July 21–28, 2012

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Archaeology on the road expo at Center you havequestionsorcomments! site at Cherokee to the late lost 1800s townsite of Bowen’s Prairie. Let us know if enjoyment and helps you learn something new eachday of yourride,fromtheancient fascinating past asyou ride across thestate.Wehope this booklet enhances your welcome RAGBRAIriderstoIowaand we’re pleased to shareafewdetails of our er 15—Pine Septem ber September 7–9—LakesideLab weekend(Milfor) August 9–11—Meskwakipowwow( Meskwaki Settlement,Tam) August 4—HooverHometown Days(WestBrnch) To continueourcelebrationof • The University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) is delighted to Lakes Region” Years “10,000 of Living on the Lake: The Archaeology and Landscape of the Iowa Great Archaeology 2012,joinustthe m ARchaeology Outreach Team Welcome toanotherseasonof » » John Doershuk,StateArchaeologist Vinton/Shellsburg onDay5(July26) Clemens onDay4(July25) Expo atSiouxCenter(July21) Sioux Center Archaeology ontheRod! Lake View Additional informationoneventtimesandlocationsat: Cherokee http://www.uiowa.edu/~osa/teamarcheo.html following events Creek G rist Webster City ill Herit age Mill Marshalltown booths: Cedar Rapids l (Muscatine) Festiva l Anamosa Clinton this location between 9500 in 15-30 agroup, campedat of Native Americans,perhaps demonstrated that small bands tologists, and paleobotanists scientists, geologists, paleon team of archaeologists, soil Work conducted by an interdisciplinary fan in the valley of the Little Sioux River. ancient campgrounds within an alluvial layered deposits containing a series of ed an investigation which revealed a new sewage treatment plant prompt- state. Intheearlyconstructionof 1970s, excavated archaeological site inthe kee, Iowa, is the oldest extensively at thesouthendoftownChero Iowa City) “Day” ofIow, Archaeology (University 12–14—National October • • • • The Cherokee Sewer Site (13CK405) Johnson CountyHistoricalSocietyMuseum: onstrations, andinteractiveNativeAmerican children’sgames. Tent exhibit outside Museum of Natural History, atlatl dart throwing, flint-knapping dem- and Anthropology Lab and Repository tours atOSA, Museum of Natural History, Departmentsof Classics Public lecturesbyvisitingarchaeologists » » Cemetery. on artifact care;tour/open house at Plum Grove; interactive tour of the Oakdale Trading Post (Iowa County); local Hurt ArtifactCollection display and presentation Gilbert’s Trading Post exhibit and presentation on new UI research at the Patterson The CherokeeSewerSite - - made fromaswanbone. found in North America, a bone flute of the oldest musical instruments ever the site.Lateroccupantsleft behind one bison ambushed and killed not farfrom including the weapons used in hunting and manufactured bone and stone tools and grease—prepared and sewed hides, tracting the nutritious bone marrow butchered and processed bison—ex and years 7000 ago. Here families - day 1 - Sioux CEnter to cherokee day 2 - cherokee to lakeview its tributaries, in Buena Vista, Cherokee, and O’Brien counties. Archaeologists have In Iowa, of known the 48Mill Creek sites, along 26 occur the Little Sioux River and including the metropolis of on theMississippi Louis. River nearmodernSt. dicate copies or actual trade pieces derived from communities hundreds of miles away sites ineastern and southwest Minnesota. Some vessels, however, in wares areoflocal the fourceramicclaysand are typesshared with contemporary hundreds of bone and stone tools testify to hunting, trapping, and fishing. Most of medicinal, ceremonial, building, decorative, and utilitarian purposes. Animal bone and maize (corn)-based farming was importantbutwild plants were also eaten and had rial items. Bone digging implements, garden plots, and botanical evidence show that storage pits—mini root cellars—and an enormous variety of artifactsand other mate- encircling wooden palisade and ditch. Excavations reveal the presence of abundant of tightly spaced, rectangular earth-and-timber lodges aligned in often rows, withan and their tributaries, areknown by the name of Mill Creek. Each village is composed remain a mystery, these communities, situated along the Big and Little Sioux rivers and Although 1100 1250. A.D. thespecific Indian groups or tribes who created them Some of theearliest Plains Indian villages appeared in northwest Iowa between Mill Creekulture (13CK15) sites. kee, thePhippsandBrewster (13CK21) Mill Creek sites near the town of Chero investigated of thedeeply two stratified - - is shownherewithStateArchaeologist,JohnDoershuk. items areinvaluable than 60,000 to theresearch onnorthcentralIowaprehistory. He the morediagnosticitems. Because ofhis methodical care, Dave’s collections ofmore curating them by site number, using the Smithsonian trinomial system, and labeling record his sites in the official Iowa Site File, he kept his collections in superb order— tained at the Office of the State Archaeologist, University of Iowa. Not only did Dave documented archaeological collections sites from over80tothestatecollections main ton counties,David CarlsonIowa,magnanimously of Otho, donated his meticulously a local,grass-rootsdevelopment. firmed thatMill Creeklargely represents once thought. Overall, the site con- not occupied as long as thescientists These studies suggest thatthesitewas over thedecades people lived at thesite. changes in pottery styles and hunting ster allowed archaeologists to trace terial cultureofMillCreekpeoples. information about the diet and the ma- the site in produced 1970 a wealth of collection of artifacts, archaeology at erosion, cultivation, and periodic surface Mill Creek Culture).Even afteryears of the site belongs (see Day 2article on chosen for the cultural group to which ground adjacent toMill Creek, the name Brewster Siteoccupies (13CK15) high David Carlson,LastingContribution After 40 years After 40ofcombing the valleys and glacial lakes of Websterand Hamil The six-foot deep deposits at Brew- Three miles north ofCherokee, the to IowaArcheology - - day 3 - lakeview to webster city Catlinte pipes

