Prairie Archaeology & Research

A Leader in Archaeological, Historical, and Cultural Resource Management Planning and Consulting.

PAR dedicates the time, talent, and expertise required to assist our clients in completing each and every project on-time and within budget.

Another opportunity presented itself to PAR in its ongoing commitment to bringing archaeology alive to the public. PAR was invited through the DNR by the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (JDCF) to produce visual interpretations of life at the John Chapman site as it existed over 850 years ago.

The result was three large digital paintings and accompanying descriptive text to be used at informational kiosks at the site. PAR's graphic illustrator, Jason Rein, digitally painted village life onto composites of 3D background renderings and point-of-view photographs taken at the site. Joseph Craig, in coordination with Hal Hassen of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, produced the text to describe each scene. The John Chapman site is significant for its evidence of contact between, and merging of, Late Woodland and Mississippian-era cultures. Please visit the JDCF's Wapello Land and Water Reserve web page to learn more about this compelling site.

July 1, 2011

PAR is proud to announce that our seven-and-a-half minute video submission (below) placed in the top three at a film festival jointly sponsored by the Society for American Archaeology and the National Geographic Society.

From over 70 national and international entries, PAR's 78th Street Site video was one of three videos recognized at the annual meeting of the Society For American Archaeology in St. Louis, Missouri on April 16, 2010.

Production of the video is the result of a collaborative effort by Prairie Archaeology & Research principal archaeologist Joseph Craig and graphic artist and videographer Jason Rein and is narrated by 13-year old Thomas Craig, a 7th grade student in Chatham, Illinois.

"Professionally, archaeologists have a vested interested in making the past pertinent to the present," states Joseph Craig, "and using dramatic digital effects and non-traditional media outlets such as YouTube helps capture the public's imagination."

Regarding the recent award, Craig states, "It is humbling to be recognized on a national level and encourages us to continue to look for opportunities to include the 'public' in Public History."

April 19, 2010

The 78th Street Site is a multi-component archaeological site in the American Bottom. This narrated short video explores the need for archaeology and presents a case study featuring Mississippian and Oneota occupations. Interpretive 3D renderings of the site and pottery vessels help visualize components of life during these times.

February 10, 2010