Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Volume 25, 1978
R. Clark Mallam, Editor
The purpose of this article is to introduce and present two hitherto unpublished manuscripts concerning the reconnaissance and excavations of amateur archaeologist F. L. Van Voorhis from 1934-1941. A discussion of the place of Van Voorhis' work with reference to that of his contemporaries is provided along with an assessment of the nature and value of his contribution. At the present time the primary significance of the manuscripts is thought to lie in the historical rather than the scientific realm.
[no abstract present in Journal]
A synonymy of names for an Indian people offers the anthropologist many hints regarding their past associates and history. Any reconstruction of their existence in prehistoric times must take into account linguistic information along with that from other anthropological subdisciplines. A synonymy is also useful in the evaluation of manuscript and published records. This article examines the two Indian name traditions that pertain to the Ioway and the adoption of the Indian terms by Euro-Americans in contact times. Following the textual discussion is a list of Native American names for the Ioway, then a list of Euro-American names accompanied by their source documents.
During the summer of 1976, Iowa Archeological Society members discovered a new site on the west bank of the Iowa River in Louisa County. Analysis of a small sample of remains from the site show it to be an Oneota component. In addition to shell tempered pottery resembling that from the nearby McKinney village, a variety of faunal remains, and triangular projectile points, the discovery of an obsidian flake and reworked "Snyders type" point in the sample has added some puzzling dimensions to the site. The author suggests that this new Oneota settlement could prove a test case for Mrs. Mildred Wedel's 1976 suggestion of the dual occupation of contemporary villages by a single "tribe" of Oneota people.
Data is presented on an obsidian flake obtained from the Poison Ivy Site (13LA84) in Louisa County, Iowa.
Thousands of artificial earthen mounds in varying sizes and forms are found throughout the eastern half of the United States. It was once commonly believed that these burial mounds that often contained elaborate grave goods were the work of a mysterious lost race of "Mound Builders", but it is now known that the mounds were constructed during the Early, Middle, and Late periods of the Woodland Tradition (1000 B.C.-A.D. 700) by American Indians. Hopewell centers arose in the Ohio, Illinois, and Mississippi river valleys in the Middle Woodland, and influences spread westward to result in such regional mound variants as the effigy mounds and the Plains Woodland mounds. Burial mounds undoubtedly had religious significance for their builders, but more importantly they may have served as "integrative mechanisms" or foci for the social ties between members of local groups and between groups themselves. The common religious ideology underlying the construction of the mounds may have united regionally distinct cultures in interaction spheres. The unification provided by the religious mound complexes was functional to all other aspects of Woodland life and played a major part in maintaining balanced cultures.
Book Reviews
Joseph A. Tiffany, Ed.
pp. 114-125
Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Webpage by Heidi M. Thunhorst, September 3, 2002.