Swan Island Site

The Swan Island Site is an archaeological site in Crawford County, Illinois, located north of the point where the Wabash River crosses the Lawrence County line. The shell midden site, located on a sandstone ridge in the Wabash River flood plain, was inhabited by people of the Riverton culture in the Late Archaic period. As of 1978, it is one of three known sites associated with the culture, which lived in the central Wabash Valley and had distinct methods of making tools. Archaeologists first found the site in the 1950s, and Dr. Howard Winters of the Illinois State Museum began excavations there in 1961.[3]

Swan Island Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Vicinity of the site; it lies in the treeline in the background
Location	Northern side of the junction of the Wabash River and the Crawford/Lawrence county line[1]
Nearest city	Palestine, Illinois
Coordinates	38°51′10″N 87°32′14″W
Area	3.5 acres (1.4 ha)
NRHP reference No.	78001142[2]
Added to NRHP	December 18, 1978

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1978.[2] It is one of three archaeological sites on the National Register in Crawford County; the other two are the Riverton Site and the Stoner Site, the other two known Riverton culture sites as of 1978.

See also

• List of archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois

Notes

1. Location derived from Winters, Howard Dalton. The Riverton Culture: A Second Millenium [sic] Occupation in the Central Wabash Valley. Springfield: Illinois State Museum and Illinois Archaeological Survey, 1969, 16. The NRIS lists the site as "Address Restricted".
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. Maruszak, Kathleen, and Debi A. Jones. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Swan Island Site. National Park Service, 1987-08.