Iowa Town Uncovers 1,700-Year-Old Native American Art

For centuries, something remarkable lay just inches beneath the Iowa prairie, waiting to be discovered.

In 2013, archaeologists surveying land for a highway expansion west of Correctionville made a stunning find. They uncovered geoglyphs, patterns carved into the earth by Native Americans nearly 2,000 years ago. No one had ever found anything like them in Iowa before.

The discovery happened during preparations to widen U.S. Highway 20 from two lanes to four. Initial surveys in 1999 hinted something interesting might be buried there, but the full excavation in 2013 revealed the truth.

Working alongside Native American tribal representatives and the Iowa Historic Preservation Office, archaeologists found small trenches 12 to 18 inches deep. Ancient hands had dug them, then filled them with darker soil likely carried from near the Little Sioux River. The geometric patterns they created had been hidden under vegetation and topsoil since white settlers arrived.

The dig sites also yielded tools, pottery pieces, and animal bones dating back 1,600 to 1,700 years. But the geoglyphs themselves were the real treasure.

The Ripple Effect

For Correctionville, population just over 800, the discovery became more than an archaeological footnote. Local residents saw an opportunity to honor the region's Native American heritage while bringing educational tourism to their community.

The Correctionville Economic Development Corporation took the lead. After years of planning, they installed interpretive displays this February along Highway 20 at Van Houten-Southwell Roadside Park. The displays look across the river toward the bluffs where the geoglyphs were found.

"People need to know," said April Putzier, Correctionville city clerk. "They need to see and learn about what we as a community didn't know existed in our backyard."

Bill Forbes, who serves on the development board, had hunted on that ground for years. He never knew he was walking over ancient artwork.

The town will dedicate the display on May 9 with a morning program and luncheon at River Valley High School, followed by a ribbon cutting at the roadside park. Kate Koskovich, treasurer of the development corporation, said the project took longer than expected but allowed them to tell the complete story.

Now travelers along Highway 20 can pull over and learn about the people who shaped this landscape long before modern Iowa existed. The Little Sioux Valley has always been rich in Native American history and archaeological sites, and this discovery adds another chapter to that ongoing story.

A small Iowa town is making sure their ancient neighbors aren't forgotten.