Gustaf Nordenskiöld
Encyclopedia
Gustaf Nordenskiöld 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 scientifically the ancient Pueblo
ruins in Mesa Verde.
Nordenskiöld was featured on the Ken Burns PBS series The National Parks: America's Best Idea.
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.
This break in the intinerary of his world tour was permanent.
When Nordenskiöld arrived in Durango he made arrangements to stay with Cattle rancher Richard Wetherill
at the Alamo Ranch in Mancos, CO. This is confirmed in a 2 July 1893 letter to his father in which he requests his photographic equipment, consisting of camera, tripod, lens, cassette for photographic plates, shutter, dark cloth, and "as well as my barometer". (Letters Letter No. 15, The Letters of Gustaf Nordenskiöld Mesa Verde 1991.) He also says in the same letter that his father should answer by telegram whether he should remain where he is.
He worked with Wetherill, discoverer of the Mesa Verde ruins in 1888, and Charles Mason. 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. Nordenskiöld 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). Nordenskiöld explained to Wetherill the importance of documentation.
Arrest and exonera no laws against treasure-hunting or selling artifacts in Colorado; 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. In this climate, Nordenskiöld loaded Mesa Verde artifacts into Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
boxcars in Durango, Colorado
, and headed for Europe, with most of the items eventually ending up at the National Museum of Finland
.
Nordenskiöld biographers Judith Reynolds and David Reynolds describe the ensuing situation as an "international incident." Angry locals charged Nordenskiöld 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. In addition to the issue of removing artifacts, xenophobia
may have played a role in Nordenskiöld's arrest. In the December 9, 2005, Denver Post article, Electra Draper wrote: "...residents of Durango were beginning to think foreigners shouldn't be removing local artifacts." No intervention was taken against Americans who were also looting the sites.
When Nordenski was arrested on 17 September 1891 he sent this telegram to his father: "much trouble some expense no danger" (original omits capitalization). Letters Letter No. 31, The Letters of Gustaf Nordenskiöld Mesa Verde 1991.
In the end, Nordenskiöld took more than 150 photographs of Mesa Verde, and logged multiple sites.
In the preface to his 1892 book "From the American West Memories of America" Nordenskiöld states "The free roaming nomadic life, which this research forced me into, appealed greatly to my spirit and created a desire for excursions farther into the deserts of the American West. I decided to go roaming on horseback with two companions through the northern part of Arizona." He made this trip, actually through Indian country in Colorado, Utah and Arizona, which went as far as the Grand Canyon. Originally published in a Stockholm Newspaper and later as a book, "From the Far West Memories from America". (Kungl. Boktryckeriet P.A. Norstedt & Soner Stockholm, 1892. In English, The Mesa Verde Museum Association, Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330)
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.
A full rendering of Gustaf Nordenskiöld's book in the 1893 version (see pg. v) is here http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000029476458. (Courtesy of the Hilthi Trust Digital Library, University of Michigan Library.)
After his return from America, Nordenskiöld occupied himself with mineralogical studies, but his health started to deteriorate again in 1894. He died on June 6, 1895, aboard a train traveling to Jämtland
, only 27 years old.
Archives and collections
Nordenskiöld's collections from Mesa Verde were 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, as part of the collection called "Fetched from Afar" (Kaukaa Haettua). 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 (in Kentucky), Durango, Navajo Canyon, and other locations.
The Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/index.shtml
Publications
Further reading
Publisher(s): American Geographical Society
Author(s): W. R. Birdsall
Source: Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York, Vol. 23, (1891), pp. 584–620
Publisher(s): American Geographical Society
Reviewed Authors(s): G. Nordenskiold
Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 23, (1894), pp. 434–435
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
scholar of Finnish
Finland-Swedish
Finland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their mother tongue...
descent, a member of the Nordenskiöld
Nordenskiöld (surname)
Nordenskiöld or Nordenskjöld can refer to a number of Finland-Swedish or Swedish people :* August Nordenskiöld, alchemist* Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld, mineralogist and traveller...
family of scientists and the eldest son of polar explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
Freiherr Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld , also known as A. E. Nordenskioeld was a Finnish baron, geologist, mineralogist and arctic explorer of Finnish-Swedish origin. He was a member of the prominent Finland-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists...
and Anna Maria Mannerheim. He was the first to study scientifically the ancient Pueblo
Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...
ruins in Mesa Verde.
