The Exhumation of the Mastodon by Charles Willson Peale: Painting Paleontological Fieldwork as History.

This article analyzes Charles Willson Peale’s painting *The Exhumation of the Mastodon* as a pioneering visual representation of early 19th-century paleontological fieldwork, emphasizing its role beyond art history to include the labor, technology, and political dimensions of fossil recovery. The painting portrays the organized, strenuous efforts of white American workers and machinery extracting mastodon fossils, symbolizing the young nation’s industrious spirit and territorial claims while marginalizing Indigenous presence and enslaved labor. By comparing this work to Peale’s earlier historical painting of George Washington, the essay argues that Peale elevated fossil excavation to the status of a foundational historical event integral to American nation-building. Finally, the article situates the painting within a broader historiography of paleontology that highlights fossil collecting as a labor-intensive, technological, territorial, and narrative practice shaping scientific knowledge and colonial power. [Extracted from the article]