Historical Mysteries

As I begin to write my first historical mystery, I look back on some of my favorites: the Hilda Johannson series by Jeanne Dams, Steven Saylor's and Lindsey Davis' Roman mysteries, Sharan Newman's mysteries, and my recent discovery: "Dark Fire," by C. J. Sansom. Each series is written about a very different time and place, but all these books provide signposts for me in how to research and what to include or not include.

My goal is to create a story rich in historical detail, where the setting draws the reader in and make him want to read more, without overwhelming him with facts that have no relationship to the plot. A delicate balance, indeed. Jeanne Dams, who has recently given me advice on how to use the wonderful Sanborn maps of the Midwest, does it very well (thank you, Jeanne!).

My topic: 1920's central Illinois, with a male physician who is an amateur archaeologist as my protagonist. This gives me all sorts of new territory to explore: the history of my own home town and county 80 years ago, history of medicine (with a little help from my ex-pathologist husband), Prohibition, women's fashion and flappers, and Illinois archaeology.

It helps that I work for an organization that employs both archaeologists and historians of the discipline of archaeology in Illinois, the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program. For a little taste of what they do, check out this on line exhibit .

The Mystery of the Ellington Stone

I like to tell my students that archaeology is like a giant jigsaw puzzle—with half the pieces missing. One such mystery is close to home: the Ellington Stone. This 8” X 11” piece of limestone was found in Ellington County, Illinois, sometime between 1907 and 1920 by an arrowhead hunter. Someone chiseled the date 1671 and Jesuit symbols (the letters “IHS,” usually interpreted as a Greek abbreviation for Jesus, and two crosses) on the stone, but whodunit? And when?

Is this a marker left by the French explorer La Salle who may have been in Illinois that year? If so, it’s two years earlier than the date of the Marquette-Joliet expedition down the Mississippi. If the Ellington Stone is authentic, then historians will have to rewrite history to reflect the earlier discovery of Illinois by Europeans.

Or is it a fake, carved by a twentieth century forger? How do you prove it? Well, the missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle include the archaeological context: the artifact was ripped out of a creek bed and carted home in a bucket, where it was scrubbed and then cleaned by helpful carpenters wielding screwdrivers and metal spikes. You can see the scratches left by the carpenters deep inside the carved letters and numerals. Anything that could have been useful in determining authenticity (older tool marks, lichens, organic material that might possibly be carbon-dated) has been removed or obscured by modern meddling.

A University of Illinois team was able to type the limestone. The texture and fossil content of the Ellington Stone match well with limestone from Western Illinois formations. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t help us with the problem of when the date 1671 and the Jesuit symbols were carved. The other missing piece to this puzzle is the lack of a comparable artifact—if it’s an exploration marker, how come no one has found others like it? Or perhaps we’re on the wrong track altogether and it’s the tombstone of an unknown Jesuit.

Check here for more on the scientific testing of the Ellington Stone.