Members of Southern American Bottom Archaeology led by Autumn Melby, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, recently completed a second round of excavations at the Hawkins Hollow site near the intersection of Bluff Road and Woodland Ridge in Valmeyer.

The crew began its work last May, after which they presented initial discoveries during a presentation at the Monroe County History Museum.

Melby and her team are looking for artifacts in the soil which may provide clues about the Cahokian-era Native Americans who lived there in the 1300s. 

Now that the second excavation is finished, the team will analyze its findings, focusing mainly on the footprint of a small building indicative of a residence similar in size to those found in Native American-era Cahokia.

A group of local Boy Scouts also joined the latest excavation in order to earn an archaeology badge.

“The Hawkins Hollow field crew powered through a month of rain, hail, and even a few close tornadoes, but we withstood the odds and learned so much about the construction of this 14th century Mississippian Period structure,” Melby wrote on the SABA Facebook page.

Once analysis is finished, Melby is expected to return to Monroe County next year to discuss her latest findings.