The Carson site in the Yazoo Basin in northwest Mississippi is a large Mississippian civic-ceremonial complex that originally had more than eighty mounds. The site is partly owned by the Conservancy. Prior research at Carson has found a small number of Cahokia-style houses complete with artifacts, indicating interactions between the residents of Carson and Cahokia, the Mississippian capital near present-day St. Louis. Several sites in the Yazoo Basin have small numbers of artifacts that seem to be Cahokian to some degree. Carson, however, is the only Yazoo Basin site with evidence of a Cahokian occupation rather than a mere exchange of artifacts.
In November 2021, Ph.D. student Caitlyn Burkes Antoniuk led a crew from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey that conducted a geophysical survey at the Carson site. Antoniuk is investigating the connection between Cahokia and Carson for her dissertation research. As part of this, she and the team did a two-day magnetometry survey of portions of the site. These locations were chosen based on their proximity to the previously-excavated Cahokian houses and concentrations of Cahokian material culture in prior surface surveys. During the survey, they were joined by representatives of the Chickasaw and Quapaw nations. Preliminary results from the survey are very promising. In one of the survey grids, the researchers located a few structures and what may be a continuation of a previously excavated palisade wall. In the other survey location, there appear to be several potential small rectangular structures that fit the characteristics of Cahokia-style houses. Antoniuk plans to excavate this settlement area in the future.
