Contact: Andrea Lynn a-lynn@uiuc.edu 217-333 -2177 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Ancient Illinois village unearths lode of questions CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Digging under a blazing sun in an Illinois cornfield, archaeologists this summer unearthed a fascinating anomaly: a 900-year-old square hilltop village. The discovery near Shiloh -- about 15 miles southeast of St. Louis -- challenges previous notions of the area's first people and adds a piece to the puzzle that was Cahokia, a huge "mother culture" that suddenly appeared, and just as suddenly vanished, leaving only traces of its majesty and meaning in the 11th century. Until now, archaeologists...
