Dr. Michael Wiant, one of Illinois's most renowned archaeologists, has a long and distinguished career culminating with his tenure as the director of the Dickson Mounds Museum. In 2016 he was appointed as Interim Director for the Illinois State Museum, serving until December 31, 2017 when he retired. Among Michael's interests, experiences and specialties are the recovery technique of flotation, contract archaeology, as well as interpretations of the prehistoric residents of the Illinois River valley, and dissemination of archaeological knowledge to the public.
Interview Links
Abstract
Interview Session 1 - Audio
Early career, becoming an archaeologist, Koster site & contract archaeology
Interview Session 2 - Audio
Napoleon Hollow site, Illinois State Museum, & Dickson Mounds Museum
Interview Session 3 - Audio
Archaeological highlights, changes in archaeology, and future of archaeology in Illinois
Photos
Caption:
Michael D. Wiant during his freshman year at Illinois State University in 1967.
Where:
Normal, Illinois
When:
1967
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo. Photo taken by Christopher J. Wiant.
Caption:
Michael D. Wiant during his freshman year at Illinois State University in 1967.
Where:
Normal, Illinois
When:
1967
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo. Photo taken by Christopher J. Wiant.
Caption:
Dr. Edward B. Jelks (left) and Wiant discussing excavation strategy at Constitution Island, near the West Point Military Academy, in 1971.
Where:
Constitution Island, Near West Point, New York
When:
1971
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator. Photo taken by Lee Minnerly.
Caption:
Wiant tabulated artifacts from Constitution Island, New York in 1973.
Where:
Unknown
When:
1973
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Photo by Vidette, Illinois State University Plan map.
Caption:
A close-up view of small-scale objects recovered at the Koster site by flotation, a process of dispersing dirt in water to recover small, often fragile items.
Where:
Eldred, Illinois
When:
Circa 1974
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Photo taken by John Hammerslough.
Caption:
Carol A. Goland and Michael Wiant overlook the Koster site excavations in 1977 where an accumulation of 30 feet of sediment contained the remains of more than a dozen periods of human occupation.
Where:
Eldred, Illinois
When:
1977
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Photo taken by Del Baston.
Caption:
Remains of a 2,000-year-old, possibly a ritual-associated building demarcated by rock-filled postholes around its circumference, after excavated in 1980.
Where:
Eldred, Illinois
When:
1980
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Photo by Carol A. Goland.
Caption:
Chipped stone biface examples from the Mackinaw, Illinois Cache, uncovered in 1916. In 2001, Wiant published an article on these Illinois State Museum curated artifacts. Photo by Doug Carr
Where:
Tazewell County, Illinois
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Photo taken by Doug Carr
Caption:
In 2008, Dr. Wiant described the history and prehistory of the Illinois River valley from the bluffs overlooking The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve during an ISM Archaeology & Natural History field trip.
Where:
Lewistown, Illinois
When:
2008
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Photo by Doug Carr
Caption:
In recognition of the bicentennial of the War of 1812, Dickson Mounds Museum created an exhibit to educate visitors about the impact of the war on Native Americans in Illinois.
Where:
Lewistown, Illinois
When:
2014
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Photo by Kelvin Sampson.
Caption:
The 2015 map, Illinois Inventory of Archaeological Sites, which showed the more than 60,000 archaeological sites in Illinois. The map was based on a Lands Unsuitable for Mining program database.
Where:
Illinois
When:
2015
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Narrator’s photo
Caption:
A photo of Dr. Michael Wiant taken at the time of his oral history interview in 2020.
Where:
Springfield, Illinois
When:
2020
Ownership:
ALPL Oral History Program photo