Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Volume 2, Number 1; July 1952
Wilfred D. Logan, Editor
"At the time our society was organized, the matter of membership goals came up for considerable discussion. It was generally agreed that a minimum membership of one hundred would be necessary if the organization were to function properly. Even the most optimistic of us scarcely expected to achieve that goal during the first year of the society's existence.
However, not only was that goal achieved, but it was exceeded. We are now almost one quarter of the way toward enrolling our second hundred members...."
"When I was a boy, there was a large pond fed by spring at a point on Keg Creek bottom half a mile east and a quarter of a mile south of my home. Above this spring, a steep short slope and a level acre of land had many flint chips and broken arrow points. There was no pottery found there. In the road at the foot of the hill a quarter of a mile north of this place I also found arrow points. Later, as erosion progressed, artifacts ewre found over the whole hill between road and ditch. When the slope south of the pond site was plowed, it yielded many projectile points...."
"The terms "paleontology" and "archaeology" to the public in general are practically synonymous. This is all too evident to most of us engaged in either of these pursuits since we are continually asked to identify a great variety of bones, rocks and artifacts brought to us by enthusiastic collectors...."
Volume 2, Numbers 2-3; October, 1952 - January, 1953
Wilfred D. Logan, Editor
"Our President has requested that this message be written by the editor. Your editor, however, approaches this discussion with reluctance. Being a naturally friendly fellow, he hates to be cast in the role of the perennial griper; but it seems that each time we deal with matters affecting the mechanical processes of putting out Society publications, pleas, supplications, and general grumbling must ever be uppermost. This Journal needs copy. This has been said in previous Journal issues, in the Newsletter, and verbally to as many members as the editor can corner for a moment or two. In the joint numbers presented here, your editor has played a triple role of writer of the material for the bulk of the issue, editor of the articles, and artist for the line drawings appearing in two of the plates...."
"In 1946, an investigation of the Spike Hollow Rock Shelter was begun under the supervision of the late Dr. Ellison Orr of Waukon, Iowa. Orr later compiled his notes on the work in typewritten form, intending to incorporate them in a volume of bound manuscripts on several of his more recent archeological investigations in northeast Iowa. The notes concentrated on presentation of the material found in the shelter, and indicated that the excavation had not been complete. These notes, along with many other personal papers, were presented to Effigy Mounds National Monument after Orr's death in 1951, and, on reading the material on the Spike Hollow shelter, the present writer was greatly interested in the occurrence of certain pottery types indicating the possibility of stratified deposits in the shelter...."
"One of the interesting embellishments that prehistoric Americans added to their projectile points was serrations along the edge of the blade. This practice is noted in teh artifacts of some of the early horizons and extends, in some instances, up into Mississippian times; a notable example being the tiny Cahokia Serrated Points found in the Central Mississippi Valley.
The artifact illustrated in Figure 1, however, is believed to be an example of projectile point serration as practiced by one of the primitive cultures of the Ozarks region. If this type of serrated projectile point is found in other areas, it could well indicate a definite cultural trait...."
Volume 2, Number 4; April, 1953
Wilfred D. Logan, Editor
"The archeologist is constantly faced with a problem of diplomacy concerning the "arrowhead collector". On the one hand he is expected to show a proper enthusiasm for whatever new artifacts he may be shown, while on the other hand he feels he must somehow curb an ardor which may perhaps wreck some small part of the history he is attempting to uncover. More than a few good sites have been ruined by the frantic burrowing of thoughtless or uninformed collectors; but a number of sites have also been found and reported by other collectors and saved for scientific investigation...."
"Archaeological studies in the northern Mississippi valley have reached the stage where it is now possible to identify the broad cultural patterns resident within the region during the past three thousand years. But while we can identify the broad cultural patterns we are now faced with a problem in interpretation precipitated in part by dates derived from radiocarbon analysis which indicate that these peoples lived in the are for far longer periods than had been previously realized. Therefore, to gain an adequate picture of the development and evolution of our culture types it is essential to enter upon a new phase in the analysis of our archaeological materials--one that has been illustrated in recent issues of this journal. We cannot count upon a large series of radiocarbon dates to arrange our sites in chronological order...."
Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Webpage by Heidi M. Thunhorst, September 3, 2002.