Gustaf Nordenskiöld

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Gustaf Nordenskiöld (29 June 1868 - June 6, 1895), Swedish scholar of Finnish descent, a member of the Nordenskiöld family of scientists and the eldest son of polar explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld and Anna Maria Mannerheim. He was the first to study the ancient Pueblo ruins in Mesa Verde.

The Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde, photo by Gustaf Nordenskiöld, 1891
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The Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde, photo by Gustaf Nordenskiöld, 1891

Contents

[edit] Life

Nordenskjöld completed school at Beskowska skolan in Stockholm, studied at Uppsala University and the new University of Stockholm, graduating with a B.A. from Uppsala in 1889. The next year (1890) he traveled to Svalbard together with J. A. Björling and A. Klinckowström, bringing a collection of plant fossils back to the Swedish Museum of Natural History. After his return, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and went to Berlin for treatment.

The following year was spent on a long trip around the world, with the longest time spent exploring the American desert as a cure for his tuberculosis. [1] Cattle ranchers Richard Wetherill and Charles Mason discovered the Mesa Verde ruins in 1888 and began hosting visiting scientists. Nordenskiöld was one of the first to visit, and in 1891, the Wetherill's led Nordenskiöld through the canyons and sandstone cliffs of the Mesa Verde ruins where he applied his European scientific training, conducting the first archaeological excavation of the cliff dwellings. [2] Nordenskjöld employed Wetherill to supervise excavations at Mesa Verde and trained Wetherill in a number of techniques, such as how to use a trowel (he had been using a shovel) explaining to Wetherill the importance of documentation.[3]

In the late 19th century, there were no laws against treasure hunting or selling artifacts in Colorado, [4] and in addition to the ever-present threat of vandalism and looting, scholars and tourists alike had the habit of taking valuable items from Mesa Verde as trophies.[5] In this climate, Nordenskjöld loaded Mesa Verde artifacts into Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad boxcars in Durango, Colorado [5] headed for Europe, with most of the items eventually ending up at the National Museum of Finland. [6]

Nordenskjöld biographer Judith Reynolds described the ensuing situation as an "international incident." [7] Angry locals charged Nordenskjöld with "devastating the ruins" and had him arrested at midnight at the Strater Hotel, even though there were no laws at the time supporting such a charge.[6] [8]

In the end, Nordenskjöld took more than 150 photographs of Mesa Verde, logged multiple sites, published a popular travel book from the American West in 1892, and in 1893 published one of the first books about Mesa Verde, The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado: Their Pottery and Implements, a monumental report of his excavations, describing in detail the buildings, pottery, skeletal remains, and tools found at the sites. [4] [1]

After his return from America, Nordenskjöld occupied himself with mineralogical studies, but his health started to deteriorate again in 1894 and he died on June 6, 1895, aboard a train traveling to Jämtland, only 27 years old.

[edit] Archives and collections

Nordenskjöld's collections from Mesa Verde were bought by a Finnish collector who eventually donated them to the University of Helsinki. They are now held by the National Museum of Finland and on display at the Museum of Cultures in the Tennispalatsi building in central Helsinki. [1] [2] The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences contains an archive of photographs, notes, correspondence and newspaper clippings. The Riksarkivet includes letters to his father from Washington, Philadelphia, Charleston, Mammoth Cave, Durango, Navajo Canyon, and other locations. [9]

[edit] Publications

  • The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado: Their Pottery and Implements. Translated by D. L. Morgan. Reprinted 1979. Rio Grande Press, Glorieta, New Mexico. Originally published in 1893 as Ruiner af Klippboningar I Mesa Verde's Cañons. Stockholm: P. A. Norstedt & Söners.

[edit] References

  • Reynolds, Judith, Reynolds, David. Nordenskiold of Mesa Verde Xlibris Corporation, April 2006. ISBN 1425704840, paperback.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Bear, David. (Sept 6, 2001). "Blackened Mesa Verde is Reborn to the Hardy Curious". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p8.
  2. ^ Wilcox, David R. Fowler, Don D. (Summer 2002). "The beginnings of anthropological archaeology in the North American Southwest: from Thomas Jefferson to the Pecos Conference." Journal of the Southwest 44.2 : p121(114).
  3. ^ Roberts, David. (Dec 1993). "'Reverse archaeologists' are tracing the footsteps of a cowboy-explorer." Smithsonian. v24.n9 : pp28(10).
  4. ^ a b Chalmers, Robin. (Sept 1999). "A Historic Rediscovery." Cobblestone. 20.6. p.20.
  5. ^ a b Noel, Tom. (Jan 1, 2005). "Two Women Ensured a Future for Our Past". Rocky Mountain News. p2D.
  6. ^ a b Draper, Electra. (June 26, 2006). "Mesa Verde artifacts ended up in Sweden." The Denver Post. pB-05.
  7. ^ Draper, Electraw. (Dec 9, 2005). "Mesa Verde sites glow for park's birthday bash." The Denver Post. pA-01.
  8. ^ In addition to the issue of removing artifacts, xenophobia may have had a role to play in Nordenskjöld's arrest. In the Dec. 9, 2005 Denver Post article, Draper writes: "...residents of Durango were beginning to think foreigners shouldn't be removing local artifacts."
  9. ^ Lindberg, Christer. (Spring 1993). "Sweden." The American Indian Quarterly 17.n2 : 251(5).
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