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The mission of the Office of the State Archaeologist is to develop, disseminate, and preserve knowledge of Iowa's human past through Midwestern and Plains archaeological research, scientific discovery, public stewardship, service, and education.

An aerial photo of a large excavation block with archaeological tools scattered about

31,700 +

archaeological sites as of FY23

ancient pottery vessels displayed on a shelf

300 +

infrastructure projects
completed annually

A man in a neon yellow shirt digging a hole in a field

4 Million +

Objects in Curation

News

photo collage

OSA Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report

Friday, November 3, 2023
One student crouched in an excavation unit, one laying on his stomach next to the unit

Updates from the 2023 Iowa Lakeside Laboratory Archaeological Field School

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Events

"Archaeological Investigations at 13DK9, the Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin Historic Site, Dickinson County, Iowa” promotional image

"Archaeological Investigations at 13DK9, the Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin Historic Site, Dickinson County, Iowa”

Sunday, March 24, 2024 1:00pm
Sanford Museum and Planetarium
State Archaeologist, John Doershuk, will present, "Archaeological Investigations at 13DK9, the Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin Historic Site, Dickinson County, Iowa," at a meeting of the Northwest Chapter of the Iowa Archeological Society (NWIAS) at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee on March 24, 1:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public.

"Gardens of Commemoration: From Rome to America" - Victoria Austen, Robert A. Oden, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Humanities and Classics, Carleton College

Monday, March 25, 2024 5:00pm
Art Building West
Throughout history, gardens have come to be understood as a powerful setting in which societies embed a series of beliefs, myths, and fictions. A garden may well be a physical place, but it also has the potential to transcend its physicality through the actions that take place there and the meanings these actions produce. However, as John Dixon Hunt (2004) has argued, we tend to be drawn more towards origin stories of gardens, focusing on the initiation of sites and the original designs or...
Wayne County Historical Society / Prairie Trails Museum Banquet promotional image

Wayne County Historical Society / Prairie Trails Museum Banquet

Thursday, March 28, 2024 7:00pm
Prairie Trails Museum
State Archaeologist, John Doershuk, will serve as the guest speaker for the Annual Meeting and Banquet of the Wayne County Historical Society / Prairie Trails Museum, on Thursday, March 28, 2024, presenting "Investigating Potential Human Interactions with Late Ice Age Mastodons and Mammoths."
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