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WOODLAND

COMPLEXES

IN NORTHEASTERN IOWA

WOODLAND COMPLEXES

From the collection

of the

^ m

rv,

o Prelinger

San Francisco,

2008

California

Conical burial mounds at Effigy Mounds National Monument.

WOODLAND

COMPLEXES

IN NORTHEASTERN IOWA

WILFRED D. LOGAN

Publications in Archeology 15

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Washington 1976

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402 Price $4.10

Stock No. 024-006-00575-7

As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior

has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural

resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the environmental and

cultural values of our national parks and historical places, and providing for

the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses

our energy and mineral resources and works to assure that their development

is in

the best interests of all our people. The Department also has a major re-

sponsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who

live in Island Territories under U.S. administration.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Logan, Wilfred David, 1923-

Woodland complexes in northeastern Iowa.

(Publications in archeology; 15)

Originally presented as the author's thesis,

University of Michigan, 1959 under title: Analysis

of woodland complexes in northeastern Iowa.

Bibliography: p.

Supt. of Docs, no: I 29.59:15

Indians of North America

Iowa

Title.

—Antiquities.

II.

— Iowa—Antiquities.

— Iowa.

Mounds

Series.

E51.U75no. 15 [E78.16] 977. 7'004'97 75-25768

—

FOREWORD

The prehistoric inhabitants of any unit of

the National Park

System did not exist in

such groups took part in the

complex events of culture history in the regions in which they lived. This archeological

report, which includes a study of the Indians

who once inhabited Effigy Mounds National

Monument, encompasses a good deal more

than those people who lived within its

isolation. All

boundaries.

This book, written by Wilfred D. Logan,

an archeologist with many years of experi-

Mount Vernon, Iowa, and the late Ellison

Orr of Waukon, Iowa. Their efforts, between

the years of 1933 and 1937, are reported

herein, providing a vast

body of informa-

tion in the form of notes and artifact coUec-

tions derived from their excavations.

National Park Service archeologists carried

on major excavations at Effigy Mounds in

1950 and 1952, and the bulk of the mounds

remaining in unexcavated state form a valuable scientific bank for the future.

This report, then,

an analysis of the

Orr and

and serves to place the remains of

ence in the National Park Service, increases

results of the research of Keyes,

our understanding of the peoples whose bur-

others,

mounds are preserved within the national

monument and other sites in the surround-

the national monument in a definite prehis-

The volume presents data, not

heretofore analyzed, from a large number

ley. By so doing, the author presents a more

ial

ing locale.

toric context in the Upper Mississippi Val-

complete understanding of the people who

of excavations in northeastern Iowa, and

used the area, both in terms of their devel-

systematizes the material to develop a back-

opment from earlier occupants, and in terms

ground against which to view the Effigy

Mounds and the people who built them.

The study owes much to the vision of two

conservation -minded amateur scientists

the late Charles R. Keyes of Cornell College,

of their relationship, at any given time, to

their

neighbors living in the Middle West

during the centuries before Europeans first

visited the river valleys of our Nation's

midlands.

Gary Everhardt

Director

National Park Service

PUBLICATIONS IN ARCHEOLOGY

Archeology of the Bynum Mounds, Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi, by John L. Cotter

and John M. Corbett. 1951. (PB 177 061)*

Archeological Excavations in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 1950, by James A.

Lancaster et al. 1954. (PB 177 062)*

Archeology of the Funeral Mound, Ocmulgee National Monument, Georgia, by Charles H.

Fairbanks. 1956. (PB 177 063)*

Archeological Excavations at ]amestoivn, Virginia, by John L. Cotter. 1958. (PB 177 064)*

The Hubbard Site and Other Tri-Wall Structures in New Mexico and Colorado, by

Gordon Vivian. 1959. (PB 230 988/AS)*

Search for the Cittie of Ralegh, Archeological Excavations at Fort Raleigh National Historic

Site, North Carolina, by Jean Carl Harrington. 1962.

7A.

7B.

7C.

7D.

7E.

7F.

7G.

The Archeological Survey of Wetherill Mesa, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, by

Alden C. Hayes. 1964. (PB 234 542/AS)*

Environment of Mesa Verde, Colorado, by James A. Erdman et al. 1969. (PB 234 541/AS)*

Big Juniper House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, by Jervis D. Swannack, Jr. 1969.

(PB 234 537/AS)*

Mug House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, by Arthur H. Rohn. 1971. (PB 234

539/A5)*

Badger House Community, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, by Alden C. Hayes and

James A. Lancaster. 1975.

Skeletal Remains from Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, by Kenneth A. Bennett. 1975.

Orthopedic Problems of the Wetherill Mesa Populations by.James 5. Miles, M.D. 1975.

Excavations in a 17th-Century Jumano Pueblo, Gran Quivira, New Mexico, by Gordon

Vivian. 1964.

10.

11.

12.

Excavations at Tse-Ta'a, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, by Charlie R.

Steen. 1966. (PB 234 540/AS)*

Ruins Stabilization in the Southwestern United States, by Roland Von S. Richert and R.

Gordon Vivian. 1974

The Steamboat Bertrand: History, Excavation, and Architecture, by Jerome E. Petsche. 1974.

The Bertrand Bottles: A Study of 19th Century Glass and Ceramic Containers, by Ronald R.

Switzer. 1974.

13.

Investigations in Russell Cave, Russell

Cave National Monument, Alabama, by John W.

Griffin et al. 1974.

14.

Casemates and Catmonballs: Archeological Investigations at Fort Stanwix National Monument, Rome, New York, by Lee H. Hanson and Dick Ping Hsu. 1975.

15.

Woodland Complexes in Northeastern Iowa, by Wilfred D. Logan. 1975.

'These publications are no longer available from the Superintendent of Documents, but may be ordered by

and parenthetical code number by writing to: National Technical Information Service, U. S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22151.

title

PREFACE

This publication could be considered an archeological antique.

say this because the

research was begun in 1951 and completed

searches for flint and clay sources and the

—

in other

words, no exhaustive study

of the full gamut of the landscape of primi-

in 1958. I do not intend to indulge in arche-

tive man. Presentation of the data, likewise,

ological reminiscence here, but I believe the

follows certain conventions of the period in

circumstances should be understood because

many years have passed since I last con-

consistency in providing scales for certain

sidered the problems of archeology in the

artifact illustrations

upper Mississippi Valley.

not considered terribly important.

which this study was written: hence the in-

— such then was simply

In the years intervening, many new tech-

Furthermore, at the tim.e this study was

niques have made their impact on the field

accomplished, archeologists were not so in-

American archeology. When this work

terested in processual studies as in culture

began, scholars, of necessity, were still seeking to develop local culture sequences (cul-

history.

The study reflects this bias. The

years have changed my own interest. North-

ture sequence, here, may be read as "ceramic

eastern Iowa

sequence," or at best, "sequence of artifact

studies,

complexes"). Before this work was completed, my intimate personal involvement

would so direct my research.

In the two decades since the study was

done, manuscript copies have been circu-

with the environment of the Mississippi

River Valley and its surrounding uplands

(to

say nothing of long discussions with

David A. Baerreis and Warren L. Wittry)

had caused me to ponder at length the relationships between man and the land. These

lated

a field ripe for processual

and were I to work there today, I

among scholars, but the basic data

have never been presented to a wide audience in systematized form. There are many

exciting studies possible within the identical

collections presented here, and if I could do

over today, I would adjust my approach to

factors, in turn, led to the beginnings of soils

analyses of mounds at Effigy Mounds Na-

the data considerably.

Monument, carried out by Wayne

Scholtes of Iowa State University. Such

work only whetted my appetite for more

sophisticated studies. However, money and

resist

tional

time limitations, as well as the research emphasis of the period decreed that many investigative

techniques

cannot, therefore,

applicable to the scientist:

"Ah but a man's reach should exceed his

grasp, or what's a heaven for."

now commonplace

were not employed. Hence there were no

exhaustive analyses of soils and pollen; no

studies of forest and faunal succession.

reminding the reader of Robert

Browning's words from Andrea del Sarto

(1855) on the work of the artist, equally

w. D. L.

September, 1974

Denver, Colorado

Figure 1.

to in text.

Northeastern Iowa, Mississippi Valley, and southwestern Wisconsin, showing location of sites

referred

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A study of this kind, drawing as

does on

To Paul Sagers of Emeline, Iowa, I am

the contributions, encouragement,

and as-

thankful for the use of his collections from

sistance of so many persons, makes

im-

possible to acknowledge the total debt

owe. All

who study Iowa archeology are

indebted to the late Charles R. Keyes, of

Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, and

to the late Ellison

Orr of Waukon, Iowa. I

have a slightly greater appreciation of this

obligation than most, for I relied heavily on

their col lections, notes and observations.

Their perception and understanding of the

mounds were such that no problem considered herein had not been addressed to some

extent by them. If I have been in any way

successful in shedding light on the life of

prehistoric peoples in northeastern Iowa, it

because the work of Keyes and Orr pro-

vided me with the raw materials.

I greatly appreciate the cooperation and

assistance of William

Peterson, former

Maquoketa area. Not only did

sites in the

Mr. Sagers put his extensive collections at

my disposal, but he and his wife also offered

me the hospitality of their home on several

occasions. Gordon Peckham, of Prairie du

Chien, Wisconsin, was an enthusiastic guide

and informant on sites in and around Prairie

du Chien. In addition, he frequently assisted

as a volunteer laborer in

tions.

my test excava-

Leland Cooper, formerly of Hamline

University, St. Paul, Minnesota, gave of his

knowledge and previous experience in the

Prairie du Chien area, and called my attention to the Highway Thirteen Rock Shelter.

I am indebted to Elizabeth J. Logan for constant

encouragement and assistance in

typing and proofreading

(if

not outright

editing) of the initial manuscript.

wish to express particular thanks to the

superintendent of the State Historical So-

University of Michigan Museum of Anthro-

ciety of Iowa, for making available the arti-

and photographs of

pology for a number of photographs. Those

obtained from the Museum are cited by

the Charles R. Keyes Collection, as well as

negative number in their respective legends.

fact collections, notes,

other data pertaining to Woodland manifes-

Finally,

must acknowledge the special

tations in northeastern Iowa. I am also grate-

assistance of James B. Griffin, Albert C.

National Park Service both for

Spaulding, Frederick P. Thieme, Richard K.

encouragement and financial support in pursuing this research. I especially wish to acknowledge the help of William J. Kennedy

and Walter T. Berrett, first and second Su-

Beardsley, and Volney H. Jones. These

scholars supplied helpful criticism and sug-

ful to the

perintendents, in that order, of Effigy

Mounds National Monument; the late Paul

L. Beaubien, then Regional Archeologist of

the Midwest Region; and John M. Corbett,

former Chief Archeologist of the National

Park Service.

gestions during the course of the research

and preparation of the manuscript which

was originally prepared as a Ph.D. dissertation.

w. D. L.

September, 1974

Denver, Colorado

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

WOODLAND SITES IN NORTHEASTERN IOWA

Burial Mounds

Mound Groups in Jackson County

Deppe Mound Group

Mound Groups in Clayton County

Mound Groups in Aallamakee County

Miscellaneous Burial Mound Data

Habitation Sites

Miscellaneous Sites in Jackson County

Miscellaneous Habitation Site Data

ARTIFACT TYPES

Pottery

Marion Thick

Spring Hollow Incised

Spring Hollow Brushed

Naples Stamped

Levsen Stamped

Levsen Punctuated

Spring Hollow Cordmarked

Spring Hollow Plain

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed

Lane Farm Stamped

100

Madison Cord-Impressed

101

Minott's Cord-Impressed

103

Minott's Plain

105

Minor Pottery Types of Northeastern Iowa

105

Types with Havana Paste Characteristics

107

Miscellaneous Single-Cord Decorated Sherds

107

Shell-tempered Pottery

108

Cordmarked Body Sherds

108

Ware Groups

Havaiia Ware

Linn Ware

109

110

Lake Michigan Ware

110

Unclassified Types

110

Chipped Stone Artifacts

110

Ground and Pecked Stone Artifacts

118

Bone and Antler Artifacts

120

Shell Artifacts

123

Metal Artifacts

124

Miscellaneous Pottery Objects

125

4 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MOUND, ROCKSHELTER, AND

VILLAGE SITES

127

Pottery Comparison and Seriation

127

Comparative Analysis of Burial Mounds

141

Red Ocher Mounds

142

Mounds Containing Hopewellian Grave Goods

Conical Mounds with Few or No Grave Goods

Effigy Mounds and Related Tumuli

Simple Conical Mounds

146

Analysis of Rock Shelters and Village Sites

157

161

164

165

The Minott's Focus

165

Other Woodland Village Complexes

170

Mound-Village Correlations and Chronology

175

CULTURAL SPECULATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

178

APPENDIX: HOPEWELLIAN TRAITS OF THE DAVENPORT AREA 190

REFERENCES

192

INDEX

199

ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece.

Conical burial mounds at Effigy Mounds National Monument

Northeastern Iowa, Mississippi Valley, and southwestern

Wisconsin, showing location of sites referred to in text

Rock alinements and burials, Deppe Mound 7

Rock alinements and burials, Deppe Mound 8

North half of burial pit, Pleasant Creek Mound 3

Plan of Gudovissy Mound 1

Miniature pot from Gudovissy Mound 1

Pottery from the mound fill, Harvey's Island Mound 1

viii

Cord-wrapped-stick decorated pot associated with burial,

Harvey's Island Mound 1

Lane Farm Cord Impressed pot fragment,

Harvey's Island Mound 2

10.

Plan of burials, French Town Mound 10

11.

13.

Bone and stone objects, French Town Mound 10

Stone objects, French Town, Mound 10

Conch columella beads and socketed antler point,

14.

French Town Mound 10

Levsen Punctated pot, French Town Mound 8

15.

Pottery from the "Valley" Mound,

12.

Harpers Ferry Mound Group

16.

Plan of excavation, Ryan Mound 2

17.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot fragment, Ryan Mound 2

18.

Plan of excavation, Ryan Mound 3

19.

Plan of excavation, Ryan Mound 4

20.

21.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot, Ryan Mound 4

Strata of the burial area, Houlihan Mound

22.

Brazell's Island Bear Effigy

23.

Chipped stone objects from the mound fill,

Brazell's Island Bear Effigy

24.

Plan of burials, Luth Mound 1

25.

Plan of burials, Luth Mound 3

26.

Cross section of Waukon lunction Mound 4

(the "Burned Earth" Mound)

The Lane Farm Mound Group

40.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot. Lane Farm Mound 3

Pottery pipe bowl and Snyder's Notched Point,

Lane Farm Mound 3

Plan of burials. Lane Farm Mound 11

Copper "celts" or plaques. Lane Farm: a, celt from Mound 11;

b, celt from field near Mound 11

Sherds of a Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot.

Lane Farm Mound 12

Plan of burials. Lane Farm Mound 13

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot. Lane Farm Mound 13

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot, Lane Farm Mound 13

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot. Lane Farm Mound 13

Plan of burials, Lane Farm Mound 16

Lane-Farm Cord-Impressed pot. Lane Farm Mound 16

New Galena and Hog Back Mound Groups

Levsen Stamped pot. New Galena Mound 1

41.

Perforated bear canines and copper hemispheres.

42.

New Galena Mound 1

Sherds of pot from New Galena Mound 4

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

43.

Plan of excavations and burials. Hog Back Mound 1

45.

Pot from Hog Back Mound 3

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot from Slinde Mound 6

Chipped stone, bone, and antler artifacts from the Spring

Hollow Shelters

Miscellaneous potsherds from the Elephant Site

Potsherds from the Waterville Rock Shelter

Spring Hollow Plain Sherd from Levsen Rock Shelter

Pottery, shell object, boatstone, and chipped stone from Mouse

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

56.

Marion Thick sherds from the Elephant Site

Spring Hollow Incised sherds from Spring Hollow Rock

Part of Spring Hollow Incised pot from Spring

Shelter No. 1

57.

Hollow Rock Shelter

Pottery from the Mouse Hollow Rock Shelter

Lake Michigan Ware potsherd from the Verne Hute Rock

Shelter

55.

Plan of burial pit and adjacent mound floor.

44.

47.

New Galena Mound 28

46.

Hollow Rock

Shelter No. 1

58.

Potsherds from the Levsen Rock Shelter

59.

Naples Stamped and Havana Cordmarked potsherds from the

Levsen Rock Shelter

Potsherds from the Levsen Rock Shelter

Levsen Punctated sherds from the Levsen Rock Shelter

Spring Hollow Cordmarked sherds from the Spring Hollow

Rock Shelter No. 1

60.

61.

62.

}

63.

Potsherds from Spring Hollow Rock Shelter No. 1

64.

Aberrant form of Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pottery from the

Waterville Rock Shelter

100

101

102

65.

Exterior surfaces of typical Madison Cord-Impressed rims

66.

Madison Cord-Impressed rims

Lake Michigan Ware sherds from the Minott's Rock Shelter

Minott's Cord-Impressed sherds from Minott's Rock Shelter

103

Minott's Plain and Spring Hollow Brushed sherds from Spring

Hollow Rock Shelter, No. 1

104

Triangular and triangular side-notched projectile points

111

Ovoid and lanceolate projectile points

112

Large side-notched and straight-stemmed projectile points

113

Contracting-stemmed projectile points

113

68.

69.

70.

71.

72.

73.

Interior surfaces of typical

74.

Expanding-stemmed projectile points

75.

Corner-notched projectile points

Large ovoid and lanceolate blades

76.

77.

7?>.

79.

80.

81.

82.

