Terry Schultz Collection

Terry Schultz was a long time collector who found artifacts from a few different counties all around Illinois. As part of my First Peoples internship I have been analyzing his collection from Kankakee County. Luckily, Terry kept good notes and records of what he found and where.  After researching his notes and maps on the locations he collected from, I discovered that he had found artifacts from at least six areas that were previously recorded as sites in the State site files and from seven additional areas that may be new sites. Many of these sites are located along the Kankakee River, east of Momence. This information will be incorporated into the predictive model we are developing to help us pinpoint areas in the Cook County Forest Preserve for future survey and to help the county with acquisition and management goals.

We were also able to photograph Terry’s collection and match pieces back to the site where they were found. By doing this we were able to update many of the old site files and add additional components, in some cases pushing back the occupation by thousands of years. Also, using the photos of the artifacts I’m now working to further analyze them and am in the process of identifying the types of lithics that were found and their raw material; identifiers that can help us learn more about the culture and lifestyle of the First People. It has been and continues to be a wonderful experience, because taking on this project has given me a more intimate understanding of the variations of a lifestyle that has existed over 12,000 years ago- one that has thrived, experienced change, and influences what we know and what we have yet to discover. My hope is that we continue to acknowledge the history of the First People- their hardships, their accomplishments, their way of life, and how that way of life has changed with time and continues to thrive today.