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Goal:
The student
will understand the significance of the Toolesboro Hopewellian mounds and the
importance of archaeology for learning about Iowa's history.
Objectives
Students will:
- demonstrate an understanding of the Hopewell
burial tradition.
- understand the sacred nature of burial mounds.
- differentiate between the different groups
of people using the area over time.
- recognize the role of archaeology as a research
and learning tool, as well as one of destruction.
- learn that the history of Iowa goes back more
than 2000 years.
Site Summary
The Hopewell
The
Hopewell tradition occurred from 200 B.C. to A.D. 450. It is defined by a common
burial practice among certain Native American groups: the burial of important
people in large cone-shaped, earthen mounds along with exotic trade goods. The
construction of burial mounds and geometric earthworks occurred throughout the
eastern half of the United States, centered in Ohio.
The Hopewell
tradition is one of many mound building traditions that occurred in prehistoric
times in the United States. During the nineteenth century, the construction of
these earthworks was incorrectly attributed to a "long-lost race" of
people referred to as "the Mound Builders." At the time, few scholars
believed that the mounds and other earthworks could have been built by ancient
Native American groups. Since then, the notion of a "long-lost race"
has been discredited through scientific excavation and study of the mounds.
The Hopewellian
diet was based hunting and gathering, and supplemented by rudimentary agriculture.
They lived in villages located along the flood plains of rivers. They built their
mounds near their villages, typically on high bluffs. They also had an extensive
trade network, indicated by artifacts made from Great Lakes copper, Rocky Mountain
obsidian (volcanic glass), marine shells and pearls from the Gulf of Mexico, Appalachian
mica (a shiny mineral), and shark teeth from Chesapeake Bay. The Hopewellian people
are only known through archaeological excavations, primarily that of their earthworks.
The Hopewellian
people had various ways of burying their dead within the mounds. Some individuals
were placed lying down, others propped in a sitting position against the side
of the tomb. Some individuals were cremated, others placed in structures called
charnel houses where the decomposition process began, and were then later buried.
The tombs and the mounds themselves were constructed in a number of different
ways. Mound construction typically began with the laying of a sand or clay floor,
or a platform in the center, upon which the body and the artifacts were placed.
Some mounds even contain tombs made of logs or large stones. Over this, layers
of earth, clay, sand, and gravel were piled up to make a mound. Many mounds have
several burials in different layers (the record is 100 burials in one mound).
The Toolesboro
Mounds
The
Toolesboro site consists of seven existing burial mounds on a bluff overlooking
the Iowa River near where it joins the Mississippi River. The conical mounds were
constructed between 100 B.C. and A.D. 200 by a local Hopewellian group. At one
time, there may have been as many as twelve mounds, but subsequent settlement
and excavation have reduced that number to the present seven. As of yet, no village
site at Toolesboro has been located, and this is attributed to the shifting path
of the Iowa River, which has obliterated possible village sites over the last
2000 years.
The mounds
have been excavated by different groups of people since the middle of the nineteenth
century. Extensive excavations were undertaken by the Davenport Academy of Natural
Sciences, although the local groups did dig into some of the mounds. Contained
within the mounds were typical Hopewellian artifacts: copper tools, stone platform
pipes, shell and pearl beads, chipped stone tools, and mica sheets. The mounds
also contained a limited number of burials, though the human remains still available
for analysis are few in number and poorly preserved.
After
the Hopewell
Since the
Hopewell construction and use of the mounds at Toolesboro, there have been many
other groups of people associated with the site. Originally, a nearby earthwork
referred to as "the old fort" was considered to be a part of the Toolesboro
Hopewellian mound group. It is possible, however, that this enclosure was actually
constructed approximately one thousand years later by a different Native American
culture, known as the Oneota (oh-nee-oh-tah).