Oval knives

Anvilstone from Minott's Rock Shelter

Platform pipes from the New Galena Mound Group

Bone and antler objects from the Levsen Rock Shelter

Ceramic pipe from the Gingerstairs Rock Shelter, No. 1

Diagram showing formal and sequential relationships of

Woodland pottery types in northeastern Iowa

83.

Chronological placement of Woodland culture groupings and

84.

Decorative variations of Spring Hollow Incised

85.

Decorative variations of Naples Stamped

86.

Decorative variations of Levsen Stamped

selected sites in northeastern Iowa

87.

Decorative variations of Levsen Punctated

88.

Decorative variations of Lane Farm Cord-Impressed

89.

Decorative variations of Madison Cord-Impressed

90.

Additional decorative variations of Madison Cord-Impressed

91.

Rim profiles of Havana Ware

92.

Miscellaneous rim profiles of northeastern Iowa pottery

93.

Miscellaneous rim profiles of northeastern Iowa pottery

94.

Vessel forms of Lane Farm Cord-Impressed

95.

Vessel forms of Levsen Stamped, Naples Stamped, Spring

Hollow

Incised,

Cord-Impressed

114

115

116

117

119

121

122

125

128

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

Spring Hollow Cordmarked, and Madison

140

TABLES

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Spring Hollow Rock

Shelter No. 1

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Spring Hollow Rock

Shelter No. 2

Artifacts from the approach trench. Spring Hollow Rock Shelter No. 2

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Spring Hollow Rock

Shelter No. 3

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Gingerstairs Rock

Shelter No. 1

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Minott's Rock Shelter

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Trench C,

10.

Numerical distribution of artifact types from 1955 Test I at the

Elephant Site

Numerical distribution of artifact types from 1955 Test II at the

Elephant Site

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Test I,

Nelson Dewey Site

11.

Artifact inventory of the Waterville Rock Shelter

12.

Artifact inventory of the Sixteen Rock Shelter

13.

15.

Inventory of artifacts from three Jackson County site

Percentages of pottery types by levels. Spring Hollow Rock

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

81, 82, 83

129

141

144, 145

Comparative trait list for Red Ocher Mounds

147

Mounds with Hopewellian grave goods

150-153

Comparative trait list for 11 Middle Western burial complexes

154

Coefficients of association for 11 Middle Western burial complexes

158

Conical mounds with few or no grave goods

160

Effigy mounds and related corneals

161

Simple conical mounds

166

Comparative trait list for sites of the Minott's focus

Shelter No. 1

16.

Inventory of artifacts from the Levsen Rock Shelter on which depths

were measured

14.

Elephant Village Site

Percentages of pottery types by levels. Nelson Dewey Site

c?m3n

mss^:sm.UMM:yi'^mu?itM^fi^4}!.

A bluff overlooking the Mississippi River just north of the Yellow River at Effigy Mounds National Monument.

The top of this bluff and plateau behind it contain many ancient mounds, some linear, some in effigy, and a series

of 19 conical mounds ending at the point of the bluff.

INTRODUCTION

A case may be made for

Physiographically, the portion of Iowa with

State of Illinois.

which this report deals differs markedly

marginality of southern Wisconsin to the

from the remainder of the state. Allamakee,

Clayton, and Dubuque Counties, along with

parts of Jackson County, are included in the

so-called Driftless Area (Martin, 1916, p.

75). This tract in southwestern Wisconsin

and northeastern Iowa was not glaciated

during the Pleistocene ice advances. Salient

among its features are deep valleys cut

through sandstone and limestone formations, often to depths of 300 or more feet.

These valleys are bounded by steep, precipitous walls. The uplands between the valleys

were once covered with forests of the northern hardwood type and represented the last

great intrusion of the woods into the prairieplains environment to the west. The Drift-

Area is some 120 miles wide, most of

which lies on the east side of the Mississippi

less

River in present-day Wisconsin. Parts of the

area resemble the Ozark Plateau of Missou-

and Arkansas.

Important culture centers do not appear

to have developed in the area in prehistoric

times. Groups living in northeastern Iowa

Illinois area as well. However, recent studies

indicate that early peoples in southern Wis-

consin, although

influenced from outside

sources, pursued their own particular line of

development, and placed their own distinctive stamp on cultural items or ideas they

borrowed (Ritzenthaler, 1953, pp. 2-41;

Baerreis, Daifuku, and Lundsted, 1954, pp.

1-36; Wittry and Ritzenthaler, 1956, pp.

244-254; Rowe, 1956, pp. 9-103).

In spite of its peripheral position, cultural

manifestations in this region were studied

an early date. I. A. Lapham published a

volume (1855) summarizing his researches

in Wisconsin mound groups. Certain sites

in the western part of Wisconsin were mentioned in this paper. Lapham's work is valuable as a compendium of site locations and

maps of mound groups for students of Wisconsin archeology, and bears upon the archeology of northeastern Iowa as well.

Between 1881 and 1895, T. H. Lewis and

A. J. Hill, of St. Paul, Minn., mapped many

of the mound groups of the upper Mississip-

River Valley (Keyes, 1930, p. 216). Like

appear to have been culturally marginal to

peoples on comparable time levels in other

the

Middle Western areas. Northeastern Iowa

the Lewis and Hill survey have value today

part of a larger area of distinctive aborig-

which southern

as a

work of Lapham, the detailed plats of

compendium of sites. Such maps are

eastern Iowa appears to have been marginal,

valuable aids in distribution studies of

mound types, and may be of worth eventually in arriving at population estimates.

now included in the

They may also serve as a means of learning

inal cultural flavor, of

Wisconsin comprises the major part. Northas well, to the area

what once existed in the region, for many of

the mound groups have been destroyed

through agriculture and other modern

permitting detailed descriptions of culture

activities.

century through the efforts of the Iowa Ar-

two papers pubHshed in Annual Re-

ports of the Bureau of American Ethnology,

Cyrus Thomas described northeastern Iowa

mounds, notably those on the Lane and Fish

farms in northern Allamakee County, and

others in the vicinity of Dubuque (Thomas,

1894, pp. 99-110). Unfortunately, Thomas'

descriptions were general. Although the descriptions

suggest probable chronological

position, they lack details necessary for

thorough comparative studies. South of the

region with which this report is concerned,

groups of conical mounds early commanded

chaeological Survey.

Sponsored by the State Historical Society

begun in 1922 by the late

Charles R. Keyes of Mount Vernon, Iowa,

this survey was the first systematic study of

of Iowa, and

the state's archeological resources. Through

the survey, Keyes planned to locate and map

the state's archeological sites and to make

recommendations on the advisability of

State ownership for certain of these. With

authority granted by the State Historical Society of Iowa,

Keyes visited local sites and

studied the collections of Iowa's many ama-

the attention of students associated with the

teur archeologists. He made surface collec-

local amateurs to donate parts of their col-

tury, conical mounds in several groups near

lections to the Society. Among those he was

the city of Davenport, Iowa, were examined

Orr collection

(from sites predominantly in Allamakee

County) was the most notable because of

its thorough documentation and spectacular

ceedings of the Davenport Academy of

Natural Sciences. It is evident from the reports that these mounds were largely of

Hopewellian origin. A part of the work of

the Academy has been summarized by a

modern student (Bennett, 1945, pp. 113-

tions on the sites he visited and stimulated

able to obtain, the Ellison

nature.

Other important acquisitions which came

through

to the State Historical Society

Keyes' efforts included the Noe collection

from the vicinity of Amana, and the small

122). Both Griffin (1946, p. 68) and Bennett

but significant Hawbaker collection from

(1945, p. 121) assign these mounds to the

when Federal

Recovery Administration

(FERA) funds became available, Keyes obtained authority to make excavations. Ellison Orr, of Waukon, Iowa, was appointed

field supervisor, and the Iowa Archaeological Survey began its field work in mound

groups and village sites along the Upper

Hopewellian Phase of the Woodland Culture Pattern. North of the area in which the

Academy's investigations were made, few

Iowa mounds were studied until the period

in the 1920's and 1930's during which time

the Iowa Archaeological Survey was in

operation.

Brief descriptions published in a variety

of media, written for the most part by local

amateur archeologists, are to be found in the

Perhaps the most valuable paper

on Iowa mounds written in the 19th century

is that by Frederick Starr compiling scattered fragments of information (Starr, 1897,

pp. 1—24.). However, fieldwork of a quality

literature.

Woodland

appear until the early decades of the 20th

Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences.

During the closing decades of the 19th cen-

by Tiffany, Lindley, Pratt, and others. The

results of their work are reported in the Pro-

Complexes

content and chronological outline did not

the Boone River area. Later,

Emergency

Iowa and Mississippi Rivers in Allamakee

and Clayton Counties (Keyes, 1934, pp.

321—354). The bulk of the excavations were

made between 1934 and 1936.

The association of Charles R. Keyes and

Ellison Orr was a fortunate one for the study

of prehistory. Keyes had received some archeological training during his years as a

student in Germany. Orr had been employed variously as a grade school teacher,

cavations and surveys, collections donated

company manager.

manuscripts, and files of survey sheets arranged by counties.

farmer, and telephone

Both men were highly intelligent and possessed a familiarity with almost every phase

went out of

their way to equip themselves with knowledge necessary to archeological field

research. Their earliest fieldwork, accomplished before they had obtained great faof the natural sciences. Both

by amateurs, notes, maps, photographs,

Study of these collections affords a good

sampling of Iowa prehistory and, in addiresearch is needed to make the record more

nearly complete. The collections and notes

are most extensive for several of the eastern

miliarity with archeological methods, lacked

counties of Iowa

certain refinements of technique, but,

Orr excavated many rock shelters and

mounds. The work was concentrated in two

localities. The northeastern corner of Iowa

viewed as a whole, their excavations were

sufficiently controlled to obtain information

(fig.

1).

Here Keyes and

for most of the essential features of nearly

(Allamakee and Clayton Counties) was cov-

of the sites they studied. Errors and

ered in detail. In Linn and Jackson Counties

shortcomings in their work may be ascribed

of east central Iowa, mounds and rock shel-

all

knowledge in the field of

ters provided information paralleling the re-

eastern United States prehistory at the time.

sults of the work in the northeastern section.

They could not be expected to forecast, in

1934, conclusions which seem obvious to

the modern student as he looks back over

more than 30 years of research. Only re-

Other parts of the state seem to have been

covered in less detail. Southeastern Iowa excavations concentrated on the Glenwood

Culture, which appears to be an Iowa variant of the Nebraska Culture (Strong, 1935,

pp. 124-167, 287). The Mill Creek sites of

northwestern Iowa were tested rather extensively, and the material in the collections

from these excavations has helped provide

to overall scant

cently has a comfortable chronology been

developed with artifact types to mark the

various horizons.

Orr's training as a surveyor was import-

ant to the project. He also possessed an ability to

make objective observations and to

report these clearly and succinctly. Keyes'

fairly detailed

understanding of this inter-

The materials contained in the collections

him some understanding of the materials

with which they worked and of the problems

of the Iowa Archaeological Survey have

be resolved, in addition to an understanding of the planning necessary to give

direction to the project. He made use of his

knowledge to such a degree that no major

cultural entity recognized in the Mississippi

Valley at the time of their excavations was

missed in the fieldwork. This is an important

consideration, for subsequent fieldwork in

Iowa has been meager. Their notes and collections represented the largest repository

of information available on the subject of

prehistory within the state at the time they

finished their work.

The

collections

they

amassed consist of materials from their ex-

esting late prehistoric manifestation.

contact with professional archeologists gave

tion, makes clear those areas where further

been known to prehistorians of the eastern

United States since the time they were collected. However, no detailed statements

have been made concerning them. Both

Keyes and Orr were advanced in age when

they embarked upon their project, and both

died before they could publish their work.

It was for this reason that the present study

was undertaken, and the material presented

in the ensuing pages is drawn from the notes

and artifact collections amassed by the Iowa

Archaeological Survey. Exceptions to this

are the materials presented on the Highway

Thirteen Rock Shelter and the Nelson

Dewey Site. Information on these sites is

Introduction

based on excavations carried out by the

author during tenure as archeologist at the

Effigy

Mounds National Monument near

McGregor, Iowa. In addition, some of the

information presented on the Highway

Thirteen Rock Shelter is based on collections made by Professor Leland Cooper of Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn.

Although it was not possible for Keyes

and Orr to present in a single manuscript

ual shift in

some aspects of culture. The

basic economy did not change radically, al-

though some investigators have proposed

the beginnings of agriculture in this transitional period. By the end of 1,000 or 2,000

B.C., groups over most of the East had de-

the time this paper was prepared, a chron-

framework, embracing numerous

pared for use as tombs. These, in turn, con-

the synthesized results of their research,

ological

—

prehistoric culture complexes, had been ad-

tained burials which were given quite

vanced for the Middle West. The general

outlines of this framework by now have

been generally accepted by most archeologists working in the region.

elaborate treatment, and which were accom-

panied by special burial offerings. In the

early (ca. 9,000-10,000 years ago) occupa-

scheme of eastern United States prehistory,

this period is called the Early Woodland. To

some degree it may be looked upon as transitional between the Archaic and later Middle Woodland, the latter reaching its most

complex expression in the Hopewell burial

mounds of southern Ohio and the Illinois

tion by hunters whose economy roughly re-

River Valley.

The culture history of the East appears to

have been relatively uniform over the whole

of the geographic area involved. In nearly

every local sequence, evidence exists for an

sembled that of the Clovis and Folsom

hunters of the High Plains along the east

slope of the Rocky Mountains. Remains of

such groups have been reported from locali-

It is

a matter of speculation as to the de-

gree to which agriculture provided an eco-

nomic base on which the Middle Woodland

peoples erected this superstructure of arts,

ties as widely separated as Missouri, Michi-

objects, and beliefs. For parts of the Middle

gan, Illinois, Maine, and Alabama. Data are

West, it appears that agriculture played a

prime role in supporting the cultural developments. However, such an assumption is

not so clearly warranted in other areas. One

such area is that under consideration here.

available to support a theory of continuous

development of the life of these people,

from generation to generation, into one

characterized by a wider variety of projectile point styles; larger population group-

more settled existence in areas of

greater economic advantage; some elaboraings; a

tion of the arts (particularly stoneworking),

Woodland

At the end of

this period there seems to have been a grad-

veloped some simple forms of ceramics, and

had begun to bury their dead in earth

mounds. In some localities notably southern Ohio and to a lesser extent in the valley

of the Illinois River

these mounds were

quite large and contained structures pre-

such syntheses have appeared for other

parts of the eastern United States. Hence, by

Complexes

as 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.

and more elaborate burial practices. The cultural assemblages representing the existence

of such groups are called Archaic in the generally accepted terminology of the prehistory of eastern United States.

The Archaic probably flourished from

around 8,000 years ago until perhaps as late

Judging from the evidence of the burial

mounds, the remains of the arts and crafts

found in village deposits, and the distribution of remains, the Middle Woodland

reached its developmental peak and widest

sphere of influence around A.D. 200; then it

gradually declined. Over most of the East

there is ample evidence for progressive simplicity of burial mounds and treatment accorded the dead. This is not to imply that

there was a decline of population. In some

areas of the East, distribution and frequen-

Keyes. At the same time, the National Park

cy of sites indicate population increase.

Service was in need of a study of material

As the Middle Woodland declined, another cultural development was on the rise

in these collections pertaining to the prehis-

in the eastern area. This so-called Missis-

An arrangement was made for me to go to

tory of Effigy Mounds National Monument.

sippian Culture Pattern, in its most distinc-

Iowa City, supervise the ordering of the col-

overwhelmingly of southern

distribution. Its influences, however, were

felt over a much wider area, and small

"pioneer" communities, conforming rela-

lections, and begin a study of the Woodland

tive

form,

tively closely to the more southerly models,

were found as far north as central Wisconsin and as far west as Kansas City, Mo. In

some parts of the Middle West, an increasing Mississippian influence on the Woodland culture base is evident. To modern

students of American archeology, the characteristics of Middle Mississippi culture are

known. The large organized villages;

temple mounds; elaborate ceramics; clear

well

dependence on intensive horticulture; and

the distinctive complex of religious objects

and art motifs comprising the Southern

Cult, all have been presented in the literature. Middle Mississippi communities evidently were at the height of their influence

from about A.D. 1200 to 1300 or 1500, although their developmental phases may

have appeared as early as A.D. 600, and the

last vestiges of the

Mississippian life-way

are still to be discerned in the habits of some

modern aboriginal groups.

This, then, is the general framework of

Middle Western archeology as currently

known by American archeologists. It is

against this taxonomic and chronological

structure that the materials analyzed on the

following pages will be considered.

This study was made possible through

the cooperation of the State Historical

Society of Iowa. There was need for ar-

rangement of the Keyes material, as the collections of the Iowa Archaeological Survey

are designated. This collection had been

moved to the State Historical Society's

offices

sity of

on the campus of the State UniverIowa after the death of Charles R.

sites

of the northeastern counties.

Work

was begun on the collections from mounds

and rock shelters in Allamakee, Clayton,

Jackson, and Linn Counties.

Some additional material, not included in

was gathered on sites in Cerro

Gordo, Chickasaw, Floyd, Marshall, Webster, Hamilton, Johnson, and Mills Counthis paper,

The material studied indicated a very

Woodland occupation in Iowa,

and that this occupation was of considerable

antiquity in the region. The collections also

ties.

extensive

provide evidence that an intrusion of Mississippi Pattern elements in late prehistoric

times may have fused with the local indigenous Woodland to produce new cultural

entities, some of which strongly parallel

known developments in the eastern Plains

area.

The material presented in this paper is

limited by the collections available and,

therefore, the discussion focuses on two localities in the eastern part of Iowa.

