Hatchery Site West is located on the east bank of the Kaskaskia River just east of the town of Carlyle, Illinois, and immediately downstream from the location of the Carlyle Reservoir dam being constructed (Fig. 1). The site is located on the crest of the T-2 terrace where the river is currently cutting into this old terrace system. The old terrace bends to the east just north of the site while the present river channel continues north resulting in a broad, low T-0 terrace formation just north of the site. The terrace on which the site is located is very broad and not heavily dissected and extends eastward joining with a fairly good-sized hill formed of glacial till concentrated in what was probably crevasse fill.

The accurate definition of the boundary of the site was made possible by the controlled surface collection and is shown on Fig. 1. The total area of the distribution of ceramics definitive of the site is approximately 1.23 acres. Within this distribution there are two distinct concentrations of ceramic debris (see Fig. 2). In addition, there was a recognizable difference in the color of the soil within the area defined by the ceramic distribution with two distinct areas of heavy humus content and brown coloration. These two areas corresponded well with the areas of high ceramic concentration. These two areas will be described separately since, as will be shown, they represent distinct components of the several present on the Hatchery West site.