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IDOT Blog – Friday, March 28, 2025
New archaeological exhibit goes on the road to display Illinois history
A mobile exhibit about precolonial communities in Illinois is hitting the road after making its debut at IDOT’s Harry R. Hanley Building in Springfield in January.
Dan Bartlett, an exhibit designer for the Illinois State Archaeological Survey at the Prairie Research Institute in Champaign, installed the exhibit, “Illinois Archaeology: The Deep Roots of the Prairie State.” The exhibit offers a look at where and how people lived in Illinois over the past 12,500 years. It highlights how factors like conflict, climate change and new technology influenced the lives of those communities. Viewers can explore these changes through the archaeological evidence people left behind.
“One of my favorite parts of the exhibit is about fire-cracked rock, which are found in the remains of cooking pits,” said Bartlett. “Cooking pits reveal the diets of people who lived many centuries ago.”
Before IDOT begins projects, archaeologists from ISAS survey the area to ensure that important historical properties — such as archaeological sites and historic buildings — are not impacted. Once a cultural site is damaged or lost, it can never be recovered. These surveys not only preserve history but also contribute to our understanding of our state's deep past, as every new discovery could provide fresh insights into the lives of its earliest inhabitants.
The exhibit reflects the positive, long-standing partnership between IDOT and ISAS, which work together to protect, celebrate and better understand the Prairie State’s past, present and future. After displaying at the Hanley, the exhibit will travel this spring to Sullivan to be displayed at the Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society followed by an appearance at the Prairie Research Institute's Expo 2025 in Champaign.
Bartlett said the exhibit was made to travel to libraries, schools, and historical societies around the state. Organizations interested in booking the exhibit can contact him at bart3080@illinois.edu.
Supplementing the exhibit is the ISAS’s new book, “Archaeology of Illinois: The Deep History of the Prairie State.” More information can be found by visiting the ISAS Publications Office website at isas.illinois.edu/publications or by emailing ISAS-Publications@illinois.edu.
