Page 7 - RAGBRAI2008

day 3 - Jefferson to Ames

As you come across the valley, the Late Prehistoric
down into the utilizing the rich period people in the
Des Moines array of resources. In valley had began
River valley, you ride the following settling in small
across a landscape Woodland period, villages and
that has long been from 3000 to 1000 intensified the
home to Iowans. It is years ago, Iowans cultivation of crops,
the area that contains were using pottery, including corn. By
the highest density of were more the late 1800s it was
archaeological sites sedentary, and even the Euro-American
along the route. Sites beginning the plant settlers who
here span the domestication that occupied the valley
millennia of led to the agriculture and left the remains
prehistory. Who left that now dominates of historic
all these sites? our state. A Late archaeological sites.
Perhaps as long as Woodland pottery In the 1970s, led by
13,000 years ago, it style called “Saylor researchers from
was the Paleo- ware” was named Iowa State
Indians that lived after the area we’re University, extensive
and hunted on land traveling through. archaeological work
only recently vacated Burial mound sites related to the
by the ice sheets of are found in the Des proposed Saylorville
the latest glaciation. Moines valley reservoir provided
From 9000 to 3000 including Boone the impetus for the
years ago, Archaic Mound, the largest recording of many of
period hunters and mound site west of the valley’s sites.
gatherers ranged the Mississippi. By

Currently there are over Des Moines River Valley
23,000 recorded
archaeological sites in Iowa.
Of these, 671 are within a
mile of the 2008 route.