Gretchen Farrell, left, and Noelle Ridolfi (top photo) excavate a section of soil as students in the SIU Carbondale Archaeology Field School search for artifacts. Natalie Eves (second photo) screens the soil, where she found a ceramic button (sixth photo). Paulo Mendes Da Cunha (fifth photo) takes notes on students’ findings, which also include a medallion (third photo) with the seal of Illinois and location of a cistern at the Simpson Tavern site (fourth photo). (Photos by Russell Bailey)
June 06, 2025
SIU’s Archaeology Field School seeks one of Southern Illinois’ earliest homesteads
CARBONDALE, Ill. — A Southern Illinois University Carbondale student team is searching for possibly one of the earliest Anglo-American homesteads in Southern Illinois.
Natalie Eves, an aspiring forensic anthropologist and junior in the program, said revealing history — including insight into a homestead built more than 200 years ago — is much more exciting than reading about it. Eves found her niche while attending a similar field school as a high school junior.
“It was an eye-opening moment,” said Eves, a University Honors Program student from Bloomington, Illinois. “I love history, but archaeology and anthropology allow you to be able to actually tell the stories of the people based on what you are seeing rather than historically. Many times, history is written by the winners, and instead, I have the chance to see what the normal, everyday people were doing.”
Eves is one of 12 students, most of them SIU anthropology majors, who are spending six weeks through June 27 on the project in Johnson County.
Media availability
The work by the 2025 SIU Carbondale Archaeology Field School in Johnson County presents a great opportunity for reporters, photographers and news crews to visit the site on weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through June 27. The location is about five miles east of Vienna in a remote location on U.S. Forest Service property and will require about a 30-minute walk into the woods. To arrange for a specific time for interviews, contact Matthew C. Greer, assistant professor in anthropology, in advance at matthew.greer@siu.edu and follow up at least one day ahead of time to finalize arrangements. More photos are available upon request. Contact Pete Rosenbery at prosen@siu.edu.
Utilizing oral and documented histories
This is the first year the field school has been at this location, which is about five miles east of Vienna on U.S. Forest Service property. Matthew Greer, an assistant professor of anthropology, said Forest Service officials recommended the site.
An oral history notes William Simpson, who came to the area in 1805, built a homestead and tavern, but other documentation suggests the Simpsons arrived in 1817, Greer said.
“We are hoping that the archeology can figure out which of the two stories is correct,” he said.
In the first week, the team found a piece of a plate that dates to the time period, along with other items believed to be in the mid- to late 19th century. Flags that denote the location of two cisterns could signal the home is nearby because cisterns tended to be on the corners of houses, Greer said.
“We are finding a lot of really good items,” he said. “We found a little medallion with the seal of Illinois on it. I don’t know what it is yet. We need to clean it up a bit more to see the writing on it. We have a good selection of artifacts of 19th century life out here. But we have other indications that this might be an earlier site, and it’s possible that as we continue to dig we will find some earlier artifacts.”
The students and professor also believe they might have determined the location of the house.
“If this is correct, then we might be able to dig and see if we get older artifacts with the house.”
‘Giant game of battleship’
Prior to the field school start on May 19, Greer and others began their search by digging shovel test pits — small holes about one foot in diameter--in five-meter (about 16.4-foot) grids. A general concentration of artifacts was enough to flag 24 separate sections for review.
“For the most part, it’s a giant game of battleship,” Greer said. “We know there is something out here. We’ve done our initial grid, and now we are just looking to see if we get a hit somewhere.
“What we really want to hit is storage pits. If this was a tavern, there will be pits for storing food in the backyard area. If we hit one of those, we will have a good collection of early 19th century artifacts. If we can find one of those, we can come back next year and do more research on this.”
Different field study location
This year’s field school is a departure from recent field schools at the Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site in Randolph County. Zoe Milam, a senior from Highland, Illinois, will graduate with a degree in anthropology in December. This year’s location is in a more wooded area and recent heavy rains made the dirt clump and more difficult to sift. But Milam was excited with the process and what she and her classmates might find.
“This year we are finding pieces of glass, coal, and ceramics that people used. I like how much different it is this year. It’s a good experience to be in different locations,” she said.
Milam wants to pursue a master’s degree and a career in cultural anthropology. She is fascinated with archaeology and the stories the findings can unlock.
“My dad said I always loved finding treasures whenever I go out and explore. I never really thought about that until I was looking for a major,” she said. “It’s a very broad topic, which I really like. You can learn so many things. I also just love digging in the dirt and finding artifacts. It’s cool to learn about the history of where you are digging.”
Nicholas Palma of Struthers, Ohio, is attending his first field school after graduating from Youngstown State University in 2022 with a degree in anthropology.
“I just really wanted to find a job that allowed me to work outside and travel. I really enjoy learning new things and learning about new people in the area,” he said. “I felt like archaeology was a really good way to incorporate all of that into a possible career. “
Palma is looking to gain experience through the field school to find a job in cultural resource management (professional archaeology done to minimize the impact construction has on archaeological sites) and then go to graduate school.
Eves’ background includes time in Romania researching what bones in a medieval grave reveal about a person's life in the culturally Hungarian part of that country. She presented “The Osteobiography of Life in Medieval Hungary: The Case of Individual 823” at the American Association of Biological Anthropologists over spring break and is one of only five students in the country chosen to serve on the National Collegiate Honors Council Board of Directors. After graduate school, Eves said, she would like to become a professor and work with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to help identify and honor missing service members.
Digging, then research
Greer, who joined SIU’s anthropology program in August 2024, said he was always interested in history but became attracted to archaeology because he “didn’t want to sit in an archive and do research all day. I wanted to be out in the woods, so I’m getting to do that.”
He mused, however, that he now spends a great deal of time in archives doing background research.
“Every hour in the field is about three hours in the lab,” Greer said.
Nearby, Eves found a small piece of glass with some writing on it as she scraped away thin layers of dirt about eight inches below the surface. Earlier, she had found a button, possibly from a garment, which would have been discovered only by carefully sifting dirt through a screen.
Greer said the glass could have been a piece from a medicine bottle.
“We will take it back to the lab. It will get washed and eventually it will get cataloged, so we know how big it is and how heavy it is,” Greer said. “We will get photographs and then do some research to figure out what that writing would have said. I don’t know if we will be able to with those few letters. If it had more letters, we could get a sense of what type of medicine this was and where it was being made. We will chase out details like that offsite.”
Greer said he hopes to do public outreach and work with the Johnson County Genealogical and Historical Society.
“I think it will be good for the students to learn to talk about archaeology and to let the public know what we are doing here at SIU,” he said.
The 12 college-level students involved in field school activities this summer are:
- Abel Dorris, senior, anthropology, West Frankfort, Illinois.
- Natalie Eves, junior, anthropology, teaching assistant, Bloomington, Illinois.
- Gretchen Farrell, senior, anthropology, Geneva, Illinois.
- Abigail Henry, senior, anthropology, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.
- Katherine Inboden, senior, university studies, Johnston City, Illinois.
- Paulo Mendes Da Cunha, doctoral student, anthropology, teaching assistant, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Zoe Milam, senior, anthropology, Highland, Illinois.
- Nicholas Palma, anthropology graduate, Youngstown State University, Struthers Ohio.
- Chandler Phemister, junior, anthropology, Marion, Illinois.
- Cassie Richardson, sophomore, anthropology, Dyer County, Tennessee
- Noelle Ridolfi, senior, anthropology, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.
- Rhi Taylor, senior, anthropology, and languages, cultures and international studies, Charleston, Illinois.