It is dedicated to the exploration of the culture of prehistoric Native Americans and, to a lesser extent, the European settlers who supplanted them.
Founded on what is often referred to as the "Nile of North America," the region surrounding the confluence of the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers, the Center for American Archeology specializes in North American pre-Columbian cultures of the area.
The Center has been associated with years of excavation at the Koster Site in Greene County, Illinois.
The center is located about 90 minutes north of St. Louis and the Cahokia Mounds near Collinsville, Illinois.
The early 1900s mercantile building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.