CULTURAL RESOURCES INDICATORS

1. CULTURAL RESOURCES INDICATORS Prehistoric and Historic Artifacts

2. Field Offices Need to Be Able to Identify Cultural Resources in the Field • Field Office personnel must identify cultural resources to take them into account. • Sites registered with the State can be identified from the internet maps (which represents only a small portion of cultural resources out there). • To identify cultural resources in the field, you must know what the indicators look like. 1935 Structure

3. The Nature of Indicators • Indicators are usually things that are resistant to decay, such as flint, glass, pottery, metal, brick and stone. • Some indicators are very easy to spot in some deposits, and very difficult to spot in other deposits. Loess (windblown dust) covers more than a 1/3 of Iowa. Anything larger than a fine grain of sand on a loess deposit has a high probability of being a human artifact. Cultural sites are very easy to identify in such an environment. However, cultural debris on glacial till (covering approximately 29% of Iowa) may be very difficult to spot in the jumble of glacial debris.

4. Prehistoric Indicators FIRE CRACKED ROCK • One of the most common and easily spotted indicators of a prehistoric camp site is fire cracked rock (FCR) • Hearths were lined with rock to provide thermal storage, and when hot, FCR was tossed into water filled containers to cook food.

5. How to Spot Fire Cracked Rock • FCR are broken rocks. The breakage is due to expansion and contraction resulting from heating and cooling, and by micro steam explosions from water trapped in a crystalline structure. • FCR often shows cup shaped depressions on the fracture plane because FCR is broken from internal stress. • The FCR may be reddened by ancient fires. • Check carefully for other kinds of indicators. Depressions

6. Chipped Flint Indicators • The products of flint knapping are the second most likely indicator that you will spot in the field. • Working flint is a subtractive process which leaves abundant long lasting waste. • Flint (chert), obsidian, and glass are all silicon dioxide. • Broken flint can provide a very sharp edge and was widely used for tools.

7. Flint Flakes are More Abundant than Finely Worked Tools A few blows to a large piece of flint produced this much fragmentation • Many flakes are struck off to produce one projectile point. • Therefore, you are more likely to find flakes than well made artifacts in most campsites. • The large blocks of flint from which flakes are struck are called cores.

8. Cortex on Cores and Flakes • Cortex is a weathered rind found on cores and flakes during an early stage in lithic reduction. • The cortex originally covered the nodule of flint if extracted from a limestone outcrop, or weathered on the surface of a flint cobble if taken from a gravel bar. Cortex

9. What to Look for in a Flake Striking Platform Bulbar Scar Bulb of Percussion • Often, when working for the government, we encounter flakes. • Is a flake man-made, or the product of natural processes? • Flint knapping produces many flakes with a striking platform and a bulb of percussion. Natural processes are less likely to do so. Ripples Bulb of Percussion Striking Platform Bulbar Scar

10. Bifacial Flint Artifacts • Bifacial flint artifacts are those that are flaked on both sides. • These include projectile points that are sought after by amateur collectors. • FCR and flakes are much more common. • Note that the color of flint is quite variable.

11. Quality of Flaking is Variable • The quality of flaking was determined by the technique and raw material used. • If a hammer stone was used to knap flint, the flakes were thicker and cruder than if an antler or wooden billet was used. • Pressure flaking produced the most refined tools. The flakes were literally pushed off, sometimes using an antler tine. Antler Tine Flaker Pressure Flaked Biface

12. Scrapers • Scrapers are pieces of flint with a plano-convex edge. • One of their functions was to work hides. • They are commonly found on archeological sites. End Scraper Side Scraper Thumb Nail Scraper

13. Heat Treated Flint • A higher quality of flint for knapping could be produced by heating. Flint was heated by burying it in hot coals. • Heat treated flint can sometimes be identified by a reddish color and glossy appearance.

14. Ancient Pottery • Pottery has been used locally for approximately 2,500 years. • Pottery can vary widely in color. • It is often difficult to spot in the field compared to FCR and flint flakes.

