Riverton Site
The Riverton Site is an archaeological site located immediately west of the Wabash River and northeast of Palestine, Illinois. The site, which dates from the Late Archaic period, is the type site of the Riverton culture. The Riverton culture, of which only three known sites had been discovered as of 1978, inhabited the central Wabash Valley and had distinct methods of making tools. The remains at the Riverton site can be separated into two areas: a manufacturing area with pits and a significant number of discarded tools, and a residential area with the clay floors of homes. The site was first noticed in the 1950s, and Dr. Frank Winters of the Illinois State Museum began excavations at the site in 1961.[3]
Riverton Site | |
 Fields at the site | |
   | |
| Location | Northern side of 1150th Avenue immediately west of the Wabash River, northeast of Palestine[1] |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Palestine, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 39°1′18″N 87°34′32″W |
| NRHP reference No. | 78001141 |
| Added to NRHP | December 18, 1978[2] |
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 sites, the Swan Island Site and the Stoner Site, were the other two known Riverton culture sites as of 1978.
Notes
- 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, 18. The NRIS lists the site as "Address Restricted".
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- Maruszak, Kathleen, and Debi A. Jones. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Riverton Site. National Park Service, 1978-08.
