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| In Chicago Before History by Charles W. Markman, the following is stated: |
| "Chicago is located where the drainage areas of the Illinois and Mississippi
rivers meet the Great Lakes. The Chicago Lake Plain, particularly the south
side of Cook County, encompasses extensive marshes where prehistoric sites
occur in high density. While the prairies of northern Illinois and Indiana
were a zone of unpredictable and relatively sparse resources, the well-watered
Lake Plain was an oasis of fish, edible plants and aquatic animals that
was of great importance to the prehistoric people of the region."
"Significant to the prosperity of prehistoric peoples is the region
described as morainal--this region was once the high-ground adjacent to
and staging above flood-levels from overflow of Lake Michigan/Chicago Lake
Plain. What this means is that peoples living within this zone
"The Chicago Lake Plain has yeilded very little in the way of artifactual evidence of prehistoric occupation. In contrast, and contradicting previous studies, the morainal zone has produced more artifacts than had been thought possible--and to boot, the significant balance of artifacts currently being recorded by Margo Hupe are from the Paleo- and Early Archaic-Periods. There seems, at least thus far, to be a greater number of sites representing these periods than there are later ones--a significant point in understanding prehistoric peoples' usage of resources, and one which demarks the region as probably less suitable during later periods to support large groups of people for long periods." |
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