[2] Built in the floodplain adjacent to the Ohio River, the site straddles modern-day Massac and Pope counties in deep southern Illinois.

The Kincaid site was the subject of major excavations by the University of Chicago from 1934–1941, during which a number of anthropologists and archaeologists who later had notable careers were trained under the direction of Fay-Cooper Cole; they included Richard MacNeish, discoverer of the origins of maize.

[5] Since 2003 investigation of the site with new technology and excavations by teams from Southern Illinois University have yielded significant new data, including identification of another mound.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency owns and operates[4] an area including several mounds in Massac County related to the Kincaid site.

It is a small mound that was later covered with a midden, and it lies along the current road near the county line on the southeastern corner of the town plaza.

[7]: 138 The Chicago excavators in the 1930s documented a prehistory in the Kincaid area stretching back thousands of years, into what is now known as the Archaic Period (8000 to 2000 BCE).

[8] The Baumer-phase occupants of Kincaid used no Havana Hopewell culture motifs when decorating their pottery, as did other Crab Orchard peoples, but used cord and fabric marking.

[9] Excavations prior to construction of an informational kiosk and viewing platform in 2003 revealed six Baumer-phase pit features dating to 250 BCE to 1 CE.

Kincaid was a near neighbor of Cahokia, only 140 miles (230 km) away, and is thought to have been influenced by its development as the major site in North America of Mississippian culture.

[10] A large central plaza, constructed by filling and leveling, was created at the center of the community; it is surrounded by the major mounds, one of which is almost 500 feet (150 m) long.

Carved figurines in coal and fluorite seemed to characterize the local iconography, with images showing connections to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC).

The mound contained a number of stone box graves and log-lined tombs, similar to those frequently found to the south in the Middle Cumberland Valley of Tennessee.