Events Calendar

Presenters: Jennifer E. Mack and Lara K. Noldner, University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist

In 1958, heavy machinery borrowing soil for the construction of Interstate 29 disturbed human remains buried in coffins on a bluff in Sioux City’s South Ravine Park. The hurried archaeological excavation that followed was understaffed, poorly documented, and punctuated by looting episodes. Dating of the burials was heavily debated locally, with some people believing the dead may have been Spanish settlers from the 1600s or cholera victims from the Missouri River steamboat carrying missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet. However, archaeologists believed the finds were relatively recent and thus “of little archaeological value.”

In the 63 years following their discovery, the human remains from this burial ground were misplaced twice, and many artifacts were lost. In 2018, the Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist arranged for the return of the rediscovered remains from Tennessee. Thorough skeletal analysis and background research was made possible by the generous support of the Iowa Department of Transportation, and the human remains have now been repatriated to descendant Native American communities. The presentation at the Sioux City Public Museum will explain Iowa’s ancient burial protection law and will shed light on the history of the South Ravine Burial Site and the individuals whose graves inspired the locally-authored children’s novel, Secret of the Unknown Fifteen.