Harriet Cosgrove facts for kids

Harriet "Hattie" Siliman Cosgrove (1887–1970) was a pioneering archaeologist. She learned her skills in the Southwestern United States. Her interest in old cultures began when she moved to Silver City, New Mexico, in 1906 with her husband, Cornelius.

Early Discoveries in New Mexico

In 1919, the Cosgroves bought land in Grant County, New Mexico. They started digging up ancient pottery from the Mimbres Valley. The Mimbres Valley was home to a culture that lived there from about 200 AD to 1150 AD. The Cosgroves, along with their son, Burton Cosgrove, Jr., often explored the Mimbres Valley in their free time.

Becoming Professional Archaeologists

In the 1920s, the Cosgroves met Alfred Vincent Kidder (1885–1963). He was a curator at Harvard's Peabody Museum. Kidder was very impressed by their amateur archaeology work. Because of his help, Harvard University's Peabody museum hired the Cosgroves in 1924. Harriet was one of the first women to be professionally employed in archaeology. She then began to professionally excavate sites for the Harvard Peabody Museum, starting in the Mimbres Valley.

Digging at Swarts Ruin

The Cosgroves' first big professional archaeology project was to dig at the Swarts Ruin. This site was also known as the Swarts Ranch Ruin. It was part of the Mimbres Valley. However, the items found there showed that this specific part of the culture was active only between 1000 AD and 1150 AD.

What They Found at Swarts

The Swarts excavation made the Cosgroves famous as top archaeologists in the Southwest. It also showed how well they worked as a team. Cornelius took many photos of the site. Harriet drew every single bowl they found, which was over 700 pots from Swarts Ruin! In total, they found nearly 10,000 items. They carefully recorded when and where each item was found. Harriet also took very detailed notes about the rooms, their sizes, and the soil type for all burial sites.

Publishing Their Discoveries

The findings from 1924–1927 were published in 1932. The book was called "The Swarts Ruin: A Typical Mimbres Site in Southwestern New Mexico." This excavation was called "amazing" and is still used today by scholars who study the Mimbres culture.

Exploring Other Ancient Sites

Before working at Stallings Island, the Cosgroves worked at the Gila River site in New Mexico from 1928 to 1929. After that, William Claflin, Jr., another archaeologist, hired them. They began work on the Stallings Island Mound in Columbia County, Georgia.

Discoveries at Stallings Island

The Stallings Island site was not very well preserved because of later activity by Native American groups. A group of items found there led to the idea of a "Stallings Island culture." This helped archaeologists group items more accurately by age and material. Cornelius found pottery made with plant fibers and many tools from the late Archaic period. The Cosgroves' work showed that the Stallings Island Mound was actually a large pile of shells, not a major ceremonial building as once thought. Their work there was also the first time anyone had studied the layers of a shell midden in Georgia.

Harriet's Later Work

The last site the Cosgroves worked on together was the Hopi Pueblo of Awatovi in Arizona. Sadly, Burton Cosgrove died in 1936 during the first year of this project. Harriet returned to the site in 1937. She was put in charge of the pottery tent. There, she trained students and Native American assistants. They learned how to wash, sort, and catalog the ancient items. Harriet Cosgrove passed away in 1970 at the age of 84.