Palace Site

Last updated

The Palace Site is a ca. 7,000-year-old archeological site in Des Moines, Iowa with evidence for some of the oldest houses west of the Mississippi valley and the oldest human burial in Iowa. [1] Since 2011, the site has yielded 6,000 or more artifacts, which included human skeletons.

Contents

Details

A short documentary of the excavation is available on YouTube. [2] When a sewage plant was being built in the area, artifacts were found. The total of artifacts at Palace Site reached over 6,000 by 2011. [3]

The site was discovered during construction of a new wastewater treatment facility. [3] Anytime federally permitted or funded construction is occurring, archaeologists are called to perform an evaluation of potential archaeological sites in the area.

According to Bill Whittaker, a co-director of the dig “It became clear very quickly that the site was something spectacular — something none of us had seen before or probably will ever again, as well-preserved house deposits of this age are extremely rare west of the Mississippi River Valley,” [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Des Moines, Iowa</span> Capital and largest city of Iowa, United States

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 214,133 as of the 2020 census. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effigy Mounds National Monument</span> National monument of prehistoric mounds built by Native Americans, in Iowa, United States

Effigy Mounds National Monument preserves more than 200 prehistoric mounds built by pre-Columbian Mound Builder cultures, mostly in the first millennium AD, during the later part of the Woodland period of pre-Columbian North America. Numerous effigy mounds are shaped like animals, including bears and birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground stone</span> Prehistoric stone tool

In archaeology, ground stone is a category of stone tool formed by the grinding of a coarse-grained tool stone, either purposely or incidentally. Ground stone tools are usually made of basalt, rhyolite, granite, or other cryptocrystalline and igneous stones whose coarse structure makes them ideal for grinding other materials, including plants and other stones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeology of Israel</span> Archaeological studies of Israel

The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultural centers of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Despite the importance of the country to three major religions, serious archaeological research only began in the 15th century. Although he never travelled to the Levant, or even left the Netherlands, the first major work on the antiquities of Israel is considered to be Adriaan Reland's Antiquitates Sacrae veterum Hebraeorum, published in 1708. Edward Robinson, an American theologian who visited the country in 1838, published its first topographical studies. Lady Hester Stanhope performed the first modern excavation at Ashkelon in 1815. A Frenchman, Louis Felicien de Saucy, embarked on early "modern" excavations in 1850. Today, in Israel, there are some 30,000 sites of antiquity, the vast majority of which have never been excavated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caral</span> Archaeological site in Peru

The Sacred City of Caral-Supe or simply Caral, is an archaeological site where the remains of the main city of the Caral civilization are found. It is located in Peru in the Supe valley, near the current town of Caral, 182 kilometers north of Lima, 23 km from the coast and 350 metres above sea level. It is attributed an antiquity of 5000 years and it is considered the oldest city in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world. No other site has been found with such a diversity of monumental buildings or different ceremonial and administrative functions in the Americas as early as Caral. It has been declared a Humanity Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herodium</span> Archaeological site in Judea

Herodium (Latin), Herodion or Jabal al-Fureidis, , is a truncated-cone-shaped hill in the West Bank, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Jerusalem and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southeast of Bethlehem. It is located between the Palestinian villages of Za'atara and Jannatah, and adjacent to the Israeli settlement Sdeh Bar and to a military base from the south.

Piki Mach'ay is an archaeological site in the Ayacucho Valley of Peru. Radiocarbon dates from this cave give a human presence ranging from 22,200 to 14,700 years ago, but this evidence has been disputed and a more conservative date 12,000 years BCE seems possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Augustine Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, US

The St. Augustine Light Station is a privately maintained aid to navigation and an active, working lighthouse in St. Augustine, Florida. The current lighthouse stands at the north end of Anastasia Island and was built between 1871 and 1874. The tower is the second lighthouse tower in St. Augustine, the first being lit officially by the American territorial government in May 1824 as Florida's first lighthouse. However, both the Spanish and the British governments operated a major aid to navigation here including a series of wooden watch towers and beacons dating from 1565.

Harriet "Hattie" Siliman Cosgrove (1887–1970) was an archaeologist trained in the Southwestern United States. Her fascination for archeology first started when she moved to Silver City, New Mexico, in 1906 with her husband Cornelius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeology of Iowa</span> Aspect of archaeology in the United States

The archaeology of Iowa is the study of the buried remains of human culture within the U.S. state of Iowa from the earliest prehistoric through the late historic periods. When the American Indians first arrived in what is now Iowa more than 13,000 years ago, they were hunters and gatherers living in a Pleistocene glacial landscape. By the time European explorers visited Iowa, American Indians were largely settled farmers with complex economic, social, and political systems. This transformation happened gradually. During the Archaic period American Indians adapted to local environments and ecosystems, slowly becoming more sedentary as populations increased. More than 3,000 years ago, during the Late Archaic period, American Indians in Iowa began utilizing domesticated plants. The subsequent Woodland period saw an increase on the reliance on agriculture and social complexity, with increased use of mounds, ceramics, and specialized subsistence. During the Late Prehistoric period increased use of maize and social changes led to social flourishing and nucleated settlements. The arrival of European trade goods and diseases in the Protohistoric period led to dramatic population shifts and economic and social upheaval, with the arrival of new tribes and early European explorers and traders. During the Historical period European traders and American Indians in Iowa gave way to American settlers and Iowa was transformed into an agricultural state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Iowa</span> Geology and geography of Iowa, United States

