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IOWAVILLE (13VB124) – THE VILLAGE OF (De Vore and Peterson 2011:1). During the hoes, brass, copper and silver earrings, rings,
THE IOWAY years that they lived in this village the Ioway pendants and tinkling cones, lead shot, ceram-
had trading relationships with both French and ics, glass, animal bones, and hundreds of trade
From 1765 to 1820 the Ioway had their main vil- English traders and, eventually with the Ameri- beads. The majority of the temporally diagnostic
lage on the lower Des Moines River. This village cans. They struggled with conflict, disease, and items are from the time of the Ioway occupation
is recorded both in the tribe’s oral history and the federal government, and were finally forced (Schwartz and Green 2009; Alex and Peterson
on contemporary maps, including the No-Heart from their homeland. 2012). These objects document a time of transi-
Map and maps made by Lewis and Clark and tion for the Ioway. The way in which artifacts are
Zebulon Pike (Peterson and Artz 2006:30). The Archaeologists have surface collected at the modified, repaired, and reused indicates how
archaeological site, 13VB124, identified as the site and had the opportunity to study some of the Ioway used and understood the objects they
remains of this village, lies on the north bank the abundant artifacts that are in private col- obtained through trade and how they interacted
of the river near the town of Selma. Known as lections as well. These collections yielded gun with other tribes and foreign traders. They
Iowaville, it is estimated that this historic village parts, gun flints, brass and iron kettles, axes, and reflect the rapid changes native people experi-
once housed as many as 800 people
enced as their numbers were drastically re-
TINKLING CONES duced, traditional knowledge was lost, and they
adapted to new material goods and political
situations.
GUN
PARTS
Artifacts recovered from the Iowaville Site, 13VB124. Clockwise
from top: pipestone pipe, metal artifacts including tinkling cones,
silver earrings, brass kettle fragments, lead shot, and gun parts;
prehistoric and early historic ceramics, trade beads, gun flints.
The University of Iowa Off ice of the State Archaeologist 21