The

were most complete from Allamakee, Clayton, Jackson and Linn Counties. Allamakee and Clayton Counties are

located in the extreme northeastern corner

of Iowa along the Mississippi River (fig. 1).

Jackson County is separated from these two

by Dubuque County, and from Linn County

by Jones County. A gap also separates Linn

collections

County from Allamakee and Clayton

Counties.

Little or no data were available

from the

intervening areas. Northeastern Iowa, as

referred to on the pages which follow,

designates the area from the southern

boundaries of Jackson, Jones, and Linn

Counties north to the Minnesota-Iowa

boundary; and from the Mississippi River

Introduction

west to the western boundaries of Linn,

Buchanan, Fayette, and Winnesheik Coun-

respect to Late Woodland and Hopewellian

In reference to archeological remains,

esses which may have operated to produce it

ties.

however, the definition must be restricted

remains, and to examine the cultural procin northeastern Iowa.

further, for detailed data were available for

As the research progressed, it became ap-

only the four counties listed above. It is

assumed that similar materials would be

parent that the series of burial mounds ex-

cavated by the Iowa Archeological Survey

found in the other northeastern counties if

collections were available for study.

In the early stages of research on northeastern Iowa collections, two problems important to the interpretation of Effigy

Mounds National Monument were given

foremost consideration. The notes donated

by Ellison Orr to the National Park Service

contain descriptions and photographs of excavations which he performed for the Iowa

Archeological Survey on the Lane farm in

northern Allamakee County. The distinctive

pottery type found repeatedly in the Lane

farm mounds shows an interesting mixture

of Late Woodland and Hopewellian decora-

which were simpler in construction and

tive treatments. This mixture of Late Wood-

This study will attempt to illuminate these

and Hopewellian traits is reflected

in other grave goods and in mound structure

conditions and to suggest the interrelation-

as well.

longing to this interesting period of upper

land

At the urging of several local amateur

grave offerings than Hopewellian mounds,

nevertheless seemed to bear some relationship to Hopewell. These mounds were seg-

regated from other groupings and given the

tentative label of Allamakee Focus.

A part

of the problem will be to present evidence

for their cultural and chronological position

with respect to Hopewell, and to suggest

cultural processes involved in their develop-

ment. These mounds also bore relationships

to the effigy

mounds and Lane Farm com-

plex. Evidently a complex set of forces was

in operation in the northeastern

Iowa area

at some time during the Hopewellian period.

ships of

all

mound classes apparently be-

Mississippi Valley prehistory.

archeologists, I directed limited excavations

Another set of burial mounds contained

Spike Hollow Rock Shelter in Alla-

red ocher and an elaborate assemblage of

makee County on a tributary of Paint Creek.

The most significant discovery was the re-

grave offerings. Resemblances to the Early

in the

covery of sherds of the pottery type found

the Lane

Farm mounds

association

with a sherd resembling Hopewell Zoned

Incised and sherds of Madison Cord-Im-

pressed (Logan, 1952b, pp. 11-12). The

problem of the relationship of Hopewell,

Late Woodland, and the Lane Farm complex

therefore became very important in the investigations. The second problem of importance in connection with the needs of Effigy

Mounds National Monument was that of

identifying a village complex attributable to

peoples who built effigy mounds. This study

Woodland Red Ocher mounds of Illinois

were evident. The discussions of these

mounds will seek to outline the beginnings

of the Woodland sequence in northeastern

Iowa, and demonstrate relationships to sur-

rounding sites in Wisconsin and Illinois.

became more familiar with the dis-

tribution and content of sites, other prob-

lems involving the interaction of primitive

peoples of the upper Mississippi River Valley with their environment were apparent.

It was noted that the larger sites were on the

broad river terraces close to the Mississippi

River, and that there were numerous rock

seek to provide evidence for such a

complex. It will attempt to place the Lane

shelter campsites in the valleys of smaller

Woodland

Complexes

Farm complex in a meaningful context with

tribution will be considered in an attempt

will

tributary streams. The meaning of this dis-

environmental factors acting

lections could be made. The notes were quite

upon the Woodland peoples of the region.

The number of sites representing each

time period varies. The general trend appears to be one of increasing numbers of

burial mounds and heavier village occupation as time progressed. The generalization

that population was on the increase seems

detailed in their description of features ob-

warranted. Factors producing an increase in

facts in small collections available locally.

to illuminate

served in the excavations, but varied in the

amount of detail devoted to description of

artifacts.

Tentative typological categories

had been set up for artifacts based on the

limited descriptions in the notes, and on

comparisons of this information with arti-

population will be discussed in the hope that

Inspection of the larger mass of artifact data

some light may be thrown on the economic

in the

aspect of the Indians' relationship to the

modifications of both typological categories

Keyes collection produced many

environment. It is evident that the Missis-

already set up, and of hypotheses formed

sippi River itself played a strong part in the

concerning culture processes.

Physical limitations of laboratory space

life

of Indians in eastern Allamakee and

Clayton Counties. The problems associated

with environment may be summarized as

involving both the Mississippi River and

the northeastern Iowa terrain in three aspects: (1) effects on site location; (2) effects

on population distribution; and (3) population size. No doubt the river also was important in travel and trade. However,

evidence on this subject was lacking, and

the river's part in promoting or hindering

contacts with other peoples could not be

presented in other than speculative terms.

This study, then, seeks to describe and

analyze the collections from sites of the

Woodland Pattern in northeastern Iowa.

The archeological components

will

be grouped with respect to observed artifact

characteristics in an attempt to define cul-

The meaning of the groupings

which emerge will be considered in terms of

geographical situation and chronology. The

ture types.

imposed other modifications of method. Restricted work space and incomplete cataloging of the collections made it necessary to

study the artifacts from each site individually, or from each level within certain sites.

Small representative samples of each artifact type were selected from the excavation

units for comparison with those from other

units. Timelimitationsalsogoverned

method of analysis. The Keyes collection

was located in a repository some distance

from the home of the investigator, and it

was necessary to gather all data in one short

period of continuous work. Likewise, it was

not possible to make frequent re-examination of the material. Therefore it was im-

portant to make the original notes as

complete as possible. In studying pottery,

for example, re-examination would have

aided materially in developing types. As this

could not be done, the investigation was carried out with reference to the original notes

groupings will be considered within the

context of eastern United States culture

made on ceramics, and with reference to

history with particular reference to cultural

small collections available at or near Effigy

Wisconsin, Minnesota,

and Illinois. The cultural and environmental

Mounds National Monument. Fortunately

questions will be considered separately.

sented greatest typological problems were

manifestations

Certain modifications of usual methods of

for the analysis, the variations

which pre-

common in local sites and collections.

analysis were necessary due to the circum-

Numerically, potsherds were the most

stances under which the work was carried

common single class of remains recovered.

out.

The Keyes and Orr notes were avail-

able long before an examination of the col-

The habitation

sites

contained a total of

10,152 sherds. Another 248 sherds were

Introduction

found in mound excavations, in addition to

21 complete or nearly complete vessels. In

studying these collections, observations

were made on characteristics of temper, tex-

The final type groupings were assigned

names according to the practice which has

become accepted within the eastern United

ture, hardness, color, surface finish, decora-

described in the notes taken on the collec-

tain type names are drawn from local sites.

These designate types which are either new

in the literature on Woodland materials, or

which are believed to be sufficiently different from related pottery classes described in

surrounding areas to warrant their presentation as separate entities. Others are names

carried over from the type descriptions of

surrounding regions. These names have

been employed where type identity has

been indicated through comparison of local

pottery with ceramics from other parts of

the Middle West. Where local variation was

As a result, many more variations

evident in these groups, such variation has

and vessel form. As the collections

were composed largely of sherds, study of

form was most often confined to observations of vessel rims, lips, and shoulders.

For each individual site the sherds were separated into broad classes. After an initial

sorting based on temper, texture, vessel

form, and general surface finish, subgroups

were developed according to detailed differences in these characteristics and in decoration,

tion.

tions.

These smaller groupings were

were noted than were represented in the

final typological categories and descriptions.

In producing the final type descriptions, the

minor variations were compared and many

were subsumed under broader categories.

As the Woodland sherds were all grit

tempered, temper characteristics entered into the analysis of the classes to a lesser

degree than did other paste characteristics,

certain attributes of vessel form,

and sur-

Projectile points and other chipped stone

tools were second only to pottery fragments

as the most common form of artifact remains in northeastern Iowa sites. A wide

variety of projectile point forms appeared.

Eight major classes were differentiated and

several subtypes were noted within the major categories. All of the types presented are

descriptive categories, but the possibility

that certain of these may be found eventual-

sherds, the groups segregated in the initial

ly to conform to artifact types with chrono-

inspection were produced on the basis of

logical

thickness and thinness of the sherds, tex-

likely. In

and spatial significance is believed

separating the classes of chipped

and the exterior surface

stone material, the procedure was similar to

treatment. In the case of the latter attribute,

that usually followed in cases where noth-

the pottery was separated into plain or

ing

cordmarked classes, and the cordmarked

group was broken down into two, and some-

distribution.

known about spatial and temporal

The obtrusive variations were

separated according to criteria which varied

As the work pro-

with the classes. Form was found to be of

gressed and greater familiarity with the ma-

most importance. Size sometimes was employed as a sorting criterion. The method

was to seek one or two characteristics which

distinguished a particular form from other

artifacts within the broad class of "projectile point," "knife," etc. Descriptions were

then made based on the groups segregated.

Similar procedures were employed in

grouping the burial mounds and the several

times three, categories.

terial developed, separation of the different

cordmark variations was made automatically as part of the overall sorting operation.

Sherds bearing decoration, rims, shoulders,

and other fragments with special characterwere handled separately from the

body sherds, but segregation of variations

followed the same lines listed above.

istics

Woodland

been indicated in the descriptions.

face finish. In the classification of body

ture of the paste,

Complexes

States over the past several decades. Cer-

village

complexes in proposing culture

types.

The following section of the paper is a

site-to-site description of the burial mounds

excavated by the Iowa Archaeological Survey. This is succeeded by a section treating

village sites

ner.

and rock shelters in like man-

A section defining artifact types follows

this. The remainder of the paper is compar-

ative, and includes a discussion of problems

connected with the Woodland occupations

of northeastern Iowa.

Introduction

The Mississippi River trench at Pikes Peak State Park south of McGregor, Iowa.

WOODLAND SITES IN

NORTHEASTERN IOWA

BURIAL MOUNDS

formation and artifacts in relation to the

amount of funds and

effort

expended

Groups of burial mounds are the most

excavation seems to have been a factor gov-

common

erning this. Nevertheless, these few effigy

evidence of prehistoric occupation in north-

mounds were probably of prime importance

eastern Iowa. The groups range in size from

in local culture history,

isolated tumuli scattered over the landscape

of the groups which remain perhaps would

to huge aggregates containing several hun-

contribute moderately to the understanding

obtrusive and perhaps the most

and detailed study

dred mounds. In the Harpers Ferry Mound

both of the effigy complex as a whole and of

Group alone, an estimated total of 900

mounds existed before agricultural opera-

local cultural relationships.

and other modern activities obliterated them entirely (Keyes, 1930, p. 220). It

is unfortunate that most of the large groups

have been destroyed. The largest single

cluster remaining in the northeastern counties of Iowa appears to be the Sny-Magill

Mound Group on the large Mississippi

River terrace at the confluence of SnyMagill Creek and Johnson Slough, 8 miles

south of McGregor, Iowa. The Sny-Magill

group is now protected in a detached unit of

tions

Effigy Mounds National Monument.

The northeastern Iowa mounds include a

Of more common occurrence are those

mounds called "linears" and the so-called

"chain-mounds." The former are oblong

earth

embankments, and the

latter

are

alinements of conical mounds connected by

additional earth fill. Investigators have included these in the effigy classification,

partly on the basis of their form, and partly

on the basis of observed cultural similarities

(Rowe, 1956, pp. 69, 72). Although this

classification appears warranted, it is prob-

ably significant that distribution of the

linear

mounds extends far beyond that of

the true effigies

—

in Iowa, at least. Like the

and chain-mounds

variety of types that can be distinguished

effigy forms, the linears

on the basis of exterior form and internal

content. Among the most spectacular are

the effigy mounds, a few groups of which

are in need of further study. The most com-

here is the conical. Such mounds are circu-

are distributed along the eastern border of

lar in ground plan and present a low, dome-

Iowa in Allamakee, Clayton, and Dubuque

Counties. Many such mounds have been

excavated in Wisconsin, especially by archeologists affiliated with the Milwaukee

Public Museum, but few have been studied

in Iowa. The relatively low return in in-

shaped silhouette. They vary considerably

in diameter and height. Most are small, seldom exceeding 60 feet in diameter and 5

to 6 feet in height. Average size for these

mon mound type in the locality considered

mounds is probably nearer 30 feet in diameter and 2 to 3 feet in height.

The information presented on the pages

which follow summarizes the excavations

made in local mounds by Keyes and Orr

with the Iowa Archaeological Survey. Many

were nondistinctive and difficult to place in

relationship to those which produced more

information. Often the mound data were

on previous excavations there. At some time

general, not because of lack of careful ex-

information gleaned was meager, and Orr

cavation and reporting on Orr's part, ap-

was not able to locate any of the previous

excavators or any of the material removed

from the mounds. Orr's own excavations

avoided the mounds dug in this amateur

parently, but rather owing to the character

of the mounds and to the advanced state of

destruction through agriculture. In descrip-

considerably prior to his work, three of the

mounds were dug into by a Dr. Hanske and

several boys from Bellvue. They found burials,

"some other relics," and a thin copper

plate "on which were scratched some char-

acters" (Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p. 56). The

tions presented here, no attempt is made to

group the various mounds according to cul-

effort.

tural likeness. Instead, they are described

ter:

according to mound groups. The mound

group descriptions, in turn, are taken up in

ior area contained low, irregular walls, less

Mound 7 (fig. 2). Type: conical; Diame30 ft.; Height: 30 in. The burial floor

was at the natural bluff-top level. The inter-

geographic sequence, beginning with the

than a foot wide, made of small, flat lime-

southernmost groups excavated and moving northward up the Mississippi River.

This sequence does not follow the chrono-

stone rocks. The orientation of this structure

logical order in which the mounds were

excavated, as the Iowa Archaeological Sur-

was southeast-northwest. An elongate mass

of five bundle burials was found along the

row of rocks in the northeast quarter of the

mound. There were no grave goods or other

vey excavations began in the valley of the

Upper Iowa River in the extreme northern

associations (Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p. 57).

part of the geographic area considered here.

ter:

The Survey's work proceeded gradually

southward, finishing with the few mounds

tained a roughly rectangular structure of

studied in Jackson County. The number of

top. This was oriented northeast-southwest

mounds excavated was smallest for the

on its long axis. Parts of six skulls accompanied by other bone fragments were found

under the rocks and scattered within the

rock enclosure. Some of these were well preserved. The burials were fragmentary and

may have been parts of two separate flexed

skeletons. Two of the skulls appear to have

been those of children. One long bone fragment had two notches cut in it. In the east

half of the mound was a disk cut from a

human skull. From this same part of the

mound came a fresh-water mussel shell.

southern part of the region.

Mound Groups in Jackson County

Deppe Mound Croup. The Deppe Mound

Group is located in the northeast quarter of

Section 12, Township 86 North, Range 5

East, in Jackson County. The group consisted

of eight conical mounds on the spur of a

287 feet high which extended northward along the Mississippi River 1 mile

north of Bellvue, Iowa. Orr excavated the

two southernmost mounds of the group,

which he designated Mounds 7 and 8. Be-

bluff

Mound 8 (fig. 3). Type: conical; Diame60 ft.; Height: 42 in. The mound con-

limestone at the natural level of the bluff

Pleasant Creek Mound Croup. This was a

line of five conical

mounds along the east

Woodland

the mound group, and his activity brought

edge of a terrace north of the mouth of

Pleasant Creek, in Sections 4 and 5, Town-

Complexes

forth information from the local population

ship 85 North, Range 5 East. One mound at

fore proceeding with excavation, he mapped

igure 2.

Rock alinements and burials, Deppe Mound 7.

the extreme north end of the group

was

mound in its original state. At a depth of 5.5

located on Section 33, Township 86 North,

feet

Range 5 East. Another hne of mounds once

shells reported by Gerlach.

existed in this group but it has been obhter-

part of Orr's excavation.

beads in the field where the line of mounds

the stratum varied

originally existed. Orr reported these to be a

shells to a deposit 4 inches thick in a com-

type of trade beads of European manufac-

pact bed. Below the shells was a black earth

ture (Orr MS., 1935, vol.

layer

Ill, p.

18). In the

The thickness of

single,

which gradually changed

scattered

yellow

of 9 feet below the top of the mound. In the

southwest quarter of the excavation Orr

found a bundle burial within the purple clay

two previous excavations, the first by the

sons of a former local minister. They were

said to have dug a pit about 6 feet long, 6

feet wide, and 6 feet deep. According to

stratum. Two feet west of the bundle burial,

under similar purple clay, were seven leafshaped, ovoid flint blanks of the type often

found in Hopewellian sites. All were exceed-

Orr's informants, six or seven skeletons

ingly well flaked and were

were found "lying across each other" (Orr

MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p. 19). With the skeletons were 70 or more large copper beads.

