Buried history: Local authors work to protect past

IOWA CITY - Hunters and gatherers used stone tools to craft weapons, and hunted and fished at Edgewater Park in Coralville as they passed down the Iowa River 3,800 years ago.

The site near the present day Iowa River Landing also revealed evidence of early domestication of plants, a step toward farming, a trio of University of Iowa researchers wrote.

'While the occupants did not grow crops, they were changing the way they produced food, shifting toward plants that would later be domesticated, a necessary step toward becoming farmers,” wrote Bill Whittaker, Mary De La Garza and Lynn Alex in 'The Archaeological Guide to Iowa,” an offering this year from the University of Iowa Press.

From the 27,000 archaeological sites that exist in Iowa, the authors selected 68 to profile, including Edgewater Park. The profiled sites depict a range of time periods and locations across the state, which the public can visit in nature or museums.

However, some of the past is at risk of getting buried forever.

'My hope is they get an appreciation for the past that's around them,” said Whittaker, a research archaeologist at the Office of the State Archaeologist at the UI. 'We are at a difficult time because history is being slowly eaten away in our state. Look at the lack of support for the State Historical Society. I'm hopeful people will use the book to understand how incredible of a past we have in the state and how worthy it is of preserving.”

The Edgewater Park site is at risk as Iowa River Landing continues to evolve, but the proper steps were taken to document the past, Whittaker said. Archaeologists excavated the core of the site and removed all the artifacts so they have an understanding of what occurred there, he said.

'The ideal situation is to leave it in place and protect the site, but sometimes that's not possible,” Whittaker said. 'In this case, a development was planned for there. They did the right thing to have the site excavated.”

In Fort Madison, another site profiled in the book, history is at risk of being lost, he said.

Parking lots now cover the old fort and battlefield of Iowa's only military battle, which occurred during the War of 1812. The site also marks the first encounter with Black Hawk, a warrior from the Sauk Tribe.

Preservationists purchased the old battlefield grounds, but the fort could be developed.

'In Fort Madison, you have a naturally significant site leaps and bounds more significant than most historical sites,” he said. 'It's astonishing if you consider just how important it is to the history of the U.S. and Iowa that this could be lost.”

Other sites profiled in the book include:

' In Iowa County along the Iowa River: A Native American fish weir, or a V-shaped rock dam, used to funnel fish for ease in netting or catching.

' Wickiup Hill in Linn County: Archaeologists have found prehistoric campsites, blue glass beads, buttons, ceramics and a ring of dolomite slabs that may have been the floor of a historic alcohol still or Native American sweat lodge.

' Woodpecker Cave near Sugar Bottom Campground outside Solon: A limestone bluff with an overhang has offered shelter for travelers for 3,000 years. Remnants of the past, such as hearths, mussel shells, and bones of deer, dogs, raccoons and gophers, have been found buried.

'There's archaeology and prehistory throughout the state, but when you think of archaeology in Iowa you think of Effigy Mounds National Monument,” Whittaker said. 'Beyond mounds you have sites that aren't as visible buried beneath the grounds or streets, but if you know this history it gives a little more significance to the landscapes.”