User:Amyxlam/sandbox

The Booker Site is located in Sny Bottom of the Mississippi Valley. The investigations for this site began during August and September of 1990 by the Contract Archaeology Program of the Center for American Archaeology. Excavations for this site began in 1993 was in Pike County, Illinois, where it was assumed to be a burial site. This site is a fourteenth century burned Mississippian house that consisted of four pits. This site is located southwest of a town called New Canton, which shows that this site is near local communities. There are 42 habitation sites found in Sny Bottom of the Mississippi Valley, and most of them show a mound-like shape, but are not necessarily burial mounds. These sites manufactured late shell-tempered ceramics, but it is still unknown to whether these sites date to the Mississippian period. There are no indications of who inhabited this site, but compared to other sites in Sny Bottom, this could be a small farmstead. By analyzing the lithic and other eco facts that were found in the Booker site, this suggests that the inhabitants of this site focused on hunting and horticultural activities. With the use of radiocarbon dating, the investigators were able to conclude the Booker Site was occupied in post-A.D. 1300.

Excavation
The archaeological techniques that were used to excavate this site were systematic sampling and flotation for the eco facts. Because the excavators assumed that the Booker site was burial mound, they separated each test unit into square levels and excavate the square levels into an A and B horizon. Although the archaeologists that investigated this site were the Contract Archaeology Program of the Center for American Archaeology (CAA), the botanical analysis was determined by the Marjorie Schroeder of The Illinois State Museum that determined the botanical analysis. With the cooperations of the landowners, Marvin and Candy Booker, the archaeologists were able to collect the artifacts to determine the purpose. The major findings at this site were lithic, such as arrow points, biface fragments, retouched flakes, and an end scraper; some ceramics, such as jars, plates, and bowls; daub was another major find, which are thick pieces of baked clay; and faunal, such as burned and unburned bones. This site is significant to understand the area Sny Bottom in the Mississippi Valley. This area contained many sites that were found, most of them relating to the Booker site, like the McFarland site.