Scenic Byway wants to tell its prehistory
By Michele Linck, Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, September 18, 2008
WESTFIELD, Iowa -- Archaeologists are looking for help from local folks in seven counties along Iowa's western border over the next two years. They'll explain the project at a meeting tonight in Westfield, Iowa.
A team of archaeologists will be studying the hundreds of sites and cultural resources left about 1,000 years ago or longer by prehistoric peoples who lived along what is today the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway. They'll also be looking for important artifacts, structures or events from other periods.
The study is sponsored by the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway Council, led by Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development, based in Oakland, Iowa. It is led by a team from the State Archaeologist's Office at the University of Iowa, headed by Melody Pope, chief investigator.
They want to learn everything local people have discovered about the area's prehistory and find artifacts and clues telling them more about prehistoric Glenwood, Mill Creek and other cultures and what became of them. They don't want the artifacts, just information about them, such as where they were found, said Plymouth County Economic Development Director Gary Tucker, who represents Plymouth County in the project.
Why study prehistory? It's good for today's tourism development, for one thing, according to Shirley Frederiksen, coordinator for the Golden Hills RC&D. Frederiksen. "We need to tell our story better," she said.
The prehistory, history and structural resources documented by the study will give the RC&D material for an application to have the area listed as an All-American Road, a U.S. Department of Transportation designation, or possibly get it placed on the National Historic Register. Either one of those, added to its National Scenic Byway status, would give the Loess Hills a one-two punch advantage in national and international coverage of America's most scenic and noteworthy areas to visit.
What do they know so far? The Glenwood and Mill Creek were agrarian peoples who lived along the Loess Hills on the land stretching from today's Mills County, just south of Council Bluffs, through Plymouth County, just north of Sioux City. Hundreds of village sites and artifacts have been found -- more than 250 are recorded in Plymouth County alone, according to Tucker. Pope said the Mill Creek and Glenwood peoples were the area's first agriculturists. Both worked the land, but their villages, which date to around 1100 A.D., were very different.
What do they want to learn? "We're trying to get a handle on relationships between humans in the past environment and learn more about population displacement, resettlement and migration," Pope said, naming just a few things.
She said the Glenwood people densely populated about 80 square kilometers along the south end of Iowa's western border for only 150 to 300 years. Why did they leave? Did they wear out the land? Did they migrate or were they forced out by an enemy? Who were their enemies and how did they fight? Did they die off? There is evidence they faced some kind of climate change, Pope said. How did they cope? Pope said her team also wants to learn everything it can about the area's architecture.
How you can help
Attend tonight's meeting, where some of the archaeological team's 24 members will display artifacts and help residents identify items in their own collections as well as explain how residents can be involved in the project.
When: 7 p.m. tonight
Where: Westfield (Iowa) Community Center, 215 Linden St.
How to get there: Go to Westfield on State Highway 12, turn east onto Union Street (at gas station), go three blocks, turn south onto Linden Street. It's on the corner.
A team of archaeologists will be studying the hundreds of sites and cultural resources left about 1,000 years ago or longer by prehistoric peoples who lived along what is today the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway. They'll also be looking for important artifacts, structures or events from other periods.
The study is sponsored by the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway Council, led by Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development, based in Oakland, Iowa. It is led by a team from the State Archaeologist's Office at the University of Iowa, headed by Melody Pope, chief investigator.
They want to learn everything local people have discovered about the area's prehistory and find artifacts and clues telling them more about prehistoric Glenwood, Mill Creek and other cultures and what became of them. They don't want the artifacts, just information about them, such as where they were found, said Plymouth County Economic Development Director Gary Tucker, who represents Plymouth County in the project.
Why study prehistory? It's good for today's tourism development, for one thing, according to Shirley Frederiksen, coordinator for the Golden Hills RC&D. Frederiksen. "We need to tell our story better," she said.
The prehistory, history and structural resources documented by the study will give the RC&D material for an application to have the area listed as an All-American Road, a U.S. Department of Transportation designation, or possibly get it placed on the National Historic Register. Either one of those, added to its National Scenic Byway status, would give the Loess Hills a one-two punch advantage in national and international coverage of America's most scenic and noteworthy areas to visit.
What do they know so far? The Glenwood and Mill Creek were agrarian peoples who lived along the Loess Hills on the land stretching from today's Mills County, just south of Council Bluffs, through Plymouth County, just north of Sioux City. Hundreds of village sites and artifacts have been found -- more than 250 are recorded in Plymouth County alone, according to Tucker. Pope said the Mill Creek and Glenwood peoples were the area's first agriculturists. Both worked the land, but their villages, which date to around 1100 A.D., were very different.
What do they want to learn? "We're trying to get a handle on relationships between humans in the past environment and learn more about population displacement, resettlement and migration," Pope said, naming just a few things.
She said the Glenwood people densely populated about 80 square kilometers along the south end of Iowa's western border for only 150 to 300 years. Why did they leave? Did they wear out the land? Did they migrate or were they forced out by an enemy? Who were their enemies and how did they fight? Did they die off? There is evidence they faced some kind of climate change, Pope said. How did they cope? Pope said her team also wants to learn everything it can about the area's architecture.
How you can help
Attend tonight's meeting, where some of the archaeological team's 24 members will display artifacts and help residents identify items in their own collections as well as explain how residents can be involved in the project.
When: 7 p.m. tonight
Where: Westfield (Iowa) Community Center, 215 Linden St.
How to get there: Go to Westfield on State Highway 12, turn east onto Union Street (at gas station), go three blocks, turn south onto Linden Street. It's on the corner.
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