A Tama County Iowa Collection Rediscovered	by David Marolf
Central States Archaeological Societies 2020 October Journal	Manchester, Iowa

 

This excerpt from "A Tama County Iowa Collection Rediscovered" published in the 2020 Central States Archaeological Societies 2020 October Journal Read the complete column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2020 October Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2021

Figures 1 and 2. The pipe is 3 3/16” long by 1 ½” wide and is 2” in height. It was found near Davenport, Iowa. Photos courtesy of Terry McGuire and published with permission of the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum accession number is 6124.1144.

Until now, I have written a number of articles in CSAJ pertaining to personal discoveries made by myself and other members of my family. That is what I prefer to write about. I have not purchased artifacts for many years since being educated at a young age at the cost of several hundred dollars to the dangers of such endeavors. Hopefully, in the future I will be able to write an article that may help others avoid the same mistake I made. However, this is an account of a recent purchase I DID make with the details of establishing the provenance which is crucial to any artifact. I hope you enjoy the story and learn a little about Iowa’s great artifacts and even greater people.

A number of years ago my friend Steve’s wife passed away at about the same time as his neighbor Norma’s husband died. The two couples had always been very close friends so I suppose it was natural that the two remaining spouses shortly began seeing each other on a regular basis. They each remain in their own homes, help each other maintain them and go places together constantly. They have developed a wonderful relationship in the face of tragic circumstances.

Not long after this, Steve, knowing I was an artifact collector, told me that Norma had some boxes of arrowheads and other “stuff,” as he put it, and I should stop in to take a look. It didn’t take long for me to line up a time that my hunting pal Hank and I could meet with Norma. We were astonished at what appeared before us. She brought out several boxes of artifacts and explained that they had been her husband’s, but he was not the collector. The collection had been passed down to him from ancestors who settled and farmed in Tama County. For those unfamiliar, Tama County is near the center of the state, just north of the Iowa River. The assemblage of over 400 total pieces included many many of the common point types encompassing the multi-cultural time span from the Late Paleolithic to Mississippian periods, as well as knives, drills, axes, celts, etc. (Figs. 1-12). Of course, like novice collectors, all of the pieces were haphazardly jumbled into the boxes, clanking against each other. We told Norma that damage could occur and to get us a roll of TP so as Hank and I meticulously scrutinized each piece we would wrap the better ones individually. They were obviously THE REAL DEAL, as authentic as a baby’s first tooth! All of them, even the axes, still had the original Tama County soil (hard, dark yellowish clay) from which they had been plucked, still caked into their flake scars and orifices; some so much so that it was difficult to identify the type or culture of origin.

Figure 2. Green frame: Gary and Adena points including: Dickson, Robins and Waubesa and 3 ¾ “ knife blade. Blue frame: Lg. Arc includes: Atalissa, Snyders and Adena points, on left, 3 Early Archaic Culture Turin atlatl darts and lower right a Matanzas. The largest point measures 2 ¾” in length.	Figure 3. Green frame: Upper right 3 points from top to bottom: Sedalia, Agate Basin and Nebo Hill. Upper left: 4 ½ " Archaic knife. Yellow frame: Top array: 3 Woodland Culture stemmed points flanked by 2 Early Archaic points. Bottom array: 6 Nebo Hill and Sedalia points (Can you tell the difference?). Top and bottom: 2 bi-point knives. Largest piece is 3 ½” long. Sedalia 3rd from the right on bottom arc. The Sedalia is much thinner and wider than the classic Nebo hill to the left of it.

Norma was very patient as Hank and I surely explained more than she wanted to know about her husband’s treasures. After a couple of hours of pure enjoyment only avid collectors could have, we left knowing the collection would be well taken care of and safe as long as Norma possessed it. We did not attempt to purchase the collection, as both of our collections are almost entirely made of personal finds—the way we like them.

Several years passed and I was about to retire in the Spring of 2014. In September of 2013 I had purchased a retirement home overlooking Lindsey Creek a short distance from its confluence with the Maquoketa River, just up-stream from Manchester, Iowa, and had spent all Fall and Winter prepping it for the post-retirement move. I had enough artifacts in ....

 

Read the complete column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2020 October Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2021