Two village sites of the Illini have been investigated by the Illinois
State Museum, one near Utica, LaSalle County (jointly with the
University of Chicago) and one in Randolph County near the mouth of the
Kaskaskia River. This last site was occupied for over a century by
descendants of the Kaskaskias and other Illini tribes. Except for a
small area where Archaic artifacts are found, it is a “pure” site.
The Illini tools, weapons and ornaments of native make were the usual
chipped flint triangular arrowheads, simple flint drills and scrapers,
rough stone hammers and abrading stones, small ground stone pendants,
polished stone “Micmac” or “keel-based” pipe bowls (many of catlinite),
the long-stemmed L-shaped catlinite pipes (sometimes called “Siouan”),
and cut and engraved bone ornaments. An arrowshaft straightener carries
an etching of a buffalo cow. Pottery is rare, but the pieces found in
association with European trade goods are characteristically Middle
Mississippian.
[Illustration: Fig. 37. European trade goods and artifacts made from
European materials. All from Illini village near mouth of Kaskaskia
River, Randolph County. A, conical arrowhead of sheet copper; B,
chipped glass arrowhead; C, brass arrowhead; D, hammer of flintlock
gun; E, iron blade of clasp knife; F, an iron scissor-blade; G, part
of a jew’s-harp.]
The Illini made artifacts from fragments of European materials, iron
spear- and arrowheads, brass and chipped glass arrowheads, brass
pendants, and beads of broken porcelain.
European trade materials far exceed in number the native products.
Usually they are fragmentary (except for colored glass beads of many
kinds): parts of copper and brass kettles, iron handles, gun hammers and
other parts, lead balls and the molds for making them, molds for casting
crosses and ornaments, iron spoons, kitchen and clasp knife blades of
iron, “Dutch” white pottery pipes, scissors, jew’s-harps, bottles for
wine and olive oil, brass buttons and finger rings.
The Illini seem to have cast lead into musket balls and chipped gun
flints into shape but beyond that made no attempt to learn machine-age
technologies. For firearms, gunpowder, iron knives and hatchets they
were wholly dependent on the white invaders, a great disadvantage in
event of hostilities and one that eventually cost them ownership of
their ancient homelands.