Timothy Ives

Timothy H. Ives is an American archeologist and a leading contributor to the contemporary debate over the origins of the stone heaps found in New England's forested hills.

Early life and education

Ives was born in 1973. He received his bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Connecticut in 1996, his master's degree in anthropology from the College of William & Mary in 2001, and his doctoral degree in anthropology from the University of Connecticut in 2010.

Career

Ives has pursued interests in New England's archaeology, history, and culture. He previously worked for cultural resource management companies, as a consultant for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, as an adjunct professor for the University of Connecticut's Anthropology Department, and as Principal Archaeologist for the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission. He has published peer-reviewed research on several topics, including coastal archaeological survey, lithic analysis, site formation processes, and colonial-era ethnohistory.

Contributions to New England's stone heap debate

Ives supports the working hypothesis that most of the stone heaps in New England's forested hills were assembled in the nineteenth century to consolidate fieldstones picked from immediately surrounding farmland, and that this knowledge fell from popular memory after losing social relevance. He has published various lines of supporting evidence, including nineteenth century written accounts of agricultural stone heaping practices.

Several of southern New England's Native American tribal authorities maintain that many, perhaps most, of these stone heaps are sacred, having been constructed by Native Americans as elements of ceremonial stone landscapes that are unrecognizable to archaeologists. This position was adopted by the intertribal congress known as the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.