Congrats to OSA's Strategic Initiatives Director, Elizabeth Reetz, who traveled to #SAA2026SFO last week to accept the Society for American Archaeology's 2026 Outstanding Public Archaeology Initiative Award w/ Stephanie Sperling for their work on A Practitioner's Guide to Public Archaeology

A HUGE congrats to Grinnell College's @cocalola.bsky.social on this grant, awarded to support important archaeological work & research at the Rock Springs, WY, Chinatown | 🏺https://thesandb.com/55311/news/anthropology-professor-laura-ng-receives-10000-grant-for-wyoming-chinatowns-research-project/

The 29th Annual University of Iowa student powwow is happening on April 18th, 2026! All are welcome! For questions and additional details, please visit powwow.uiowa.edu

These past several months of robotics mania have been an absolute blur, but also uplifting and rewarding! These kids wowed us with their innovations and ideas. Congrats to all the teams who participated and learned something new about archaeology! #pubarch🏺 research.uiowa.edu/news/2026/02...

OSA's next hybrid Brown Bag is on March 6! Mike Perry is presenting on soils and stratigraphic features in Glenwood phase lodges. Attend in person or on Zoom: events.uiowa.edu/event/35750

Congrats to this book & its contributors for receiving the 2026 Society for American Archaeology’s Outstanding Public Archaeology Initiative Award! It was co-edited by OSA's Elizabeth Reetz. Authors include OSA Indian Advisory Council members Suzanne Buffalo & Julie Martineau tinyurl.com/37zwbya4

Winter is OSA Brown Bag season & we've got three talks on the calendar! First up at noon on 2/13, Clayton Schuneman of the Johnson County Medical Examiner Dept will present Anthropological Applications in Death Investigation. Full details & Zoom registration: events.uiowa.edu/event/36153 #iowa 🏺

For any students studying an #Iowa-focused history or #archaeology topic at ANY institution, here's a grant opportunity! It's an easy application & you get a free 1-year membership to the Iowa Archeological Society! See details at: iowaarcheologicalsociety.org/doug-jones/

OSA now has a Certified Interpretive Planner! We work w/ Midwest museums, nature centers, agencies, etc. If you're planning new/revised exhibits in 2026, keep us in mind as a partner! We'll help you strategize goals and themes that align with your audiences and mission, with measurable impacts. 🏛️🏺

We've got the coziest archaeology holiday stuff around, jigsaw puzzles, socks, mugs, stickers, and all the things. As always, a portion of proceeds support our education & outreach activities! Order soon for on-time xmas delivery & watch the top bar for sale codes! tinyurl.com/yvd5rkpy%F0%...

Like this incident in Indiana, this has happened a couple times in #Iowa the past few years. Iowa has some of the oldest laws in the nation protecting ancient human remains. Here's what to do if you come across them: archaeology.uiowa.edu/human-remains 🏺

ICYMI check out @iowapublicradio.org's Indigenous Peoples' Day feature on Iowa repatriation stories! www.iowapublicradio.org/podcast/talk... 🏺

Grinnell College, Iowa-based archaeologist Laura Ng has been doing some incredible research!

Now's a good time to join the #Iowa Archeological Society! Non-professional members get a discounted early bird registration rate for PAC & MAC of only $30! New IAS members, get a membership now & it's good thru all of 2026! iowaarcheologicalsociety.org/2025-fall-me... 🏺

We're co-hosting the joint meeting of the Plains Anthropological Society & Midwest Archaeological Conference in Iowa City, Oct 29-Nov 1! Online registration w/ early bird rates & abstract submissions thru 10/3. FREE advance registration for students & Tribal members! More at: tinyurl.com/zztpx2dz 🏺

We're participating in this upcoming Robotics webinar hosted by the SAA on 10/1, 4pmCT/5pmET! Registration required t attend live, but the video will be on YouTube afterwards. tinyurl.com/2cu7nefy #FIRSTLEGOLeague #FLLUnearthed #Unearthed #LEGOrobotics #FIRSTChamp 🏺

The University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist's FY2025 annual report is now online! Find out the nitty gritty our accomplishments at archaeology.uiowa.edu/annual-report. #iowa #archaeology

We heard from our friends at @archaeological.org that they had 1845 robotics teams register for their webinar yesterday -- AMAZING! You can now watch the webinar on YouTube & check out their fab resource page! tinyurl.com/2zkn5jxs #FIRSTLEGOLeague #FLLUnearthed #Unearthed #LEGOrobotics #FIRSTChamp

We created a resource page for all of you competing in this year's archaeology-themed international robotics challenge! Beware of misconceptions & bad information on the web! #FIRSTLEGOLeague #FLLUnearthed #Unearthed #LEGOrobotics #FIRSTChamp archaeology.uiowa.edu/iowa-archaeo...

