Journal article
Great Oasis Agriculture: The View from House 3 at West Broken Kettle (13PM25), Northwest Iowa
Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society, Vol.73, pp.1-24
2026
Abstract
Dale Henning’s 1969 work at West Broken Kettle (WBK) was the first excavation of a Great Oasis site that was explicitly designed to recover subsistence and environmental data through small-screen recovery techniques. Analysis of botanical remains from House 3 at WBK sheds light on Great Oasis plant use and agricultural strategies. Most feature fill had been water screened through window screen rather than now-standard sub-millimeter mesh. Density calculations and seed size data demonstrate the loss of some small remains via water screening. Still, flotation of the retained water screened residue not only yielded large amounts of maize and squash but also 16,520 identified small seeds, mostly from Eastern Agricultural Complex plants—goosefoot, sunflower, marshelder, little barley, and erect knotweed. This diverse assemblage and those of other Great Oasis sites are similar to those from coeval sites in the Mississippi River valley, indicating similar pathways to agricultural intensification.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Great Oasis Agriculture: The View from House 3 at West Broken Kettle (13PM25), Northwest Iowa
- Creators
- William Green (Author) - University of Iowa, Office of the State ArchaeologistCaitlin G Rankin
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society, Vol.73, pp.1-24
- ISSN
- 0535-5279
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2026 the authors
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2026
- Academic Unit
- Office of the State Archaeologist
- Record Identifier
- 9985219420602771
Metrics
1 Record Views