Marine shell disk

Shell pendant

Catlinite Tablet. Note the enhanced overlaping effigy outlines. ment oftheInterior in1970. status wasbestowed onBlood Run by TheDepart- of their manufacture. National Historic Landmark rately decorated catlinite pipes and the byproducts metal items, food remains, and numerous elabo stone, bone, the formofceramic, antler, shell, and nomic patterns,trade,and ceremonial practicesin changes in village social organization, diet, eco- well-preserved archaeological record thatreflects landscape. Below theground is anastonishingly pitted boulders,circlesdottedthe matic androck Numerous earthen mounds and enclosures, enig and the immense history years. it tracksover8000 because of itsextraordinary archaeological record evaluated for National Historic Landmark status years Justover100later, 1860s. the site was can recognition of the site can be traced tothe the late prehistoric tradition. Euroameri it is the largest known and most complex site of prehistoric and protohistoric groups. Most notably Blood Run Creek, the site was home to numerous 31 miles northwest of Sioux Center. Named for bank of the in Lyon County about The Blood Run site is located on the eastern Blood Run - - -

Blood run day 4 - webster city to marshalltown there toreceiveafellowship in thatfield. to study anthropology, the firstwoman ate school at theUniversity of Chicago Iowa, and inheaded 1934 to gradu majored in history atthe University of destined for acareerin academia. She the University ofIowa,Mildred seemed Director of the School of Journalism at her father,LutherMott,Professor and a renowned scholar. Perhaps inspired by archaeological cultures, Mildred became efforts to link historic Iowa tribes with gists in the country.Bestknown for her professionally trained female archaeolo Marengo, Iowa, wasone of thefirst Mildred Mott Wedel, born in Mildred ott Wedel construction, andeaseof resharpening. cal excavation because of their flat base, sturdy trowels are a preferred trowel for archaeologi facturing trowels sinceMarshalltown 1890. based in Marshalltown, Iowa, hasbeen manu owns atleast one. The Marshalltown Company, Just about every archaeologist in this country Marshalltown trowels - - sites inHamiltonCounty. Site both (13HM2), Woodland tradition and the HumbleVillage Group (13HM1) Lake and author ofAndersonville Iowa’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist project, financed by MacKinlay Kantor, ing figure in Iowa archaeology. The supervised by Charles R. Keyes, a found logical excavation near Webster City served as field director foran archaeo In the summer of 1938, Mildred In thesummerof1938, , investigated the Willson Mound - - and Spirit - - The Meskwaki Village The location of the 1846 Meskwaki Village is just northwest of the current Meskwaki Settlement in sec- tions 9 and 17, T83N-R16W (Indian Village Township). The first written account of this village comes from the General Land Office (GLO) surveyor. When mapped, Indian settlements are depicted as “teepee” shapes. The quantity of teepees does not correlate to the actual number of wickiups present; the surveyor just mapped as many teepees as he thought reflected the population or size of the settlement. The “Indian Village” was mapped in October and November, 1846 with Samuel W. Durham was the lead surveyor.

