Introduction
The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 for its significance as a major Native American mound center and prehistoric trading post along the Ohio River.
Adjacent to the Ohio River, the site straddles the modern-day counties of Massac County and Pope County in deep southern Illinois, an area colloquially known as Little Egypt. The site was the subject of major excavations by the University of Chicago from 1934–1941, during which a number of famous anthropologists and archaeologists were trained under the direction of Fay-Cooper Cole, including Richard MacNeish, discoverer of the origins of maize. Exploration with new technology and excavations by teams from Southern Illinois University since 2003 has yielded significant new data.
The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency owns and operates an area including several mounds in Massac County. This includes the majority of the estimated 141-acre (0.57 km2) area contained within a wooden palisade, as well as an undefined area of additional occupation to the west. The Pope County portion is privately owned.
When the University of Chicago excavated Kincaid in the 1930s and 1940s, nine mounds were identified on the site's Massac County portion. In 2003, a tenth mound was identified; a small mound that was later covered with a midden, it lies along the road almost straddling the county line on the southeastern corner of the town plaza. Chicago archaeologists excavated around this mound, but they chose to include it on their list of possible mounds due to a lack of clarity about its identity. Identification of this portion of the site as an artificial earthwork came after Southern Illinois University returned to the site in 2003 for the purpose of re-excavating the hills that had been seen as possible mounds.
Read more about this topic: Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site
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