 The four settlement sites within the larger site came as the result of a single village relocating multiple times; this movement became useful to archaeologists, as artifacts from different periods are spread out rather than mixed together at a single site.The settlement functioned as a regional center within the Spoon River culture, making it a hub in its hierarchal political organization and part of many important trade routes.Trade and migration linked the settlement to the large Mississippian city of Cahokia; while the settlement's culture had much in common with Cahokian culture, it was also a distinct regional culture in its own right.