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Two types of magnetic gradiometers in use at the
Kimball Village site. Above. Bartington 601 dual
fluxgate. Below Geoscan Research FM256 fluxgate.
Artist’s reconstruction of a Mill Creek village with ditch and palisade.
of Arkansas surveyed the Kimball Village with an The magnetic gradiometry produced outstanding There is no question that the Kimball Village pre-
array of geophysical equipment—including mag- results revealing regularly-spaced, contrasting areas serves a wealth of important information about early
netic gradiometry, electrical resistivity, and ground about the correct size for lodges. This indicates Plains village life. It is probably the earliest, best
penetrating radar. Such instruments allow archaeolo- the presence of as many as 20 houses, exactly the preserved site of the Middle Missouri tradition. Sites
gists to “see” below the surface and detect potential number predicted by Ellison Orr’s first work at the of the Middle Missouri tradition extend across the
irregularities that might be signs of buried house site. Around the perimeter of the possible houses, a northern Prairie-Plains and include all the Mill Creek
floors, hearths, pits, and walls. number of regularly spaced anomalies also hint at sites in both the Big and Little Sioux localities.
the presence of a defensive stockade or small pits.
18 University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist
