Iowa City council to vote on UI Dept. of Anthropology request to dig on prehistoric American Indian site

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to allow the University of Iowa's Department of Anthropology to dig on city property in its meeting Tuesday, March 22.

The UI Dept. of Anthropology has requested to excavate a prehistoric American Indian site in Iowa City's Hickory Hill Park. The American Indian site was discovered in the 60's when UI anthropology students were digging at the location.

Iowa City's director of parks and recreation Mark Moran said he doesn't foresee any issue with the city allowing UI students to do research on the site.

They did it before in the 60's and by the way the agreement is written, they will repair everything to make it look like nothing happened,” Moran said. “It's just a three week project, so it's not a long term thing and we don't anticipate any problems with it.”

Moran said the project is intended for summer classes and would take place in June. He said it will involve digging auger holes 10 inches in diameter and a few feet into the ground in various locations at the park

“They are just digging to see if they can get any prehistoric documents,” Moran said.

Representatives from the Dept. of Anthropology were not available for comment and Moran said he was not sure what specific items the department is looking for.