Iowa archeology studies the remains of human culture buried within the state of Iowa, USA, from early prehistory to late history. Europe’s earliest forts and settlements were founded by traders in the 1680s. Few of these temporary early sites have been found archaeologically. Occupied in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Julian Dubuque’s Spanish mining settlement and the neighboring village of Meskwaki have been the subject of numerous archaeological investigations. Fort Madison (1808-1813), the first American settlement and first American fort in Iowa, was partially excavated in 1965. American settlement began in earnest in the 1830s, and the formal migration of American Indians from Iowa was completed by 1852. These historic sites, including Gilbert’s Trading Post, have been excavated. and Fort Atkinson. Archaeologists have also studied historic American settlements, including excavations at the Plum Grove Historic House, the Buxton African-American community, and the Bowens Prairie community.
I’ve been thinking I wanted to write (without expenditure or too mucheffort) about a Lucas County archaeological site deemed worthy for the National Register of Historic Places that we now drive over on a regular basis, courtesy of the Iowa Read More …
Lee County played an important part in Mormon history. The Mormon Historic Sites Foundation and the National Park Service have erected interpretive panels at historical locations throughout the county. The Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, the first of its kind Read More …
This paper presents the results of an archaeological survey of nearly 7#000 acres located in the Rathbun Lake Project Area, mouth-central Iowa. Fieldwork was conducted in 1980 and 1981 by Environment Consultants, Inc. under contract from the U.S. Army Corps Read More …
The purpose of the Mormon Trail portion of the project was to research, field inventory, and evaluate those roads that represent the Mormon’s path across Iowa and clarify the the apparent and intrinsic qualities of these routes.
The Iowa portion of the trail was used relatively little, mainly by the Mormons fleeing Illinois in 1846, and by some other Mormons jumping off from Keokuk, Iowa, in 1853. It was also used in 1856-1857 by seven companies of Read More …
Some months ago a lost marker was brought to the Iowa Historical Museum. It was wooden, the carving weathered and a little forlorn. It looked as though it had been hiding in a fence comer for a dozen hard Iowa Read More …
The Mormon migration of 1846 from Illinois to Utah constituted the greatest mass movement under a single direction in all United States history; nor did any one of the many religious colonies planted along the Atlantic seaboard probably ever attract Read More …
Leaving Nauvoo in late February of 1846, approximately 500 wagons and 3000 people led by Brigham Young crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa and traveled into Van Buren County. Due to thawing conditions and rain, the roads became difficult to Read More …
Most people have a certain image of archaeological work. It’s a dig, perhaps with trowels scraping off layers of dirt to find artifacts.
Salvage operations were conducted by the Northwest Iowa Archaeological Society during June and July of 1972 at the Rock Creek Ossuary after it was learned that the site had been vandalized and was in danger of destruction. The site consisted Read More …