Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Volume 36, 1989
Stephen C. Lensink, Editor
A wealth of documentation from various sources is available for study of the Winnebago occupation of the northeastern Iowa "Neutral Ground." Unpublished primary and secondary source materials in regional repositories and in the National Archives in Washington contain important data on Winnebago life in their first trans-Mississippi resettlement zone. Most of the relevant documents are U.S. military records which provide a detailed but partial and biased view of Winnebago culture and interaction with other groups. Archaeological data complement the ethnohistoric record and help balance the traditional focus of "Neutral Ground" studies on Fort Atkinson, the U.S. Army post that controlled the region but was four miles from the major Winnebago habitation site. Additional research should continue to emphasize both archival and archaeological work on the Winnebago in Iowa.
This report describes the results of the emergency archaeological excavations conducted at 13PK165, the Saylorvillage site, and the analysis and interpretation of the data gathered duringthat investigation in 1974 and 1975. To place the work at 13PK165 in perspective, a brief background of previous archaeological work within the Saylorville Reservoir project along the central Des Moines River, Iowa, is also presented. Diagnostic materials from the site show it to be a Late Woodland habitation area--a type of site previously indicated in the central Des Moines Valley from surface collections only. Analysis of the distinctive pottery with castellate rims and moderately squared orifices from the site has led to the description of a new ceramic ware grouping known as Saylor ware. Within this ware are two defined pottery types: Saylor Cord-Impressed, characterized by single cord-impressed designs on teh rim exteriors; and Saylor Plain, undecorated vessels of similar rim configuration. Subsistence activities at the site apparently involved some horticulture as well as hunting adn intensive collecting. Although no posthole patterns could be defined, the intensive and localized occurrence of daub suggests semipermanent house structures.
Brassica Bench is a multicomponent habitation site in the Des Moines Valley of central Iowa. Excavated in 1975, the site yielded an abundant Woodland artifact assemblage and four Oneota pottery sherds in addition to producing an Archaic-aged radiocarbon date from one of three large roasting pits. Two varieties of Woodland pottery were found, with tool-impressed and cord-impressed decoration, indicating a Middle Woodland and a Late Woodland affiliation.
The Kendallville Mill, 13WH228, consists of a ca. 1867-1925 flouring mill building foundation, a 1,263-ft (385-m) millrace, and dam remains along the Upper Iowa River in the village of Kendallville, Winneshiek County, Iowa. Since proposed roadway construction will destroy a portion of the millrace, archaeological investigations were conducted in 1988 to document the construction of the millrace and recover data about its use, repair, and abandonment. Archival research and oral historical interviews recorded documentation concerning the site's settlement history and the social and economic contexts of flour and feed milling in Kendallville. A cross-sectional trench spanning the millrace recorded complex stratigraphic relationships and formation processes illustrating early and late phases of millrace construction, channel re-excavation, and subsequent infilling.
Book Reviews
William T. Billeck, Ed.
pp. 82-90
Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Webpage by Heidi M. Thunhorst, September 3, 2002.