Also in
the vicinity of the Toolesboro mounds are the McKinney and Poison Ivy sites, which
are Oneota sites as well. Local tradition places the 1673 "discovery"
of Iowa by Marquette and Joliet in the shadows of the Toolesboro mounds. The Poison
Ivy site supposedly corresponds with the description in Marquette's journal of
a village close to where they landed. Recently, however, the validity of this
belief has come under question.
The beginning
of the nineteenth century marks the start of the European-American settlement
of the land around the mounds. While clearing out earth for the root cellars and
foundations of their farmsteads, as well as plowing over and planting crops on
the mounds, the early farmers began the destruction of the mounds. They removed
artifacts and human remains without documenting where items came from or sketching
the internal structure of the mounds.
This practice
was continued by the early archaeologists from the Davenport Academy of Natural
Sciences using crude excavation techniques, causing the loss of artifacts, as
well as the opportunity to study the mounds further. Some of the mounds have since
been restored, that is, the pits caused by excavations or construction have been
filled in or the mounds themselves rebuilt.
No further
excavations are being planned for the Toolesboro mounds. This is for two reasons.
First, it is important to remember that the mounds are considered sacred burial
sites by Native Americans, similar to modern cemeteries. Many people today would
find it offensive if their relatives' graves were excavated in order to learn
more about their way of life. While it is difficult to trace the modern descendants
of the Hopewell, further excavations of the burial mounds are considered disrespectful.
Also, in the past few years, the government began to pass laws making it illegal
to remove artifacts and human remains from Native American burial mounds.
Second,
archaeology can be a destructive science. Opening the mounds destroys the possibility
of future study. Artifacts that are removed from a site can never be replaced
in the exact context and position in which they were originally deposited. Currently,
archaeologists prefer to use non-intrusive methods (methods other than excavation)
to explore ancient sites such as the Toolesboro mounds. Non-intrusive methods
include: aerial photography focusing on the features or contours of the land,
surface surveys looking for signs of past occupation (such as artifacts), and
remote sensing of the ground, which works something like an x-ray.
Vocabulary
Students should become familiar with these vocabulary
words before visiting the Toolesboro mounds:
archaeology: the recovery and study of
material evidence remaining from past human life and culture, such as mounds,
buildings, tools, and pottery.
burial mounds: the burial place of high
status individuals, such as leaders and their families, from a Native American
group.
culture: behaviors, beliefs, thoughts,
and products characteristic of a community or population; a way of life.
earthwork: a large construction of earth
by humans, sometimes in the form of mounds, sometimes walls or enclosures for
ritual or defensive purposes.
excavation: the careful, scientific digging
and recording of a site done by archaeologists to gather material evidence of
past human life and culture.
Hopewell: a term used to designate the
elaborate burial tradition by Native American groups of burying their dead in
mounds with rare objects obtained in long distance trade that occurred from 200
B.C. to A.D. 450 in the eastern United States.
hunting and gathering: a method of obtaining
food; typically the men hunt animals, such as deer, bison, or elk, and the women
gather plant foods, such as nuts, seeds, or fruit.
Oneota: a Native American culture that
existed in Iowa after A.D. 1000, and is the likely predecessor of the Ioway tribe.
Pre-Visit Activities
Before your visit, plan some classroom time
to try one or more of the following activities (adjust as necessary for grade
level):
Talk about museums and collections. Explain
that a collection is a group of items assembled in a logical order and gathered
because they have some kind of significance. Museums have collections that are
studied and exhibited to the public. These collections are used to interpret the
past, present, and sometimes the future.
Explain that museums use both two-dimensional
and three-dimensional materials (called artifacts) to interpret history. An artifact
can tell us much about the people, the time, and the region from which it came.
An artifact reveals what materials it is made from, when and where it was made,
and how it was used. Sometimes its color and style tell us about popular trends.
All of this helps us determine its relative value within the "material culture."
Discuss what artifacts can tell us about individuals.
Have each student bring in an "artifact" that reveals something important
about him or her (a belief, a tradition, a hobby, a personality trait). Gather
the "artifacts" and have students identify who brought in which one,
how they know, and what they can say about that student from the "artifact."
