Sociology and Anthropology

Jacob Skousen, Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Jacob Skousen

Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
M.A., Archaeology, Brigham Young University, 2009
B.A., Anthropology, Brigham Young University, 2006

Dr. Skousen joined the Department in 2022.

Contact Info

Office: Morgan Hall 401
Phone: (309) 298-1056
Email: J-Skousen@wiu.edu

Research Interests

I am a North American archaeologist with research interests ranging from pilgrimage, religion, identity, landscapes, and movement. Most of my work focuses on Late Precontact cultures throughout the Midwest, with an emphasis on the Native American city of Cahokia in southwestern Illinois. My current research involves the intersection of place, movement, and identity. I’m particularly interested in how moving through, dwelling in, and modifying certain spaces, places, and landscapes shapes emotions, memories, identities, and relationships with the wider world. My overall goals as an archaeologist are to make archaeology accessible and beneficial to descendant groups and local communities, disseminate archaeological and historical knowledge, and demonstrate the importance of the past in the present.

Teaching Areas

Archaeology, Field and Laboratory Methods, North American Archaeology, Late Precontact Societies, Mississippian Period, Cahokia, Community Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management

Courses

  • ANTH 110: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
  • ANTH 111: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology
  • ANTH 215: Fantastic Archaeology
  • ANTH 249: Native North American Cultures
  • ANTH 320: New World Archaeology: North America
  • ANTH 321: New World Archaeology: Central and South America
  • ANTH 325: Laboratory Analysis of Archaeological Material
  • ANTH 326: Archaeological Field Methods
  • ANTH 330: Sex and Gender in Archaeology

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Books

Buchanan, Meghan E., and B. Jacob Skousen, editors (2015) Tracing the Relational: The Archaeology of Worlds, Spirits, and Temporalities. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters

Skousen, B. Jacob (2023) Sacred Journeys in the Greater Cahokia Region. In Landscapes of Ritual Performance in Eastern North America, edited by Cheryl Claassen, pp.217-232. Oxbow Books, Havertown, PA.

Lambert, John M., and B. Jacob Skousen (2023) A Critical Evaluation of UAS-Based Aerial Photography and Photogrammetry of Cahokia’s Grand Plaza. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 47. doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103789

Skousen, B. Jacob, and Michael Aiuvalasit (2021) Questioning the Native American Population Rebound in the Horseshoe Lake Watershed from 1500-1700 AD. American Antiquity 86:199-202. doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.74

Skousen, B. Jacob, and Christina M. Friberg (2021) Investigating Mississippian Landscapes, Places, and Identities through Geophysics. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 36. doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102879

Skousen, B. Jacob (2020) Skilled Crafting at Cahokia’s Fingerhut Tract. Southeastern Archaeology 39:259-280. doi.org/10.1080/0734578X.2020.1782665

Skousen, B. Jacob, Timothy H. Larson, Elizabeth Watts Malouchos, Jeffery D. Kruchten, Rebecca M. Barzilai, Susan M. Alt, and Timothy R. Pauketat (2020) Archaeological Investigations on the Emerald Avenue, a Potential Mississippian Period Roadway in Southwestern Illinois. Journal of Field Archaeology 45:372-393. doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2020.1722361

Miller, G. Logan, Robert G. McCullough, and B. Jacob Skousen (2019) A Wall Trench Structure from the Langford Tradition Village of Noble-Wieting (11ML24), McLean County, Illinois. Illinois Archaeology 31:1-29.

Skousen, B. Jacob, Brian Adams, and Thomas E. Emerson (2019) Archaeological Investigations at the Samuel’s Mounds Site, Piatt County, Illinois. Illinois Archaeology 31:30-64.

Skousen, B. Jacob (2018) Rethinking Archaeologies of Pilgrimage. Journal of Social Archaeology 18:261-283. doi.org/10.1177/1469605318763626

Skousen, B. Jacob, and Allison L. Huber (2018) The Moorehead Phase Occupation at the Emerald Acropolis. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 43:214-256. doi.org/10.1080/01461109.2018.1449375

Skousen, B. Jacob (2017) The Dugan Airfield Site: A Stirling Phase Civic Node in the Southern Illinois Uplands. Illinois Archaeology 29:191-209.

Skousen, B. Jacob (2015) Moonbeams, Water, and Smoke: Tracing Other-Worldly Relationships at the Emerald Site. In Tracing the Relational: The Archaeology of Worlds, Spirits, and Temporalities, edited by M. Buchanan and J. Skousen, pp. 40-55. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Skousen, B. Jacob, and Meghan E. Buchanan (2015) Introduction: Advancing an Archaeology of Movement and Relationships. In Tracing the Relational: The Archaeology of Worlds, Spirits, and Temporalities, edited by M. Buchanan and J. Skousen, pp. 1-19. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Baires, Sarah E., Amanda J. Butler, B. Jacob Skousen, and Timothy R. Pauketat (2013) Fields of Movement in the Eastern Woodlands. In Archaeology After Interpretation: Returning Materials to Archaeological Theory, edited by B. Alberti, A. M. Jones, and J. Pollard, pp. 197-218. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Skousen, B. Jacob (2012) Posts, Places, Ancestors, and Worlds: Dividual Personhood in the American Bottom Region. Southeastern Archaeology 31:57-69. doi.org/10.1179/sea.2012.31.1.004

Selected Reports

Skousen, B. Jacob, editor (2023) East St. Louis Precinct Faunal and Botanical Remains. Research Report No. 48. Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Skousen, B. Jacob, and Robert G. McCullough, editors (2022) The Loyd Site: An Early Terminal Late Woodland Village in Madison County, Illinois (AD 900-950). Research Report No. 52. Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Skousen, B. Jacob, editor (2022) Initial Late Woodland and Sand Prairie Phase Occupations at the Patti Will site (11S654), St. Clair County, Illinois. Technical Report No. 195. Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Skousen, B. Jacob, editor (2020) Late Woodland, Terminal Late Woodland, and Mississippian Occupations at the H. Brush Site (11MS957), Madison County, Illinois. Technical Report No. 191, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Skousen, B. Jacob, editor (2019) The A.E. Harmon Site: A Late Woodland, Terminal Late Woodland, and Mississippian Settlement in Madison County, Illinois. Technical Report No. 110, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Skousen, B. Jacob, editor (2018) Stirling and Moorehead Phase Craft Production at Cahokia’s Fingerhut Tract, St. Clair County, Illinois. Technical Report No. 176, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (editor and author of 3 chapters)

Skousen, B. Jacob, editor (2018) Early Mississippian Settlement Along the Kaskaskia Trail: The Dugan Airfield and Booster Station Sites. Technical Report No. 96, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (editor and author or co-author of 13 chapters)