Protohistory at the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia: The Illinois Country on the Eve of Colony

The Zimmerman site (11LS13), or the Grand Village of the Illinois, is the largest protohistoric site in Illinois and was home to the Kaskaskia band of the Illinois Confederacy during much of the seventeenth century. Excavations began there in 1947, and the researchers eventually defined the suite of pottery types known as the "Danner Series" that is affiliated with the Illinois. In 2010, the largest archaeological sample from the Zimmerman site, excavated between 1970 and 1972 (and believed lost by the 1990s), was relocated and reexamined. This has resulted in a clearer picture of the mid-seventeenth-century occupation of the site, the nature of traditional technologies at the close of prehistory in the region, and the character of the Illinois's initial response to imported European goods. REVIEW: Protohistory at the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia: The Illinois Country on the Eve of Colony is a beautifully produced scholarly and highly readable volume and an invaluable addition to the literature on the Late Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Early Historic periods of the region.... The amount of information packed into this relatively small volume (only 175 pages, counting front material, the ten chapters, and bibliography) is stunning. The use of color photographs of artifacts throughout is highly commendable considering how many of the illustrated artifacts are European trade goods and/or Native remanufactured items. They provide an invaluable comparative reference for others working in the Protohistoric and Early Historic periods throughout Great Lakes and Midwestern regions. -Jeffrey Behm, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh