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Ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley by E.G. Squier & E.H. Davis: the first classic of US archaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Paul D. Welch
Paul D. Welch*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Queens College, 65–30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing NY 11367, USA, Paul_Welch@qc.edu
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Extract

The two most important 19th-century books on archaeology in the United States both dealt with earthworks. The earlier of these two, Ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley by Ephraim G. Squier & Edwin H. Davis, was the first volume published by the fledgling Smithsonian Institution, and is 150 years old this year. It presented, with lavish illustrations, information about hundreds of earthworks. Its principal argument was that the mounds had been built by an American race distinct from the historically known indigenes, no less and perhaps considerably more than 1000 years ago. This volume in no small measure catalysed the development of archaeology in the United States. Without Squier & Davis’ extensive documentation of the vast number, size, complexity and variety of earthworks, the later book might never have been commissioned or might have been conceived in far less ambitious terms.

Keywords

earthworksMoundbuildersOhiohistorySquier & Davis1848
Type
Special section: A celebration of 1848
Information
Antiquity , Volume 72 , Issue 278 , December 1998 , pp. 921 - 927
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1998

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