Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley – The Expanded Edition

Written by:

Ephraim G. Squier, Edwin H. Davis, and Jeffrey Wilson

“I selected this image for the cover because it is emblematic of the type of unpublished archival material that makes up much of the ‘expanded edition’ material…“

Paperback

Volume 1 of 2

George Ephraim Squier (1821-1888) created the previously-unpublished illustration which graces the cover of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley – The Expanded Edition Volume One B&W Paperback edition. This is a draft survey map in ink over pencil titled “Junction Group, Ross County, Ohio” which is part of the E. G. Squier Papers collection at the Library of Congress. I selected this image for the cover because it is emblematic of the type of unpublished archival material that makes up much of the ‘expanded edition’ material which reveals additional unseen details from draft site survey maps that became lost through the artistic process of creating the lithographs and wood engravings for publication.

This Junction Group earthworks illustration by Squier is nearly replicated by the lithographers Napoleon Sarony & Henry Major, but they didn’t include the cross-section illustration of the large mound at the site at the bottom center, as well as some of the measurement information. Publishing these original draft maps by the original surveyors (and one not just by Squier and Davis) alongside the original published material enriches our understanding of these sites. Also included in this edition are previously unpublished illustrations of the Junction Group from Squier’s original field notebook showing more measurements and cross section information.

The Junction Group earthworks received its name from its location at the junction of the two main forks of Paint Creek and is located on the southwest edge of Chillicothe, Ohio. This site was preserved through the efforts of a consortium of non-profit organizations in 2014, including the Friends of Serpent Mound which was the first organization to begin raising money to preserve the site. The site is now preserved and maintained by the Arc of Appalachia as the Junction and (nearby) Steel Earthworks Archaeological and Nature Preserve.

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Table of Contents Vol. 1 of 2

Volume One:
List of Supplementary Pages Figures Vol. One
Acknowledgements
*Introduction: The Making of the Expanded Edition of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Jeffrey Wilson*
	Introduction Figure 1. Example of 1971 photography of the Papers of Ephraim Squier collection by the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.
	Introduction Figure 2. Squier and Davis’s community of Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, 1846, illustrated by Henry Howe for his Historical Collections of Ohio
	Introduction Figure 3. “United States,” 1842 edition of New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the Various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics of the World by Henry S. Tanner
	Introduction Figure 4. “The Storming of Chapultepec, Sept. 13th, 1847” chromolithograph with applied watercolor by Sarony & Major, printed by Nathaniel Currier (1848)
	Introduction Figure 5. “[The] Great Mound [near Miamisburg],” 1846, illustrated by Henry Howe for his Historical Collections of Ohio
	Introduction Figure 6. Illustrations of the Grave Creek Tablet [above left] and Stone Axe, With Sculptured Characters – Found in New Jersey, U. S. by artist James Plunket for Dr. Edwin Hamilton Davis
	Introduction Figure 7. Illustrations of the Grave Creek Tablet [bottom left] and Stone Axe, With Sculptured Characters – Found in New Jersey, U. S. by artist James Plunket for Dr. Edwin Hamilton Davis
	Introduction: Short Biographies of the Major Contributors to Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley plus Introduction Figures 8-43 Biographical Photos
	Introduction Bibliography
*Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis – Chapters I and II
with Supplementary Pages by Jeffrey Wilson

Front Matter Pages iii-xxv

Front Matter Page xxvi

Introduction Page 1

Introduction Page 3

Introduction Page 13

Introduction Page 16

Introduction Page 18

Introduction Page 25

Introduction Page 34

Introduction Page 37

Introduction Pages 46-63

Introduction Pages 64-73

Follows Page 73 – AMotMV Page 81

Supplementary Pages 1-379

“This map that Caleb Atwater sent to the American Antiquarian Society is either Holmes’s original survey, or a copy of it.”

Paperback

Volume 2 of 2

Edwin Hamilton Davis (1811-1888) commissioned the artist James Plunket to paint the illustration which graces the cover of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley – The Expanded Edition Volume Two B&W Paperback edition. This watercolor painting titled “Pottery Found in the Mounds of Ohio in the Cabinet of E. H. Davis, M.D.” is part of E. H. Davis’s unpublished manuscript Sketches of Monuments and Antiques; Found in the Mounds, Tombs and Ancient Cities of America (1858) now conserved at the National Anthropological Archives.

