Gregory Vogel

Projects and On-Line Papers:

This is a regular newspaper column about archeology and the history and prehistory of western Illinois. I began writing this column in early 2007 for the Calhoun News Herald, Jersey County Press, and Pike Prairie Press. I'll post them here shortly after they are printed.

Geoarchaeology Weekend Workshop

I teach weekend workshops in geoarchaeology at the Center for American Archeology. These are intensive, 2-day classes appropriate for undergraduates, graduate students, and professional archaeologists seeking to further their understanding of soils, sediments, and the overall field of geoarchaeology.

	Gregory Vogel I am an archaeologist currently living and working in Kampsville, Illinois, at the Center for American Archeology. I have a position here as Director of Research, sponsored by a postdoctoral position at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. This site contains a few of my archaeologically related papers and projects, and I hope to add more soon. If you are interested in some non-academic papers and photo essays I'm putting on-line just for fun, you can find them here.
(Home) (PO Box 61) 310 Oak St. Kampsville, Illinois 62053	(Office) Center for American Archeology PO Box 366 Kampsville, Illinois 62053	Curriculum Vitae
E-mail: gvogel@caa-archeology.org Phone: (618) 653-4316
	Recent additions to this site: Added a page about the Center for American Archeology's Geoarchaeology Weekend Workshops I teach several times each years. Added a section to the Historical Metrology and a Reconsideration of the Toltec Module page, replying to questions posed by Nancy White in a recent issue of the Arkansas Archeologist. Added new essay to Resources for Anthropology Students and Teachers What does it mean to be “interdisciplinary”, and why does it matter? Musings on Lewis E. Lawes, prison reform, archaeology, and the environment.

	This Month in Archeology This is a regular newspaper column about archeology and the history and prehistory of western Illinois. I began writing this column in early 2007 for the Calhoun News Herald, Jersey County Press, and Pike Prairie Press. I'll post them here shortly after they are printed.
	Resources for Anthropology Students and Teachers These pages contains several handouts, readings, and other material I've written or compiled over several years of teaching anthropology and archaeology courses. I'm putting them on-line to make them more accessible to current students, and to share with anyone else who may want to use them. Feel free to e-mail me with comments or suggestions!
	Geoarchaeology Weekend Workshop I teach weekend workshops in geoarchaeology at the Center for American Archeology. These are intensive, 2-day classes appropriate for undergraduates, graduate students, and professional archaeologists seeking to further their understanding of soils, sediments, and the overall field of geoarchaeology.
	Schumann Cemetery Sponsored by a Grant from the History Channel's Save Our History program, this project is a collaborative effort between the Center for American Archeology and Calhoun and Carrollton High Schools to record historic Schumann Cemetery in Kampsville, Illinois.
Watercolor by William Flanagan, © 2004	Evergreen Cemetery I am a board member of Fayetteville's Evergreen Cemetery, and director of the Evergreen Cemetery Recording Project. This project has involved over 200 students and about 50 local volunteers to map and record, in detail, all permanent features of the cemetery. The mapping and recording are nearly complete, and much of the data has been integrated into a GIS relational database.
	Historical Metrology and a Reconsideration of the Toltec Module Archaeologists and other researchers have occasionally "discovered" measurement systems used by prehistoric people in North America and elsewhere. This paper demonstrates serious problems with these discoveries. Methodologically and theoretically, deriving prehistoric measurement systems from the evidence left to us today is difficult if not impossible in nearly all situations. The "Toltec Module" is one such fatally flawed measurement. More than just debunking the Toltec Module, this paper also explores the methods and theories behind cryptometrology (the search for past units of measurement), and systems of measurement in general.
	Mounds in the Northern Caddo Area An outline and explanation of my dissertation research, along with the full dissertation text in PDF format. The dissertation is a study of late prehistoric mounds constructed in the Northern Caddo Area of northwestern Arkansas, northeastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Missouri. The study concentrates on the relationship of the mounds to the landscape - how they are situated in relation to arable bottomland, and from how large of an area on the landscape the mounds were visible. Both of these factors have implications for the environmental adaptations and social structures of the people who built the mounds.
	Cavanaugh Mound in Fort Smith, Arkansas This paper summarizes previous investigations, brings new evidence to light, and raises new questions concerning Cavanaugh Mound, a late prehistoric earthen structure located in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Cavanaugh is mostly intact and well-preserved for a mound of this age in this region. There appears to be no associated village area, and no other associated mounds, making Cavanaugh somewhat unusual. It is likely that it was associated with the Spiro site, about 15 km to the west, but this has yet to be definitely established.
	Macomb and Abert's 1870 Map of the Arkansas River A map of the Arkansas River made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1870. The map was intended for navigation purposes and covers the river from Fort Gibson, Oklahoma (which was then Indian Territory), to Little Rock, Arkansas.The map is wonderfully detailed and shows a great number of natural and cultural features that are now long forgotten or under the water of reservoirs. The map consists of 82 individual sheets. I have scanned and indexed each of these, and plan to georeference them to modern coordinates.
	Earthworms and Archaeology: The Unlikely Story of a Tiny Slimy Hero This web page concerns earthworms and archaeology. Does this seem to be an unlikely combination of topics? Understanding how earthworms affect the soil (and therefore the artifacts within the soil) is actually quite important in archaeological research. On this page, you can read an article I wrote about earthworms and archaeology (originally published in Worm Digest), view a gallery of bioturbation and other forms of soil mixing, and learn why Charles Darwin yelled at worms.
	An Assessment of Prairie Mound Origin Theories at University of Arkansas Experimental Farms A paper concerning prairie mounds: their possible origins and their connection to archaeology. Includes an extensive bibliography of prairie mound references.
	Historic Potteries in Illinois Throughout much of the 1800s, more than 400 historic potteries produced ceramic wares in Illinois. This page contains a slideshow I made to accompany an exhibit concerning these potteries in Illinois at the Center for American Archeology Museum and Visitor Center.