15. How to Know if It Is Pottery • Most pottery that you find in the field is broken into pieces (called pot shards). • Check for temper (sand, ground shell, etc.) added to the clay to prevent shrinking and cracking during firing. • Examine the exterior for impressed or incised decoration. Pot Shard Sand Temper

16. Ground Stone Tools • A variety of ground stone tools are found on archeological sites including grinding stones, axes, shaft abraders, and hoes. • Most were made by using one rock to peck another rock into a rough shape. The rough blank was abraded against another rock until it was smoothed. Basal Fragment of a Ground Stone Axe Ground Stone Axe Heads

17. A Crayon Made from Ochre • Ochre (hematite) was collected and used as a pigment. • The ochre was ground and the resulting iron oxide powder was mixed with grease and used as paint. Smoothly Ground Hematite Surface

18. Ochre Was Used as Paint • Native Americans were once referred to as “red men.” This derives from early explorers encountering Native Americans with red body paint. Color Produced by the Ochre Piece of Ochre from an Archeological Site

19. Historic Indicators • Prehistory is the time before written records. Prehistory ended only a few hundred years ago in Iowa. • History in Iowa began with French Explorers and has continued to the present time. • NRCS needs to take into account sites over 50 years of age.

20. The Library is Usually the Best Tool for Identifying Historical Sites • The library is that building filled with books that we visit when our TV is broken for an extended period of time. • The historical information found there is very valuable to you in discharging your cultural resources duties.

21. Check Your Local Atlases • You can usually find useful atlases in the genealogy section. • Ask the librarian if you are having trouble locating them.

22. Old Township and County Maps are Important • Old atlases and directories will show where farmsteads and towns existed in the past. • Some of the older atlases are not complete (they may not have shown lower economic status farmsteads). • By examining atlases from a variety of time periods you can sometimes bracket the age of a historic site. • Sometimes they have a history of your county, which provides a useful way to acquaint yourself with important events in your county’s past. 1875 Atlas

23. Photocopy Old Maps • Rather than visiting the library every time you have an undertaking, it is easier to photocopy relevant maps and keep them in a Field Office file. • This is a good project to do when there is a bad weather day.

24. For Historic Sites Not on a Map, Use Historic Indicators • The hard way to identify and date historic sites is to find and examine field indicators. • Historic as opposed to prehistoric sites, often have more and a greater variety of artifacts. • Concentrations of brick, glass, ceramics, clinkers, nails, rock, concrete, and linoleum fragments in a farm field often indicate the past presence of a farmstead. • A few isolated specimens may only indicate a manure spreader passed by. • Some artifacts indicate dates of occupation. • Examine only surface artifacts. The State Office will determine whether excavation will be done.

25. Standing Structures • These are the most spectacular and obvious indicators. • Log cabins are a house type reflecting an important period of Iowa history. • Many are covered with siding, have more recent additions and are not easily recognized as log cabins. Pioneer log cabin still partially covered with plank siding.

26. Log cabin tips • When an old house is covered with siding, check the thicknesses of the window and door casements. They are much thicker on a log cabin than on a clapboard house. • Old log cabins were caulked with lime mortar rather than concrete. Lime mortar

27. Glass as an Age Indicator • From 1880-1914 most bottles in the U.S. were made in Germany. They used manganese oxide as a clearing agent, which acquires a purple cast when exposed to sunlight. Why did we stop importing it? WWI. • American bottle makers used selenium which produced a straw yellow cast. Used from 1914-late 1920’s • American bottle makers switched to arsenic in the late 1920’s which stays clear in the sunlight Purple Cast Clear Yellow Cast

28. Mason Jars • Mason jars were first patented in 1858. • Mason jars labeled “Ball Brothers” date to post 1880’s

29. Ground Rims • Early glass molds left jagged seams. • One solution was to file off the seams. • This is called a “ground rim” when the lip was filed down. • This was done from 1858 to ca. 1915. • The lip will have a roughened and frosted appearance. Ground Rim

30. Carnival and Depression Glass • Carnival glass has a metallic sheen. • The date range is 1890-1935. • Depression glass is pastel colored. • The date range is 1925-1940. Carnival Glass Depression Glass

31. Historic Ceramics • Historic ceramics may contain one or more datable attributes. • Shell Edge 1820-1900 • Hand painted floral designs 1830-1860 • Transfer print 1830-1915 • Flow blue 1840-1860 and 1890-1910 Handpainted floral design and embossed Shell Edge Flow Blue Transfer Print Transfer Print Handpainted Embossed