Life
Nordenskiöld completed school at Beskowska skolan in Stockholm and studied at Uppsala UniversityUppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
and the new University of Stockholm, graduating with a B.A. from Uppsala in 1889. The next year (1890) he traveled to Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
together with J. A. Björling and A. Klinckowström, bringing a collection of plant fossils back to the Swedish Museum of Natural History
Swedish Museum of Natural History
The Swedish Museum of Natural History , in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg....
. After his return, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and went to Berlin for treatment.
Nordenskiöld in America
Norden segment of a world tour when he landed in New York on 27 May 1891 aboard the SS Waesland of the Red Star Line .Letters Letter No. 2, The Letters of Gustaf Nordenskiöld Mesa Verde 1991). In Letter No. 9 from Charleston, NC he tells his father to address letters to the Swedish Consulate in San Francisco and on 27 June 1891 he wrote to his mother from Denver, CO and included a request that further letters be addreto the Swedish Consulate, Yokohama, Japan so the world tour was still on his mind. Three days later on 30 June 1891, also from Denver, he tells his father that tomorrow he was going to Durango, CO and the "Mancos Valley" where there are a "number of cliff dwellings".This break in the intinerary of his world tour was permanent.
When Nordenskiöld arrived in Durango he made arrangements to stay with Cattle rancher Richard Wetherill
Richard Wetherill
Richard Wetherill , a member of a prominent Colorado ranching family, was an amateur explorer in the discovery, research and excavation of sites associated with the Ancient Pueblo People...
at the Alamo Ranch in Mancos, CO. This is confirmed in a 2 July 1893 letter to his father in which he requests his photographic equipment, consisting of camera, tripod, lens, cassette for photographic plates, shutter, dark cloth, and "as well as my barometer". (Letters Letter No. 15, The Letters of Gustaf Nordenskiöld Mesa Verde 1991.) He also says in the same letter that his father should answer by telegram whether he should remain where he is.
He worked with Wetherill, discoverer of the Mesa Verde ruins in 1888, and Charles Mason. 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. Nordenskiöld employed Wetherill to supervise excavations at Mesa Verde and trained Wetherill in a number of techniques, such as how to use a trowel
Trowel
A trowel is one of several similar hand tools used for digging, smoothing, or otherwise moving around small amounts of viscous or particulate material.-Hand tools:...
(he had been using a shovel). Nordenskiöld explained to Wetherill the importance of documentation.
Arrest and exonera no laws against treasure-hunting or selling artifacts in Colorado; 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. In this climate, Nordenskiöld loaded Mesa Verde artifacts into Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to Rio Grande or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, is a defunct U.S. railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado in 1870; however, served mainly as a transcontinental...
boxcars in Durango, Colorado
Durango, Colorado
The City of Durango is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau said that the city population was 16,887 in 2010 census.-History:...
, and headed for Europe, with most of the items eventually ending up at the National Museum of Finland
National Museum of Finland
The National Museum of Finland presents Finnish history from the Stone Age to the present day, through objects and cultural history. The Finnish National Romantic style building is located in central Helsinki and operates in collaboration with the National Board of Antiquities , an association...
.
Nordenskiöld biographers Judith Reynolds and David Reynolds describe the ensuing situation as an "international incident." Angry locals charged Nordenskiöld 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. In addition to the issue of removing artifacts, xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
may have played a role in Nordenskiöld's arrest. In the December 9, 2005, Denver Post article, Electra Draper wrote: "...residents of Durango were beginning to think foreigners shouldn't be removing local artifacts." No intervention was taken against Americans who were also looting the sites.
When Nordenski was arrested on 17 September 1891 he sent this telegram to his father: "much trouble some expense no danger" (original omits capitalization). Letters Letter No. 31, The Letters of Gustaf Nordenskiöld Mesa Verde 1991.
