Mallam, R. Clark Dr. -- 1940 - 1986

MALLAM, CHAPMAN

Posted By: Connie Ellis (email)
Date: 3/9/2011 at 22:28:30

SOURCE: Waukon, Iowa WAUKON DEMOCRAT June 5, 1986
Contributor: Connie Ellis (Not related)

Dr. R. Clark Mallam, professor of anthropology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and a well-known interpreter of the effigy mounds in Iowa, died of cancer at his home Monday, June 2, 1986 in rural Decorah, Iowa. A memorial service was held Wednesday, June 4 at 11 a.m. in the Congregational United Church of Christ in Decorah. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorials be given for the publication of short stories Mallam wrote in recent months. The collection titled "Indian Creek Memories: A Sense of Place" is about his childhood on the great plains.

Mallam, age 46, *His birthdate, place of birth, and name of his father (mother is mentioned later) is not given.* was director of Luther's Archaeological Research Center. He had served on the Luther faculty since 1969. Dr. Mallam was an expert on the Effigy Mounds National Monument near Marquette, Iowa. He wrote a book on the mound builders in 1976 which was sold by the National Park Service at the Monument Center. He was preparing a second edition.

For the past 15 years he directed an effort to locate and aerially photograph Indian mounds in northeast Iowa. He recorded 220 mounds on film with about 70 left to do. His interpretations of the effigy mound culture were published in Archaeology magazine, one of many journals in which his articles appeared.

Mallam headed several other archaeological projects in the midwest. In 1982 he and some Luther students unearthed 7,000 years of prehistory in eight vertical inches inches near Guttenberg, Iowa in Clayton County. On sabbatical in 1982-83 he studied a 160 foot earthen intaglio in Kansas shaped like a serpent, discovering that it was used for astronomical calculations.

Dr. Mallam is survived by his wife, Judith; a son Clark Mallam, age 22 of Decorah, Iowa, and 2 daughters, Sally Mallam, age 19, a student at Mankato State University in Minnesota and Jenny Mallam, age 15, at home in Decorah; his mother Ruth Mallam and grandmother, Mayme Chapman, both of Wymore, Nebraska; and 3 brothers, Brendan Mallam of Lewisville, Texas, John Mallam of Houston, Texas, and Laurence Mallam of Wymore, Nebraska.

addendum to Dr. R. Clark Mallam: Contributed by Connie Ellis

SOURCE: Internet -- Wymore, Nebraska

He was born January 7, 1940.
He is buried at the Wymore Cemetery, Wymore, Nebraska, which is in Gage County.

He was perhaps the son of Harold (Jerry) Mallam who is also at this same cemetery and listed just above Dr. Mallam's name. If his mother, Ruth, is buried at this cemetery, her name is not listed.