Dig at Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center, Linn County More than 30 Iowa Archeological Society members participated in a two week‑long archaeological investigation at Wickiup Hill during the summer of 2011. Site 13LN85, which previously yielded evidence in the form of pot sherds and stone spear points, was further sampled with an emphasis placed on determining if a village had ever existed at this location. The participants, young and old, learned how to record archaeological data in systematic fashion. Careful excavation and recording of the soil layers and artifact associations revealed that the site area was a favorite place for small camps rather than one large long-term occupation. These briefly occupied camps were probably created and used by American Indian ancestors from differing cultures through time.

Iowa Archeological Society member Fred Gee contemplating soil stratigraphy at 13LN85 Wickiup Hill.

Matanzas point from13LN85 Wickiup Hill. d a y 5 - m r s h lltown to ced pid Flood Recovery and Archaeological Opportunities in Cedar Rapids Disastrous floods over the past decade have impacted archaeological sites along many of Iowa’s waterways including the Cedar River in Linn County, Iowa. Bear Creek Archeology recently conducted test excavations in backyard trash deposits of the former Bohemian neighborhood of Cedar Rapids where a new river levee will be built. One excavation area is directly across the river from the RAGBRAI campground.

Site 13LN1034: a privy pit (outhouse) excavation beneath the concrete City parking lot.

Test Units 1 and 5 profile: This 2.5 m deep test unit was excavated beneath the tem- porary City Bus Terminal parking lot and exposed a prehistoric campsite dating to the Early Archaic period (ca. 9500 years ago).

Another example of urban archaeology, not flood-related, was that conducted by Tallgrass Historians, LC. Monitoring of the U.S. Courthouse preconstruction activities in Cedar Rapids resulted in the discovery of four unrecorded archaeological sites in areas previously tested with ground-penetrating radar. A limestone house foundation (13LN915) and a brick cistern/well (13LN916) were considered potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Cindy Nagel and Adam Meseke in the pro- An uncovered cistern, subsequently back- d a y 6 - ced r pid s to n mo sa cess of uncovering the foundation. filled, is currently under the parking lot. 1850s. Academy fromthe the Bowen’sPrairie advertisement of Upper right: excavations. during archaeological building exposed Prairie Academy of theBowen’s Upper: brickcistern mont. Locatedalong the importantMilitary Road, the town population who immigrated from NewHampshire and Ver- The village the OSAin2001. had a large Congregationalist archaeologicalfrom excavations and research conducted by of what wenowknow about this community was gained lished by or10years 1836, before Iowa Statehood. Much Road, the pioneer community ofBowen’s Prairie was estab The BuriedPioneerownof Located 15 miles Located 15northofAnamosa along the OldMilitary Bowen’s Prairie few years. It failed to blossomed for only a there were probably moved on. By 1870, and inhabitants most secure arailroad link, U.S. 151. TheBowen’s 151. U.S. the four-lane highway of thetownlies under in town. Today, most about 10 houses left to theroad. mains preserved, next Prairie Cemetery re- - day 7 - anamosa to clinton www.humanitiesiowa.org www.uiowa.edu

www.iowahistory.org

www.uiowa.edu/~osa/IAS

Association of Iowa Archaeologists www.uiowa.edu/~osa/aia www.earthviewenvironmental.com

Human and Natural History Partners The Office of the State Archaeologist is pleased to once again partner on this year’s outreach with the IDNR-Geological and Water Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey, creating the “Hu- man and Natural History Partners.” This partnership begins at Expo and continues at select locations throughout the week’s ride. Our groups have been doing similar educational outreach along the route for the past several years. Because we share this common venue and common goals for bringing information to the public, we decided to join forces. So keep a lookout for us at Expo, on the ride, in the campgrounds, and along the route!

ia.water.usgs.gov

www.uiowa.edu/~osa

Booklet designed and edited by Angela R. Collins www.igsb.uiowa.edu and Lynn M. Alex of the OSA. Additional booklet

t H A NK y OU TO OUR sPON S OR contributions from Cynthia Peterson, David Benn, Leah Rogers, and John Doershuk.