<p> This paper investigates geographical conditions that may have helped the establishment of settlements throughout the American Bottom Region of the Middle Mississippi River Valley dating to the Mississippian Period. Archaeological sites and various geographical variables are obtained from many sources, including the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency central database, LiDAR digital elevation models, reconstructed pre Columbian landscape landform assemblage maps, soils data compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture, and geographic proximity models generated using a GIS. The known archaeological sites are pooled with a sample of non-sites from the study area. The entire sample of sites and non-sites is modelled in a logistical regression to distinguish sites from non-sites through qualitative and quantitative geographical variables. This analysis reveals that people living in the American Bottom region at the time of the establishment of the Mississippian period appear to have settled in areas that were relatively higher in elevation on the landscape, that were suitable for farming, and were possibly in the nearby vicinity of natural resources including access to fresh water and minerals.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10275281 |
| Date | 16 June 2017 |
| Creators | Klein, John |
| Publisher | Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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