Return to Sangamo Town

Abstract

This article discusses the results of research-based excavations at the Charles Broadwell site, located in the extinct town of Sangamo Town in central Illinois. A large cellar feature produced a robust sample of consumer goods dating to circa 1825–1845. Of interest is the archaeological signature of a well-appointed home in this frontier community; the character of mass-produced goods and the visibility of consumer patterning; the visibility of folk goods and their affiliated practices; and the view of abandonment and reclamation processes visible in the fill of the cellar feature.