ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AT
THE SANGAMO ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER
Elkhart, Illinois

MISSION

The mission of the Sangamo Archaeological Center is to provide a research, interpretive, and curatorial facility for archaeological sites and artifacts that fall outside of state or federally mandated study, salvage, or protection. The principal focus of the center’s activities and collections is on the American frontier period of the Midwest (c.1780-1850). From over ten years of salvage and research-based excavations, the Center has accumulated the most extensive collection of American-context, antebellum artifact assemblages in Illinois. The Sangamo Archaeological Center and the Under the Prairie Museum are supported by private funding, and receive no financial assistance from state or federal agencies. All research and interpretive programs at the Center are dependent on project sponsorships, memberships, tourism revenues, and publication sales. The Center also provides consultation services for historical societies and cultural resource management programs.