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Dr. John Kelly
Department of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
Washington University
Campus Box 1114
One Brookings Dr.
St. Louis, MO. 63130
jkelly@wustl.edu
Research Focus
My interest and expertise is in Eastern North American archaeology with a focus on the central Mississippi River Valley and the cultural developments related to Mississippian culture, especially the Cahokia site. A passionate interest in this center of Mississippian society began nearly thirty years ago. I have been involved in a number of survey and excavation projects in the Mississippi valley. IN addition to my initial field work at Cahokia between 1969 and 1972 with Beloit College, I directed the excavations at the large multicomponent Range site. Over 5000 prehistoric features and 600 structures were excavated in advance of an Interstate. The analysis of the materials from this site have resulted in the delineation of 25 occupational episodes that were extant between AD 600 and 1100. The configuration of the various communities provides significant insights into the principles of community organization prior to the emergence of Mississippian culture at AD 1000.
Most recently I have been involved in the rediscovery of the Mississippian mound center in East St. Louis. It was assumed that this mound center had been destroyed during the industrial and commercial development of East St. Louis. However, a study of the historical documents and collections housed in different institutions around the country along with recent excavations have provided evidence of the site’s existence in the backyards and alleys of the present city. Portions of five mounds have been identified as well as numerous prehistoric buildings and other features related to this once vibrant center. My earlier interest on Cahokia has now turned toward the area’s decline as a community. I also recently excavated an early Mississippian village in the uplands east of Cahokia. This has important implication on the role of ritual in the organization of space. Presently, my research is based upon the role of ritual and kinship in the mix of ingredients that contribute to the dispersal of the Mississippian population in the fourteenth century.
Courses
World Archaeology, Archaeological Excavations, Ceramic Analysis
Selected Publications
| 1995
|
Redefining Cahokia: Principles and Elements of Community Organization. In The Ancient Skies and Sky Watchers of Cahokia: Woodhenges, Eclipses, and Cahokian Cosmology, edited by Melvin L. Fowler. Wisconsin Archaeologist 77 (3-4):97-119. |
| 1997
|
Stirling-Phase Sociopolitical Activity at East St. Louis and Cahokia. In Cahokia: Domination and Ideology in the Mississippian World, edited by Timothy R. Pauketat and Thomas E. Emerson, pp. 141-166. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. |
| 2000
|
Introduction. In The Cahokia Mounds, Warren K. Moorehead. Edited by John E. Kelly. Classics in Southeastern Archaeology, Stephen Williams Series Editor, University of Alabama Press. |
| 2000
|
The Nature and and Context of Emergent Mississippian Cultural Dynamics in the Greater American Bottom. In Late Woodland Societies: Tradition and Transformation across the Midcontinent, edited by Thomas E. Emerson, Dale McElrath, and Andrew Fortier. University of Nebraska Press. |
| 2000
|
(James Brown, junior author) Cahokia and the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. To be published in Festschrift volume for Melvin Fowler, Mounds, Modoc, and Mesoamerica: Papers in Honor of Melvin L. Fowler, ed. By Steve R. Ahler. Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers. |