Iowa Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Prehistory=== {{Main|Iowa archaeology|American Indians of Iowa}} [[File:Iowa archaeology edgewater.JPG|thumb|Excavation of the 3,800-year-old [[Edgewater Park Site]]]] When [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]] first arrived in what is now Iowa more than 13,000 years ago, they were hunters and gatherers living in a [[Pleistocene]] glacial landscape. By the time European explorers and traders visited Iowa, Native Americans were largely settled farmers with complex economic, social, and political systems. This transformation happened gradually. During the [[Archaic period in North America|Archaic period]] (10,500 to 2,800 years ago), Native Americans adapted to local environments and ecosystems, slowly becoming more sedentary as populations increased.<ref name="iaarch" /> More than 3,000 years ago, during the [[Late Archaic period]], Native Americans in Iowa began utilizing domesticated plants. The subsequent [[Woodland period]] saw an increased reliance on agriculture and social complexity, with increased use of mounds, ceramics, and specialized subsistence. During the Late Prehistoric period (beginning about AD 900) increased use of maize and social changes led to social flourishing and nucleated settlements.<ref name="iaarch" /> The arrival of European trade goods and diseases in the Protohistoric period led to dramatic population shifts and economic and social upheaval, with the arrival of new tribes and early European explorers and traders. There were numerous native American tribes living in Iowa at the time of early European exploration. Tribes which were probably descendants of the prehistoric [[Oneota]] include the [[Sioux|Dakota]], [[Ho-Chunk]], [[Ioway]], and [[Otoe (tribe)|Otoe]]. Tribes which arrived in Iowa in the late prehistoric or protohistoric periods include the [[Illiniwek]], [[Meskwaki]], [[Omaha (tribe)|Omaha]], and [[Sauk people|Sauk]].<ref name="iaarch">Alex, Lynn M. (2000) ''Iowa's Archaeological Past.'' University of Iowa Press, Iowa City.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page