Mayberry Mound and Village Site
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Mayberry Mound and Village Site
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Comprehensive view from the west
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| Location | Northeast of the junction of County Road 900E and the Skillet Fork |
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| Nearest city | Sims, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 38°19′15″N 88°31′30″W / 38.32083°N 88.52500°WCoordinates: 38°19′15″N 88°31′30″W / 38.32083°N 88.52500°W |
| Area | 90 acres (36 ha) |
| NRHP Reference # | 78001195 |
| Added to NRHP | November 21, 1978 |
The Mayberry Mound and Village Site are a valuable archaeological site in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. Located near the village of Sims in southern Wayne County, the site comprises what was once a substantial village during the Archaic period, and it has been designated a historic site because of its archaeological importance.
Mayberry occupies part of the southern side of a low ridgeline known as the Fleming Ridge, a short distance north of a stream known as the Skillet Fork. It lies about 2,000 feet (610 m) away from the nearest public right-of-way, a small unpaved north-south road to the west. The site centers around a small hill, the "mound" that contributes to its name; it measures approximately 80 by 60 metres (260 ft × 200 ft) north-south by east-west and is approximately 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high. Despite the presence of recently dug holes in the middle, the overall structure of the hill has been well preserved. Surrounding the "mound" is a region of soil that appears substantially darker than other parts of the same farm field when seen from the air.
In 1974, archaeologists from Southern Illinois University Museum conducted a field survey at the Mayberry Site. Their survey recovered substantial numbers of artifacts from the "mound" and the surrounding area of darkened soil, including projectile points, bits of bones and shells, and quantities of charcoal. As a result of these findings, the site has been classified as a village from the Archaic period: the "mound" appears to be a simple midden approximately 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) deep, and the surrounding soil seems to have been darkened by the presence of buried cultural materials left behind by the villagers. After the field survey was concluded, local residents reported the discovery of twelve skeletons that had been buried in the southeastern portion of the "mound" in such a way that they overlapped each other.
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