Thousands of professional and avocational archeologists worldwide consider their time spent in a Koster Site field school to be a formative experience.

Hundreds of visitors to the CAA continue to visit the Koster Site yearly, and enjoy tours of the adjacent Koster South Site. Archeologists are still learning about the prehistory of the Lower Illinois River Valley.

The Kamp Store is the CAA's Visitor’s Center & Museum. It is a converted early 1900s mercantile building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Information about Programs, Visitor Information and Membership can be found at [3], [4] and [5], respectively.