Ancient History PDF EPUB

Ancient America, in Notes on American Archaeology

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First published: 1872
Pages: 280

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About this book

Writing in 1871, when American archaeology barely existed as a discipline, Baldwin gathered what was then known about the continent's ancient remains and set it out for general readers. He opens with the earthworks of the Mississippi Valley: the mounds, enclosures, and old copper workings of the people he called the Mound-Builders. From there he moves south to Palenque and Chichen-Itza, the Aztec cities, and the stone architecture of ancient Peru, closing with appendices on the Norse voyages and the legend of Welsh settlers. Baldwin insisted these works were American in origin, dismissing the Atlantis, Phoenician, and Lost Tribes theories of his day. Yet he also held that the Mound-Builders were a separate race that migrated up from Mexico, unrelated to the Indians living around them. Later evidence overturned that second claim.

About the author

John D. Baldwin

John Denison Baldwin (1809–1883) was a Congregationalist minister, antislavery newspaper editor, and Massachusetts congressman who wrote on ancient civilizations outside his working hours. He took a theology degree at Yale Divinity School in 1834, owned and edited the Worcester Spy from 1859 until his death, and served three terms in the U.S.

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