The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-06
PR sa5sroRlo ART.
Remarkable Ancient Sculptures From
Northwest Amsrics.
$40 From Nature

no. fTODt a1NutHfe.
James Terry has just published descrip-
tons and photographs Of some OF the most
remarkable works of prehistoric man yet
discovered on the American continent.
They represent three rude yet bold, charac-
teristc and even life-like sculptures of
simian heads, executed in basalt. One of
these belongs 10 the author, one to T. Con-
don, and the third TO Prof o. c. Marsh,
who referred to it in his address "On Verte-
brate Life in America in the folio wing
terms: ''On the Columbia river / have
found evidence of the former existence of
inhabitants much superior 70 the Indians
at present there, and Of which no tradition
remains. Among many stone carvings
which saw there were number of heads
which so strongly ressnbled those II apes
that the likeness at once suggests itself
Whence came these sculptures and by
whom were they nader Unfortunately
we have no detailed Information as TO the
conditions under which. these specimens
were found, except that ''they would be
classed as surface finds from the fact that
the shifting sand dunes, which were largely
utilized for burial purposes, are continually
bringing them to the surface This gives
no indication of their antiquity, but is quite
compatible with any age which their other
char icteristics may suggest.
The size of the heads varies from TO 10
inches in total highr and from 5$I to ca
inches in width. The three are so different
from each other that they appear to repre-
sent three distinct animals, and, SO far as
can judge. they all differ considerably from
the heads Of any known anthropoid apes.
In particular the nostrils are much farther
from the eyes and much nearer to the
mouth than IN any of the apes. In this
respect they are more human, yet the gem
eral form of the head and face, the low
and strongly ridged forehead and the
ridges on the head and cheeks seem to point
to very low type OF anthropod. In a
letter to Mr.. Terry Mr.. Condor suggests
that they were copied from the figurehead
of some Malay proa that may have been
wrecked on the coast" but such suppose
ton is quite inadmissahle, since nothing at
all resembling these heads Is 81 or carved on
Malay proas. and there is no reason to be-
lieve that If such carving did come into
the possession of the natives they would
ever think of copying it in stone. while
these sculptures were found 200 miles from
the coast on the east side Of the Cascade
mountains
Taking into consideration the enormous
antiquity of the stone mortars and human
remains found in the auriferous gravels of
California, buried under the ancient lava
streams and associated with hpra and
fauna altogether different from that of any
part of America at the present time. Mr..
Terry's own conclusion appears the more
probable. 1t is "either that the animals
which these carvings represent once existed
in the Columbia valley, or that, in tho
remote past, migration Of natives from
some region containing these monkey,
reached this valley and left one of the vivid
impressions of their foi msr surroundings il
those imperishable sculptures" The latter
alternatives appears TO me, for many rsa'
sons, TO be highly improbable; and, though
the former will seem, to many persons, Il
be still more improbable, am inclined pro
visionally to accept 1t.