The bones of the skeletons seem to have

been in an excellent state of preservation,

for the boys removed them and kept them

for a long time in the basement of the local

Lutheran church. Some time later, Henry

Gerlach, owner of the land on which the

Orr believed the

bundle burials were at the same level as the

skeletons found by the sons of the Lutheran

mound group was located, employed a

scraper to remove about 3 feet of the mound

The mound was begun by clearing an area

on the terrace surface at least thirty feet in

Still later, around the year 1900, Gerlach

excavated a pit 4 feet wide and 6 feet long in

fresh clamshells from the nearby river, vary-

the mound. In this pit he discovered a large

ing in thickness from one shell to a compact

clay. Pure sand was encountered at a depth

quality blue-gray

made of high

flint.

He thought that the flint blanks

were included in this stratum. Orr's

statement on the excavation of this mound

contains observations on how he thought

the mound had been constructed:

minister.

also

diameter, over which was spread a layer of

deposit of fresh-water mussel shells. The pit

bed, in places 4 inches thick. Black earth

was said to have been located at the natural

level of the terrace. He found no burials,

made blacker by disintegrated charcoal

however.

Then over this was built a mound of yellow

clay to a height of 5.5 feet, the last foot,

Orr surveyed the mound before excavation and found patchy, irregular strata of

very stiff clay at a level corresponding to the

mound surface as it then existed. He found

that similar clay could be obtained along the

from

mound group which remained

intact, Orr excavated Mounds 2 and 3.

Mound 2. Type: conical; dimensions unspecified. Mound 2 had been subjected to

fill.

Woodland

This layer of shells covered the southwest

ated by repeated plowing. The farmer found

part of the

Complexes

Orr encountered the layer of mussel

which was packed solidly in the interstices.

the center being largerly purplish clay

brought from the banks of a small creek

flowing across the north part of the terrace.

In doing this, a single ceremonial flint, the

bank of a tributary of the deep slough at the

same as the 7 later deposited, ivas thrown in

foot of the terrace. In his own excavation he

an inclusive deposit in the mound earth, in

found an irregular stratum of this clay just

beneath the surface of the mound. Accord-

natural level.

ing to Gerlach's statement, this would have

been at a level 3 feet below the apex of the

At this level arid in this purplish clay zoere

found the skeletons and large copper beads

the southwest quarter at 36

in.

above the

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

Figure 3.

Rock alinements and burials, Deppe Mound 8.

SCALE

Woodland

Complexes

Numbers indicate skulls

Figure 4.

North halt of burial pit. Pleasant Creek Mouiid 3.

at the

bottom of the pit made by the Lenz

hoys, the solitary bundle burial and the

Mound Group 1, and Gudovissy Mound

seven ceremonial pieces found by us.

Archaeological Survey, but excavations were

After which the

mound was built to a

Group 2. Both were mapped by the Iowa

made in Group 2 only. When the maps and

height of 10-12 ft., with a probable diameter

excavations were made, this group contained

of around 35 feet. (Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill,

eight conical mounds in good state of pres-

p. 24.)

ervation.

Mound 3. Type: conical; Diameter: 30 ft.;

Height: 18 in. In the mound floor was a rectangular pit 4 feet deep, 5 feet wide, and 14

feet long. The long axis was oriented north-

south.

An "altar" of stones was found 18

inches below the surface of the

mound.

Mussel shells were discovered at the same

level.

A small deposit of charcoal at a depth

of 20 inches lay in the northeast corner of

the 5-foot square section at the center of the

mound. In the southeast corner of this section were more mussel shells. A lens-shaped

deposit of shell was found 10 feet south and

5 feet east of the center of the mound. These

shells were outside of the burial pit and 40

inches below the apex of the mound. This

depth indicates that the lens-shaped deposit

may not have been inclusive in the mound.

likely that the shell deposit was part of

pre-mound habitation site, although Orr

noted no evidence for a village site in conIt is

nection with the mound group.

Ten bundle

burials were found in the

north part of the burial pit (fig. 4). Near the

center of the pit was a fragmentary skeleton

which may have been the remains of a semiflexed individual. An isolated skull was located two feet east of the mound center. A

mandible fragment was found 18 inches east

mound center, 10 feet south of the

mound center was another skull fragment.

of the

No grave goods were reported.

Mound Groups in Clayton County

Gudovissy Mound Group 2. In Sections 17

and 18, Township 91 North, Range 1 West,

on bluff tops along the Mississippi River in

southern Clayton County, are two groups of

mounds which Orr designated Gudovissy

An additional four mounds orig-

had been part of the group. Orr

reported them to be badly obscured through

inally

cultivation at the time of his work.

Mound 1 (fig. 5). Type: conical; Diameter

40 ft. Height 36 in. This was the south;

easternmost mound in the group. Orr's excavation revealed an oval burial pit 5 feet

long and 4 feet wide. The long axis of the pit

was oriented east-west. Outside the burial

pit at its west end was a pile of large rocks

which Orr described as a "subconical heap,"

78 inches long (north-south), and 48 inches

wide (Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p. 86).

The pit contained burials of four adults

and the skulls of four children. Although

these were bundle burials, they had been

placed in the pit while some tissue still connected the bones of the legs. Three adult

skulls were arranged along the east edge of

the pit. They were accompanied by a few

long bone fragments. Along the north side

of the pit were the four children's skulls.

The fourth adult skull was located near the

center of the pit. Part of another skull lay

nearby. These were accompanied by long

bone needles. The skulls were at the east

end of the bundles, and the long bones were

in positions roughly simulating articulation.

At the foot of one of these bundles was a

small whole pot. Near one of the children's

skulls, at a point close to the center of the

burial pit, were fragments of another vessel.

Still another pot, in badly disintegrated con-

dition, was found in the southeast corner of

the pit.

Although three pots were recorded as

having been found with the burials in this

Woodland

mound, information was available on only

Sites in

one (fig. 6). According to a description originally prepared by Griffin in 1935, this pot

Iowa

Northeastern

Figure 5.

Plan of Gudovissy Mound 1.

was grit-tempered and of medium fine texture. The color was light brown to smoke

gray. The paste was soft, with a hardness of

2.0 to 2.5. The surface of the pot had been

roughly smoothed. The decoration on the

rim consisted of a series of short, vertical

lines incised just below the lip. Beneath

these were two narrow, horizontal lines in-

around the neck outlining a smooth

Two lines were incised around

the shoulder forming a curvilinear festoon

cised

Woodland

Complexes

neckband.

design. On the body, two sets of wider and

deeper incised lines formed a larger curvilinear festoon design. Both the shoulder and

body decoration encircled the pot. The body

of the pot was slightly elongate and had a

rounded base. The shoulder intersected the

neck and the body at angles considerably

sharper than are usual on local Woodland

pottery vessels; in addition, there was a

more pronounced neck constriction. The

upper rim flared slightly. The vessel is quite

small

— only 6.8 cm. high.

has a lip diam-

eter of 5.5 cm., a neck diameter of 4.4 cm.,

and a body diameter of 5.7 cm. The lip is 2

mm. thick. The pot as described here resembles one found in the Schwert Mound 7

of Wisconsin, where it was associated with

Hopewellian remains (McKern, 1931,

250).

Mound 4. Type: conical; Diameter: 30

ft.;

Height: 36

in.

This

mound contained

two bundle burials in a pit 6 inches deep and

of unspecified form. No grave goods were

with the burials and nothing was found in

the mound fill (Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p.

Figure 6.

89).

Mound 1 (UMMA Neg. No. 12701).

Miniature pot from Gudovissy

Mound 8. Type: conical; Diameter: 30

Height: 30 in. The humus layer had

been removed from the mound floor. No

skeletons were found, although Orr seems

to have thought burials were there originally and had deteriorated (ibid., p. 90).

ft.;

southward along the west bank of the Mississippi River about IV2 miles north of the

business district of the village of Guttenberg.

The peninsula lies between the Mis-

sissippi River and the mouth of Buck Creek

in Sections 29 and 31, Township 93 North,

Harvey's Island Mound Croup 2. Harvey's

Range 2 West, and Section 5, Township 92

Island is actually a peninsula extending

North, Range 3 West. Most of the penin-

Figure 7.

Pottery from the mound fill, Harvey's Island Mound 1

(UMMA Neg. No. 12701).

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

but details of form and dimensions were not

given. Cordmarked body sherds with fingernail impressions

over the cord-roughened

surface were found in the mound fill (fig. 7).

Fragments of a bundle burial were noted.

The bundle was associated with a pot decorated with a cord-wrapped-stick treatment

(fig. 8). The pot was grit

tempered, and

the body had been roughened with a

cord-wrapped paddle with deep cord impressions. It was smoothed over the cordroughened surface from the upper part of

the shoulder to the rim. Decoration was

confined to three zones on the neck and rim

on the

rim.

ejcterior surface,

and

to the inner

The decoration consisted of cord-

wrapped-stick impressions 2.2 cm. long and

mm. wide placed obliquely from the lip

downward on the exterior and interior. On

Cord-wrapped-stick decorated pot,

Figure 8.

associated with burial, Harvey's Island

Mound 1 (MPM Neg. No. 72265).

sula has been subjected to cultivation for a

period of more than 50 years. Summer cottages have been built at the south end of the

peninsula. Gravel quarrying operations are

progress north of these dwellings. Such

activity seems also to have been in progress

at the time of Orr's excavation and survey.

Three mound groups once existed on the

ward the left. On the interior they slanted to

the right. Below these impressions was a

row of bosses 7 mm. wide and spaced from

13 to 23 mm. apart punched from the exterior, and encircling the pot horizontally.

They were placed in a smoothed horizontal

band 18 mm. wide. Below the bosses, three

rows of horizontal cord-wrapped-stick impressions were placed in continuous lines

around the neck just above a very slight

of the barn attached to the Janck residence

shoulder expansion. This decoration fills a

band 22 mm. wide. The pot had an elongate

While it

body with a rounded, conoidal base. Its di-

known that a huge animal effigy of unique

ameter at the orifice nearly equalled that at

the shoulder. Overall height was 10 inches

peninsula. Group 1, about 300 yards north

in Section 5, has been obliterated.

form was found, Orr left us no information

on the number and types of mounds in the

group.

Group

2 consisted of five conical

(Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, pp. 142-143).

Mound 2. Type: conical; Diameter: 60 ft.;

of which were excavated. Two of these con-

in. This mound had been obscured by cultivation. Orr's excavation

tained remains indicative of a Hopewellian

revealed a rectangular, subfloor burial pit

Group 3 lies at the extreme north

8 feet long and 4 feet wide. The long axis

end of the peninsula in Sections 29 and 31

and, at the time of the survey, included one

was oriented north-south. At the north end

of the pit were six bone bundles. Part of the

long bones of these were stacked on end

mounds at the time of the Orr survey, three

origin.

linear and 10 conical mounds.

Height: 24

Mound 1. Type: conical; Diameter: 40 ft;

against the edge of the pit. Sixty-five tubular

A pit seems to have been

copper beads were scattered through the

earthfill of the pit to the south of the burials.

Woodland

Height: 10

Complexes

dug at the time of the mound's construction,

the exterior these impressions slanted to-

in.

These resembled copper beads reported from

Hopewellian mounds in Wisconsin (McKern,

1931, p. 215). In the earth which filled the

4 inches above the floor, were two unperforated canine teeth of a bear. Several

long bone fragments were found at the south

pit,

end of the pit. A fragment of a Lane Farm

Cord-Impressed pot is noted in the collection as having come from this mound (fig. 9).

The excavators discovered an

intrusive

historic Indian burial 13 feet south

and 5

feet west of the mound center. The skeleton

was extended with arms at the sides. Beneath the mandible were many purple glass

beads which appeared to have been parts of

a necklace. Over the left side of the thoracic

cage was a thin, circular, brass disk covered

with cloth resembling velvet. This disk was

Figure 9.

Lane Farm Cord Impressed pot

fragment, Harvey's Island Mound 2

(UMMA Neg. No. 12711).

about 200 feet lower than the bluff's summit.

The hogback extends southward from

the steep slope of the bluff, along the south

A little farther down

side of which runs a small, nameless creek.

on the same part of the skeleton was a similar disk, 3 inches in diameter. The disks and

glass beads were of European manufacture

(Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, pp. 129-130).

Mound 3. Type: Conical; Diameter: 60

On the east the bluff and hogback are

4 inches in diameter.

bordered by the sloughs of the Mississippi

River.

The mound group consisted of one

linear and 10 conical mounds. In addition to

the

mound burials, an interesting inhuma-

Excavation revealed a

tion was found at the base of the bluff slope.

rectangular pit, the long axis of which was

Small rocks were observed covering an area

ft.;

Height: 20

in.

oriented north-south, 6 feet long and 3 feet

4 feet wide and 5 feet long. These were sunk

wide. A fragmentary extended skeleton

with the head to the north lay on the floor.

into the ground until only the tops showed

flush with the surface. Under the rocks was

Two fragmentary bundle burials lay one on

a skeleton in extended position with

each side of the extended skeleton. Associ-

at the sides.

ated with the bundle burial on the east side

depth from the surface at the feet and 36

of the extended skeleton were three perfo-

inches at the skull. Near the right hand,

rated bear canine teeth. On the surface of the

resting on the pelvis with inner surface

downward, was a large mussel shell. An-

pre-mound terrace, outside the burial pit,

were two additional bundle burials, one of

which included two skulls with the long

bones. No grave goods accompanied the

bundle burials (Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p.

140).

French Town Mound Croup. The French

Town Mound Group, 6V2 miles north of

Guttenberg in Clayton County, is located

in the northwest quarter of Section 32,

Township 93 North, Range 2 West. It occupies a high bluff and narrow hogback

arms

The skeleton was 30 inches in

other was located at the right knee. A

broken projectile point was found in the

earth which had been excavated from

around the legs.

Four of the conical mounds in this group

were excavated but only two were described

in detail. The others, Mounds 6 and 7, were

described very briefly.

Mound 6 contained

a single skull, complete, but crushed. Mound

Woodland

7 contained parts of a poorly preserved

Sites in

burial and a celt fragment.

The burial in

Mound 7 appears to have been extended.

Northeastern

Iowa

Figure 10.

Plan of burials, French Town Mound 10.

Mound 10 (fig. 10). Type: conical; Diam-

Burial

Semiflexed. One of the two pit

The floor was

burials. The pit in which it lay was roughly

prepared by removing topsoil. Five pits

were dug in the floor, three of which were

rectangular. Red ocher was scattered

through the earth fill. Orr noted that the

burial was fairly well preserved although

the skeleton was incomplete. In the earth

filling the pit, and at a depth roughly cor-

eter:

ft..

Height: 48

in.

Two to three mussel

were found at the bottom of each.

Burials were located in the two remaining

pits and on the mound floor and fill. Rocks

filled with yellow clay.

shells

responding to the level of the mound floor,

included in the mound fill were reported to

Orr found five ovoid knives or ceremonial

have covered some of the skeletons. The in-

blades pointed at both ends.

Woodland

dividual burials are listed and described be-

these well flaked specimens resembled the

Complexes

low using Orr's burial numbers.

"turkey-tail" blades of Illinois, but lacked

outline

the characteristic notches (fig. lie, d).

The five blades are markedly uniform in

size, their dimensions in centimeters are:

Specimen No.

Length

Width

Thickness

Burial

A bundle burial lying on the

mound floor.

Burials 9 and 10. Bundle burials. These

were found in the mound fill. Orr reported

limestone rocks in this fill and thought that

they had been placed over the burials.

All burials in Mound 10, with the excep-

tion of Burials 9 and 10, were covered with

fc-..

•

T'J^'

red ocher.

a flat

Burial 1.

iHK

One additional feature included

mound floor near

rock lying on the

Two blades pointed at either end

and a large (13.5 cm. long) bone awl (flg.

11a) lay on this rock. The two blades measure 13.7 X 4.5 X 0.7, and 14.0 x 4.3 x 1.0 cm.

respectively.

Although they were not mentioned in the

notes, five other objects were found, and at

least

three of these appear to have been

among the grave offerings. They may have

been missed accidentally in the excavation

and recovered from the back dirt. These included a broken, socketed antler projectile

Stone objects, French Town

Mound 10 (UMMA Neg. No. 12704).

Figure 12.

point stained with red ocher

(flg.

13c); a

small, polished bone splinter awl (fig. lib);

and two conch columella beads, each approximately 3 inches long, hollowed out at

the ends and perforated at each end at right

angles to their longitudinal axes

(fig.

13a,

These beads also bore red ocher stains.

A large retouched flake was also recorded as

having come from this mound (fig. 12b).

Mound 4. Type: conical; Diameter: 24

ft.; Height: 30 in. Orr noted one construction feature: a rock layer was placed over

the burials at the pre-mound soil surface

level. Under the rocks were three long bone

shafts, fragments of two mandibles, and

part of a scapula. A bundle of five long

b).

bones, a pair of femurs, a single femur, a

humerus, and two tibiae were located

under another cluster of rocks. These lay in

a compact bundle oriented north-south.

Two of six mussel shells were cupped under

left

small rocks. A skull fragment, two rockerstamped potsherds, a cordmarked sherd, a

Woodland

Complexes

Conch columella beads and

Figure 13.

socketed antler point, French Town Mound 10

Neg. No. 12702).

(UMMA

plain sherd, and a perforated carnivore ca-

nine tooth were found in the

mound fill

(Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p. 106).

Mound 8. Type: conical; Diameter: 40

Height: 36 in. This mound contained

ft.;

several features quite unlike those in any of

the other

mounds investigated in this

group. A basin-shaped clay lined pit, about

14 feet in diameter, had been dug into the

original soil to a depth of 18 inches.

The

earth removed from this excavation formed

an embankment about a foot high around

the perimeter of the pit.