Discuss the fact that Native American burial
mounds are like our cemeteries--sacred. It is considered disrespectful to walk
on the mounds, as it is to step on graves in modern cemeteries. Do the attached
Mound Maze activity to reinforce the point.
On-Site Activities
Include these activities in your visit to the
Toolesboro mounds:
Walk around the grounds and look at the mounds.
Pretend you have x-ray vision and can see inside the mounds. What do you see in
there? Draw a picture of what you see.
Walk through the museum looking at the displays.
Pretend you are a detective gathering clues about the Hopewellian people and how
they lived. What clues do the artifacts provide about the people that once lived
here? What can you piece together about their lives?
Imagine you were a member of a Hopewell village,
and wanted to make a fancy necklace of shell beads, a knife of obsidian (volcanic
glass), or a copper headdress. What might you have to do to get the necessary
materials? For example, what steps might you have to go through to get bear teeth
and claws? Remember--there are no cars, airplanes, trucks, trains, telephones,
or computers to help you.
Brainstorm and help the archaeologists solve
some mysteries about the Hopewell. After approximately A.D. 500, mounds were no
longer built in the Hopewellian style. What might be some reasons for this? What
might have happened to the traditions? (Remember--"Hopewell" is a practice,
and the end of it does not mean that all the people connected with it died, but
more likely that the tradition changed over time). The second mystery is: how
did they trade? The Hopewellian people had no form of currency (money). What might
they have traded and how? (Consider: perishable items such as food, acting as
the middlemen for trade goods as part of a "down-the-line" trading system--passing
obsidian on to Hopewellian groups to the east in exchange for shark teeth).
Post-Visit Activities
Discussion
Ask some of the following questions of your
students after visiting the Toolesboro mounds. After each question we give some
suggested answers. Have your students expand on these answers.
Draw a picture of what your x-ray vision revealed
inside the mounds. Draw a picture of what your x-ray vision might reveal at a
local cemetery. Are there any differences? What do the pictures tell you about
the life 2000 years ago and life today? (Consider: both groups of people have
ways to honor the dead)
Imagine what it would have been like to live
in the Toolesboro area almost 2000 years ago. What would you eat for dinner? Where
would you sleep? Draw a picture of what your house and family might have looked
like. (Your dinner was gathered from the surroundings: elk meat, roots, berries,
and nuts)
Discuss cemeteries in your community. What is
there? What can the cemeteries tell us about the community? (Consider: ages, relationships,
religious beliefs, group associations) Compare and contrast the Toolesboro mounds
to a local cemetery. Name some similarities, some differences.
Imagine you are an archaeologist 2000 years
from now, trying to solve the mystery of life in Iowa. What clues about it might
you find? What wouldn't you find? (For example: paper, clothing) What artifacts
might be difficult to interpret? (Consider: records and CDs, a shoehorn, fingernail
clippers, a telephone cord, toy figurines, a zipper)
Archaeology is based on the study of material
objects. From these objects, archaeologists must piece together the puzzle of
the past, often without the help of written records or living people. This is
comparable to putting together a large jigsaw puzzle without a picture and not
all the correct pieces. What do the archaeologists miss about the culture? (Consider:
individuals, language, stories, songs, voices, music, ideas, dance, manners, sports,
games, and beliefs)
Detective Work
Here are some suggested themes for student research.
Their results might be presented in both written and oral reports.
What did the Hopewellian people look like? Investigate
books and magazine articles (The Goldfinch is a good source) on Native
Americans. Draw what their clothing looked like (for winter and summer), how they
did their hair, and who wore the ornamentation (necklaces, bracelets, headdresses).
Investigate the other Hopewell sites (or later
Native American mound sites such as the Marching Bear effigy mounds) in Iowa.
The Native American groups who built the mounds did not have tools like bulldozers
and tractors to use for construction. Instead they used their hands, baskets,
and hoes made of shell and bone. One basketful of dirt weighed approximately 25
pounds. Estimate the number of baskets of dirt and amount of time that went into
creating these mounds.
