New Study of Precontact Artifacts Reveals Indigenous History in the Salt Creek Basin:

Drawing on his comprehensive analysis of 1,866 chipped-stone artifacts preserved in the Oak Brook Historical Society archives, Griffith will guide attendees through the deep prehistory of northeastern Illinois. His research demonstrates that the Oak Brook II site was not a single, brief stopover, but a repeatedly visited locality spanning the Middle Archaic through the Early Woodland periods. Key findings from the study reveal that highly mobile indigenous groups navigated the Salt Creek Basin for centuries, carrying curated toolkits made from exotic stone brought across long distances. Griffith’s lithic analysis provides a rare glimpse into ancient daily life—showing how early inhabitants repaired broken projectile points, processed game, and adapted their toolmaking strategies to a prairie landscape with scarce local stone resources.

Zachary Griffith is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. An Oak Brook native and Hinsdale Central alumnus, his primary doctoral research focuses on everyday life in Nuragic Sardinia, Italy, integrating architectural, spatial, and ceramic analysis. Griffith has extensive field experience, having worked on archaeological excavations across Illinois, North Carolina, Western New York, and Italy.