Curious about the recent discoveries unearthed during construction on campus or the bits of history you pass on your daily commute? Learn more as William Whittaker from the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist discusses “The Archaeology of Iowa City” at an upcoming Explorers Seminar at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in the Biosphere Discovery Hub at the UI Museum of Natural History.
Time for open discussion and questions from the public will follow the talk. Cupcakes and beverages will be provided.
To view a video archive of the UI Explorers Seminar Series, visit here.
The area around Iowa City has a surprising number of significant archaeological sites, ranging in age from the Late Archaic period around 3,500 years ago to the 20th century.
In addition to discussing the recent discoveries on the UI campus at Hubbard Park and the new UI School of Music site, Whittaker will give an overview of sites which have been documented or explored during the past century, including the 3,000 year old Edgewater Park site, numerous Woodland mounds, early historic Meskwaki Indian trading post sites near Napoleon Park and the historic Plum Grove site, former home of Iowa territorial governor Robert Lucas.
Whittaker is a project archaeologist at the General Contracts Program at the Office of the State Archaeologist. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, and his master's and doctoral degrees from the UI. He has published in several journals, including Historical Archaeology, Plains Anthropologist, Geoarchaeology, Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Journal of the Iowa Archaeological Society, Archéolozoologia, and North American Archaeologist. He is the editor of Frontier Forts of Iowa: Indians, Traders, and Soldier 1682-1862, published by the University of Iowa Press in 2010.
For more information on the UI Museum of Natural History and the Explorers Seminar Series, email uimnh@uiowa.edu or call 319-335-0606.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, contact the Pentacrest Museums in advance at 319-335-2010.