Kimball Village is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

located in the vicinity of

Westfield, Iowa Westfield is a city in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 123 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the westernmost point in Iowa, this being due to a bend in the Big Sioux River. The nearby Broken Kettle wildlife refuge i ...

, United States. It is one of six known Big Sioux phase villages from the Middle Missouri tradition that existed between 1100-1250 C.E. The site, located on a terrace overlooking the

Big Sioux River The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States. It flows generally southwardly for ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataTh ...

, has well-preserved features, including

earth lodge An earth lodge is a semi-subterranean building covered partially or completely with earth, best known from the Native American cultures of the Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands. Most earth lodges are circular in construction with a dome-like ...

and storage pits, and evidence of fortifaction. The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2010, and as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2016..

Description

Kimball Village is located in northwestern Iowa, in rural Plymouth County. It is set on a terrace set between the Big Sioux River and the

Loess Hills The Loess Hills are a formation of wind-deposited loess soil in the westernmost parts of Iowa and Missouri, and the easternmost parts of Nebraska and Kansas, along the Missouri River. Geology The Loess (, , or ) Hills are generally located bet ...

. The site is identifiable as a mound rising in the floodplain, and occupies an area of just under . Dr. Charles R. Keyes, a professor at

Cornell College Cornell College is a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell College, in honor of iron ty ...

in Iowa, his assistant Ellison Orr, and 14 workers from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

first excavated the site in 1939, after Keyes heard that artifact hunters were finding objects in this area. They discovered houses, hearths, storage pits, burial features, and over 9,000 artifacts. Other excavations have been done in 1942, 1963 and 2009, the latter determining the full extent of the site. These investigations revealed that the village had at least 20 dwellings organized in five rows facing south. It was fortified by a timber palisade and possibly also a ditch. As of its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 2016, the site was described as remarkably well preserved, having suffered little erosion damage. Only 3% of its area had been investigated by archaeologists.

References

{{NRHP in Plymouth County, Iowa Protected areas established in 1939 Native American history of Iowa Works Progress Administration in Iowa Protected areas of Plymouth County, Iowa National Historic Landmarks in Iowa Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa

Description

See also

References