surrounding these two lakes, and strung out along the western bank of the illinois river, was a characteristic north american riverine ecosystem characterized by dense populations of shellfish, fish, migratory birds, and mammals. the emiquon wetland became a favorite home for many indians of the illinois territory for thousands of years, leaving 149 known archeological sites behind them within the parcels of land that make up the project. these hunter-gatherers used and lived in and around both the wetlands of emiquon and the adjacent river bluffs. during the centuries between 1000 ce and 1300 ce, many of them buried their dead in an adjacent blufftop, now the dickson mounds national historic site.