Two of the illustrated pottery vessels in the above image were pictured on the lithographic Plate XLVI. in Ancient Monuments– the vessel in the lower left is pictured in the center of Plate XLVI. as “1.” and the vessel pictured above in the upper right is in the upper left of Plate XLVI. as “2.” Squier’s information about the two vessels is purely descriptive and contains no information as to the origins of these vessels other than to say that they were from Ohio. Davis in his caption above states that they were found in mounds in Ohio. The other two vessels in the illustration are not pictured in Ancient Monuments.

The bulk of the prehistoric artifacts excavated by Davis (with Squier) were eventually sold by Davis to William Blackmore in January 1864, who moved the collection to his home in Salisbury, Wiltshire County, England, and eventually built the Blackmore Museum there largely to house this collection. The Blackmore Museum later became the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, and in 1931 they sold the collection to the British Museum where they are conserved today.

The vessel in the lower right corner, according to catalog information at the British Museum, and a visual inspection of their photograph of it describes it as “…made from previously broken sherds.” (Vessel; pot (Am,S.517)) It is likely that Davis repaired it after finding many of the fragments during an excavation. There are whole sections of it that were missing, but new pieces were added to it to fill it in during its reconstruction. The upper two vessels that include the bird motif design interestingly are now combined into a single pottery vessel in the British Museum collection (Vessel (Am,S.513)). This is likely a decision that Davis made, and he probably undertook a ‘restoration’ of it himself. It would be difficult to believe that a later museum conservator would have pieced them together.

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Table of Contents Vol. 2 of 2

Contents of Vol. Two
List of Supplementary Pages Figures Vol. Two *Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis – Chapters III-V with Supplementary Pages by Jeffrey Wilson Supplementary Pages Bibliography

*Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis – Chapters III-V
with Supplementary Pages by Jeffrey Wilson
	*Concluding Observations and Postscript: The Expanded Edition of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Jeffrey Wilson*
		Concluding Observations and Postscript Figure 1. Map of Central America Showing its Political Divisions and Inter-Oceanic Communications Projected and its Progress, 1871 from Honduras; Descriptive, Historical, and Statistical (1870) by E. G. Squier
		Concluding Observations and Postscript Figure 2. Edwin H. Davis (and family) grave marker at Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe, Ohio.
		Concluding Observations and Postscript Bibliography
	*Appendix 1: Selections from The American Journal of Science and Arts, Second Series, Vol. II. No. V. November 1846*
		Article XXI. On the Discoidal Stones of the Indian Mounds by E. G. Squier
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 3 On the Mounds and Relics of the Ancient Nations of America by Benjamin Silliman
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 4 Pipestone of the Ancient Pipes in the Indian Mounds by E. G. Squier
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 5 Discoidal Stones by E. G. Squier
	*Appendix 2: Selections from The American Journal of Science and Arts, Second Series, Vol. III, No. VIII., May 1847.*
		Article XXVI. Observations on the uses of the Mounds of the West, with an attempt at their Classification by E. G. Squier, Chillicothe, Ohio
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 3 Footprints and Indian Sculpture by E. H. Davis, Chillicothe
	*Appendix 3: Observations on the Aboriginal Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by E. G. Squier**

Front Matter Pages i-ii
Front Matter Pages v-xiv
AMotMV Pages 85-306
Supplementary Pages 380-626
Supplementary Pages 627-659
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 1
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 7
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 16
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 18-28
	Appendix Pages 1-9
	Appendix Page 2
	Appendix Page 5
	Appendix Page 8
	Appendix Page 8
	Appendix Pages 10-25
	Appendix Page 11
	Appendix Page 23
	Appendix Pages 26-107

“…by 1848 when Squier and Davis published their account of these earthworks the site was owned by W. C. Clark, and they named it “Clark’s Works” in his honor.”

Hardcover

Volume 1 of 3

The previously unpublished illustration which graces the cover of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley – The Expanded Edition Volume One Deluxe Color Hardcover is a hand-colored survey map titled “Ancient Works, on the N. Fork of Paint Creek near Chillicothe, Ohio” and credited to Eleazer Porter Kendrick (1790-1885) by Caleb Atwater who sent it to the American Antiquarian Society in 1819. Atwater used it in his extended article “Description of the Antiquities discovered in the State of Ohio and other Western States” from Archæologia Americana (1820). At that time that this map was made there were two owners, Col. Ashley and Mr. Evans; by 1848 when Squier and Davis published their account of these earthworks the site was owned by W. C. Clark, and they named it “Clark’s Works” in his honor. This name lasted until the early 1890’s when archaeologist Warren K. Moorehead was hired by F. W. Putnam to excavate the site for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World’s Fair). At that time, the site was owned by former Confederate Army soldier Mordecai C. Hopewell, and Moorehead renamed the site “Hopewell’s” in his honor.