The pit evidently served as a crematory

basin, for a large fire had been built within

it. The fire appeared to have been smothered

with earth resulting in a charcoal stratum,

varying in thickness from 2 to 6 inches

within the pit. Charred logs, 4 feet long and

4 to 8 inches in diameter, overlay the charcoal stratum in the southeast quarter of the

Figure 14.

mound. The logs lay east to west, parallel to

Town Mound 8 (Height, 12.5 cm.).

the long axis of the pit. A rock deposit with

one slab set on edge was located south of

the logs. Burned human bone fragments,

chiefly bits of skulls, were scattered over the

floor of the basin under the charcoal. Five

feet east of the pit center, imbedded in the

clay directly under the charcoal, was a complete pot

(fig.

14). This small vessel

grit

tempered and had been malleated with a

cord-wrapped paddle. The cord impressions

were almost completely obliterated by subsequent smoothing of the surface. The color

is yellowish gray to smoke-blackened.

Just below the lip there is a series of short,

vertical, closely spaced lines impressed by

an instrument with a smooth surface. Below

Levsen Punctated pot, French

inner rim decoration.

There is a very slight flare to the rim; the

narrowed and rounded, and the base

lip is

conoidal.

The lip thickness is 3.0 mm.;

the rim, 5.0 mm., and the body 5.0 mm. The

vessel is 12.5 cm. high. The lip diameter is

8.6 cm. The base of the rim is 8.1 cm., and

the shoulder is 10.6 cm. in diameter.

Two feet south of the center, also im-

may well have been made by the same tool

bedded in the clay layer, was a bundle burial, and beneath the charred logs, 3 feet

southeast of the center, were two fragments

of a child's skull. Burned human bone fragments were found beneath the charcoal

layer. These lay on top of the clay layer and

were scattered over the floor of the basin

(Orr MS., 1935, vol. Ill, p. 117).

Evidently the mound was erected over the

as the plain rocker incising on the body. The

site of a crematorium. The charred logs ap-

and well smoothed.

At the shoulder there are eight low lobes,

each of which is decorated by a series of

three horizontal rows of plain rocker incised

lines. The swing of the rocker impression is

1.3 cm., and the rows overlap. The convex

part of the swing is to the right. There is no

parently were the remains of some type of

this

band, on the rim, there is a horizontal

area of short irregular incised lines which

shoulder area

plain

structure within which the burials were cre-

mated. Addition of the mound fill seemed to

have interrupted the burning before it was

complete as evidenced by the charred logs,

charcoal stratum, and incompletely burned

bones.

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

Mound Groups in Allamakee County

burial area a little above the natural terrace

surface level. In the sections immediately

Mud Hen Joe Mound Group. This small

group of conical mounds was located along

the foot of the high bluffs that line the Mississippi River less than half a mile north of

Waukon Junction, Iowa. They were located

in Section 3, Township

96 North, Range 3

West. All were destroyed in the process of

constructing a county road along the Mississippi River from Waukon Junction to Harpers Ferry. Before destruction, Orr mapped

the group and excavated three mounds.

west of the mound center were fragments of

what apparently had been an extended burial

(or

perhaps bones placed in positions

The bones

were located 8 inches below the level of the

natural terrace surface and the humus layer

had been removed before the burial vvas

simulating an extended burial).

placed.

A crushed, grit-tem.pered pot lay be-

tween the knees of the skeleton. The skull

was absent, but a skull fragment lay by the

proximal end of the right femur. Other bone

Mound 1 Type conical Diameter :32ft.;

fragments, apparently parts of the left arm,

Height: 30 in. Rocks were piled indiscrimi-

lay across the shaft of the left femur. The

nately on the mound floor. No burials were

found. The mound fill contained the follow-

frontal part of a skull, a tooth, and a long

bone fragment were discovered to the east

ing objects: three chipped flint objects

of this burial. The mound fill contained five

(probably scrapers), one planoconvex

scraper, and four potsherds (Orr MS., 1936,

grit-tempered potsherds and a broken pro-

vol. V, pp. 162-163).

the Lane

;

Mound 2. Type: conical; Diameter: 30 ft.;

Height: 18 in. A crude rock wall, approxi-

jectile point.

pot could not be located in the collections

(Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, pp. 163-164).

mately 8 feet long and 2 feet wide, was lo-

Mound 4. Type: conical; Diameter: 30 ft.;

cated in the southwest part of this mound.

Height: 24 in. Three grit-tempered sherds

Two rows of rocks were arranged over the

Figure 15.

Madison Cord-Impressed type were

Pottery from the "Valley" Mound, Harpers Ferry Mound Group

(UMMANeg. No. 12704).

<|*'*V

Woodland

Complexes

Two of the potsherds were of

Farm Stamped type. The crushed

found in the mound fill (Orr MS., 1936, vol.

V, p. 164).

2 feet high. Orr

had been built to a

height of at least 3 feet and had later toppled

over, perhaps as the mound fill was added.

On the floor of the mound about 6 inches

north of the wall was a well preserved femur

and fragments of two additional long bones.

Judging from Orr's measurements, the floor

of the mound appears to have been located

thought

Harpers Ferry

Mound Croup. The Valley

Mound. Type:

conical; Diameter:

ft.;

Height: 18 in. A shallow pit about 20 feet

wide and 25 feet long had been dug before

this mound was built. The long axis of the

pit was oriented north-south. The pit was

filled with alternating layers of charcoal and

earth, as though fires had been smothered.

The pit also contained rocks, some of which

exhibited signs of burning. No burials were

found, and there was no evidence of cremations. A cache of potsherds of the Levsen

The wall was

to south.

originally

approximately

the natural level of the

Other than the

wall and the bones, no inclusions were

surrounding

soil

surface.

found (Orr MS., 1934, vol. I, p. 72).

Martcll Mounds. These were also a part of

Punctated type was encountered outside the

the great Harpers Ferry Mound Group. Orr

southeast corner of the pit. The sherds ap-

did not specify the number or the types of

pear to have come from an elongate jar, the

mounds in this group. At least five must

have existed, for Orr excavated Mounds 3

and 5. He found a pile of stone and a crude

lip of which was rounded and the rim flaring

slightly. Just below the lip on the upper rim

a decoration consisting of a series of stick

projectile point of the type called Waubesa

in Mound 3 (BaerMound 5 contained a

pile of stones similar to that in Mound 3.

punctates encircling the rim in a horizontal

Contracting-Stemmed

Immediately below these are bands of

plain rocker stamping which also seem to

have encircled the pot horizontally (fig.

reis,

There were no other inclusions (Orr MS.,

15a-f).

1934, vol. I, p. 85).

line.

An additional sherd of medium fine texture with reddish

brown color was recov-

ered at a point 36 inches deep in the mound.

covered with vertical cordmarks. The

lip is rounded and the rim flares slightly. At

the lip on the upper rim are short, vertical,

single-cord impressions. These are separated from the decorative zone beneath by a

single-cord impression which evidently had

extended around the rim of the pot horizon-

Pendant to this line are triangles or

chevrons, each of which is composed of two

tally.

parallel single-cord impressed lines (fig.

15g). Orr evidently considered both pottery

types to have been inclusive in the mound

(Orr MS., 1934, vol. I, p. 71).

Harpers Ferry Mound Croup 13. Mound 2.

Type: conical; Diameter: 56 ft.; Height: 60

in. The mound contained an interesting con-

1953,

155).

Ryan Mounds. These were also a part of the

Harpers Ferry Mound Group. They were located in the two northeast blocks of the

town of Harpers Ferry and consisted of

seven conical and one oval mound. Four of

the conicals and the oval (referred to as the

"Houlihan

Mound" in Orr's notes) were

excavated.

Ryan Mound 1. Type: conical; Diameter:

30 ft.; Height: 10 in. The test of this mound,

limited to an area near the center, revealed

a layer of red ocher 4 inches thick at the level

of the original terrace surface. Four sherds

of Lane Farm Stamped pottery were found.

As the excavation was carried no further, no

burials or other inclusions were discovered.

Later

work

indicated that the excavation

had not been carried deep enough (Orr MS.,

Woodland

1936, vol. V, p. 91).

Sites in

a large rock wall, 8

Ryan Mound 2 (fig. 16). Type: conical;

feet long east to west and 4 feet wide north

Diameter: 40 ft.; Height: 10 in. The mound

struction feature,

i.e.,

Northeastern

Iowa

Bundle Burioli

PrO|ect.le po

40 inches below the terrace surface, a bun-

was encountered imbedded in a

mixed with sand. The

bundle was composed of decayed shafts of

long bones. Under one bone comprising the

bundle was a small, flat-based, straightstemmed projectile point.

The fill changed abruptly to compact sand

and gravel 50 to 60 inches below the apex of

the mound over which red ocher was scatdle burial

layer of red ocher

tered irregularly over the surface. In this

red ocher layer, 10 feet east of the mound's

center,

was a straight-stemmed, flat-based

projectile point of quartzite. This point

Figure 17.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot

fragment, Ryan Mound 2.

4V4 inches long. Also on this red ocher floor,

clamshell cache was found approximately 12

10 feet northeast of the mound's center, was

feet due east of the mound center 32 inches

below the apex (20 inches below the natural

a longbone fragment accompanied by a large

lanceolate blade of very superior workmanship. The blade was discolored by red ocher,

and resembled others found in Illinois Red

Ocher mounds (Cole and Deuel, 1937, p.

55). Another deposit of red ocher, 66 inches

below the mound's apex, was encountered

17 feet southwest of the center of the

surface as measured by the excavators).

This cache was nearly 14 feet in length, 2

feet in width, and 5 inches in thickness. The

shells

were imbedded in a layer of sticky

black soil. At the level of the surrounding

terrace surface, 7 feet southeast of the

mound center, were two human skulls and

mound.

The pots in the upper part of the area excavated by the mound builders are small.

a longbone fragment.

One is bVi inches high and 5% inches in

bundle burials appear to have been found at

Three feet northeast

of these were two longbone bundles. A skull

fragment lay between the two bundles. The

diameter. The decoration of the rim is car-

the level of the terrace. No other inclusions

ried out in single-cord impressions. The

were noted (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, p. 102).

upper part of the body is covered with hori-

Ryan Mound 4 (fig. 19). Type: conical;

dimensions unspecified. The same techniques seem to have been employed in the

zontal zones of dentate rocker stamping, the

margins of which overlap. Irregular rockered lines appear on the base. The other pot

is smaller. It is V-k inches high and 2%

inches in diameter at the shoulder. The two

pots conform to the Lane Farm CordImpressed type in all other characteristics

(Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, pp. 91-96). Fragments of another Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot said to have come from this

mound are shown in figure 17.

Ryan Mound 3 (fig. 18). Type: conical;

Diameter: 60 ft.; Height: 24 in. Here again,

the builders had preceded mound construc-

The form and dimensions of the excavation are unknown. A

tion with an excavation.

construction of this mound as those in the

previously described mounds of this group.

The builders appear to have prepared an

area by making a deep excavation. A bundle

burial composed of four long bones was

found 50 inches below the apex, and 11 feet

southwest of the center. These bones were

imbedded in black, sticky soil similar to that

in Mound 3. Near these long

bones was a very large copper awl. The awl,

semicircular in cross-section, was thickest

at its midpoint, and tapered toward either

end to a rounded point. Similar deposits of

the black soil covering the burial and copper

described

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

Perimeter of Excavatit

Deposit of smoU clam shells-^

Jl)

Bone end

Skull Fragment

Figure 18.

Plan of excavation, Ryan Mound 3.

awl were found scattered over an area

roughly 4 feet in diameter at the same level.

Some of these black patches lay within a

layer of yellow sand stained by the addition

of red ocher. Isolated longbone fragments

Woodland

were found in two places on the east and

northeast sides of the mound. In two un-

Complexes

specified locations, single clamshells

were

found (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, p. 102). A

complete pot, of the Lane Farm CordImpressed type, was noted in the collections

as having come from this mound (fig. 20).

This small vessel, like those found in

Ryan Mound 2, and in six of the Lane Farm

mounds, is noteworthy because it has short

vertical single-cord impressions on the outer

Perimeter of Excavo

Clam Shells

Human Bo,

SCALE

C^~^

Yellow Sandy Soil - Stained Red

Deposits of Block

"Muck"

Plan of excavation, Ryan Mound 4.

Figure 19.

rim edge and five to six unevenly applied

horizontal, wide single-cord impressions on

body decoration found on late Middle

Woodland vessels.

the rim. Below this decorated band there is

single-

Houlihan Mound (fig. 21). Type: oval;

cord impressions pendant to the band of

Length: 70 ft.; Width: 40 ft.; Height: 23 in.

Construction of this mound seems to have

row of

short, deeply-impressed

The body of the vessel, however, has a number of rows of rockerhorizontals.

stamped impressions. For various reasons it

has not been possible to describe this vessel

in more detail, but it represents another example of rim treatment which became dominant and of more widely varied decorative

pattern on Late Woodland vessels in the

Upper Mississippi Valley coupled with

been much like that of the Ryan conical

mounds. The builders had evidently made

an excavation of undetermined shape which

was filled with stratified deposits including

two burial layers. The mound fill was black,

sandy loam. A layer of mixed sand and red

ocher was found 36 to 46 inches below the

surface of the mound at its apex. Beneath

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

lozoa

northwest from the center of the

mound. At the same level, 17 feet northwest

of the mound center, was a larger straightstemmed point (3.5 inches long, 1.6 inches

wide at the shoulder). A deposit of 125

"globular" copper beads was discovered

6 feet northeast of the mound's center.*

Remnants of vegetable fiber cord were preserved in these beads which were found at

the same level as the projectile points. The

inclusions were located above the upper

level of burials, found in the mixed yellow

sand and red ocher 36 to 46 inches below

the mound's apex. This layer of burials consisted of bone fragments, apparently the remains of bundle burials. The lower burial

stratum was on the terrace gravel beneath

the layer of stiff, black clay at the bottom of

feet

Figure 20.

the aboriginal excavation. No grave goods

were associated with the skeletons in either

of these layers (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, p.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot,

Ryan Mound 4.

this was a stratum of yellow sand mottled

with dark streaks resembling the lenses of

earth often interpreted to represent individual basket loads of

fill

(McKern, 1931, p.

209, pi. XXXVIII, 1). Below this was a stra-

tum of stiff, black clay which lay on the

compact, undisturbed gravel of the terrace.

A small, contracting-stemmed point (2.2

inches long, 1 inch wide at the shoulder),

lay 7 inches below the level of the terrace, 9

Figure 21.

101).

*AIthough Orr spoke of these as being globular, there is a good possibility that they were

I was unable to locate

them for study, but in inspecting other beads

Orr described as globular, I noted that all were

cylindrical in form. If Orr made an observational error it was probably due to the heavy

coat of copper carbonate found on the beads.

W.D.L.

really short cylinders.

Strata of the burial area, Houlihan Mound.

Level of

Grave Goods (beads and projectile points)

Yellow Sond Stained fed - 12"

Dori Stteoks in Yellow Sond - 18"

Woodland

Complexes

. Stiff

Block Cloy ond Bones - 2"

Mound Croup. The Hill Mound Group

preserved femur and a tibia were located 24

consisted of four conical mounds on top of a

inches east of the center. In three different

bluff overlooking the Mississippi River 3

Hill

southeast quarter of the southeast quarter

spots to the northeast of these remains were

decayed longbone fragments. The mound

fill over this burial area was similar in char-

of Section 7, Township 97 North, Range 2

acter to that of Mound

West. Three mounds of the group were ex-

stratum of hard, light yellow clay contain-

cavated by Orr. A fourth was partially ex-

ing small flecks of white material. The bur-

cavated, but contained nothing.

ial

miles northeast of Harpers Ferry, in the

Mound 1. Type: conical; Diameter: 25

ft.;

Height: 44 in. The burial floor was lo-

cated at the surrounding surface level of the

1. It

consisted of a

area was covered with rocks.

The only

was a

object included with the skeletons

mussel shell (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, p. 137).

Mound 4. Type: conical; Diameter: 25

Height: 30 in. A rock wall, the base of

bluff. The mound fill was composed of hard,

ft.;

light yellow clay. At either end of the burial

area were rock walls which

which was 42 inches beneath the surface of

the mound, was found at the southeast side

as pyramidal in shape.

of the burial floor. This wall, 10 feet long,

Orr described

The bases of these

walls were 12 to 18 inches above the mound

The long axis of the burial area was

oriented northeast-southwest. The burials

floor.

were oriented southeast-northwest.

The burials consisted of six fairly com-

was described as pyramidal in form.

The burials consisted of single, badly decayed bone fragments at three different

positions on the burial floor at a depth corresponding roughly to that of the level of

No grave goods were noted

plete extended skeletons on the mound floor

the bluff top.

between the rock walls. Parts of four additional skeletons were found. All of the latter

were skulls, or parts thereof. The burial Orr

designated Number 7 was part of a child's

skull found over the right elbow of one of

the extended skeletons. An adult skull was

found between the knees of this extended

skeleton and the one adjacent to it. Another

skull was located between the femurs of a

third extended skeleton, and a fourth skull

was found over the vertebral column of a

(Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, p. 139).

fourth extended skeleton.

A grit-tempered

pot was located above the pelvis and over

the lumbar region of this last skeleton, the

only item of grave goods found. The pot

could not be located in the collections (Orr

MS., 1936, vol. V, pp. 138-139).

Mound 3. Type: conical; dimensions unspecified. The humus layer seems to have

been removed from the bluff top before

construction. The burial floor was 8 inches

Mound 2. Type: conical; dimensions unspecified.

tion.

Orr made only a partial excava-

He found nothing.

