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DES MOINES, IOWA -- Press  Release from Rep. Hanson's office

State Representative Curt Hanson of Fairfield was please to announce that the Office of the State Archaeologist at The University of Iowa has received a grant for the study of the Iowaville archaeological site in Van Buren County.

“This is a great opportunity for us to learn more about the history of our state and the first Indian tribe that inhabited our state,” said Hanson.

lowaville is one of the most important archaeological sites in our state and the most well-known village of the Ioway tribe, which is Iowa’s namesake. Although the Ioway Indians were the first to inhabit lands making up Iowa today, they were evicted from their Iowa lands in the early 1800’s and relocated to Kansas, where a reservation still exists today.  Although archaeologists have known about the site since 1971, no professional excavations have occurred at the site, which is near the city of Selma.

The grant will total $28,464, with a match amount of $18,397, for a total project budget of $46,861. The project is supported in part by the State Historical Society of Iowa, Historical Resource Development Program. This project is entitled Archaeological Study of Iowaville, a 1765-1820s Ioway Village.

Fieldwork is expected to take four weeks in November, 2010.