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5 CEDAR FALLS HIAWATHA

to

An Intact Early Archaic Find
in Benton County?

The specimen is heat-treated Bland-
ing chert that turns a luminous pink
color with heating. The point is nearly
3.5 inches in length, one inch in maxi-
mum width, and a mere 3/8 inch in
thickness! Based on its similarity to
tools from well-dated contexts in other
parts of Iowa, the 13BE109 artifact is
likely 9,000 years old or more. It is an
elegant tool, both well designed and
Preserved beneath a cultivated field in the skillfully crafted. Nearly intact with just
uplands immediately adjacent to the RAGBRAI a portion of the base partially detached, it may
route at the turn from the eastward road from have been broken when used in hunting.
Vinton (E24) south toward Shellsburg (W26) is Although highly prized by collectors, items like
archaeological site 13BE109. Investigation of these are of critical research value in archaeology
this location was spurred by a road improve- as they encode data about time and technol-
ment project. The archaeologist found a variety ogy—and if context is carefully recorded—even
of stone tools and related manufacturing debris about social relationships and hunting practices.
at this location, including the projectile point il-
lustrated here.

Explore Iowa Archaeology Online
Through I-Sites Public

The Office of the State Archaeologist maintains
a master inventory of all the recorded archaeo-
logical sites in the state. The I-Sites Public
portal allows you to explore publicly available
site location information using GIS (Geographic
Information Systems) applications. GIS allows
you to study map layers depicting elevations,
nearby waterways, vegetation, roads and other
geographic features. You can even look back in
time and see how the landscape has changed
by examining maps from the 1930s, the 50s or
other decades.
Check it out at archaeology.uiowa.edu/i-sites
and click on I-Sites Public Access.