Brazell's Island Mound Croup. This

group lies on an extension of the Harpers

Ferry terrace which is separated from the

main body of the terrace by a small creek

emptying into the Mississippi River. The

mounds are separated from the bluffs lining

the Mississippi River bank by a lagoon. The

island is located in the northeast quarter of

the southwest quarter of Section 26, Town-

ship 97 North, Range 3 West. The mound

group consisted of a conical mound, two linears, and an effigy mound of the type con-

sidered to represent a bear.

Orr excavated

the bear effigy and one of the linear mounds,

the latter of

which contained nothing but

occasional lumps of charcoal.

Woodland

below the surrounding bluff level. On this

floor were three well preserved skulls arranged in a line. A crushed skull was found

Bear Effigy (fig. 22). Type: bear effigy;

Northeastern

18 inches north of the mound center. A well

Length: 86.9 ft.; Width at shoulder: 41 ft.;

Iowa

Sites in

Figure 22.

Brazell's Island Bear Effigy.

Height at head: 28 in.; Height at rump: 33

in. This was the only effigy mound exca-

found in the mound fill. This fireplace appeared to have been made in a shallow pit.

vated by the Iowa Archaeological Survey. It

Fragments of a bundle burial were found in

evidently was built directly on the topsoil

a shallow, oval pit in the "heart" region of

of the terrace. A lens-shaped fireplace, con-

the bear. The bundle burial was accompanied by fragments of a Madison Cord-

heavy concentration of ashes

and dipping down toward the center, was

sisting of a

Figure 23.

Impressed pot, crushed but restorable, and

Chipped stone objects from the mound fill, Brazell's Island

Bear Effigy (UMMA Neg. No. 12706).

Woodland

Complexes

burned stones. The mound

Limestone rocks were found over the bur-

contained a large trapezoidal scraper, a

ials. A single large compact bundle burial

and several isolated long bones were discovered. A poorly preserved bear canine

tooth accompanied the bundle. It was in

such an advanced stage of decay that it was

impossible to tell whether or not the tooth

had been perforated (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V,

a small pile of

fill

circular planoconvex scraper, an expanding-

stemmed projectile point, a broken projectile point,

an expanding based

drill

point, a contracting-stemmed projectile

point, an irregular oblong chipped stone object,

(fig.

and a corner-notched projectile point

The Madison Cord-Impressed

23a-h).

pot is of the decorative variation illustrated

in fig. 90k.

in the

No other materials were found

excavation (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V,

p. 124).

Mound 2. Type: conical; Diameter: 30

Height: 24 in. As in Mound 1, parallel

ft.;

rows of rocks were found. These were oriented in an east-west direction. The rocks

pp. 111-112).

lay 30 inches below the apex of the mound.

Luth

Mound CroupT. This was a group of

mounds in the southwest quarter of Section 7, Township 97 North, Range

five conical

West, 2V2 miles north of Harpers Ferry.

Three mounds were excavated.

Mound 1 (fig. 24). Type: conical; Diameter: unspecified; Height: 48 in. Few details were given concerning its construction.

The fill seems to have been homogeneous.

Figure 24.

Parts of an extended burial lay at right angles to the rock alinements. Only bone frag-

ments remained of

skeleton.

this

poorly preserved

A large corner-notched blade or

spear point, 9.2 inches in length, and made

from mottled pink and white quartzite was

found at the left shoulder.

Under the northernmost row of rocks

were several jumbled bundle burials. Parts

Plan of burials, Luth Mound 1.

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

-^^

^1)1

L^^^o^

CN.

'^^a

Flint Ccie

Cofiper htigget

C FIM Modn

QkocV

Figure 25.

Plan of burials, Luth Mound 3.

of four skulls were represented, indicating

the axis of the rock arrangement. Near the

West of the skull

accompanying the extended burial were

distal end of the right humerus was a large,

at least four individuals.

parts of two additional skulls and two long

bones. Longbone fragments were also scattered between these and the bundle burials.

One blade found \vith the extended skele-

the center of the thoracic cage, and a flint

ton is of the type called Snyder's Notched,

core was situated 2 feet east of the skull.

a Hopewelhan projectile point t%'pe (Scully,

bundle burial with no accompanying grave

1951, p. 12).

meter: 30 ft.; Height: 24 in. Four parallel

goods lay beneath the row of rocks 3 feet

northwest from the skull of the extended

skeleton (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, pp. 125-

rows of rocks were found. These appeared

126).

Mound 3 (fig. 25). Type: conical; Dia-

Woodland

Complexes

comer-notched, brown chalcedony blade.

Near the left femur was a large, ovoid, unnotched blade made from the same chalcedony. A nugget of copper was found near

to delimit a rectangular area oriented

The large comer-notched point found in

roughly southeast-northwest. Toward the

this mound is of the Snyder's Notched type.

center of the enclosure was a fragmentary'

The ovoid blade resembles the Hopewellian

extended burial with the skull to the north-

"blanks" of Pleasant Creek Mound 2. Both

blades found in Luth Mound 3 were made

and the bones of the torso extending

southwest at an approximate right angle to

east

of the type of brouTi chalcedony believed to

be Knife River flint, the source of which is

Dunn County, North Dakota (Bennett,

1945, p. 94).

Paint Rock Mound Croup. The Paint Rock

Mound Group is located on top of a Missis-

A badly broken grittempered pot was found with the skeleton

disturbed by the looters. Parts of the same

pot were found by Orr in the loose dirt left

by the boys. A part of the pot taken from

the site by the boys was later given to Orr,

of the upper torso.

sippi River bluff in the southwest quarter of

who was able to make a partial restoration

the northeast quarter of Section 3, Town-

of the vessel. The pot is of the type called

ship 96 North, Range 3 West, about three-

Levsen Stamped, and the decoration had

been produced with a cord-wrapped implement. The decorative treatment of the pot is

quarters of a mile north of the village of

Waukon Junction. Only one mound in the

group was excavated. This was a partial excavation prompted by a report of looting on

the part of local boys. The mound studied

was designated Mound 1 in the excavation

notes.

Mound 1. Type: conical; Diameter: 44

ft.;

Height: 36

in.

The excavation cleared

out the pit previously dug by the boys who

looted the mound. The mound had been constructed over a floor from which the topsoil

had been removed. The mound fill over the

burial area was composed of light gray,

hard earth. Immediately over the skeleton

was a layer of reddish clay. The remainder

of the mound fill above the light-gray earth

illustrated in figure 81g.

Waukon Junction Mound Group. This

mound group is located atop a Mississippi

River bluff just north of the mouth of Paint

Creek in the east half of the southwest

quarter of Section 3, Township 96 North,

Range 3 West. The village of Waukon Junction is located at the foot of the bluff on its

south side near the mouth of Paint Creek.

The group consists of five conical and nine

linear mounds, one bear effigy, and one bird

effigy. The only mound excavated in this

group was Mound 4, a conical also referred

to by Orr as "The Burned Earth Mound."

Mound 4 (fig. 26). Type: conical; dimen-

was yellow loess identical to the surrounding bluff top soil.

sions unspecified. The mound, according to

In their digging, the boys had partially

disturbed an extended skeleton which

seems to have been oriented northwestsoutheast. The bones of the skeleton discovered in Orr's excavation were badly

jumbled, but it also appeared to have been

extended. The skull lay on top of the bones

Orr's description,

was built on a layer of

disintegrated rock which composed the subsoil of the bluff top.

On top of the subsoil

was a black earth layer. In the central area,

on top of the black earth, were fragments of

burned human bones scattered over an area

about 10 feet in diameter. Over the bones

Cross section of Waukon Junction Mound 4

("The Burned Earth Mound").

Figure 26.

Burned Earth Loyei

Surface of Mound

Woodland

Black Earth Layer

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

Township Line

Numbers

through 24 Indicate Mounds of Lane Farm Group

SCALE

Figure 27.

The Lane Farm Mound Group.

was an irregular mass of earth which had

been burned until it had assumed the character of soft red brick. A few rocks were

scattered between the bone layer and the

burned earth deposit.

Orr believed the cremation had been accomplished elsewhere and later brought to

the mound site for burial. He also suggested

that the clay had been puddled before it was

fired. Very little charcoal was found in spite

of the repeated evidence of cremation

and

burning. No grave goods were found.

The excavation appears to have been too

The exca-

limited to produce full details.

vated area consisted of a cross-section

trench, 5 feet wide. Detailed profile drawings of the east and west walls of the trench,

and a drawing of the north wall of the

trench at the center of the mound were supplied with the notes. The profile of the west

face of the north-south trench indicated

that the builders had made a shallow excavation and piled earth, possibly from the

excavation, around its edges. The bone

fragments seem to have been found in this

shallow depression, and the bulk of the

burned earth was piled over the top. That

Orr's excavation merely passed through the

edge of the pit is evidenced by his profile

drawing of the east face of the trench. This

drawing showed a uniform, thick layer of

black earth across the area near the center

of the mound.

Further evidence was provided by the

was studied by the Iowa Archaeological

Survey, it consisted of 17 conical mounds

and an area enclosed by a circular embankment of earth. South of the Lane Farm

group, on the Hartley farm (northwest

quarter of the southwest quarter of Section

36, Township 100 North, Range 5 West),

was a rectangular earth enclosure accompanied by two conical mounds in fair state

of preservation and the remnants of two

other mounds. In 1882, when Colonel Norris visited the Lane Farm for the Bureau

of American Ethnology, he reported 90

mounds (84 conicals and 6 linears) in addition to the earth enclosure. Norris exca-

vated part of the circular enclosure, but his

conclusions as to its cultural origins are not

clear (Thomas, 1894, pp. 99-101).

This multi-component site had once been

the location of an Oneota village in late prehistoric

and early historic times. Orr exca-

vated 10 of the 17 mounds still existing and

trenched the Lane Farm circular enclosure.

He concluded that the enclosure had been

constructed during the course of the Oneota occupation.

It is

difficult to assess

the

evidence in favor of this conclusion. Oneota

material was found in and over the earth fill

of the embankment. Oneota cache pits cut

into the

embankment repeatedly. No ob-

jects indicating the possibility of Woodland

and Orr's account

was positively and convincingly presented

origin were discovered,

(Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, pp. 14-33). On the

was suspected

east-west profile taken in the center of the

other hand,

mound depicting a decided "dip" from east

Iowa

Archaeological Survey's operators, they

may not have acquired sufficient familiarity

west in the stratum of black material.

This interpretation of profiles was bolstered

by evidence from Wisconsin where such excavations surrounded by an extra embankment were found (McKern, 1931, pp. 252253).

that at this

early stage in the experience of the

with their materials to distinguish intrusive

features from those inclusive in sites, for

this work was carried out in the first summer of the excavations. Elsewhere in the

eastern United States, earth enclosures have

Lane Farm Mound Croup (fig. 27). The

Lane Farm mounds were located on the

south half of Section 36, Township 100

North, Range 5 West. At the time the site

been associated with Woodland occupations (Webb and Snow, 1945, pp. 16-17).

Woodland

Sites in

In Iowa, distributional evidence supports

Northeastern

Orr's conclusions, for enclosed areas have

Iowa

grave goods accompanied them.

The mound fill contained two grittempered, cordmarked potsherds, a Lane

Farm Cord-Impressed sherd, a small bone

fragment, a small triangular projectile

point, an Oneota potsherd, and two small

grit-tempered sherds (Orr MS., 1934, vol.

I, p.

28).

Mound 2. Type: conical; Diameter: 33

ft.; Height: 16 in. This mound was a confused hodgepodge. Although it appears to

have been of Woodland origin, later Oneota

peoples placed their own burials within it,

obscuring its original condition almost completely. On constructing the mound, the

floor seems to have been cleared of humus.

This floor was uneven, but no evidence of

burial pits or burial layers was noted. A cir-

cular heap of limestone fragments

Figure 28.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot,

3 (UMMA Neg.

Lane Farm Mound

No. 2541).

been found repeatedly associated with Oneota remains.* The information on the Lane

Farm Mound Group from the Iowa Archaeological Survey excavations is presented

below.

Mound 1. Type: conical; Diameter: 40

Height: 18 in. Two layers of burials

ft.;

Woodland

Complexes

were found to the south of the mound's center. The upper layer was located at approximately the natural level of the terrace and

consisted of three bundle burials in advanced stages of decomposition. A projectile point was found in association with

these bone bundles. The type was unspecified in the notes, and the point could not be

found in the collections. A small drawing

made by Orr on his ground plan of Mound 1

indicated that it may have been a cornernotched point. However, the drawing may

have been merely symbolic rather than a

true representation. The lower layer of burials consisted of five bone bundles and six

crushed skulls on a level about a foot lower

than that of the upper burial layer. No

was

found at the southwest corner of the excavation, 18 inches below the surface.

Seven burials were encountered. Of

these, five were extended and two were described as consisting of skull fragments

only. Oneota grave goods were associated

with one of the extended skeletons, consisting of a pot at the right knee, and a lump of

charcoal at the left humerus. No grave

goods were found in association with the

skull fragments. In the mound fill were 44

Oneota potsherds, four grit-tempered cordmarked sherds, one plain grit-tempered

sherd, and one Lane Farm Cord-Impressed

rimsherd in addition to numerous flint chips

and bone fragments.

In spite of the meager evidence on which

inferences concerning the origin of the burials could be based, it was concluded that the

four burials without grave goods may have

been Woodland. The circular pile of lime*Four earth enclosures in northern Allamakee

County are associated with Oneota remains.

The Blood Run enclosure in northwestern Iowa

also contains remains stemming from an Oneota occupation judging from statements made

in Keyes' notes on file with the State Historical

Society of Iowa.

stone fragments was a recurrent feature in

other mounds excavated, and served to

identify the mound as Woodland. An alter-

nate hypothesis would be to regard

all

the extended skeletons as Oneota in origin

and to consider the skull fragments as the

disturbed remains of the burials inclusive in

the

mound in its original state (Orr MS.,

1934, vol. I, pp. 31-32).

Mound 3. Type: conical; Diameter: 24

Height: 24 in. The topsoil had been removed in preparing a burial area. Toward

the north edge of the mound, at a point 45

ft.;

inches below its apex, was a concentration

of charcoal. In the same area, 60 inches be-

low the mound's apex, were fragments of

animal bones. Another charcoal concentration was found in the east edge of the

mound at a depth of 36 inches. A bundle

burial, located southwest of the mound's

center at a depth of 28 inches, was accompanied by a Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot

(fig. 28), the bowl of a pottery elbow pipe,

and a Snyder's Notched projectile point (fig.

29a, b). Also located southwest of the

mound's center, at a depth of 36 inches, was

a mussel shell (Orr MS., 1934, vol. I, p. 36).

This small vessel is grit tempered with a

surface hardness of 2.0 to 2.5. The color is

dark brown. The surface was smoothed and

rubbed somewhat after the decoration was

applied so that the techniques employed are

not too clear in the photograph (fig. 28).

Beginning at the outer lip edge there is a

series of short, closely spaced vertical cord

impressions extending 6 to 7 mm. down the

rim. Below this band are 4 parallel horizontal cord impressions and this band averages

about 1.0 cm. wide. Below the horizontal

band is the second series of short closely

spaced vertical cord impressions in a band

1.2 cm. wide.

Mound 11

(fig.

30).

Type: conical;

di-

mensions unspecified. The builders seem to

have made an excavation of undetermined

extent and form in the mound floor. There

were three layers of burials. The top layer

Pottery pipe bowl and Snyders

Notched point. Lane Farm Mound 3

(UMMA Neg. No. 2542).

Figure 29.

was located slightly below the natural surface of the terrace surrounding the mound.

It consisted of five bundles and one extended

burial. The extended burial was oriented

north-south, beneath which were the bones

of a bundle burial accompanied by two

crudely chipped

flint objects.

This bundle

constituted the second burial layer. Three

bundles of bones comprised the lowest

layer, two of which were located 12 inches

below the surface of the terrace. The remaining bundle was 25 inches below the

A large rectangular copper

accompanied one of the burials in the

upper layer (fig. 31a). A flint hammerstone

and flint debris were found in the mound

fill, and a stone altar on the mound floor

(Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, p. 8).

Mound 12. Type: conical; Diameter: 33

ft.; Height: 14 in. Evidently this mound had

been disturbed some time after its construction and the burial complex was confusing.

The disturbance may have resulted from

Oneota excavations as burials of Oneota

origin were discovered within the mound.

Burials 1, 2, and 6 were extended, and each

was accompanied by a bison scapula. All

three lay slightly below the level of the surrounding terrace surface. The bison scapula

accompanying Burial 1 was located over the

terrace surface.

celt

left femur. In the case of Burial 2,

ula lay beside the right leg.

the scap-

The scapula

Woodland

Sites in

with Burial 6 had been placed over the right

Northeastern

femur near the pelvis. Burials 3, 4, 5, and 7

Iowa

Perirr

FJre Pit

with ash lenses,

charcoal,

burned bones,

Oneoto pottery

Figure 30.

Plan of burials, Lane Farm Mound 11.

have been extended, although they were fragmentary. Beneath the

few bones representing Burial 4 were eight

grit-tempered sherds. Beneath the bones of

also appear to

Burial 7 were the sherds of a grit-tempered

pot scattered over an area about 3 feet in

diameter (fig. 32). At the south end of the

two femurs of this skeleton were two Oneota potsherds, each of which had come from

a different pot.

Woodland

All of these burials were in the southeast

Complexes

quarter of the mound. In this same quarter

was a pile of limestone fragments with a

bison scapula beneath it. A mussel shell was

found in the south edge of the pile of rocks,

and on the north side was an Oneota pot.

