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- September 27, 2006
Final report issued on archaeology project at Memorial Union
- Editor's Note: Look back at the archaeology dig at the Memorial
Union last April.
More
A team of Iowa State University archaeologists have released their final
report on excavation they conducted last spring at the Memorial Union.
The team conducted a nine-day dig in early April after contractors at the
Memorial Union construction site found animal bones during the initial earthmoving
phase of the construction.
The unexpected discovery was made of three deeply buried pits containing the
tightly packed skeletal remains of large animals, mostly horses, plus several
other artifacts dating back to the earliest days of the University.
Iowa State's College of Veterinary Medicine was located on the Memorial Union
site from 1885 to 1912. Old photographs indicated a ravine was located in
the area at that time, and back then, it was common practice to bury the animal
remains there.
The final report indicates that items excavated from the site over the nine-day
period were probably placed there between 1906-12.
"We dated the site based on the artifacts that we found there,"
said Matthew Hill, assistant professor of anthropology. "The most interesting
specimen nailed down the time frame. It was a chemical bottle that still had
a portion of its label, which listed the Food and Drug Act of 1906."
Hill organized and directed the excavation project. The bulk of the fieldwork
was conducted by David Rapson, affiliate professor with the Department of
Anthropology, and a group of trained students. Analysis of the excavation's
findings was also conducted by George Beran, Distinguished Professor emeritus
in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Because of the limited time available for excavation at the site, the team
concentrated its efforts on just one of the three animal bone pits discovered
at the site.
"The size and depth of Pit 2 appeared to offer the best potential fit
in terms of capturing the maximum amount of relevant information within the
allotted time frame," Hill said. "By all indications, the excavated
portion of Pit 2 was created and filled over a relatively brief period of
time, perhaps a few months to less than a year."
Even though the Iowa State archaeological team only had a relatively short
nine days at the site, Hill says an "absolutely massive amount of archaeological
material was recovered from Pit 2."
This included some 1,500 animal bones representing a minimum of 19 aged horses,
two immature cows, two immature dogs, two neonatal pigs, two immature cats,
one chicken and one brown rat (Hill thinks the rat may have died in the pit).
A majority of the remains discovered were complete, unbroken fragile, irregularly
shaped elements like scapula, vertebra and ribs, indicating a very favorable
post-depositional environment. The carcass remnants were discarded from laboratory
classes in anatomy taught by Veterinary Medicine.
"It's not surprising that the Vet Med College was so focused on horses,"
Hill said. "Prior to World War I the horse was the engine that drove
this country. Our research indicated that vet med students were each required
to dissect two horses a semester."
More than 100 miscellaneous historical artifacts, attributed to domestic-type
activities and the practice and training of veterinary medicine were also
discovered in Pit 2.
These included bottles, vials, test tubes, a Ball/Mason fruit jar, fine china
and tablewares, short segments of wire and rubber and nails. Some of the bottles
were intact with corks inside. One specimen recovered contained a fluid similar
to varnish.
"The neatest thing I think we found were four trephination disks – small,
washer-like bone objects – resulting from drilling holes in the nasal region
of horse heads to relieve an abscess," Hill said.
Other historical artifacts discovered include a fragmentary wick holder from
an oil lamp, the spout from a metal water sprinkler, a piece of telephone
wire, a telephone mouthpiece, a horseshoe, an unburned nodule of coal and
three buttons.
"It is simply overwhelming to consider that this sample of excavated
material is but a small percentage of what the pit held when fully intact,"
Hill said, "and that Pit 2 was but one of at least three such pits that
existed on the site.
"There is no evidence of vertical or horizontal separation between the
historic artifacts and the skeletal remains," he continued. "This
patterns supports the interference that these materials were deposited at
the same time."
Hill says it's incredible that the specimens have survived almost 100 years
underground.
"It's almost like a needle in a haystack when you look at all the construction
that has taken place in this area since these bones were thrown into the pit,"
he said. "It's amazing that when the Union was constructed in the late
1920s that this material wasn't disturbed when they put in the footings for
the building."
Just as amazing is the fact that the bones have survived all these years.
The chemistry of Iowa soil tends to breakdown animal bones. Hill says analysis
of the soil indicates that lime was placed on top of the carcasses, which
seems to have "neutralized the acidic portion of the soil."
Also the sloop of the ground in this area pushed the water drainage away from
the pit.
Hill says this was a wonderful opportunity for anthropology students at Iowa
State.
"This gave our students a great experience," he said, "and
we learned something about the history of Iowa State along the way.
"We had a group of well-trained students working on this project,"
Hill continued. "Students how knew what to do. This wasn't a teaching
exercise. We were doing real archaeology here."
The complete report is available on-line in PDF at www.anthr.iastate.edu/ISUAL
125.pdf.
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