In the Footsteps of'Jesse"Waifenfismkes EaRLy ARcbaeoLogy at R u s t i c o IslancX ^1 Hotel in South Rustico. As he waited, nity to resume his fieldwork in the By Michael A. O'Grady Fewkes surveyed the golden, late sum- Southwest. As a final contribution to mer landscape, perhaps reflecting on the Hemenway Expedition, Fewkes Amid the blasts of a shrill whistle, cater- the vicissitudes of the past year. had installed an exhibit of the collect- wauling steel wheels, and complaints He had been twice decorated by ed materials in the Peabody Museum whispered in steam, the afternoon train European royalty for his part in of Archaeology and Ethnology at slowly pulls out of Hunter River Station. Madrid's 1893 Historical Exposition, Harvard University. He had then Left standing in the exaggerated stillness and, as director of the Hemenway decided to take a short vacation, far that follows the departure are two gen- Archaeological Expedition, he had from the scorching sun of the Arizona tlemen and three ladies; their trunks, made a significant contribution to the desert and the intense academic cli- stacked beside them on the platform, archaeology and ethnology of the mate of Cambridge, Massachusetts. mark them as visitors - from the Southwestern United States. But in When he arrived on Prince Edward "Boston States," no doubt. The station more recent months there had been Island, Jesse Walter Fewkes likely had agent's keen gaze settles on one of the the death of the expedition's benefac- no thoughts of conducting an archaeo- party: a man of above average height, tress, Mary Hemenway, Fewkes' close logical excavation; yet, he would leave solidly built, with intelligent blue eyes, a friend and his neighbour in Boston's with the distinction of being the first graying, neatly trimmed beard, and a fashionable Beacon Hill area. Her professional archaeologist to work here. ruddy complexion that suggests years of passing had interrupted Fewkes' pio- His excavation, although a modest outdoor labour. But the man's bearing, neering research on the American effort, was to have a lasting impact on almost regal, and his clothes, obviously frontier, where he had spent much of later archaeological research on the from Boston's finest tailors, seem to con- the preceding five years recording the Island. Considering Fewkes' stature, it tradict this last deduction. Surely this is ceremonies and collecting the material was an auspicious beginning to profes- a man who earns his living through remains of the desert-dwelling Pueblo sional archaeology in the province. But intellectual toils, not from the sweat of Indians. The expedition had ended in that beginning is best understood within his brow. scandal; its first director, the eccentric the context of the development and his- Frank Hamilton Cushing, had been tory of archaeology in North America. accused of fabricating artifacts. The The Learned Tourist proud Fewkes had suffered the ignominy of having his own research Archaeologists and t was 22 August 1894. Jesse Walter tainted by the controversy. Antiquarians IFewkes, the renowned Harvard- Coinciding with these unpleasant educated archaeologist, his wife, and events, Fewkes had been offered a By the 1890s, the study of archaeology their three travelling companions were position with the Smithsonian had developed beyond the speculation watching for the coach that would take Institution's Bureau of American and conjecture that had long charac- them the eight miles to the Seaside Ethnology, allowing him the opportu- terized debates on antiquities and 10 M The shell midden at Rustico Island, by Patrick O'Grady. Indians. Since at least the mid-19th century, serious attempts had been made to describe and classify archaeo- logical materials, rather than just to collect them as curiosities. The development of a scientific approach to archaeology coincided with the discipline's professionaliza- tion: sponsored expeditions led by trained archaeologists replaced the generally non-systematic, avocational A 19th-century shell midden excavation, from a wood-engraving published in researches of the earlier period. The American Naturalist (1868). The term "midden" derives from the Danish kjoekken- Smithsonian Institution and Harvard moedding or "kitchen-midden." University's Peabody Museum, both founded in the mid-19th century, were In the Maritime Provinces, particu- Canada, where there were no dramatic at the forefront of that development in larly Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, earthen pyramids, it was a different the United States. meaningful archaeological investiga- kind of mound - made of shell - that Canada lacked similar institutions, tions were being directed by local soci- captured the research interests of the and without such a