EASTERN IOWA PALEOENVIRONMENTS AND CULTURAL CHANGE: INTRODUCTION AND PALEOECOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Part of the Gast Farm project

Author(s): Richard G. Baker; Mary Whelan

Year: 1992

Summary

This paper provides an overview of the results of archaeological and paleoecological research at the Gast Farm and Gast Spring alluvial fans along the western side of the Mississippi River Valley, in southeastern Iowa. Archaeological survey and test excavations were undertaken to examine the impact of changing ecological parameters on local cultural groups. Most alluvial fans in the Project area contained small surface deposits of Woodland material, but one large fan, the Gast Farm site, contained substantial Middle and Late Woodland communities, as well as buried Archaic deposits. Preliminary analyses suggest a process of nucleation from the surrounding region after the Early Woodland period. Paleoecological investigations established a record of Holocene vegetation changes, beginning with late Pleistocene spruce-larch forest, giving way to deciduous forest, followed by a period dominated by grass and chenopods. The timing of prairie establishment is uncertain, however, and the subject of future research.

Cite this Record

EASTERN IOWA PALEOENVIRONMENTS AND CULTURAL CHANGE: INTRODUCTION AND PALEOECOLOGICAL BACKGROUND. Richard G. Baker, Mary Whelan. Presented at Society for American Archaeology, Pittsburgh, PA. 1992 ( tDAR id: 6361) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8GF0S57

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Archaic • Early Woodland • Havana • Hopewell • Late Archaic • Late Woodland • Middle Archaic • Middle Woodland • Weaver • Woodland

Material
Pollen

Site Name
13LA12 • 13LA152 • Gast Farm Site • Gast Spring Site

Site Type
Burial Mound • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Hamlet / Village • Ring midden • Settlements

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Site Evaluation / Testing • Systematic Survey

Spatial Coverage

min long: -91.187; min lat: 41.268 ; max long: -91.131; max lat: 41.327 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Principal Investigator(s): Mary Whelan

Sponsor(s): University of Iowa

Record Identifiers

NADB document id number(s): 5234355

NADB citation id number(s): 000000165768

File Information

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