Immerse yourself in Public Archaeology! Get the discount! See you in DC!

Listen to the book club chat about 'Warrior Girl Unearthed' on the IPR Talk of Iowa podcast, featuring OSA's Elizabeth Reetz, along w/ Leah Slick Driscoll and Tieranny Keahna of the Meskwaki Nation. This YA book touches on NAGPRA & the museum field (and SO MUCH more!) tinyurl.com/e55cxc4e

Did you know that #Iowa OSA staffs architectural historians? A recently completed historic property study for the Iowa DOT focuses on the former east bound Hwy 30 Cedar River Bridge (1953-2022) in Linn County. This StoryMap captures why this bridge was significant. tinyurl.com/4dr25wpp 🏺 #pubarch

"'Of all the institutions that the tribes deal with, the University of Iowa has served as the template for how you do it right,' Wanatee Buffalo said." "Since 1976, Doershuk said his office has documented the repatriation and reburial of more than 2,000 individuals..." | tinyurl.com/22mf6pfy 🏺

The Iowa Archeological Society spring meeting is on 4/19 at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park in SE Iowa! Anyone is welcome. See event details, registration & slate of speakers here: iowaarcheologicalsociety.org/2025-spring-... 🏺

Thanks to @killgrove.bsky.social for this interview! Ideally, leave artifacts in place. But we understand people's passion for this hobby. We encourage thorough documentation of CONTEXT & knowing where you have permission to collect! IA resources: tinyurl.com/mrme5xdr, tinyurl.com/w6ryfs99 🏺

We're hosting a hybrid lecture on the recent Iowa mastodon find! State Archaeologist John Doershuk will present, "A Community-inspired (and Energized) Mastodon Excavation in Southern Iowa," at noon CT on February 28. More details here: events.uiowa.edu/92425 🏺

We are incredibly saddened to share the news of the passing of THPO Lance Foster and send condolences to his loved ones, friends, colleagues, and Tribal Nation. We wrote this as an award nomination month ago; now it is a tribute to him and his remarkable career archaeology.uiowa.edu/news/2025/01...

Starting Jan 11, check out the short video special, "Make No Bones About It," for the new Hawkeyes at Home series! We're featured discussing a selection of faunal remains and bone tools from 13PM7, a Mill Creek village site in Plymouth County, western Iowa. events.uiowa.edu/90888

OSA staffers are currently drafting a book chapter about a year-long community-engaged project that partnered us with the Meskwaki Nation and Elgin Historical Society, which wrapped up in June 2023. Check out this student-created ArcGIS StoryMap encapsulating the project! bit.ly/Elgin-Iowa-C...

"pigs in hoglot view north," 1983, from a highway archaeological survey in Washington County, Iowa. They look like happy hogs! Fact: "There are 23.4 million pigs on Iowa farms, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture. That means for every one Iowan there are 7.3 pigs." (2024) 🐷

For those thinking about turkey this week! Here's one of Iowa's most iconic archaeological artifacts. This shell pendant has a notched edge & an image of a turkey head is incised into one face. The eye forms a suspension hole for the ornament. It dates to ~AD 1200-1350, from western Iowa.

OSA recently wrapped up a 12-yr project analyzing >83k artifacts & excavation data from 1960s-70s work on US 34 in western #Iowa. The interactive ArcGIS StoryMap summarizes this data, providing new insights about the innovative farmers who lived in lodges from AD 1200-1350. bit.ly/GlenwoodArch... 🏺

Never mind those flurries outside, planning for the 2025 #Iowa Lakeside Lab archaeological field school at the Abbie Gardner cabin is underway! Register at iowalakesidelab.org/courses beginning in January. All enrollees pay in-state tuition; scholarships are available for room & board. #archaeology

ICYMI: In August, we excavated a mastodon dating to 13.6k years ago & the news went global! www.youtube.com/watch?v=C38J...

👋 from Iowa! We just launched our FY24 Annual Report: tinyurl.com/yz3v5383. Quick highlights: 64 years as a UI research center | ~$2M in externally funded contracts & grants | 3,300+ people engaged through #archaeology outreach events | 2,065 volunteer/student hours contributed to OSA projects