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Language:English
Date:1835; 1837
Subject:Grave robbing | Human remains | Phrenology | Mounds | Anthropometry
Type:Text
Genre:Correspondence
Extent:3 items
Description: Letters discussing grave robbing of Indigenous ancestors' remains. Letter from John Warren Collins including a list of American Indian skulls in his collection: Chinook, Mound Builder, and Algonquian. Has cast of Guanche skull from Canary Islands. Two letters from John Kirk Townsend on September 20, 1835 concern Chinook and Klickitat ancestors' remains he is sending to Morton from Philadelphia, including disturbing descriptions of grave-robbing and the destruction of sacred sites in the midst of epidemic disease.
Collection:Samuel George Morton Papers (Mss.B.M843)
Culture:
Language:English
Date:1829-1839
Contributor:Hildreth, Samuel P. (Samuel Prescott), 1783-1863 | Troost, Gerard, 1776-1850 | Drake, Daniel, 1785-1852 | Silliman, Benjamin, 1779-1864 | Sullivant, Joseph, 1809-1882 | Tappan, Benjamin, 1773-1857 | Clemens, James W. | Wood, William | Powell, W. Byrd (William Byrd), 1799-1866 | Peirson, A. L. (Abel Lawrence), 1794-1853
Subject:Grave robbing | Human remains | Phrenology | Skulls | Anthropometry | Funeral rites and ceremonies | Antiquities | Mounds | Archaeology
Type:Text
Genre:Correspondence | Lectures
Extent:21 items
Description: Letters mostly discussing grave robbing of Indigenous ancestors' remains and Morton's phrenological work. Topics include human and animal crania and skeletons that correspondents have and/or have sent to Morton; phrenological anaylsis of Indigenous ancestors' remains, attributing traits to various peoples based on skull formation; Native American burial sites and mortuary customs; excavation of Native mounds and descriptions of the objects and human remains found inside; discovery of mastadon skeletons; and speculation about Native American origins. Several letters relate to Ohio, Illinois, and the Upper Mississippi Valley. Peru and Mexico also mentioned.
Collection:Samuel George Morton Papers (Mss.B.M843)