Events Calendar

About the presentation:

After seven seasons of archaeological field school (2012-2018) our excavations at Woodpecker Cave are finally over. Initially described as an exhausted archaeological site after the 1956 excavations by Warren Caldwell as part of the construction of the Coralville Reservoir, Woodpecker Cave was viewed as low impact opportunity to teach novice excavators how to dig and record an archaeological site. The Corps of Engineers easily, gladly and quickly gave us an excavation permit. Our original focus was on determining where Caldwell's excavation had taken place and whether any intact stratigraphy might remain. The range of artifactual material strongly suggested a more complex history of occupation than the simple Stratum A and Stratum B sequence reported by Caldwell. 

Field school at Woodpecker Cave has been a story of developing methods that not only fit the analytical goals for behavioral interpretation of the occupation residue, but that are also coherent with the nature of the geological and archaeological depositions particular to this site. We have combined traditional paper mapping and inventory sheets with total station mapping and vertical photogrammetry to create multiple ways of recording and looking at the locational data. 

It turns out that the stratigraphy is, indeed, more complex than that proposed by Caldwell. While we did not descend into the deeper, pre-ceramic Stratum B, we have established that there is a more complex stratification of the upper Stratum A, including intact cultural levels from the Middle to Late Woodland. Moreover, we have developed ways to determine where previously intact cultural occupation horizons have been disturbed by subsequent intrusive geological and archaeological activities. This will allow us to define more precisely the areas with structural and content integrity that can be securely used to make behavioral inferences about the prehistoric occupations of Woodpecker Cave.

About the presenter:

Jim Enloe is Professor of Anthropology at The University of Iowa. His archaeological career dates back to 1963 (!), beginning in North America. He holds degrees from the Universities of Pennsylvania and New Mexico. His graduate training and dissertation research centered on excavation and zooarchaeological analyses of French Paleolithic sites, including Pincevent, Verberie and Arcy-sur-Cure. More recently he has been working with former and current students on the Middle and Later Stone Age in southern Africa. Presently, his research has gone full circle, coming back to North America, looking at transitions in site use from the Middle to Late Woodland at Woodpecker Cave.

About the event:

Brown Bags at the OSA is a semi-regular series where staff and guests share their research over the noon hour. Topics include individuals’ areas of interest, work in the field, developments in archaeology and architectural history throughout Iowa and the Midwest. Guest speakers whose expertise is in other areas pertaining to archaeology or ethnohistory may be invited throughout the year as well. For more information please go to http://archaeology.uiowa.edu, contact Maria Schroeder at the Office of the State Archaeologist; maria-schroeder@uiowa.edu;  (319)384-0974.

These presentations are free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to engage in discussion and exchange following the presentation. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Office of the State Archaeologist in advance at (319) 384-0732.