Archaeologists in the modern era have continued to use the “Hopewell” moniker, but could have easily named the people who originally built these earthworks the ‘Ashley and Evans Culture’ or the ‘Clark’s Culture’ as easily as we ended up with “Hopewell” as the name of the prehistoric people who built these earthworks.

This “Hopewell” name has stuck, and this site is now one unit of the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park maintained and operated by the National Park Service, and as of September 19, 2023, has now been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage sites list.

Several previously unpublished historical maps of the Hopewell Earthworks, as well as several previously unpublished maps of the fellow UNESCO World Heritage site of Fort Ancient are included in this Volume One hardcover edition.

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Table of Contents Vol. 1 of 3

Volume One:
List of Supplementary Pages Figures Vol. One – Vol. Three
Acknowledgements
*Introduction: The Making of the Expanded Edition of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Jeffrey Wilson*
	Introduction Figure 1. Example of 1971 photography of the Papers of Ephraim Squier collection by the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.
	Introduction Figure 2. Squier and Davis’s community of Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, 1846, illustrated by Henry Howe for his Historical Collections of Ohio
	Introduction Figure 3. “United States,” 1842 edition of New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the Various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics of the World by Henry S. Tanner
	Introduction Figure 4. “The Storming of Chapultepec, Sept. 13th, 1847” chromolithograph with applied watercolor by Sarony & Major, printed by Nathaniel Currier (1848)
	Introduction Figure 5. “[The] Great Mound [near Miamisburg],” 1846, illustrated by Henry Howe for his Historical Collections of Ohio
	Introduction Figure 6. Illustrations of the Grave Creek Tablet [above left] and Stone Axe, With Sculptured Characters – Found in New Jersey, U. S. by artist James Plunket for Dr. Edwin Hamilton Davis
	Introduction Figure 7. Illustrations of the Grave Creek Tablet [bottom left] and Stone Axe, With Sculptured Characters – Found in New Jersey, U. S. by artist James Plunket for Dr. Edwin Hamilton Davis
	Introduction: Short Biographies of the Major Contributors to Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley plus Introduction Figures 8-43 Biographical Photos
	Introduction Bibliography
*Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis – Chapters I and II
with Supplementary Pages by Jeffrey Wilson

Front Matter Pages iii-xxv

Front Matter Page xxvi

Introduction Page 1

Introduction Page 3

Introduction Page 13

Introduction Page 16

Introduction Page 18

Introduction Page 25

Introduction Page 34

Introduction Page 37

Introduction Pages 46-63

Introduction Pages 64-73

Follows Page 73 – AMotMV Page 46

Supplementary Pages 1-181

“This map that Caleb Atwater sent to the American Antiquarian Society is either Holmes’s original survey, or a copy of it.”

Hardcover

Volume 2 of 3

The previously-unpublished illustration which graces the cover of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley – The Expanded Edition Volume Two Deluxe Color Hardcover is a hand-colored survey map titled “Ancient Work near Newark in Licking County, Ohio” by Licking County surveyor Alexander Holmes (1778-1833) and included in a letter to the American Antiquarian Society by Caleb Atwater in 1819. This map was used as the source map by engraver William Woodruff for Plate 1 in Atwater’s extended article “Description of the Antiquities discovered in the State of Ohio and other Western States” from Archæologia Americana (1820). According to History of Licking County, Ohio. Its Past and Present. by author N. N. Hill, Jr., Holmes was the first to do a complete survey of Newark Earthworks (Hill, Jr., 1881). This map that Caleb Atwater sent to the American Antiquarian Society is either Holmes’s original survey, or a copy of it. No additional references have been found to any other surviving copies of Holmes’s survey of the Newark Earthworks.

Several surviving parts of the Newark Earthworks archaeological site (the Great Circle, the Octagon-Circle, and a portion of the Wright Square) are maintained and operated by the private Ohio History Connection corporation, and as of September 19, 2023, have now been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage sites list.

