Iowa

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.