The largest Hopewell mound, which was located
in Ohio but has since been destroyed, was 33 feet high, 150 feet wide, and 250
feet long, and contained 20,000 cubic yards of dirt and 100 burials. How does
this compare to the size of your house or your room? If an average room is 12
feet wide by 12 feet long, and has a height of 8 feet, how many would you need
to fill the mound?
The book Motel of the Mysteries by David
Macaulay (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1979) is about future archaeologists misinterpreting
late-twentieth century American culture. Read the book and examine the "Treasures."
(Some examples of the "Treasures": toilet paper is interpreted as "Sacred
Parchment," a faucet as a trumpet, a toilet plunger as a percussion instrument,
a toilet seat as "the Sacred Collar") Why were these items misinterpreted?
Are there other items, places, or activities that might be misunderstood by future
archaeologists?
Create a list of 20 items that could be placed
in a time capsule as "artifacts" that represent current American culture.
Alternatively, create this list to explain American culture to people unfamiliar
with it (aliens from another galaxy, someone from the future). Each item should
have a reason why it should be included.
Visit a local cemetery and do "above-ground"
or "graveyard archaeology." What characteristics (shape, size, design)
of grave markers change over time? What types of symbols are used? What do these
symbols say about the person buried there? (Consider: soldier, membership in a
fraternal organization such as the masons, religious beliefs, age.) Look for markers
with lambs on them. What do the lambs mean? Do rubbings of the stones using a
pencil or a crayon and a large sheet of paper. Compare rubbings from different
sections of the cemetery. (See "Doing Local History." The Goldfinch.
Vol. 14, No. 2, Winter 1992 for description, detailed instructions, and suggested
activites.)
Doing History
These activities may be used to further explore
ideas presented at the Toolesboro mounds. You may want to adjust the activities
to the students' interests and abilities.
The year is A.D. 5, and the chief of the local
Hopewell village has just died. Write a short story (or a play) from the point
of view of a person your age from the village about what happens (the ceremony,
the mound construction). Then write a similar story (or play) about what might
happen in the present day. Draw pictures to go along with the story.
The necklaces found in the burial mounds were
owned by important village members and were probably represented their role, such
as leader, in the group. Design your own Hopewellian necklace based on the materials
available to them: pearls, shells, copper, silver, elk teeth, bear teeth and claws,
and shark teeth. Does your design represent unique something about you?
Visit the Putnam Museum of History and Natural
Science in Davenport, Iowa, where most of the artifacts removed from the Toolesboro
mounds are kept. After going there, design a new display for kids for the Toolesboro
museum. What artifacts would you include? Design a visitors' brochure for school
children about the Toolesboro mounds. What aspects of the site would you focus
on? What is the most interesting to you and your friends about the Hopewell and
their mounds?
Archaeologists study what people leave behind:
that which was forgotten about, lost, or discarded as trash. In fact, a number
of present day archaeological studies have been done at land fills. Try "Garbage-Can
Archaeology." Gather two trash cans from different rooms in the school, such
as the library and another classroom (but do not tell students their points of
origin). Have students go through the trash cans noting the order of placement
of the items. Then have them classify the contents by type of artifact. Can they
determine the activities that occurred where the trash can came from? (See Discovering
Archaeology: An Activity Guide for Educators by Shirley Schermer, 1992 for
description and more detailed instructions.)
Alternatively, walk around a schoolyard or a
park looking at the ground. Make a list of the "artifacts" on the ground.
Look also at the "features" (paths, structures, land shapes). What types
of items are they? What do they tell you about the site? Use descriptive language
and not the proper names of the site, such as a baseball diamond or sandbox. See
if other students can figure out the name of the site by description alone.
Resources
These materials will help you learn
more about the Toolesboro mounds, the Hopewell, and
archaeology. It may be necessary to order books or
journals through interlibrary loan, so allow plenty of
time to obtain the resource. (SHSI stands for State
Historical Society of Iowa; IHRC, Iowa History Resource
Center at the State Historical Building; AEA, Area
Education Agency; PL, Public Library; SL, School
Library.)
