Iowa Archaeology

06/09/2026

Don't miss archaeologist Megan Messerole's return to Iowa to lead a paddling excursion on the Little Sioux River on Saturday, July 11! Registration required - check out the post for more details!

We're partnering with the Sanford Museum to offer Paddle with an Archaeologist! Registration required at cherokeecountyparks.com!

06/02/2026

Happening this Saturday at 2pm in Tama!

Thanks to everyone who works for or partners with the Tribe and for doing the amazing work that you do in order to better the lives of people in our community, our employees, and our neighbors. Working together has been a strong tradition here in Iowa for a long time.

This presentation on June 6th takes a closer look at the Tribe's shared history with Iowa, a unique story in America without compare. This event is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation, and we sincerely appreciate their steady long-lasting partnership in this and many other endeavors.

The Meskwaki Museum will also be open at noon for visitors before, during, and after the presentation. Stop by for a visit!

05/22/2026

Bill Green visited the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma last month to discuss the incredible 1837 Ioway map and his new book, "This Is the Route of My Forefathers: The 1837 Ioway Map." Here's a great recap of that event from KOSU Radio!

The homelands of the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma once spanned a large part of the Midwest. A book with more than 30 years of research documents explores some of that history.

05/19/2026

The Sanford Museum & Planetarium is hosting their annual archaeology field school in June! Ages 16+ can apply, and the sign up deadline is June 10. Email [email protected] if you have any questions.

05/18/2026

Last week, the Friends of Blood Run, a volunteer advocacy group, hosted a forum to discuss preservation efforts, Indigenous history, and more, regarding Blood Run National Historic Landmark. There was also a ceremony at the site to dedicate a memorial to Lance Foster

Here's a recap of the events!

Supporters of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark gathered Wednesday night (May 13) near Larchwood to discuss preservation efforts, Indigenous history, agriculture, and plans for one of Iowa’…

05/14/2026

Keep an eye on our OSA events calendar, we've got a growing slate of presentations happening this summer! We're excited to partner up with several libraries across Iowa as part of the Collaborative Summer Reading Program's theme, "Unearth a Story." Some of these events are for specific age groups--the listings have all the details! We'll also be at Project AWARE in northeast Iowa and the Meskwaki Powwow. More fun stuff is sure to be added, so stay tuned. Visit our events page to see what's happening: https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/impact-news/events

05/12/2026

This year's recipient of the Iowa Archeological Society's Keyes-Orr Award is Dan Higginbottom! Dan, who is retired from the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office, is most deserving of this award, and we wish him a hearty congratulations! He was nominated by John Doershuk, Kathy Gourley, and Jerome Thompson. Dan is pictured here at the IAS spring meeting with Kathy Gourley and the Keyes-Orr Award nomination chair Kelly Schott.

The Keyes-Orr Award began in 1977, and it is presented to an individual in recognition of outstanding service to the IAS and in the research, reporting, and preservation of Iowa’s precontact and historic heritage.

Congrats again to Dan! 👏

05/08/2026

Congrats to OSA's Strategic Initiatives Director, Elizabeth Reetz, who traveled to San Francisco last week to attend the Society for American Archaeology meeting and accept the 2026 Outstanding Public Archaeology Initiative Award with Stephanie Sperling! Reetz, Sperling, and 36 other contributors received this award for their work on "A Practitioner's Guide to Public Archaeology." Other Iowa contributors include OSA Indian Advisory Council members Suzanne Buffalo and Julie Martineau.

This book is a critical contribution to sharing information about public archaeology across the discipline, from the classroom to the boardroom. For the contributors, the goal of the project was to help archaeologists feel better-prepared to do public programming, make efficient use of scarce and underfunded time and resources, and eliminate some of the guesswork for many who, simply put, do not have the support needed to create intentional and effective programming. The volume achieves this through contributions from 38 different practitioners and highlights the best practices of public archaeology and social science to give a clear path to accomplish effective and impactful public programming.

04/14/2026

A HUGE congrats to Grinnell College anthropologist, Laura Ng, on the award of this grant! It will support her important archaeological work and research at the Rock Springs, Wyoming, Chinatown and fund both travel and research assistants.

The Far Western Foundation recently awarded a $10,000 grant to Anthropology Professor Laura Ng’s research project, titled “Wyoming Chinatowns and Emigrant Home Villages: Archaeologies of Labor, Racial Violence, and Transnationalism.” The project focuses on the towns of Evanston and Rock Spring...