Dr. Henry P. Field was born in 1902. He graduated from the University of Iowa Dental College in 1926 and then moved to New Albin, IA to practice. While in New Albin, Field met Ellison Orr, a civil engineer with extensive experience in archaeological excavation and recording techniques, and they began going on outings to collect artifacts, while Orr taught Doc Field more about Iowa archaeology. In 1930, Field moved to Decorah, IA to start his own dentistry practice. However, he maintained contact with Orr and they continued their outings together for the next 20 years. Dr. Field also worked with Cliff Chase, Charles Keyes, a noted archaeologist for the state of Iowa, and Dale Henning, a Luther faculty member.

H.P. Field continued collecting and excavating at sites in Northeast Iowa until near the end of his life, when he became a tour guide at the Vesterheim and donated part of his collection to Luther College. The rest of his collection went to Effigy Mounds National Monument and the Office of the State Archaeologist. Field was also active in the creation of the Iowa Archaeology Society and Effigy Mounds National Monument.

Along with his colleagues, Field covered quite a large and varied area on his outings. He concentrated on Winneshiek and Allamakee Counties, but he also traded and purchased artifacts from numerous different areas further away. Field's favorite sites in northeast Iowa were the New Galena Mound Group, Flatiron Terrace, Sand Cove, O'Regan Bench, the Sacred Rock, and the Spike Hollow Rock Shelter.

The largest part of the H.P. Field collection at Luther is made up of ceramics and chipped stone tools. However, Field collected many different types of objects. The collection includes numerous shell objects, some of which were used as tools or decorations. There are also a fair number of ground stone tools, such as sandstone abraders, and bone implements, including an arrow shaft straightener. Field also collected historical and geological artifacts, which include ammunition, coins, rings, and numerous agates. Many of the geological artifacts are now housed by the Luther College Geology Department.

Field collected two types of pottery, Woodland and Oneota. Woodland pottery is the older of the two and is characterized by thick walls tempered with grit and the use of cords and fabric to make patterns for decoration. Typical designs found on Woodland pottery are chevrons and horizontal bands of lines with a band of punctuate marks near the rim of the vessel. The rims are usually decorated with more chevrons or herringbone patterns. The decorations tend to be fairly simple in the Early and Middle Woodland phases and get more sophisticated and complex in the Late Woodland period with more use of cords and fabrics. The H.P. Field collection contains mostly Late Woodland pottery from the period between AD 750-1000.

Oneota pottery style is distinguished by thin, shell tempered walls and decorations made without the use of cords or fabrics. The vessels are globular in shape with opposing 'strap' handles. The decorations are contained within the lip, rim, shoulder, and handle areas and consist of trailed lines, chevrons, and punctate fringing or filler. Some of the pots, known as 'pumpkin pots', have broad vertical trailing lines starting at the shoulder and extending down, making the pot resemble a squash or pumpkin. The Oneota tradition in Iowa is generally dated between AD1250 -1700.

Field did his collecting all over the Northeast Iowa area, but it was concentrated in the area of Bear Creek and the Upper Iowa River Valley. He would usually go out for the day with his colleagues and spend the whole day collecting artifacts. The route they took varied based on road conditions and weather, but generally followed Bear Creek or the Upper Iowa River, west from Decorah, with stops in Waukon and New Albin and then back to Decorah. This circle was known to Field and his friends as the "Indian Circle" and it included most of Dr. Field's favorite sites. The pottery in the collection comes from many of these sites, with the majority of them being in Allamakee county.

The H.P. Field Collection contains numerous pieces of pottery known as potsherds. They may come from the body of the pot or from the rim. Sometimes there is a handle attached, but a pot is almost never found completely intact. It is even less likely to find a whole pot if they are just searching the surface. Dr. Field did find a few intact pots, usually fairly small or associated with burials. Most of the time, however, Field was finding the pot after it had been broken into pieces. When Dr. Field suspected he had found sherds from the same vessel, he would attempt to reconstruct the pot.

H.P. Field used many materials to put vessels together when he was reconstructing them. They range from heavy coats of plaster on the inside, to wax and wood glue. Dr. Field didn't have access to modern materials so he used whatever he could find. In modern reconstructions, one material used to reconstruct pots is called acryloid, a mix of acrylic resin and acetone. Field came up with some fairly good reconstructions but couldn't always finish the reconstruction and would end up with something like the vessel shown below.

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