This presentation provides a summary of recent investigations at the early Mississippian (AD 1100–1150) Audrey-North Site (11Ge20) in the Lower Illinois River Valley (LIRV), addressing questions of social, political, and economic relationships and the culture contact dynamic during the Mississippian transition. Cahokia was the largest Pre-Columbian city in North America and its inhabitants spread aspects of Mississippian culture in much of the Midwest and Midsouth from AD 1050–1350.  After decades of research, scholars still question how Cahokians initiated these distant interactions, and how and why local groups participated in them. It is clear that distance was a factor in in the scope of Cahokia’s widespread economic control and political influence. However, in order to understand the different ways in which groups negotiated contact with Cahokia, this project focuses on both political and economic interaction and the social implications for identity and daily practice in Cahokia’s immediate northern periphery, the LIRV, 100 km north. Ongoing analysis of community organization, foodways, pottery, and stone tools provides insight into the nature of Audrey site residents' ties to groups in Cahokia's American Bottom region.