Glidden's Archaeological Archives Uncovered!

Unearthing Catalina History Using Skeleton Clues

This story appeared in the LA Times today about Ralph Glidden, an archaeologist/huckster who lived on the island in the first half of the 20th century.

One of Glidden's notebooks
(Photo by Christina House, from LA Times story)

John Boraggina, the recent curator of the Catalina Island Museum found Glidden's archives in a storage room at the Museum. He was shocked to find that the records point to the locations where Glidden's archaeological finds were made.

Archaeologists have long been troubled by Glidden's collection because he was not above supplementing bona fide artifacts and human remains from Catalina from those he purchased elsewhere. This complicates the historical interpretation of his finds. He operated a "museum" on the island until 1950 and tried to sell the collection after his business closed. The pieces were eventually purchased by the Wrigley Family who in turn donated them to the Catalina Island Museum. The Museum has since placed some of the more important artifacts and remains with the Fowler Museum at UCLA.

Glidden's Catalina Museum of Island Indians
(Photo from tongvapeople.com)

Full citation:
Sagahun, Louis. 1 April 2012. Unearthing Catalina history using skeleton clues. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-catalina-bones-20120402,0,5531466.story?

Photo credits:
House, Christina -- photo included in the LA Times story.
http://www.tongvapeople.com/island-of-indians.html