Books and Articles: 4th-8th Grade
"Ancient Site at Cherokee."
Video from Iowa's P.A.S.T. series. (IHRC)
"Archaeology: Digging Up
History." Cobblestone. Vol. 4, No. 6, June
1983. (SL, PL)
"Digging into Prehistoric
Iowa." The Goldfinch. Vol. 7, No. 1,
September 1985. (SHSI, SL)
"Hopewell Culture." Video
from Iowa's P.A.S.T. series. Iowa City, IA: Office of
the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa. 1978,
1993. (IHRC, AEA)
"Indians of Iowa." The
Goldfinch. Vol. 13, No. 3, February 1992. (SHSI, SL)
Porrell, Bruce. Digging the Past:
Archaeology in Your Own Backyard. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.,
1979. (PL)
Books, Articles, and Videos: 9th
Grade-Adult
Alex, Lynn M. Exploring
Iowa's Past: A Guide to Prehistoric
Archaeology. Iowa City, IA: University
of Iowa Press, 1980. (PL)
Alex, Lynn M. and William Green. Toolesboro
Mounds National Historic Landmark Archaeological
Analysis and Report. Research Papers, Vol. 20, No.
4. Iowa City, IA: Office of the State Archaeologist,
1995. A technical analysis of the excavations at
Toolesboro. (IHRC)
Anderson, Duane C. Eastern Iowa
Prehistory. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press,
1981. (SL, PL)
Deetz, James. In Small Things
Forgotten. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press,
Doubleday, 1977. A non-technical discussion of historic
archaeology. Includes a chapter on "Graveyard
Archaeology." (PL)
Herold, Elaine Bluhm. "Hopewell:
Burial Mound Builders." Palimpsest Vol. 51,
No. 12, pp. 497-528, December 1970. Valid information
but slightly outdated analysis and description of the
Hopewell. (SHSI, PL)
Macaulay, David. Motel of the
Mysteries. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company,
1979. A spoof about future archaeologists
misinterpreting late-twentieth century American culture.
(PL)
"Myths and Moundbuilders."
PBS Odyssey series video. Shows the early misconceptions
about the mounds, archaeological excavations, and has a
mound building experiment. (PL)
Silverberg, Robert. The Mound
Builders of Ancient America: The Archaeology of a Myth.
Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society Limited, 1968.
(PL, SHSI)
Woodward, Susan L., and Jerry N.
McDonald. Indian Mounds of the Middle Ohio Valley: A
Guide to Adena and Hopewell Sites. Newark, OH:
McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, 1986. A
non-technical summary of the Hopewell tradition and a
listing of mound sites in Ohio. (PL)
Resources for Teachers for Teaching
Archaeology to Students.
Hawkins, Nancy W. Classroom
Archaeology: An Archaeology Activity Guide for Teachers.
Baton Rouge, LA: Division of Archaeology, Office of
Cultural Development, P.O. Box 44247, Baton Rouge, LA
70804, 1984.
Hoyer, Julianne Loy. Iowa's P.A.S.T.:
A Classroom Manual for the Video Series. 1993. (IHRC)
McNutt, Nan. Project Archaeology:
Saving Traditions. Longmont: Sopris West, Inc., 1120
Delaware Avenue, Longmont, Colorado 80501, 1988. An
archaeology curriculum for middle school and gifted
elementary school students, with activities and project
ideas.
Schermer, Shirley J. Discovering
Archaeology: An Activity Guide for Educators. Iowa
City, IA: Office of the State Archaeologist, 1992. Has
activities and lists several resources for teaching
children about archaeology. (IHRC, PL, SL)
Wheat, Pam and Brenda Whorton. Clues
from the Past: A Resource Guide for Educators.
Dallas, TX: Texas Archaeological Society and the
Hendrick-Long Publishing Company, 1990.
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