SCIENCE
SCIENCE, ARCHEOLOGY
Science, Archeology
Archeology students uncover evidence of prehistoric earthwork
Archeology
students uncover evidence of prehistoric earthwork
Date 12/9/1999 12:00 AM |
Topic: FeaturesThis
fall, 14 Luther Anthropology students and Anthropology professors Lori
Stanley and Colin Betts traveled to Allamakee County, about 45 minutes
east of Decorah, to examine a prehistoric
earthwork.
According to Professor Stanley, there are
a number of prehistoric earthworks in northeastern Iowa. Most are oval
in shape, and though the majority of them have been destroyed, there is
one in Allamakee County.
The earthwork, called New
Galena Enclosure, is 118 feet by 98 feet long. "It looks like a ditch
that's been sculpted out," said Stanley. There are two places, at the
east and west ends of the oval, where the ditch was
incomplete.
New Galena Enclosure is located on a
bluff top overlooking the Upper Iowa River. The site has "tremendous
views in all directions," Stanley said.
This
October, Professor Betts made a request for volunteers to help him
clear off brush covering the area, and went with 14 Luther Anthropology
students, most of whom are currently enrolled in Archeology, to the
site.
The team hopes to assess the "possibility that
it might have been an equinox register for late prehistoric farmers in
the Upper Iowa valley and vicinity," said Stanley. These farmers may
have used the earthwork to predict equinox in spring and fall, and
determine optimal times for planting crops.
Work on
the project is on-going. "The goal is to get a really good contoured
topographic map of it," said Betts.
The site has
recently been purchased by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
(DNR). Betts and Stanley hope the work and research documenting the
project will be useful to the DNR in obtaining information about the
site.
"It's exciting to get students involved in
archeology here in our own backyard," said Stanley. Further discovery
of this earthwork helps make a connection between other sites built by
the same people, in essence, "building a big picture of the prehistory
of the area," Stanley said.
Further Luther work on
the site will include teaming up with Professor Jeff Wilkerson from the
Physics Department.
Students involved include: Dave
Altenburg ('02), Sarah Edwards ('02), Emilie Fraley ('03), Nick Golfis
('02), Liza Hicken ('01), Jeff Lynn ('01), Neil Mick ('03), Steve
Numedahl ('03), Liz Pleuss ('01), Kelli Punt ('00), Dave Purcell ('00),
Carrie Schafhauser ('02), and Per Ola Wold-Olsen
('01).
--
Melissa
Morrissey
Chips Features Editor
Chips
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