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Table of Contents Vol. 2 of 3

Volume Two:

Contents of Vol. Two
List of Supplementary Pages Figures Vol. Two
Acknowledgements
*Preface: Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley – The Expanded Edition* in the 21st Century**
*Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis – Chapters III-V
with Supplementary Pages by Jeffrey Wilson
Supplementary Pages Bibliography

Front Matter Pages i-ii

Front Matter Pages iii-xiii

Front Matter Page xvi

AMotMV Pages 47-138

Supplementary Pages 182-504

Supplementary Pages 627-659

“Davis’s unpublished manuscript was produced as a showcase of many near-photographic color illustrations by artist James Plunket of many of the artifacts in Davis’s collection, and many of these color illustrations are reproduced in this Volume Three.“

Hardcover

Volume 3 of 3

The color illustration for the cover of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley – The Expanded Edition Volume Three Deluxe Color Hardcover was chosen as a homage to the original cover illustration for Edwin Hamilton Davis’s unpublished manuscript titled “Sketches of Monuments and Antiques Found in the Mounds, Tombs, and Ancient Cities of America” (1858) [courtesy of the National Anthropological Archives]. It is a somewhat impressionistic view of the Mound City Group of earthworks located just north of Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, and is one of the sites where the original authors Squier and Davis did quite a bit of excavating work.

Davis’s unpublished manuscript was produced as a showcase of many near-photographic color illustrations by artist James Plunket of many of the artifacts in Davis’s collection, and many of these color illustrations are reproduced in this Volume Three. Davis sorted his collection by artifact type and usage, and he grouped them together to illustrate the variety of artistic endeavors by these prehistoric people as well as the variety of materials used in the production of lithic tools, pottery, smoking pipes, beadwork, as well as copper, bone, and shell artifacts.

The Mound City Group of earthworks was largely leveled to create Camp Sherman, a U. S. Army training base for soldiers in World War I. After the war, mainly through the efforts of Albert C. Spetnagel, the earthworks were designated as the Mound City Group National Monument in 1923. The earthworks have been reconstructed twice over, first by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society in 1925-1926, and then again by the National Park Service during the 1960’s-1970’s. Today, the earthworks are maintained and operated by the National Park Service as one unit of the Hopewell Culture National Park. One century after being designated as a United States National Monument, as of September 19, 2023, this site has now been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage sites list.

$249.99 Buy Now

Table of Contents Vol. 3 of 3

Contents of Vol. Three
List of Supplementary Pages Figures Vol. Three
Acknowledgements
*Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis – Chapters III-V
with Supplementary Pages by Jeffrey Wilson
	*Concluding Observations and Postscript: The Expanded Edition of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Jeffrey Wilson*
		Concluding Observations and Postscript Figure 1. Map of Central America Showing its Political Divisions and Inter-Oceanic Communications Projected and its Progress, 1871 from Honduras; Descriptive, Historical, and Statistical (1870) by E. G. Squier
		Concluding Observations and Postscript Figure 2. Edwin H. Davis (and family) grave marker at Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe, Ohio.
		Concluding Observations and Postscript Bibliography
	*Appendix 1: Selections from The American Journal of Science and Arts, Second Series, Vol. II. No. V. November 1846*
		Article XXI. On the Discoidal Stones of the Indian Mounds by E. G. Squier
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 3 On the Mounds and Relics of the Ancient Nations of America by Benjamin Silliman
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 4 Pipestone of the Ancient Pipes in the Indian Mounds by E. G. Squier
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 5 Discoidal Stones by E. G. Squier
	*Appendix 2: Selections from The American Journal of Science and Arts, Second Series, Vol. III, No. VIII., May 1847.*
		Article XXVI. Observations on the uses of the Mounds of the West, with an attempt at their Classification by E. G. Squier, Chillicothe, Ohio
		Miscellaneous Intelligence: No. 3 Footprints and Indian Sculpture by E. H. Davis, Chillicothe
	*Appendix 3: Observations on the Aboriginal Monuments of the Mississippi Valley* by E. G. Squier**

Front Matter Pages i-ii
Front Matter Pages iii-viii
Front Matter Page x
AMotMV Pages 47-138
Supplementary Pages 182-504
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 1
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 7
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 16
	Concluding Observations and Postscript Page 18-28
	Appendix Pages 1-9
	Appendix Page 2
	Appendix Page 5
	Appendix Page 8
	Appendix Page 8
	Appendix Pages 10-25
	Appendix Page 11
	Appendix Page 23
	Appendix Pages 26-107