Cultural Variation Within two Woodland Mound Groups of Northeastern Iowa

Abstract

Although many large mound groups, are found in northeastern Iowa, little information concerning the prehistory of this region has been published. Results of limited early investigations, presented by Cyrus Thomas in the 12th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, are indicative of a fertile field. Records of the pre-1900 Hill-Lewis survey, preserved in the files of the Minnesota Historical Society, include descriptive notes and maps locating many Iowa mounds which have since been destroyed. Field reports by the late Ellison Orr, assistant supervisor of a statewide archaeological survey, made in the 1930's by the Iowa State Historical Society, may be found in the collections of the Society at Iowa City. Articles by the late Charles R. Keyes (1934, 1951), field supervisor of this latter project, describe the wealth of the state's prehistoric resources. Nevertheless, the data concerning the contents of the mounds in northeastern Iowa is meager.