Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site
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Kincaid Site
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Illustration of the site
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| Nearest city | Brookport, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 37°4′50″N 88°29′30″W / 37.08056°N 88.49167°WCoordinates: 37°4′50″N 88°29′30″W / 37.08056°N 88.49167°W |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000326 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | July 19, 1964 |
The Kincaid Mounds Historic Site (11MX2-11; 11PO2-10) c. 1050-1400 AD, is the site of a city from the prehistoric Mississippian culture. One of the largest settlements of the Mississippian culture, it was located at the southern tip of present-day U.S. state of Illinois. Kincaid Mounds has been notable for both its significant role in native North American prehistory and for the central role the site has played in the development of modern archaeological techniques. The site had at least 11 substructure platform mounds (ranking fifth for mound-culture pyramids). Artifacts from the settlement link its major habitation and the construction of the mounds to the Mississippian period, but it was also occupied earlier during the Woodland period.
The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 for its significance as a major Native American mound center and prehistoric trading post along the Ohio River.
Adjacent to the Ohio River, the site straddles the modern-day counties of Massac County and Pope County in deep southern Illinois, part of an area colloquially known as Little Egypt. The Kincaid site was the subject of major excavations by the University of Chicago from 1934–1941, during which a number of anthropologists and archaeologists who later had notable careers were trained under the direction of Fay-Cooper Cole; they included Richard MacNeish, discoverer of the origins of maize. Exploration with new technology and excavations by teams from Southern Illinois University since 2003 have yielded significant new data.
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