The Wever Terrace Sites

Lee County, Iowa

Recent archaeological excavations in southeast Iowa have produced one of the largest and most complete collections of prehistoric Indian pottery ever excavated in the State of Iowa. Archaeologists have recovered more than 72,000 fragments of broken pottery from three prehistoric village sites found near the Town of Wever. With the help of computer software designed to create three-dimensional images of the pottery, a research team of archaeologists headed by The Louis Berger Group, Inc., has been able to reconstruct some of the clay vessels represented among the many fragments. The use of this new analytical tool combined with the unprecedented opportunity to study a collection gathered across an entire village has given archaeologists important new information about the range of vessel shapes and sizes produced by Indian potters.

	One of several pot images computer-generated from vessel fragments found at the Wever Terrace

The pottery fragments, along with several hundred thousand other prehistoric stone and bone artifacts, were excavated from more than 1,800 abandoned refuse pits, storage pits, and other preserved archaeological features found at three prehistoric Indian village sites found near Wever. The artifacts were created approximately 700 years ago by a group of prehistoric people archaeologists refer to as "Oneota". Believed to be ancestors of several closely-related Plains Indian tribes including the Ioway, the Oto, the Missouria, and the Winnebago, the Oneota were accomplished agriculturalists, hunters, and fishermen. Storage pits and refuse dumps found within the former village sites contained the remains of corn, beans, squash, and sunflower and thousands of animal bones including the remains of white-tailed deer, bison, waterfowl, fish, and mussels.

The archaeological features were uncovered by archaeologists working on behalf of the Iowa Department of Transportation between 1992 and 1994. The three sites, eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, were threatened by the Iowa DOT’s plans to build a highway bypass around the Town of Wever. In compliance with federal laws protecting important historic sites, the DOT elected to remove the archaeological remains through excavation in order to allow road construction to proceed as planned. The bypass around Wever, completed in 1995, was built as part of a statewide effort to improve traffic flow and reduce accident rates on major highways by expanding existing two-lane routes to divided four-lane construction and providing routes for express traffic around towns and other urban areas.

Perrot Punctate style ceramic sherd from the collections of 13LE110, made by an Oneota potter circa AD 1300

TIn addition to preparing a series of technical reports detailing the results of the investigations, scheduled for completion in 2001, the Iowa DOT and the Berger research team are also seeking ways to make their findings more accessible to the general public. A public presentation was delivered to citizens of Burlington during Iowa Archaeology Month (September 2000). A popular report highlighting the Wever discoveries is projected for completion in 2001 once the technical reports have been finalized. Posters illustrating some of the 3-D pottery reconstructions are being distributed to professional organizations, libraries, and schools. Possible museum exhibits have also been suggested.

Upon completion of the DOT study, the artifacts and research notes compiled by the project will be turned over to the Office of the State Archaeologist at the University of Iowa for long-term storage. There they will be available for comparative study by visiting scholars working with similar sites or materials or those who may wish to pursue research questions not specifically addressed by the Berger team. Given the size and unique completeness of the collection, the Wever materials are likely to keep other researchers busy for many years to come.