Huber Site facts for kids

The Huber Site (11Ck-1) is located on Tinley Creek 2 miles west of Blue Island in Cook County, Illinois, near the city of Chicago. It is classified as a late Prehistoric site with Upper Mississippian affiliation.

History of archaeological investigations

The site was excavated under the auspices of the University of Chicago by W.C. Bennet, but no comprehensive site report was published. Further excavations took place in 1956 and in 1990 an analysis was published by the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Center for American Archaeology including data from both excavations.

Chronology of Huber pottery within the Huber sequence

The trends in certain pottery traits are very time-sensitive and can be used as indicators of relative age. Based on information on other Huber sites in the area, archaeologists have determined early Huber pottery is more likely to have cordmarked surface finish; wide-trailed decoration; and notched lips. Late Huber pottery has predominately smooth surface finish; fine-line incised decoration; and unnotched lips.

Temporal trends may be seen by a comparison to the nearby Hoxie Farm site. The pottery from the Huber site assemblage overwhelmingly has smooth surface with only 1% of sherds cordmarked; in contrast, Hoxie Farm's pottery was 23.5% cordmarked. 45% of incised decoration was fine-line incised, compared to 13% at Hoxie Farm. Also, almost 50% of lips are unnotched, compared to only 20% at Hoxie Farm. This indicates the Huber Site assemblage dates to a later time period than Hoxie Farm.

Huber within the Upper Mississippian Culture

Huber ware (and Huber culture) are often mentioned together with Fisher. Both Fisher and Huber are Upper Mississippian cultures which existed in the southern Lake Michigan region in the states of northern Illinois and Indiana and southwest Michigan. Both have shell-tempered pottery but Huber is predominantly plain surface with fine-line decoration and Fisher is predominantly cordmarked surface with wide-line decoration.

The relationship of Huber and Fisher both with each other and with other Upper Mississippian cultures in the area has long been a matter of debate and speculation among archaeologists. James Griffin, upon examining the artifacts from the original 1929 excavations, felt that Huber was a Component of the Oneota Aspect based on the form and design of the pottery, close to the Orr and Lake Winnebago foci, and that Fisher was part of a separate Focus. Since that date, we’ve obtained a great deal more information and now we know that Fisher is the older of the two and Huber is the only one that has been found in association with early Historic European trade goods. Nevertheless, both Fisher and Huber coexist at the same sites seemingly at the same time. Hoxie Farm, Griesmer and Moccasin Bluff are examples of this.

Most archaeologists now believe that both Fisher and Huber are taxonomically-related phases within the Oneota tradition. The relationship between the two is time-related in that Huber is derived from Fisher; but there are also late Fisher sites like Fifield, where Fisher pottery is associated with late Prehistoric artifacts, so it is possible that Fisher also survived until the Protohistoric or early Historic period.

Significance

The Huber site has had an outsized influence in archaeological circles, especially in the American Midwest, as the namesake of an Upper Mississippian culture. Several of the artifacts are also noteworthy:

Several items of personal adornment and domestic utility were found here, and provide a glimpse into daily life; such as hair accessories, bracelets, pendants, and hoes made of bison and elk scapulas. A bone or antler dice implies games or gambling went on at the site. A bone rasp indicates music was being performed for entertainment or for ceremonial purposes.

There was no direct evidence of cultivated plants at Huber, but that is probably due to the fact that plant remains were not systematically collected during excavations. The fact that there are hoes made of bison scapula and elk scapula is indirect evidence of agricultural activities. Furthermore, cultivated corn remains have been found at other Huber sites such as Hoxie Farm, so there is no doubt the Huber society was agriculturally based.

Based on the type of animal bone present, and the presence of agricultural implements such as the scapula hoes, the researchers felt that the site was occupied at least from spring through fall.

The engraved pebbles found at Huber are an indication of the Native Americans belief in the spirit world. Early observers of the Ojibwe Midewiwin Society reported that similar engravings were made in birch-bark before a hunt in the belief that drawing the animal would facilitate the hunter's success.

There are several Huber sites in the Chicago and northwest Indiana area; besides Huber itself, there are Hoxie Farm, Oak Forest, Anker, Bowmanville and Griesmer. It is thought that these sites formed a settlement system which included large villages and smaller sites used for ceremonial and mortuary purposes. Huber may be one of the ceremonial/mortuary sites due to several factors:

• Burials were found there
• Dog bone was present; dog sacrifice and dog meat consumption had ceremonial implications in Great Lakes Native American society
• Several of the artifacts had possible religious connotations, such as the bone rasp, the personal adornment items and especially the engraved pebbles