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UID:riverbender-event-53559-20260910T180000@riverbender.com
DTSTAMP:20260815T210814Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260910T180000
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SUMMARY:Visions of the Alton Piasa – Dr. Mark J. Wagner\, Emeritus Pro
fessor of Anthropology\, SIU Carbondale
LOCATION:Hayner Library\, 132 Alton Square\, Alton\, IL 62002
DESCRIPTION:Visions of the Alton Piasa &ndash\; Dr. Mark J. Wagner\, E
meritus Professor of Anthropology\, SIU Carbondale Hayner Library at A
lton Square Mall Performance Room (Upper Level) Thursday\, September 1
0\, 6:00 p.m. &ndash\; 7:00 p.m. The &ldquo\;Alton Piasa\,&rdquo\; or 
&ldquo\;Piasa Bird\,&rdquo\; was a very large Native American painting
located on the Mississippi River bluffs near Alton\, Illinois. First 
described by Father Jacques Marquette in 1673\, the painting fascinate
d visitors for almost 200 years\, until it was quarried away in the mi
d-nineteenth century. Because of this\, we have numerous first-hand de
scriptions of the Piasa Bird created by early 1800s sightseers\, but t
hey vary so widely from each other that it is hard to believe they are
all describing the same images. Dr. Wagner believes that people with 
different visual abilities and beliefs (even Father Marquette!) were s
eeing what they wanted to see on the rock face rather than what was ac
tually there. Wagner concludes that the Alton Piasa was a prehistoric 
Mississippian-era (1000-1500 AD) painting based on the presence of sim
ilar images dating to that time period carved on stone rock surfaces t
hroughout southern Illinois. Dr. Mark Wagner was the Director of the C
enter for Archaeological Investigations at Southern Illinois Universit
y Carbondale for many years before retiring in 2025. His major researc
h interests include Native American rock art\, the Cherokee Trail of T
ears\, and the historical archaeology of Illinois. From 2017-2024\, he
directed the SIU Archaeology Field School at the Fort Kaskaskia Histo
ric Site in Randolph County\, which discovered the remains of a previo
usly unknown early 1800s U.S. Army fort. He is currently engaged in wr
iting books and articles on the various discoveries he made throughout
his career\, including the prehistoric rock art of the state. Please 
call 1-800-613-3163 to register for this program.\n\nEvent details: ht
tps://www.riverbender.com/events/details.cfm?seriesid=53559
URL:https://www.riverbender.com/events/details.cfm?seriesid=53559
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