32. Yellow Ware • Yellow ware refers to utilitarian ware made with a yellow paste. • Undecorated 1827-1940 • Brown glaze 1850-1940 • Sponged decoration 1827-1940 Undecorated Sponge Decoration Brown Glaze

33. White ware (white porous earthen tableware) and “Ironstone” (white nonporous earthen table ware): undecorated items (became more popular than decorated ware CA. 1850). 1820-1900+ Shell edge 1820-1900. Hand painted floral designs 1830-1860. Sponged decoration 1820-1940. Cut stamped decoration (usually geometric or floral patterns) 1860-1940. Transfer print-blue 1820-1915 Transfer print-dark blue (“Staffordshire blue” or “old blue”) 1820-1835. Transfer print-brown or black (usually pre 1860’s) 1830-1950. Transfer print-other colors (usually pre 1860’s) 1830-1950. Transfer print-flow (color will appear to have “run”). Periods of popularity are 1840-1860, and 1890-1910. Diagnostic Ceramic Attributes Part 1

34. Late flow (in combination with gilding and embossing) 1890-1912. Embossed (molded design-raised above the surface 1850-1900. Decalcomania (a decal on top of the glaze) 1840-present. Colored glaze (bright colors-Fiesta ware)1936-1973. Ivory tinted glaze 1870-present. Metallic rim band (gold and silver)1885-present. Annular (colored bands around the vessel) 1820-1860. Mocha (colored bands with a fern-like pattern) 1820-1900. Tea leaf (hand painted leaf pattern in copper luster) 1850-1910. Gilded 1885-present. Porcelain (shiny white nonporous earthen tableware- oriental porcelain has a slight blue or blue gray cast while bone china, unless an intentional cream tint is added, is snow white. Porcelain with iridescent luster 1920-present. Porcelain with “Made in Japan” printed on base of vessel 1921-1940. Diagnostic Ceramic Attributes Part 2

35. Yellow Ware (porous and nonporous yellow paste utilitarian wares) Undecorated yellow ware 1827-1940. Brown glaze yellow ware 1850-1940. Rockingham Type yellow ware (mottled brown glaze and embossed designs) 1812-1920. Sponged decorated yellow ware 1827-1940. Stoneware is nonporous gray, brown, or tan paste utilitarian ware. Stoneware was obsolete after WWI because of improving technology for preserving food. Bristol/Albany stoneware has a thick white glaze on one side and dark brown glaze on the other side, ca. 1880-1920. Bristol/Bristol stoneware has a thick white glaze on both surfaces, post 1920. Diagnostic Ceramic Attributes Part 3

36. Turn mold bottles have no seams and will exhibit horizontal striations, 1880-1910. Ground rim on jar with screw threads (lip will be rough and frosty looking) 1858-ca. 1915. Lipping tool bottle has a lip/neck with seams only part of the way up the neck, and not onto the rim. The neck may have horizontal striations. Cork closure finish on lipping tool bottle, early 1870’s to ca. 1920. Crown cap finish (soda pop) on lipping tool bottle, 1890’s-ca. 1920. Machine made or “regular made” bottle will have seams all the way up and around the rim. Machine made with cork closure finish, 1903-ca. 1915. Machine made with crown cap finish, post 1903. Machine made with pry off lid finish, post 1929. Machine made with continuous screw thread finish, post 1919. Glassware Part 1

37. Manganese oxide glass (purple colored bottle glass), 1880-ca. 1914. Selenium glass (straw colored bottle glass), 1914-late 1920’s. Arsenic glass (permanently clear bottle glass), post late 1920’s. “Federal law prohibits sale or reuse of this bottle” in embossed or raised lettering on bottle, 1933-1964. Applied color label (painted label on soda pop bottles), post 1934. Mason jars first patented, 1858. Mason jars first distributed by Ball Brothers, 1880. Carnival glass tableware (glass with a metallic sheen), 1890-1935. Depression glass tableware (pastel colored glass), 1925-1940. Glassware Part 2

38. Cautionary Notes • People may have brought heirlooms that were broken and discarded at the new farmstead, leading you to think the site is older than it really is. • Look at a variety of datable artifacts, and note where they cluster in time. • Use atlases in the library and compare that date to the date of the artifacts.