Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley

Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (full title "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Comprising the Results of Extensive Original Surveys and Explorations") by Americans Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis is a landmark in American scientific research, the study of the prehistoric Mound builders of North America, and the early development of Archaeology as a scientific discipline. Published in 1848, it was the first volume of the Smithsonian Institution's "Contributions to Knowledge" series and the Institution's first publication. The book had 306 pages, 48 lithographed maps and plates, and 207 wood engravings.

Davis and Squier

Edwin Davis was born in 1811 in Hillsboro, Ohio, just a few miles from Chillicothe and the many mounds and earthworks of the Scioto River valley. His proximity to these features led to a deep curiosity for them, but at the time, archaeology was not yet a viable career option. He explored the mounds while a student at Kenyon College and wrote a paper on the subject that he read at his commencement. Daniel Webster, an early member of the American Antiquarian Society, heard the paper and encouraged Davis to continue his research. After graduating from medical college and establishing a practice in Chillicothe, Davis used his free time to continue his explorations and began a collection of artifacts he discovered in and around the mounds.

Ephraim Squier, ten years younger than Davis, was born in Bethlehem, New York in 1821. By the time he landed in Chillicothe in 1845 as the editor of the weekly "Scioto Gazette" newspaper, he had received training to various extents in civil engineering, education and journalism. Squier was also intrigued by the numerous prehistoric monuments in the surrounding area, but his inquiries to the local residents about them failed to provide any insight. With his characteristic ambition, he decided to "take the compass and chain in one hand and the mattock and spade in the other" and begin his own research.

When the two encountered one another, Davis' knowledge of the Scioto Valley sites and growing collection of artifacts combined with Squier's knowledge of surveying and writing to form a natural collaboration, and their joint personal interests soon became a formal project.

Project scope

"Ancient Monuments" provides descriptions of sites across much of the Eastern United States, as the title indicates, but the hundreds of earthworks Squier and Davis personally surveyed and sketched were located primarily in and around Ross County in southern Ohio. This area includes Serpent Mound, Fort Ancient, Mound City (now part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park), Seip Mound and the Newark Earthworks. All of their Kentucky sites were taken from the manuscripts of the deceased C. S. Rafinesque. Additional first-hand reports were contributed by James McBride, John Locke and Charles Whittlesey, among others, but the scope of Squier and Davis' own hands-on work was unprecedented.

A major part of Squier and Davis' achievement was the classification of sites according to their apparent function (burial grounds, effigies, fortifications, building foundations) though they often proved unable to see beyond their preconceived views of the cultures they described. Also, their observation skills often exceeded the quality of the recordings they made regarding excavation methods and recovery techniques. Unfortunately, for many features that were destroyed within the following several decades by farming and expanding development, their drawings, excavation cross-sections and site layouts now provide the only record. A few sites, however, particularly Mound City, have been preserved and restored with the help of their data.

Contributions to knowledge

"Ancient Monuments" was edited by physicist Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, who was looking for a worthy initial volume for the Institution's "Contributions to Knowledge" series. Henry knew that much would be riding on the first book's reception for both the Smithsonian and for American science. Choosing a book devoted to the mound builders, whose origin, history and identity were then the subject of much debate and literature but little scientific investigation, involved more than a little risk; the subject touched on issues of race, religion, and the still raw tensions between Native Americans and European-born settlers. In this climate, knowing that both Anthropology and Archaeology were relatively new fields of study, Henry sought to minimize Squier and Davis' speculation about the origins and purpose of the works they had surveyed and sketched, and to emphasize the scientific presentation of their findings. Nevertheless, the work clearly communicates the view -- commonly held at the time -- that the earthworks they surveyed had been created by a separate and superior race from the Native American populations that remained. When the book was issued, Squier and Davis' work immediately became a milestone in a still developing field and a primary source on the subject of the mound builders, a position it retains to the present day.

Re-issue

A 150th anniversary paperback edition of "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" was published by the Smithsonian in 1998. The extensive introduction was written by David J. Meltzer, professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University.

References

* Ephraim G. Squier, Edwin H. Davis, David J. Meltzer (Editor). (Paperback Re-issue, 1998). "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (Classics in Smithsonian Anthropology)". Smithsonian Books. ISBN 1-56098-898-3
* Bruce G. Trigger (1990). "A History of Archaeological Thought". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33818-2
* Charles Boewe (2004). "C.S. Rafinesque and Ohio Valley Archaeology". Center for Ancient American Studies. ISSN 1531-2097
* "A Brief History of the Hopewell Culture." [http://www.nps.gov/hocu/adhi/adhi1.htm Hopewell Culture NHP: Administrative History] .