The geography of Iowa includes the study of bedrock, landforms, rivers, geology, paleontology and urbanisation of the U.S. state of Iowa. The state covers an area of 56,272.81 sq mi (145,746 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folkert Mound Group</span> United States historic place

The Folkert Mound Group of Hardin County, Iowa is a collection of 27 prehistoric mounds on the bluffs above the Iowa River, in a variety of shapes, including linear, compound, conical, and an enigmatic cruciform mound. The earliest map of the mounds was made by John Hotopp in 1974, and the mound group was mapped in detail in 2006. The alignment of the cruciform mound is especially interesting to researchers. Horton felt the cruciform mound aligned with the 11th century Crab Nebula supernova. However Lensink felt there was little evidence of this possible alignment. An apparent alignment of the largest conical mound, A, in the south with the end peaks of the cruciform mound, X, and an alignment between Mound X and the end of longest mound, T, has been postulated, but the meaning of these alignments is unknown.

Pendejo Cave is a geological feature and archaeological site located in southern New Mexico about 20 miles east of Orogrande. Archaeologist Richard S. MacNeish claimed that human occupation of the cave pre-dates by tens of thousands of years the Clovis Culture, traditionally believed to be one of the oldest if not the oldest culture in the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Trestle Trail</span> Rail trail in central Iowa

High Trestle Trail is a rail trail running from Ankeny to Woodward in central Iowa. The recreation trail opened on April 30, 2011. It is a paved recreational trail that runs through the Polk, Story, Boone, and Dallas counties. The trail's name is derived from a former 1913 bridge that spanned the Des Moines River between the towns of Madrid and Woodward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iowaville, Iowa</span> Ghost town in Iowa, United States

Iowaville was a small town on the lowland near the northeast bank of the Des Moines River, near the line between Davis and Van Buren counties, and between present-day Eldon and Selma, Iowa. It was established about 1838 near the site of earlier trading posts. Iowaville is now farm land with almost nothing to show the town location, but it is an important Iowa archaeological site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poverty Point</span> Prehistoric site of the Poverty Point culture in northeastern Louisiana, United States

Poverty Point State Historic Site/Poverty Point National Monument is a prehistoric earthwork constructed by the Poverty Point culture. Located in present-day northeastern Louisiana though evidence of the Poverty Point culture extends throughout much of the Southeastern Woodlands of the Southern United States. The culture extended 100 miles (160 km) across the Mississippi Delta and south to the Gulf Coast. The Poverty Point site has been designated as a state historic site, U.S. National Monument, a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site is 15.5 miles (24.9 km) from the current flow of the Mississippi River, and is situated on the edge of Macon Ridge, near the village of Epps in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambadevi rock shelters</span> Caves and archaeological site in India

The Ambadevi rock shelters are part of an extensive cave site, where the oldest yet known traces of human life in the central province of the Indian subcontinent were discovered. The site is located in the Satpura Range of the Gawilgarh Hills in Betul District of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, north of Dharul village in Amravati district of Maharashtra. Studies of various rock paintings and petroglyphs present in the caves suggest, that the Ambadevi rock shelters were inhabited by prehistoric human settlers since around 25,000 years ago. First discoveries of clusters of numerous rock shelters and caves were made by Vijay Ingole and his team beginning on 27 January 2007. Named after the nearby ancient Ambadevi Cave Temple, the site has also been referred to as the Satpura-Tapti valley caves and the Gavilgarh-Betul rock shelters. The Ambadevi rock shelters rank among the most important archaeological discoveries of the early 21st Century in India, on par with the 20th Century discovery of the Bhimbetka rock shelters.

This page lists major events of 2019 in archaeology.

Başur Höyük in Turkey's south-eastern Siirt province is the location of a 5,000-year-old Bronze Age burial site. The 820-foot by 492-foot burial mound in a valley of the upper Tigris River was excavated in the years up to 2018, by Brenna Hassett of the Natural History Museum in London, and Haluk Sağlamtimur of Ege University in Turkey. The tomb contained the remains of two 12-year-old children, and the remains of an adult which may have been reburied. The remains of eight other people aged 11 to 20 were found buried outside the tomb. These remains were carbon-dated to between 3100 and 2800 BCE, and at least some of the people are believed to have been sacrificed.

References

  1. Collins, Angela R., Richard Beckley, Allan Hawkins, Mark Anderson, and John Doershuck. University of Iowa, "Archaeology on the Road." Last modified July 20, 2013. Accessed July 31, 2013. http://iowaarchaeology.org/sites/default/files/RAGBRAI2013/book.html.
  2. Riehl, Nicole. "UI Office of the State Archaeologist discovers 7,000-year-old village in Des Moines." The University of Iowa News Services, August 18, 2011. http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2011/august/081811OSA_palace_site.html (accessed July 31, 2013).
  3. 1 2 3 UI archaeologists find 7,000-year-old site in Des Moines. Cedar Rapids Gazette , August 2011, http://thegazette.com/2011/08/18/ui-archaeologists-find-7000-year-old-site-in-des-moines