In the southwest quarter of the mound were

three bnndle burials which were believed to

have been Woodland and part of the

mound's original content. They were found

at a depth of 33 to 34 inches below the

mound's apex; no grave goods accompanied

them. Orr believed that Burial 7, in the

southeast quarter of the mound, also might

have been a Woodland burial because it lay

at the same level as the bundle burials, and

on top of the grit-tempered potsherds. Burial

was very fragmentary, consisting of

portions of two skulls, a badly decayed hu-

merus, a radius, and the shafts of two femurs placed in rough approximation to their

proper anatomical positions. The skeletons

which could be assigned definitely to the

Oneota seem to have been more complete

and in better state of preservation (Orr MS.,

1934, vol. I, pp. 42-49).

The grit-tempered sherds of

Woodland

origin all were of the Lane Farm Cord-

Figure 31.

Copper "celts" or plaques, Lane

Farm, a. celt from Mound 11; b. from field

Neg. No. 12743).

near Mound 11

(UMMA

Sherds of a Lane Farm CordImpressed pot. Lane Farm Mound 12

(UMMA Neg. No, 12709).

Figure 32.

Impressed and Lane Farm Stamped types

(fig. 32). The rims were decorated as illustrated in figures 32 and 88d.

Mound 13 (fig. 33). Type: conical; Diameter: 35 ft.; Height: 10 in. This mound was

on the topsoil of the terrace,

and contained a pile of limestone rocks in

the burial area. The burials were in small

built directly

oval pits. Burial 1 was in a pit 8 inches deep,

36 inches long, and 18 inches wide. No grave

goods accompanied it. This pit and accompanying bone-bundle burial were located in

the southwest quarter of the mound. Burial

2, also a bundle burial, was in a pit 12 inches

deep, 40 inches long, and 14 inches wide. A

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot was found

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

in the pit (fig. 34). Burial 3, another bundle

No consistent orientation was noted for

burial, was found in a pit 28 inches deep, 40

the burial pits. The pit containing Burial 1

inches long, and 26 inches wide. In the pit

was oriented east-west. The pit for Burial 2

was oriented north-south, and the pit for

Burial 3 was oriented northeast-southwest

and in association with the bone bundle, was

another Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot (fig.

35). About a foot northwest of Burial 3 was

an additional Lane Farm Cord-Impressed

pot which had been placed on the mound

(Orr MS., 1934, vol. \, pp. 50-55).

Mound 16 (fig. 37). Type: conical; Diameter: 30 ft.; Height: 8 in. Orr noted that this

floor outside the burial pits (fig. 36). The pot

mound had been built on the topsoil, but in-

contained three clamshells.

dicated depths which would have placed the

Figure 33.

Plan of burials. Lane Farm Mound 13.

^—

pTrime'^''

°f

Mound

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot,

Lane Farm Mound 13 (UMMA Neg. No. 2546).

Figure 34.

Woodland

Sites in

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot.

Lane Farm Mound 13 (UMMA Neg.

No. 12741).

Figure 35.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot.

Lane Farm Mound 13 (UMMA Neg.

No. 12742).

Figure 36.

Northeastern

Iowa

SCALE

Figure 37.

Woodland

Complexes

Plan of burials. Lane Farm Mound 16.

burials somewhat below the terrace surface.

The floor varied in depth below the ter-

Judging from Orr's description, I believe

the builders had made an excavation of some

race surface from 14 to 18 inches. Near the

extent in preparation for placement of the

edge of the mound in the southwest quarter

of the excavation was a pile of limestone

burials. The remains of an intrusive pit

fragments. Near the center of the

were found in the southwest quarter of the

lay three long bone fragments with a few

mound. This pit contained charcoal, clamshells, fish bones, flint chips, flint cores, and

Oneota sherds.

grit-tempered potsherds. A bundle of long

mound

bones was found a little more than 5 feet

south of the mound's center. A short cylin-

drical copper bead accompanied the bundle.

Another bone bundle lay slightly less than

5 feet east of the bundle accompanied

the copper bead. Six short cylindical copper

beads, a small triangular projectile point, a

corner-notched point, and a contracting-

stemmed point were

third bundle.

associated with this

A fourth bundle burial lay

along the edge of the mound in the extreme

northeast quarter of the excavation.

grave goods were associated with it. About

5 feet

west of the fourth bundle was a

crushed grit-tempered pot of the Lane Farm

Cord-Impressed type (fig. 38). A pottery elbow pipe stem was found near the center of

the mound west of the three longbone fragments listed above. The sherds found in the

burial area were of Lane Farm Cord-ImFigure 39.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot.

Lane Farm Mound 16 (UMMA Neg. No. 2545).

Figure 38.

New Galena and Hog Back Mound groups.

illage Site

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

Figure 40.

Levsen Stamped pot.

New Galena Mound 1.

pressed and Lane Farm Stamped types.

second

pile

limestone fragments was

noted in the northeast quarter of the mound

(Orr MS., 1934, vol. I, pp. 56-57).

Mound 7. Type: conical; Diameter: 40 ft.;

Height: 8 in. Eight potsherds were found in

the mound fill. Of these, one was a Madison

Cord-Impressed rim and another was classed

as Spring Hollow Cordmarked. The remainder were unclassified (Orr MS., 1936, vol. V,

p. 6).

Mound 10. Type: conical; dimensions unTwo poorly preserved bundle bur-

specified.

and an extended skeleton were found.

A bison scapula lay beside the right femur

of the extended skeleton. Sherds of Oneota

pottery were found around the skeleton. At

a depth of 24 inches in the southeast quarter

of the mound was a well-made, elongate

ovoid knife. An additional 24 Oneota sherds

were found in the mound fill (Orr MS.,

ials

1936, vol. V, p. 7).

Mound 17. Type: conical; dimensions un-

oriented northeast-

burials according to an estimate

Orr pre-

sented in his notes. However, the photo-

graphs accompanying the notes indicate the

possibility that there were more, since parts

of at least six skulls can be seen. A complete

grit-tempered pot was found at about the

middle of the mass of bone bundles (fig. 40).

Near the pot were two copper hemispheres

2.5 and 2.1 cm. long with perforations near

their rims set diametrically opposite each

other (fig. 41c, d). In the mound fill the excavators found a flat-based triangular knife

made of gray chalcedony. This artifact is 4

the topsoil of the terrace. It contained noth-

ovoid, lanceolate blade of a type commonly

ing but a pile of limestone and sandstone

found in Oneota sites of the locality. This

found so near the surface of the mound, was probably intrusive.

The pot found with the burials is short,

squat, and has a rounded base. The lip is

sharply everted and notched with a cordwrapped stick. The upper rim flares markedly. Below the rim, the neck is straight.

Neio Galena Mound Croup. This group was

2, Township 99 North,

Range 6 West, along the Upper Iowa River

(fig. 39). When Orr mapped the mound

group in 1904, it contained 32 conical

quarter of Section

The pit,

southwest, may have contained five bundle

inches long and 1 V2 inches wide at the base.

Near the surface of the mound was a large,

located on the south half of the northeast

Woodland

inches deep.

specified. This mound was built directly on

fragments (ibid., p. 6).

Complexes

mounds. The Iowa Archaeological Survey

excavated five mounds in the group in 1934;

in 1936, they returned to the site and excavated an additional nine mounds.

Mound 1. Type: conical; Diameter: 48

ft.; Height: 30 in. The builders had excavated a pit 4 feet wide, 5 feet long and 31

object, having been

merging gradually into a slight shoulder.

Diameters at the orifice and shoulder appear

to be about equal.

femur, and by the right knee was an

Oneota pot. Beside the left ankle was a cache

left

of 14 small triangular projectile points.

The pot is approximately 3V2 inches high,

The rectangular pit contained 22 bundle

and about 5 inches in diameter at the mouth.

burials. The skulls had been placed in rows

In addition to cord-wrapped-stick notches

at both ends of the pit. The bundles of long

on the lip, there were horizontal cord-

bones were stacked in front of each of the

wrapped-stick impressions around the neck

skulls.

below a zone of stick or reed punctates. The

cord-wrapped-stick impressions on the neck

and 7.3 cm. long, were found in this

mass of bones (fig. 41a, b). Under one of

tended to be placed in vertical zones evenly

the skulls was a "nest" of six grit-tempered

spaced around the vessel. Just below the

widest part of the body was a series of

lections from the excavation. Orr described

ellipses

Two perforated bear canine teeth,

7.0

sherds. These could not be located in the col-

whose long axes were placed hori-

them as pieces of a thick-walled vessel tem-

A horizontal incised line encircled

pered with crushed granite. He also observed

zontally.

the pot, dividing the ellipses into equal

that the sherds were so soft that they were

halves. The zones thus described within the

difficult to save (ibid., p. 6).

ellipses were alternately plain or filled with

Mound 4. Type: conical; Diameter: 50 ft.;

vertical to oblique cord-wrapped-stick im-

Height: 24 in. The mound contained seven

On the exterior of the ellipses,

extended skeletons on a floor cleared of hu-

opposite the plain areas on the interior of

mus. No other inclusions were mentioned,

but among the objects in the Keyes Collection were fragments of a crude limestone

pressions.

these figures, the

body was covered with

cord-wrapped stick

vertical

impressions.

Opposite the cord-wrapped-stick filled

areas within the ellipses, the body was plain.

This pot resembled no other found else-

where in the northeastern Iowa, with the

exception of fragments of a pot found in

Mound 4 of this same mound group (fig.

42). Orr considered the mound to have been

of Hopewellian origin (Orr MS., 1934, vol.

Figure 41.

Perforated bear canines and copper

hemispheres, New Galena Mound 1.

(UMMA Neg, No. 12708).

pp. 5-6).

Mound 2. Type: conical; Diameter: 40 ft.;

Height: 24 in. This mound was built on a

floor cleared of

humus. A single extended

skeleton was found 1 foot below the natural

surface of the surrounding terrace. There

were no grave goods, and nothing was found

in the mound fill (Orr MS., 1934, vol. I, p. 6).

Mound 3. Type: conical; Diameter: 40 ft.;

Height 24 in. Orr noted a rectangular burial

pit 5 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 36 inches

deep, oriented northeast-southwest. Intrusive in the mound fill was an extended One-

ota skeleton with head to the west. Near the

left

shoulder was a small deposit of

flakes.

flint

An Oneota knife was found at the

tempered vessel said to have come from

Mound 4. The hp of the pot is rounded and

plain, and 7.0 mm. wide. The rim is 1.1 cm.

thick. On the exterior rim below the lip are

vertical elongate punctates. Immediately beneath these is an incised line poorly drawn

with a rounded point. At least four such

horizontal lines were incised around the

neck of the pot. The spaces between these

lines are filled with a horizontal row of circular punctates 4.0 mm. wide with a hollow cylinder which are spaced at regular

intervals around the neck (fig. 42a— e). The

entire surfaces of body sherds from this vessel were covered with similar punctates

applied in no discernible arrangement or order (fig. 42f-g). The sherds were very soft

and friable and had a surface hardness of

2.0 (Orr MS., 1934, vol. I, p. 6).

Mound 8. Type: conical; Diameter: 32 ft.;

Height: 18 in. This mound contained only

fragments of bone in what appeared to have

been two levels. The notes did not state

Figure 42.

burial type, but examination of photographs

of the bones in situ indicated bone bundles

(ibid., p. 6).

Mound 15. Type: conical; Diameter: 24

Height: 24 in. No construction features

ft.;

were mentioned in the notes. A single fragmentary bundle burial was found 24 inches

below the surface. Orr's description did not

specify what this measurement represented,

that is, whether this was a depth below the

surface of the mound, or below the estimated original terrace surface. A chippedstone celt (or adze) and a scraper were

found 6 inches below the original terrace

surface as estimated by Orr. Three pits were

excavated along the margin of the mound.

One had been filled with black earth. The

contents of the second pit were not described. The third contained limestone frag-

ments, charcoal, Oneota pottery, and black

It was assumed that all three pits

were of Oneota origin (Orr MS., 1936, vol.

earth.

V, p. 74).

Sherds of pot from New Galena Mound 4 (UMMA Neg. No. 12707).

^^.'•^"

*^'^1^'

n^-::

\fi,.iQ

Woodland

Complexes

K-;

g^^<

Mound 16. Type: conical; dimensions unTwo Oneota cache pits were found

in the mound. One contained an Oneota

specified.

rimsherd.

Fragments of burned limestone were in

broken platform pipe of the type usually

considered Hopewellian in origin (fig. 79b).

The shouldered bowl is, however, unusual

on Hopewell pipes and this may well be a

later variant.

The other Oneota skeleton was extended.

the other pit. Orr thought the pits were dug

by the builders of the mound. If this were

the case, the mound would have been of

Oneota origin (ibid., p. 73). In the collection in Iowa City, a disk-like granite mano

or pestle was noted as having come from

Mound 16 as well as a handle from an Oneota pot and an abrader. Orr mentioned none

The mandible lay across the right femur.

Orr believed that the right arm had been

separated from the body prior to burial, as

the "elbow" was toward the skull with the

proximal end of the humerus beside it. The

of these items in the notes.

rolled copper tube lay against the left side

Mound 18. Type: conical; Diameter: 30

ft.;

Height: 12 in. A subfloor pit containing

burials

was found. The notes did not pro-

vide information on dimensions or form of

the pit.

seems to have been about 3 feet

deep, and the burials within were oriented

northeast-southwest. These burials consisted of three fragmentary adult skeletal

bundles, with a bundle burial of a child's

lay near the east side of the excavation.

distal end of the ulna lay over the pelvis.

Another copper tube lay between the distal ends of the femurs. Beside

the humerus of the putatively detached arm

were a large flake of white flint, a white

flint planoconvex scraper, a white flint knife,

a pestle made from translucent stone of an

unknown type, and an Oneota pot. Beside

the left femur was a carefuly flaked Oneota

of the skull.

knife.

skeleton to the south of the adults. No grave

The third burial was a bone bundle in the

goods were found (ibid., p. 82).

Mound 23. Type: conical; Diameter: 33

west side of the excavations. It consisted of

a skull, three longbone fragments, and a

mass of decayed smaller bones. No grave

goods were found with it. It may have been

ft.;

Height: 24

in.

The mound contained

burials at unspecified depths below the natural terrace surface indicating that the build-

part of the mound's original Woodland bur-

ers had made an excavation before placing

ial complex (ibid., pp.

the skeletons. The central part of the mound

76-77).

Mound 27. Type: conical; Diameter: 30

contained no burials. Of the three skeletons

ft.;

found, only one seems to have been Wood-

recorded, grave goods were recovered.

land. The other two evidently were of One-

platform pipe of Hopewellian type was

found 16 inches below the level of the surrounding terrace (fig. 79a). This depth may

indicate a pit dug before the mound was

built. A bison scapula hoe was found 6

inches below the level of the terrace surface.

A mass of carbonized grass was found 20

inches below the terrace level. A pit near the

mound's center appeared to have been an

Oneota intrusion, and contained Oneota

potsherds and an antler tine (Orr MS., 1936,

ota origin.

One Oneota burial was found

toward the south edge of the excavation. It

consisted of two femur shafts and two tibiae

at a depth of 20 inches below the natural

terrace level. East of the knees and slightly

above the burial floor were 10 flakes of dark

flint,

14 flakes of another type of

flint,

small triangular projectile points, one small

cone-shaped catlinite object, a small cubical

black stone object, a clamshell fragment, a

smoothing stone, and a copper "snake." Beside the right tibia were two small triangular points, and over the left knee was a

vol.

Height: 14 in. Although no burials were

V, p. 81). The platform pipe, lavender

in color, is smaller than the specimen found

New Galena Mound 23. The ventral sur-

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

Figure 43.

Plan of burial pit and adjacent mound floor.

New Galena Mound 28.

face of the platform

was flat rather than

curved.

alined with the long axis of the

pit.

The

skulls lay in rows along the end of the pit at

the ends of the bone bundles. Grave goods

sions unspecified.

Mound 28 (fig. 43). Type: conical; dimenMound 28 contained a

consisted of a perforated bear canine on top

rectangular burial pit, the long axis of which

of one of the long bone bundles (ibid., p. 75).

was oriented northeast-southwest. Four

large rocks lay nearby. The pit contained

ft.;

Woodland

fourteen bundle burials as estimated from

the

Complexes

the number of skulls. The long bones were

pile of coarse gravel

Mound 30. Type: conical; Diameter: 25

Height: 10 in. Just below the surface of

mound in the southeast quarter was a

and sand. Below this

was a layer of black, sandy soil 10 inches

deep. The black, sandy soil was on top of a

gravel and sand deposit, at the bottom of

which were ashes, charcoal, and burned

bones about 8 inches deep and 3 feet in diameter. Four large rocks, evenly spaced

around this deposit, showed evidence of

contact with fire.

Burial 2. Extended. The skeleton seems to

have been disturbed by vandals. Only the

pelvis and lower limbs remained. The left

femur showed evidence of an old fracture

that had healed.

Burial 3. Extended.

At the bottom of the fired area and a little

to one side was a triangular spear point or

knife of white

Burial 1. Extended. This skeleton lay with

head to the west.

flint

with a wide, nearly

straight stem and flat base. This point was

associated with a pelvis fragment. Directly

east of the center of the mound was another

gravel deposit, 3 feet in diameter. In the

The burial consisted

of a skull, part of the vertebral column, the

left side of the thoracic cage, and the left

humerus. It also may have been disturbe'd

by vandals.

Burials 4, 5, and 6. These burials consisted

of single skulls only.

Burial

Extended. This was a nearly

northeast quarter of the mound was a rec-

complete skeleton, the skull of which lay to

tangular pit 4 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 12

the northeast.

inches deep. A burned rock about 7 inches in

The lower burials were encountered at a

diameter lay in one corner of the pit Cibid.,

depth averaging 2 feet deeper than that of

the burials in the upper layer. The lower

p. 84).

