Investigators Amanda J. Butler

Amanda J. Butler, M.A. is an archaeologist and instructor in anthropology at Parkland College. Her current research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign focuses on the processes of religious change in Medieval North America. Specifically, her current research emphasizes Cahokian missionary practices as a more nuanced narrative for the dynamics of culture change as it pertains to Cahokia’s hinterlands. She is a lithic analyst affiliated with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey where she is also the primary operator and consultant of their portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) instrument. Her other interests include provenance studies, animism, vibrant landscapes, geoarchaeology, personhood, and memory. Amanda is also an advocate of public archaeology through her many speaking engagements in East-Central Illinois, public outreach work through the Illinois State Archaeological Survey and the Archaeology Student Society. Currently, she helped design and is facilitating the installment of an interactive archaeology exhibit for the local children’s science museum in Champaign, IL.