Prehistoric population sizes are difficult to determine, even with very well documented archaeological contexts. Within the Western Great Lakes, USA region, village population size is poorly understood due to poor preservation of village structures, excavations that did not capture the full extents of villages, and widespread destruction of archaeological sites. We combine data from geophysical surveys, historical aerial and drone-based image analyses, as well as excavation to determine the distribution of archaeological features at the protohistoric Middle Grant Creek site (11WI2739), Illinois, USA. Estimates of village population are calculated and compared using multiple measures, including structure floor area, maize storage volume, cultivation area, and maize consumption. The different estimates vary, yet they converge to indicate a population of 100 and 180 people at this agricultural village. The use of converging multiple estimates of population provides a more convincing estimate than any single source and shows how various assumptions affect different estimates. The measures employed provide a new approach to determining village size beyond traditional methods of using floor area and historic comparison, and can be used in locations where traditional measures are not available, as well as for large, dispersed sites that cannot be fully excavated.

史前人口规模很难确定，即使有很好的考古背景。在美国西部五大湖地区，由于村庄结构保存不力、挖掘工作未涵盖村庄的全部范围以及考古遗址的广泛破坏，对村庄人口规模知之甚少。我们结合来自地球物理调查、历史航拍和无人机图像分析以及挖掘的数据，以确定美国伊利诺伊州中格兰特克里克遗址 (11WI2739) 的考古特征分布。使用多种措施计算和比较村庄人口的估计值，包括结构建筑面积、玉米储存量、种植面积和玉米消费量。不同的估计不同，然而，它们汇合在一起表明这个农业村的人口为 100 和 180 人。使用对人口的多重估计进行收敛提供了比任何单一来源更令人信服的估计，并显示了各种假设如何影响不同的估计。所采用的措施提供了一种超越使用建筑面积和历史比较的传统方法来确定村庄规模的新方法，可用于传统措施不可用的地方，以及无法完全挖掘的大型分散遗址。