In the end, Nordenskiöld took more than 150 photographs of Mesa Verde, and logged multiple sites.
In the preface to his 1892 book "From the American West Memories of America" Nordenskiöld states "The free roaming nomadic life, which this research forced me into, appealed greatly to my spirit and created a desire for excursions farther into the deserts of the American West. I decided to go roaming on horseback with two companions through the northern part of Arizona." He made this trip, actually through Indian country in Colorado, Utah and Arizona, which went as far as the Grand Canyon. Originally published in a Stockholm Newspaper and later as a book, "From the Far West Memories from America". (Kungl. Boktryckeriet P.A. Norstedt & Soner Stockholm, 1892. In English, The Mesa Verde Museum Association, Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330)
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.
A full rendering of Gustaf Nordenskiöld's book in the 1893 version (see pg. v) is here http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000029476458. (Courtesy of the Hilthi Trust Digital Library, University of Michigan Library.)
After his return from America, Nordenskiöld occupied himself with mineralogical studies, but his health started to deteriorate again in 1894. He died on June 6, 1895, aboard a train traveling to Jämtland
Jämtland
Jämtland or Jamtland is a historical province or landskap in the center of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders to Härjedalen and Medelpad in the south, Ångermanland in the east, Lapland in the north and Trøndelag and Norway in the west...
, only 27 years old.
Archives and collections
Nordenskiöld's collections from Mesa Verde were by a Finnish collector who eventually donated them to the University of Helsinki
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
. They are now held by the National Museum of Finland and on display at the Museum of Cultures in the Tennispalatsi
Tennispalatsi
Tennispalatsi , is a cultural and recreational center in Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland. It houses a Finnkino movie theatre, the Art Museum Tennis Palace, the Museum of Cultures, and small shops....
building in central Helsinki, as part of the collection called "Fetched from Afar" (Kaukaa Haettua). The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
contains an archive of photographs, notes, correspondence and newspaper clippings. The Riksarkivet
Riksarkivet
Riksarkivet is one of the oldest public agencies in Sweden, with a history leading back to the Middle Ages. The chief of Riksarkivet is called the Riksarkivarie....
includes letters to his father from Washington, Philadelphia, Charleston, Mammoth Cave (in Kentucky), Durango, Navajo Canyon, and other locations.
The Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/index.shtml
Publications
- The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado: Their Pottery and Implements. Appendix: Human remains from the Cliff Dwellings of the Mesa Verde. G. Retzius 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.
- The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado: Their Pottery and Implements. Appendix: Human remains from the Cliff Dwellings of the Mesa Verde. G. Retzius Translated by D. L. Morgan. Mesa Verde. Reprinted 1990. Mesa Verde Museum Association. Originally published in 1893 as Ruiner af Klippboningar I Mesa Verde's Cañons. Stockholm: P. A. Norstedt & Söners.
- "The Letters of Gustaf Nordenskiold" with Articles from Ymer and Photographic Times. 1991. Mesa Verde Museum Association. ISBN 0-937-06216-2.
Further reading
Publisher(s): American Geographical Society
- The Cliff Dwellings of the Cañons of the Mesa Verde
Author(s): W. R. Birdsall
Source: Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York, Vol. 23, (1891), pp. 584–620
Publisher(s): American Geographical Society
- The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde
Reviewed Authors(s): G. Nordenskiold
Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 23, (1894), pp. 434–435
- Stones Speak and Waters Sing, The Life and Works of Gustaf Nordenskiold, Olof Arrhenius, edited and annotated by Robert H. Lister and Florence C. Lister. Mesa Verde Museum Association 1984
- Diamond, Irving L., "Much Trouble Some Expense No Danger" Mesa Verde National Park. Proceedings of the Anasazi Symposium 1991. ISBN 0-937062-21-9.
- Reynolds, Judith, & Reynolds, David. Nordenskiold of Mesa Verde, Xlibris Corporation, April 2006. ISBN 1-4257-0484-0, paperback.