Toolesboro Mounds, Iowa, National Historic Landmark - U.S. National Natural Landmarks on Waymarking.com

County of site: Louisa County
Location of site: Toolesboro Ave. & Main St., Toolesboro
Phone: 319.523.8381

"A recent study by the Office of the State Archaeologist of Iowa with the support of the State Historical Society of Iowa and funds provided by the National Park Service, has resulted in a new report on the Middle Woodland mounds at Toolesboro, Louisa County, Iowa. This report includes a history of the mound investigations conducted primarily by the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences in 1875 and 1886, an analysis of the 89 extant artifacts from the mounds currently curated by the Putnam Museum in Davenport (successor to the Davenport Academy), and interpretations regarding mortuary behavior and related activities based on surviving archival evidence.

"Documentary data suggest that at least 18 conical mounds, comprising two separate groups, plus a geometric earthwork or enclosure, were reported at Toolesboro as early as 1841. By the end of the 19th century, surface indications of the earthwork and many of the mounds had been destroyed, and most of the remaining features had been dug into. Only seven mounds exist currently. Consideration of mound content and structure, as reported in published and unpublished sources, along with artifact analysis verify interpretations that the Toolesboro mounds represent Hopewellian mortuary structures. Mortuary features consisted of prepared subfloor pits containing multiple primary interments, and secondary mound-fill or intrusive burials of disarticulated elements. Extant artifacts include hammered copper celts, gouges, and pins; both plain and effigy platform pipes of aragonite and northern Illinois Elkhorn Creek pipestone; Hopewell Zoned dentate stamped ceramics; and freshwater pearl and marine shell items. Almost all of the artifacts can be classified as Hopewellian Interaction Sphere types, indicating a likely date for mound construction and site use around 100 B.C.- A.D. 200.

"The mounds at Toolesboro comprise perhaps the most widely recognized Hopewell site in Iowa, and yet a comprehensive report detailing the history of their investigations and the nature of their internal structure and contents had never been prepared. The current report goes a long way to remedy this situation, and provides a basic data set upon which future research and on-site interpretation can build. Proposed research including source analysis of existing artifacts, scrutiny of aerial photographs, remote sensing of subsurface features, as well as comparable studies of related sites in eastern Iowa, is expected to contribute vital data on the relationship between Toolesboro and the rest of the Hopewell world."
~ National Park Service

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