image for Skousen, Jacob

Skousen, Jacob

Associate Research Scientist

Address and Contact Information

23 E. Stadium Dr.
209 Nuclear Physics Lab
M/C 571
Urbana, IL  61801

Education

Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2016

Research Biography

Professional Affiliations

Midwest Archaeological Conference
Southeast Archaeological Conference
Society for American Archaeology
Illinois Archaeological Survey

Research Interests

North American Archaeology, Cahokia, Mississippian societies, pilgrimage and procession, religion, landscapes, ancient roadways, geophysical survey

Selected Publications

2025      Rethinking Persistent Places: Relationships, Affects, and Atmospheres. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 33:7 (J. Skousen and C. Antoniuk) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09743-3 

2025      Cahokia Neighborhood Dynamics: New Geophysical Data from the Rouch Mound Group and Rattlesnake West Neighborhoods. American Antiquity 90(2):328-345. (S. Baires, E. Watts Malouchos, M. Baltus, and J. Skousen) https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2024.62

2024      Isotopic Evidence for Non-local Elk Hunting by the Noble-Wieting Community. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 57. (A. Stone, K. Kennedy, L. Miller, J. Skousen, and R. Lange) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104690 

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.

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

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

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

2020 Skilled Crafting at Cahokia's Fingerhut Tract. Southeastern Archaeology doi 10.1080/0734578X.2020.1782665.

2020 Archaeological Investigations on the Emerald Avenue, a Potential Mississippian Period Roadway in Southwestern Illinois. Journal of Field Archaeology 45:372-393. (by J. Skousen, T. Larson, E. Watts Malouchos, J. Kruchten, R. Barzilai, S. Alt, and T. Pauketat).

2019 Archaeological Investigations at the Samuel's Mounds Site, Piatt County, Illinois. Illinois Archaeology 31:30-64. (by J. Skousen, B. Adams, and T. Emerson)

2018 Rethinking Archaeologies of Pilgrimage. Journal of Social Archaeology 18:261-283.

2017 The Dugan Airfield Site: A Stirling Phase Civic Node in the Southern Illinois Uplands. Illinois Archaeology 29:191-209.

2015 Tracing the Relational: The Archaeology of Worlds, Spirits, and Temporalities, edited by M. Buchanan and J. Skousen. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

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.

2012 Posts, Places, Ancestors, and Worlds: Dividual Personhood in the American Bottom Region. Southeastern Archaeology 31(1):57–69.

Additional Resources

LDAP Details for Skousen, Jacob