The Office of the State Archaeologist at the University of Iowa announces a new web resource “Crops of Ancient Iowa” at: http://www.uiowa.edu/~osa/Silos/Crops_of_Ancient_Iowa.html.
Prepared with the assistance of a grant from the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the web gallery presents the native agricultural heritage of Iowa set against the backdrop of a changing landscape from Ice Age times to the arrival of Euroamerican pioneers. A series of base maps illustrate the changing Iowa landscape from the retreat of the last of the Pleistocene ice over 13,0000 years ago, through the spread of native prairie beginning 3000 years later, to the mid-nineteenth century A.D. when the Government Land Office surveyed and platted the state’s public lands. A modern satellite map contrasts the historic vegetation pattern with that of today. The maps form a backdrop for the story of the crops of ancient Iowa. Ten crops —goosefoot, sunflower, marshelder, knotweed, squash, gourd, little barley, tobacco, corn, and beans—cultivated before the arrival of Euroamerican pioneers, are described and illustrated . A series of distribution maps shows the location of archaeological sites in Iowa where these plants are currently documented beginning over 3000 years ago. Visitors to the new gallery can see what these early cultigens looked like, where and when they were being grown in Iowa, and how they were first utilized. Also illustrated are the tools and techniques used by Native Americans in Iowa to grow, process, and store early cultigens. Visitors also learn about the evidence for early cultivation, how the archaeologist uncovers such evidence, and how paleobotanists identify a cultivated versus a domesticated plant. An extended bibliography lists major resources and additional references on the use of cultigens by American Indians in the Midwest and Plains.
To learn more about the project or other resources on Iowa archaeology contact:
Lynn M. Alex
Director of Education and Outreach
University of Iowa
Office of the State Archaeologist
700 Clinton Street Bldg.
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
319-384-0561
For archaeological resources and opportunities visit: http://www.uiowa.edu/~osa/edu/edu.htm
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