propelling force, the eties comprised of professional gentle- archaeological pioneers. growth of archaeology in this country men with an interest in science. Shell mounds, or "middens," are lagged behind developments in the Members of the Nova Scotia Institute archaeological sites containing the United States. There was, nevertheless, of Science and the Natural History remains of shellfish and other food significant activity at the antiquarian Society of New Brunswick conducted deposited by prehistoric peoples. In level in Canada during the last half of excavations, held meetings and lec- addition to this faunal material, mid- the 19th century. Daniel Wilson, a tures, and published the results of dens may include artifacts and debris respected scholar and administrator at their research in societal newsletters associated with human activity. The the University of Toronto, and John and scientific journals. The two soci- archaeological investigation of these William Dawson, a geologist and princi- eties reached their peak before the sites can provide valuable clues about pal of McGill University, both published turn of the century; by the First World prehistoric lifeways, particularly diets. books and articles on archaeology dur- War they had ceased to function. In terms of the development of ing this period. David Boyle, appointed In Prince Edward Island, the begin- archaeology, 19th-century shell midden archaeological curator of the Ontario nings of archaeological research have studies were especially important Provincial Museum in the 1880s, holds yet to be explored fully. Ongoing study because they acknowledged early on the distinction of being Canada's first of the topic suggests, however, that the connection between stratigraphy "professional" archaeologist. the early history of archaeology here (the superimposed layers of matter in is similar to that of the rest of the an archaeological site) and cultural Maritimes. Like its sister provinces, change. Expressed another way, the the Island had a Natural History archaeological material recovered from Society, founded in 1889, which includ- the lower levels of a midden was recog- ed archaeology among its subjects of nized as being from earlier cultures, inquiry. A decade later, the group compared to that found in the upper would actually change its name to the levels. It would not be until the 20th Natural History and Antiquarian century that the so-called "stratigraphic Society as a way to reflect its interest method" was widely adopted for the in the province's prehistory. The development of relative chronologies in Society appears to have fallen dormant American archaeology. by 1894, but two of its members, John The scientific study of shell middens, Hunter Duvar and John Newson, by geologists and natural historians, earned mention in the published began in North America as early as the report of Fewkes' excavation. 1760s and 1770s. Even at this early date, the enigmatic heaps of shell were being correctly identified as manmade - as Shell Midden Archaeology opposed to natural deposits, although their exact origin would continue to be A major concern of the first archaeolo- debated for another 100 years. gists in eastern North America was the In the 1860s, undoubtedly influ- A Smithsonian Institution file photo of origin of the impressive manmade enced by similar research being done Dr. Fewkes, taken in 1918, when he mounds and earthworks of the Ohio in Europe, professional archaeologists became Chief of the Bureau of and Mississippi Valleys. In the north- and educated amateurs began system- American Ethnology. eastern United States and eastern atic investigations of Atlantic coast 11 Fewkes excavated a shell midden on the south shore of Robinson's Island (marked with cross). Part of the Prince Edward Island National Park since 1937, the Island was joined to the mainland by a causeway in the 1950s. of New Brunswick was involved in similar investigations in that province in 1870. The same year, Spencer F. Baird, a zoologist and, later, secretary at the Smithsonian Institution, ana- lyzed shell mounds in southern New Brunswick. There are no published reports of organized shell midden studies on Prince Edward Island prior to Fewkes' visit. Nevertheless, mem- bers of the local Natural History Society were certainly aware of the existence of such deposits in the province. At a meeting of the Society in 1889, John Hunter Duvar related that he had corresponded on that very topic with Professor William F. Ganong, an instructor in botany at shell middens. The Smithsonian Fewkes must also have learned of Harvard University who had done Institution and, to a greater extent, shell midden investigations through some archaeology in his native New Harvard's Peabody Museum were the numerous