Page 7 - RAGBRAI2012

BLOOD RUN BLOOD RUN

The Blood Run site is located on the eastern
bank of the Big Sioux River in Lyon County about
31 miles northwest of Sioux Center. Named for
Blood Run Creek, the site was home to numerous
prehistoric and protohistoric groups. Most notably
it is the largest known and most complex site of
the late prehistoric Oneota tradition. Euroameri-
can recognition of the site can be traced to the
1860s. Just over 100 years later, the site was
evaluated for National Historic Landmark status
because of its extraordinary archaeological record
and the immense history it tracks over 8000 years.
Numerous earthen mounds and enclosures, enig-
matic pitted boulders, and rock circles dotted the
landscape. Below the ground is an astonishingly
well-preserved archaeological record that reflects
changes in village social organization, diet, eco-
nomic patterns, trade, and ceremonial practices in
the form of ceramic, stone, bone, antler, shell, and
metal items, food remains, and numerous elabo-
rately decorated catlinite pipes and the byproducts
of their manufacture. National Historic Landmark
status was bestowed on Blood Run by The Depart-
ment of the Interior in 1970.