Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley

Last updated July 19, 2023

Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (full title Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Comprising the Results of Extensive Original Surveys and Explorations) (1848) by the Americans Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis is a landmark in American scientific research, the study of the prehistoric indigenous mound builders of North America, and the early development of archaeology as a scientific discipline. Published in 1848, it was the Smithsonian Institution's first publication and the first volume in its Contributions to Knowledge series.^[1] The book had 306 pages, 48 lithographed maps and plates, and 207 wood engravings. The book was reissued in 1998 in paperback, with an introduction by David J. Meltzer, professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University.

Davis and Squier

Edwin Davis was born in 1811 in Hillsboro, Ohio, just a few miles from Chillicothe. As he grew up, he became familiar with the many mounds and earthworks of the Scioto River valley. Seeing these features as a young man inspired his deep curiosity about them. At the time, archaeology had not yet developed as an academic discipline. Davis explored the mounds while a student at Kenyon College and wrote a paper on the subject which 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. He collected artifacts he discovered in and around the mounds.

Ephraim Squier, ten years younger than Davis, was born in 1821 in Bethlehem, New York. By the time he arrived in Chillicothe in 1845 as the editor of the weekly Scioto Gazette newspaper, he had received training in civil engineering, education, and journalism. Squier was intrigued by the numerous prehistoric monuments in the surrounding area. His questioning of local residents about them failed to provide much insight. With his characteristic ambition, Squier decided to "take the compass and chain in one hand and the mattock and spade in the other" and begin his own research.^[2]

When the two men encountered one another, they began to collaborate based on Davis's knowledge of the Scioto Valley sites and growing collection of artifacts, combined with Squier's knowledge of surveying and writing. They combined their joint personal interests into a formal project for the Smithsonian Institution.

Project scope

Ancient Monuments provides descriptions of sites across much of the Eastern United States, as the title indicates. The hundreds of earthworks which Squier and Davis personally surveyed and sketched were located primarily in and around Ross County in southern Ohio. Ross County includes Mound City and Seip Earthworks (both now part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park). They also personally explored the nearby Serpent Mound, Fort Ancient, and Newark Earthworks.

The material for all their Kentucky sites was taken from the manuscripts of the late C. S. Rafinesque. James McBride, John Locke, and Charles Whittlesey, among others, contributed additional first-hand reports, but the scope of Squier and Davis's own work was unprecedented.^[1]

A major part of Squier and Davis's achievement was their classification of sites according to apparent function, such as burial grounds, effigies, fortifications, and building foundations. They sometimes were limited by their preconceptions about the cultures which they described. Their observation and descriptive skills often exceeded the quality of the records they made regarding excavation methods and recovery techniques related to artifacts.^[1]

Contributions to knowledge

Ancient Monuments was edited by the physicist Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, who wanted a worthy initial volume for the Institution's Contributions to Knowledge series. Henry knew that the first book's reception would be important for both the Smithsonian and American science. His choosing a book devoted to the mound builders was risky, as their origin, history and identity were the subject of much debate and literature, but little scientific investigation. In addition, the subject touched on issues of race, religion, and the still raw tensions between Native Americans and ethnic European settlers.

Knowing that both anthropology and archaeology were relatively new fields of study, Henry sought to minimize Squier and Davis's speculation about the origins and purposes of the works they had surveyed and sketched. He emphasized the scientific presentation of their findings. The work clearly communicates the view—commonly held at the time—that the earthworks had been created by a race separate from and superior to contemporary Native American populations. This was based on the assessment that the mounds demonstrated a complexity of design and construction that did not seem related to what the European Americans had seen in contemporary Native American cultures, especially as these had been disrupted by widespread epidemics and warfare.

When the book was published, Squier and Davis's work immediately became a milestone in a still-developing field. Established then as a primary source on the subject of the mound builders, it retains that position because of the breadth of its coverage.

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.

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A number of pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks which indigenous peoples erected for an extended period of more than 5,000 years. The "Mound Builder" cultures span the period of roughly 3500 BCE to the 16th century CE, including the Archaic period, Woodland period, and Mississippian period. Geographically, the cultures were present in the region of the Great Lakes, the Ohio River Valley, and the Mississippi River Valley and its tributary waters.

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is a United States national historical park with earthworks and burial mounds from the Hopewell culture, indigenous peoples who flourished from about 200 BC to AD 500. The park is composed of six separate sites in Ross County, Ohio, including the former Mound City Group National Monument. The park includes archaeological resources of the Hopewell culture. It is administered by the United States Department of the Interior's National Park Service.

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The Biggs site (15Gp8), also known as the Portsmouth Earthworks Group D, is an Adena culture archaeological site located near South Shore in Greenup County, Kentucky. Biggs was originally a concentric circular embankment and ditch surrounding a central conical burial mound with a causeway crossing the ring and ditch. It was part of a larger complex, the Portsmouth Earthworks located across the Ohio River, now mostly obliterated by agriculture and the developing city of Portsmouth, Ohio.

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The Dunlap Works are a group of Hopewell tradition earthworks located in Ross County, Ohio in the United States. It is located approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the city of Chillicothe, Ohio on the left bank of the Scioto River. The site should not be confused with the earthworks in Hamilton County on the Great Miami River near Dunlap's Station, the former site of a pioneer fort.

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The Shriver Circle Earthworks are an Ohio Hopewell culture archaeological site located in Chillicothe in Ross County, Ohio. At 1,200 feet (370 m) in diameter the site is one of the largest Hopewell circular enclosures in the state of Ohio.

References

Ephraim G. Squier, Edwin H. Davis, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (Classics in Smithsonian Anthropology). David J. Meltzer (Editor). (Paperback re-issue, 1998). 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. Hopewell Culture NHP: Administrative History.

Notes

1 2 3 "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley". World Digital Library . 1848. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
↑ Squier, Davis, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Meltzer, Introduction, p.6., Smithsonian Institution, 1998

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[WDL-1] 1 2 3 "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley". World Digital Library . 1848. Retrieved 2013-07-29.

[2] Squier, Davis, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Meltzer, Introduction, p.6., Smithsonian Institution, 1998

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