Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-19
PREHISTORIC STUDIES.
The Interesting Symposium of the An
thropologicaI Society.

THE ABORIGINAL HISTORY OF THE POTOMAC TIDE
WATER REGSoN-NAN's GEOLOGIC ANTECEDESTs
ISTHE POTOMAC vALLEY-THE VALLEY MILLIONS
OF YEARS oLD-PALEoLITHIc IMPLEMENTS.
With a true sense of the eternal fitness of
things DIR. Rob't Fletcher Tuesday night called
the Anthropological society to order by trapping
on the table with small roughly-chipped piece
of quartzite. which may or may not have done
duty as a pocketknifc for some one of the many
Indians who once dwelt on the banks of the
Potomac and who occasionally disported him
self in its then'clear, unvcxed waters The
meeting. which was held in the assembly-roOm
Of the Cosmos club, marked a new era in the
proceedings of the society, for it sympo-
stun; half a dozen members discussed the
aboriginal history of the Potomac tide
water region. On the wall to the rear
of the president were numerous maps and
charts. The long table was covered with
wealth OF testimony 10 the nature of the man
who used to wear out his vocal chords by too
much war-whOop in those early times when
Pennsylvania avenue was not broken either by
the capitol or the Treasury building. and when
George Washington's appearance on the scene
had not even been limited at. Even the floor
was decorated win stony evidences, for Prof.
Thomas Wilson had spread out. alongside of
the presidents table, map of the United
States. which he kept fat and in position by
covering up the greater portion of its surface
with many-shaped boulders of all sizes and
colors. There was. however, a method in the
apparent confusion. for each of those
rocks was stone weapon, and II had
or territory where ii had been found.
This showed how widely spread were the a6or
iginai inhabitants of this country at period
which closed several years before the memory
of the oldest inhabitant of three or four Centu-
ries ago began to shape itself. Some Of the
more enthusiastic members believed and ar
gued that many of the specimens were of the
paleolithic period. and if this was really so.
then the age of the relics was beyond easy COM
putation. Others thought that the knives and
axes and arrOw-heads were the work Of the
North American Indian Of the thirteenth. four
teenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. All
agreed. however. that the articles were very
old and eligible. by reason of their antiquity,
TO discussion by the anthropOlogical society.
The program was opened by Prof. o. f. Ma
son. VINO explained in general way the plan
of procedure and told the audience. in which
there were but two ladies', why the subject was
to be presented by several speakers.
PROF. M'GEE's PAPER.
The first contribution was that of Prof. W. ].
Niece, who had chosen Cor his text The Ge-
ologic antecedents of man in the Potomac
Valley" The professor said that midway be-
tween the beginning and end of geologic history,
or about the middle of the mesozOic in the
chronology of the geO!Ogist. there was an cpl
sode whose influence was felt in later ages bv
the abOriglnes of the Potomac valley. At that
time man was not present. The bird was then
but newly born of the reptile and the mammal
OF the fish under the miscege nation of eyOlu-
ton. The diCOtyledOnOUs plant was lust COM
ing into existence and struggling against the
primitive fora of the earth. The course of the
Potomac was about the same then as now but
the Appalachian mountains were higher and
the river banks more rugged than to-day. 1t
was millions of years ago. little later the
Potomac carried whole cubic miles OF sand and
mud into the ocean to build the broad beach OF
lowland stretching from Washington TO the
coast and thus gradually displacing the waters.
CHANGE OF CLIMATE.
Then came the second episode. in which the
Archaeological Of the Potomac is interested.
The previously mild climate chilled. the winters
heightened. the ice froze thick in rivers and
bays, continuous mantle Of ice swept down
from the north far as TO cut Oft the head
waters OF the Delaware. the SusqUC hanna and
the Ohio. and the land sank until ocean waters
crept up the slopes. hankinS the Chesapeake
and the Potomac. and finally swept over the
bills. among which the national capital is now
embosomed. The water level stood long at
$50 feet, less time at 200 feet. and briefly at
800 feet above present tide level. and the ice
charged Potomac dropped powders and mud
IN Its expanding estuary. while the waves built
terraces about the hill-tOps. Whether this
cold was felt by human skin and this submer-
gence seen by human eyes no man vet knows
During the period which followed this ice
epoch primitive human population spread
over the land.
THE THIRD EPISODE
was plainly marked and clearly defined. Once
more the northern ice-sheet invaded the land
creeping down the Hudson to its mouth. we'll
down the Delaware. and again cutting off the
hesdwaters of the Susquehanna and the Ohio
During this episode man fOurished, despite the
rigorous climate, and left his relics in the de-
bris accumulated almost at the ice-front. but
this episode of cold was shorter than the last
the land was but little depressed and no traces
OF its effects are found on the Potomac river.
Az It's end the to-day of the gcolOgist dawned
TIE SEA AT THE THREE SISTERS.
MIR. MCGEE .hen went on to show by geological
testimony how the eastern coast line of this con-
tinent was once from 10 to 80 miles west Of the
line along which the cities of Richmond Wash
ington. Baltimore. Philadelphia Trenton. and
New York are now located The Potomac
reached the open ocean az the Three Sisters 8"
opposite Georgetown. and even when the waters
had subsidized very considerably the salty seas
rolled over the highest land between Washing
ton and the eastern coast.
THE APPEARANCE OF MAN
was eHSH O4Ssd-Stu- II j. prObaDle.' SAID the
professor, that some time during the long in
terglacial period man. or his immediate Gro
genitor, appeared and spread along the coasts
IND the rivers and over the uplands. but not
until the second ice invasion concentrated the
nsh OF the rivers. the birds Of the air. and the
beasts OF the forest and plain about the edge
of the great ice field did early man concrcpate
In such numbers and lose the products of his
arts IN such abundance as TO leave record of
ms existence and his stage of culture" The
record OF human activity was shown 10 have
pes1n IN winter, and the earliest traces of man
IN this country are fOund-nOt beneath the
sunny skies OF the tropics, but along the line
shsdowed by the pleistocene ice front The
Paieohthlc man left traces of his residence in
the District of Columbia 3ut thew are NOT .pcb
- 10 nx the date of his arrival. The testimony
was buried by the waves which sweep over the
territory once occupied by the paleoiithic race
which ran Wild on the shores Of the Potomac
PALEoLITHIc IMPLEMExrs.
Prot. Thos. Wilson was the next contributor
the title Of his paper being "Paleolithic Imule-
ments." Mr.. Wilson made an enthusiastic ar
gument TO prove that paleolithic man once
lived in the District OF. Columbia He defined
the neOlithic and paleolithic periods of the
stone age, and produced great mass OF testi-
mony TO show that many of the instruments
which he and others have found here are of
paleOlithic origin. They were made of quartz.
quarszite, srgillite. and water-worn pebbles
and they were fashioned as only paleolithic
man could have fashioned them. The neo-
hthic instruments-eXtremely modern when
compared with the paleoliths-were abundant
hereabouts, but because they we're In
fhe Nexr L 4