Mound 32. Type: conical; Diameter: 24

ft.;

Height: 10 in. The excavation was car-

ried down to a depth of 24 inches. Nothing

was found except 10 friable, grit-tempered

sherds cupped one within the other. Their

surfaces were plain. As they could not be

located in the Keyes Collection, no further

details are known. Orr did not describe construction features of the

mound (ibid., p.

layer consisted of six skeletons. Their characteristics were as follows:

Burial 8. A bundle burial, consisting of a

skull fragment

and the shafts of four

longbones.

Burial 9. A bundle burial.

Burial 10. Extended with head to the west.

Burial

11.

Extended with head

the

northwest. A bone awl was found between

84).

the knees of this skeleton.

Hog Back Mound Group (fig. 39). This small

arranged in the relationship they would have

group was located on a high, narrow ridge

between the Upper Iowa River and Bear

Creek in the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 2, Township 99

North, Range 6 West. The group consisted

sions unspecified.

Mound 1 (fig. 44). Type: conical; dimenMound 1 was very com-

had to each other in a flesh burial. The remainder of the burial was a bundle of bones.

Burial 13. Extended. An Oneota pot lay

by the proximal end of the left femur. Beneath the pot were 48 flint flakes, a planoconvex scraper, a flint drill point, a flake

knife, and an antler tine. A small limestone

pipe of elbow form and an ovoid knife were

found by the proximal end of the right

femur. Near the right tibia was a cache of

plex, the result of previous excavations and

16 triangular projectile points. Over the

Burial 12.

of three conical

mounds, two of which

were excavated by the Iowa Archaeological Survey.

A skull and parts of femurs

thoracic cage were two fragments of coiled

Woodland

Sites in

per layers consisted of Burials 1 through 7.

copper wire and a bone bead.

The mound had been badly disturbed by

They are described below:

Oneota excavations and by the ravages of

loiva

Oneota intrusions. The burials were found

in what appeared to be two layers. The up-

Northeastern

steep Slope^^

Figure 44.

Woodlarid

Complexes

Plan of excavations and burials. Hog Back Mound 1.

;

;;

vandals, and little could be ascertained con-

cerning its construction. A deposit of ashes

and charcoal was found near Burial 9. In

view of the disturbance, it was questionable

as to whether or not the deposit was inclusive.

The mound

fill

contained five

grit-

tempered sherds, three roughly flaked flint

objects, one planoconvex scraper, and one

straight-stemmed projectile point (ibid., pp.

49-51).

Mound 3. Type conical Diameter 24 ft.

;

The humus

was removed before the mound was built. The

Height: 24

in.

layer

burial consisted of a skull fragment at the

mound's center, 6 inches below the bluff-top

level. A complete pot was found 18 inches

west of this fragment. The pot was grittempered with a plain surface, resembling

Weaver Plain pottery (Griffin, 1952b, pp.

121-122).

A large chipped-stone celt, or

and a straight-stemmed projectile

point were recovered from the mound fill

(Orr MS., 1936, vol. V, pp. 62-64).

Figure 45.

The small pot is of the type called Spring

Hollow Plain. The lip is rounded and the

upper rim flares slightly. The diameter of

the pot expands slightly at the shoulder. The

body is elongate with a rounded base

Height: 48 in. The mound fill contained two

scraper,

(fig.

45).

Slinde Mound Group. This group consisted

of 15 conical mounds located on a terrace

above the Upper Iowa River in the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of

Section 30, Township 99 North, Range 6

West. Five mounds were excavated by the

Iowa Archaeological Survey. One in particular

was

interesting in

that

contained

grave goods indicating a relationship to the

mounds of the Lane Farm group.

Mound 5. Type conical Diameter 27 ft.

Height: 28 in.

;

A pile of burned limestone

fragments lay on the mound floor. No buriwere found. The mound fill contained

als

Pot from Hog Back Mound 3

(UMMA Neg. No. 12740).

Mound 6. Type conical Diameter 40 ft.

;

grit-tempered sherds. West of the mound's

center was a thin lens of charcoal below the

pre-mound terrace surface. The burial floor

appeared to have been excavated below the

original terrace surface, and its depth varied

between 14 and 25 inches. A heap of pebbles

was found in the southeast part of the

mound 14 inches below the terrace surface.

Two decayed oak posts were set upright in

the

mound floor about 2 feet west of the

center and 15 inches below the terrace level.

These logs were roughly 1 foot long and 8

inches in diameter. At the center of the

mound, 25 inches below the terrace level,

was a single skull accompanied by a grittempered pot containing a mussel shell. The

pot was almost complete. A corner-notched

projectile point lay beneath the pot (ibid.,

flint chips,

charcoal fragments, a grittempered potsherd, and a crude projectile

pp. 122-123).

point (Orr MS., 1934, vol. I, p. 122).

tile point, and clamshell is of the type called

The pot associated with the skull, projec-

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

Iowa

;

What appeared to be bundle burials were

scattered over the floor. Burial 1 consisted of

long bones 14 inches below the level of the

terrace; Burial 2 was a badly decayed long

bone fragment at a depth of 5 inches below

the terrace level; Burial 3 was a single long

bone fragment 24 inches below the level of

the terrace surrounding the mound; Burial

4 was a long bone fragment accompanied by

bits of a pelvis and clavicle 14 to 16 inches

below the terrace level (ibid., p. 123).

Mound 13. Type: conical; Diameter: 18

ft.; Height: 12 in. No burials were found. A

net sinker, made from a small sandstone

concretion, was located 18 inches below the

mound surface (ibid., p. 124).

MISCELLANEOUS BURIAL

MOUND DATA

In addition to the

Iowa Archaeological

Survey's data presented in the preceding

Figure 46.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed pot

from Slinde Mound 6.

Lane Farm Cord-Impressed. It is decorated

on the rim with impressions of single cords

arranged horizontally to the line of the lip.

Pendant to these are evenly spaced pairs of

oblique single cord lines slanting to the

right. The body is covered with plain rocker

Some effort had been made at

smoothing the surface after the decoration

had been applied (figs. 46 and 89h).

Mound 7. Type conical Diameter 30 f t.

stamping.

;

Height: 24 in. The builders evidently made

Woodland

Complexes

shallow excavation, clearing the

humus

from the floor. A femur fragment was found

6 inches below the natural level of the terrace. A crude knife was found in the sand

thrown out of the mound (ibid., p. 123).

Mound 8. Type: conical; Diameter: 20 ft.;

Height: 24 in. The topsoil had been removed

from the floor. A limestone rock was found

10 inches below the level of the natural surface of the terrace. Charred logs were found

16 inches below the surface of the mound.

section, material was gathered on several

miscellaneous mound excavations. The

Keyes collection contained artifacts from a

conical mound on the Ed Thompson farm

about 1 mile south of Clermont, Iowa, in

Fayette County. They included a catlinite

platform pipe with incised lines on all edges

of the platform; two large "ceremonial"

blades made from a translucent brown material; two badly decayed, copper stained

bear canine teeth; and 15 rolled sheet cop-

per beads, cylindrical in form. No information was available on burials which may

have accompanied these items.

Near Bluffton, Iowa, in Winnesheik

County, an amateur archeologist excavated

a conical mound on the Lyle Bentley farm.

I was permitted to examine the pot found in

the excavation and was given a verbal account of features noted by the excavator.

The mound evidently contained a single

bundle burial over which lay a few rocks.

The pot mentioned above accompanied

the burial and is of Madison Cord-Impressed

type, decorated with single cord impressions

over a cordmarked surface on the upper rim.

mound overlooking the Mississippi River

The lip of the pot was notched Hghtly with

single cords. Below the cord-impressed zone

near Lanesville in Jackson County, Iowa,

on the upper rim, a zone of small stick or

reed punctates forms a dotted line around

the pot horizontally and paralleling the zone

of single cord horizontals above (fig. 88f).

The vessel shape differs somewhat from that

usually noted for Madison Cord-Impressed

were found in the Keyes collection. No information was included on burials. The

grave goods were spectacular in comparison

to those found in most northeastern Iowa

mounds. They consisted of three incised and

perforated bear canine teeth, two serrated

copper crescents, a copper earspool, part of

pots. The shoulder is set very low, almost at

another copper earspool, 22 rolled copper

was a slight

beads of cylindrical form, one large contract-

constriction of the pot's diameter above the

ing-stemmed projectile point fragment, and

one large corner-notched flint blade, 11

the base of the vessel. There

shoulder which curved smoothly into a

slight flare of the upper part of the rim. The

pot was almost a deep bowl in form (fig. 95i).

Prior to cultivation, a cluster of six conical mounds was located on the Knight farm,

along the shore of Gremore Lake (a sheltered backwater of the Mississippi River)

inches long.

HABITATION SITES

The numerous burial sites studied by the

Iowa Archaeological Survey were thought

in the outskirts of the north part of Prairie

to present a

du Chien, in Crawford County, Wis. In the

summer of 1955, the landowner began to

remove one of the mounds along the road-

burial complexes associated with Woodland

summer cottage

complete. In general, the Iowa Archaeologi-

which he was building on the shore of Gremore Lake.

cal Survey seemed to have devoted more at-

side for use as

fill

for a

visited this operation in the company of

an amateur archeologist of Prairie du Chien.

Most of the mound had been removed, but a

layer of red ocher located somewhat below

the original level of the terrace remained

partially intact. In the process of removing

this

layer with trowels, a corner-notched

good, general picture of the

horizons in Iowa's northeastern counties.

Village excavations, however, were not so

tention to burial mounds than to habitation

sites. Likewise,

sites,

among the village and camp-

rock shelters were studied more fre-

quently than "open" sites.

It is

probable that the higher ratio of arti-

facts recovered to volume of earth removed

in rock shelter excavations played a part in

this selectivity. Also, rock shelters are very

projectile point was found in the red ocher.

common in the northeastern Iowa counties.

Due to weather conditions, the red ocher

They range

removed at

this time. However, before work on the

mound was resumed with the power shovel,

the amateur who first called my attention to

crevices in the sandstone formations to wide-

layer could not be completely

the site completed removal of the red ocher

layer with a trowel. In the edge of the layer

he found a crude limestone celt. No burials

or parts of burials were discovered in the

red ocher layer. Subsequently the

mound

was completely destroyed by the power

shovel.

Notes and photographs pertaining

to a

size

from small enlarged

mouthed, shallow caves of the type exemplified by the Sixteen Rock Shelter in Allamakee County and the Levsen Rock Shelter

in Jackson County.

A great many of the local shelters appear

to have been occupied at one time or another

by prehistoric peoples. From the standpoint

of a study focusing on Woodland archeology, they are very important for they seem

to have been occupied most heavily during

these earlier stages of local cultural develop-

Woodland

Sites in

Northeastern

lozva

Figure 47.

Chipped stone, bone, and antler artifacts from the

Neg. No. 12736).

Spring Hollow Shelters

(UMMA

ment. In Allamakee County, for example,

notes and information to Keyes and me. Ex-

the bulk of remains assignable to protohis-

Highway Thirteen Rock

was begun under the direction of

Leland Cooper of Hamline University, St.

Paul, Mirm., and was completed by me. Data

from the Nelson Dewey Site, Cassville, Wis.,

are also based on excavations under my direction. The data for these sites are not all

of the same quality. The information is con-

and early historic times is found in

large village sites on open river terraces.

Only a meager amount of material in the

toric

top levels of the shelters

this period.

assignable to

A well situated shelter often

may contain a nearly complete record of

local culture history.

Among the site descriptions which fol-

cavation of the

Shelter

sidered best for the Spring Hollow, Ginger-

low, it will be noted that not all of the exca-

stairs, Minott's and Highway Thirteen Rock

vations were the product of the Iowa

Shelters,

Archaeological Survey's research. The Sur-

The Levsen Rock Shelter provides a full

array of artifact types for the Woodland

vey excavated the three Spring Hollow Rock

and for the Nelson Dewey Site.

Shelters, the two Gingerstairs Shelters, the

horizons, but is lacking in stratigraphic or

Minott's Shelter, the Waterville Shelter, the

superpositional data.

Sixteen Shelter, and the Elephant Site. The

Woodland

Mouse Hollow, Crabtown, Jeffey

Edwards Creek, Clay Mills, Verne Hute, Pine

Run, and Farmer's Creek Rock Shelters, and

the Boiling Pasture Site were studied by Paul

Complexes

Sagers of Emeline, Iowa,

Levsen,

who furnished

Spring Hollmv Rock Shelter No. 1 This shel.

ter was located

on the Cedar River in Linn

County, Iowa, within the Palisades-Kepler

State Park a few miles south of Mount Vernon. Excavation was directed by Charles R.

Keyes during the

late years of the

Iowa

parts of the

site.

Comparative analysis of

Archaeological Survey's activity. The shel-

the several 6-inch levels therefore includes

ter was divided into sections five feet square

and was excavated in arbitrary 6-inch levels

material from the shelter as a whole for each

within these sections. Little is known of the

facts

excavation details. Vertical distribution of

depicted in figure 47.

level.

Chipped stone, bone, and antler artifrom the Spring Hollow Shelters are

certain pottery types indicates the possibil-

In addition to the artifacts, the shelter

some disturbance in the deposits, es-

contained habitation debris of another type.

ity of

pecially in the section designated B2. Since

Bird and animal bones representing deer,

the quantity of material recovered within

bear, small carnivores, squirrel,

any one excavation block was too small for

meaningful analysis by individual section,

the shelter was treated as a unit in spite of

the presumed disturbance of one or more

birds (possibly turkey) were noted. Bones

of smaller mammals and birds and mussel

shells also were found.

Burned and smoke-

discolored limestone and sandstone frag-

Table 1. Numerical distribution of artifact types from

Spring Hollow Rock Shelter, No. 1

Artifact type

and large

probably derived from fireplaces,

were noted. Charcoal fragments were common. The shelter contained a large amount

of flint in the form of small flakes and cores,

indicating that it had been used as a workshop as well as a campsite.

Depths of the arbitrary 6-inch levels were

merits,

as follows: Level I, surface to 6 inches; Level

II,

6 to 12 inches; Level III, 12 to 18 inches;

Level IV, 18 to 24 inches; Level V, 24 to 30

inches. The inventory for each of these ex-

cavation levels is presented in table 1.

Spring Hollow Rock Shelter No. 2. This also

was a small rock shelter within the present

Palisades-Kepler State Park. Its location with

respect to the first shelter is unknown. The

excavation was carried out in the same manner as that of Spring Hollow Rock Shelter

No. 1. Arbitrary levels 6 inches thick were

excavated within sections 5 feet square. The

artifact distributions given in table

2 are

presented for each 6-inch level as totals for

the whole of the shelter. The depths of the

five excavation levels were as follows: Level

surface to 6 inches; Level II, 6 to 12 inches;

Level III, 12 to 18 inches; Level IV, 18 to 24

inches; Level V, 24 to 30 inches.

In addition to the material excavated within this

rock shelter, a large quantity of re-

mains was recovered

an "approach

trench" outside the shelter. This material

was found between the depths of 2 feet, 3

and 2 feet, 6 inches. The artifacts

found are listed in table 3. The collection from this rock shelter also contained

material on which no information could be

inches,

found other than a notation that it derived

from the site. The objects included the following: 105 cordmarked body sherds, two

Levsen Stamped sherds, two Spring Hollow

Plain rims, one Spring Hollow Cordmarked

rim, and five Minott's Cord-Impressed body

sherds.

Spring Hollow Rock Slielter No. 3. This was

another small rock shelter in the Palisades-

arbitrary 6-inch levels within these sections

in the paper mentioned above. Examination

and the cultural debris from each level was

segregated from that found in others. The

earth removed was sifted.

of the artifacts indicated a single culture

mon class of remains. Except for a few frag-

tion was available beyond Keyes' statements

ments, the sherds represented two closely

Numerical distribution of artifact types from Minott's Rock Shelter

Artifact type

Woodland

were the most com-

No description of the shelter or excava-

Table 6.

Complexes

complex. Other than midden and workshop

debris, pottery sherds

related types. Slightly greater variation was

observed in the chipped and ground stone

tools but in view of the unity of the ceramic

remains it was believed that all of the stone

phant" is a large isolated bluff standing in

the valley of the Upper Iowa River in the

southeast quarter of Section 32, Township

be considered part of a sin-

100 North, Range 5 West, in northern Allamakee County. At the foot of a sheer sand-

As the general description of the shelter

small river terrace remnant, 28 feet above

artifacts could

gle complex.

stone cliff on the south side of the bluff is a

and the objects from the period in which

Minott occupied the site were covered by

Keyes, no repetition of this information will

be made here (ibid., pp. 16-40). The upper

levels (particularly I and II) contained evidence of Minott's life in the shelter. A few

additional items stemming from his occupation were found in the third level of excavation. Levels from 18 to 42 inches deep

the floodplain.

Although the area of the

terrace is only an estimated Vz acre, it furn-

ished an excellent habitation site for primitive peoples.

Long before Orr excavated at

the site, it was well known to local collectors,

and several Oneota graves had been

dug. The following is Orr's account of the

information he was able to elicit concerning

excavation of five of these:

contained aboriginal artifacts, including flint

workshop

debris,

split

In 1894 Mr. W. F. Dresser excavated two

and burned bone

30)

of a row of five graves in the south part of

estimated that the shelter contained a thou-

the terrace. In the most southerly he found

sand or more shells of freshwater mussels

a chert knife in a pot

pot No. 2 and knife

No. 900 of the Orr Collection belonging to

the Iowa State Historical Society. In the next

fragments, and shells. Keyes

(ibid., p.

and 8,000 bones and bone fragments.

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