New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-09
THAT VIRGINIA MAsTODON.
SOME QUERIES AND CONCLUSIONS REGARD
ING PRIMITIVE MAN.
TRACES OF THE cAvE-pwELLERs IN THE vIR.
GILMAN vALLEYs-TNDIAN REMAINS
AND LEGENDS.

III.
the crumblug remains of the mastodon near
Edom. Va, / related the story OF our excaVa-
tions for the purpose of procuring specimen
that could be mounted. and having given some
SLIGHT sketch of the animal himself, we may turn
70 the other results of the expedition, and par
ticularly TO those relations which this creature
seems to sustain toward prlmlt'e h"n III 'ne
valley of Virginia.
Who was primitive man? To an evolutonist
such a question is without significance, because
II the forms constituting the vertebrate series have
been evolved instead of being manufactured, IL
is evident that there never could have been any
such being as Grst man. Without further d.
illogical discussion of this point it may, however
be said that practically, primitive men were the
first men of whose existence we have any traces
Thcse latter consist principally OF unpollsned
and most iinpcrfectly specialized stone implements
which have the same type in all the conuheh's'
Those which we're found in the IlnVllle caves
correspond with European specimens, ana OF inc
entire grosp of paleoths the most thar can oe
said is that they exhibit marks of design, pear
the unmistalsable impress Of human manlpuia'ioh'
and exhibit characteristics which cannot oe
assigned TO the action of natural forces his Is
all that it is necessary to say upon the suoJec' Vi
relics of the Old Stone Age The specimens oo-
tanned during this expedition arc In the hahus OIL
Mr. Thomas Wilson, curator OF PREHISTORIC Aron'e
ologv As we said when compared "l'n otnei
palcolths in tic Smithsonian conectoh 'he9
appear TO be similar to them All that is spco,"i
in their features will be hereafter de'erhllheu oS
Mr. Wilson, and communicated through the proper
channels Apart from the technique Oh p'eSe IT,
mains. their interest consists in the TACT OF 'heir
proximity TO the mastodon and also TO the sup
position which other circumstances also suggest
that in this instance their presence points 10 the
coexistence OF man in the quaternary fauna OF
America more distinctly than has hltherto oceli
the case. Old stone implements have been COL
lected from twenty-siX states by MIR. wilson, thus
demonstrating the wide geographical distribution
OF what is called primitive man in North America
but this is the first occasion upon when MS
nearness to the extinct plcistocene mammAlla as
sumes something like the defnitepess OF those re-
latons by which the European cavc-dwcilefs "ere
connected with the extinct quatcrnary elephant
The actual presence here of the earliest prehis
toric human beings we have any knowledge OF
being assured. the next question that arises Is
under what circumstances they made tneir ap-
pcarance this continent and what became OF
them Neither query admits of an ex-cathedra
teply Most probably, however, they walked
across from Europe lin whose southwestern part
they originated while the elevation. of the bot
tom of the North Atlantic permitted such miSra-
ton to take place. When the ice age set in they
again migrated with the animals upon which their
subsistence depended. and although their course
cannot be traced there is nothing to show that
they became extinct any more than did their
congcners in the Old World. There is much ran
dom talk of river drift men who disappeared from
f.l.o of
Moustier, Solutrc, and La Madelaine epochs, and
also of that aggregate which Nirchow naturally
saws he is sorry to hear spoken OF as the Canstadt
Race Such tcchnicalities tend to confuse thought
by implying more than biology warrants. We
know very little about primitive populations, but
this much at least appears to be certain, namely
that to gcncralize from such data as the Naulette
law and Neandcr;hal skull afford is TO disre-
card the fact that modern head and body measure
mcnts of all kinds and TO any extent have prac-
ticay failed and theoretically must always fail,
race indicators.
The savages who buried their dead in the caves
at Linvile cannot be described in detail but their
general characteristics may be prcdicated with
nearly as much certainty as if they were yet alive
to be examined These who made the coup de
poing-chiscl, knife, gouge. and Ratchet without
handle all in one-that took from the earth
lying upon q shelf Of rock where some dead man
was probably laid in the depth Of q cavern, were
men whose mental organization was Of the sim
plest kind Reasoning inductvely from the vast
accumulation of observed facts concerning I'M
evolved human beings in modern times it is an UNI
avoidabe conclusion from the geographical po
sition that these individuals had made that first
feeble step in progress which consists in getting
away from the sea-coast into The lntenor that
having become hunters, they possessed not only
the physical development implied in that mode OF
life, but also so much power OF observation ana
capacity for reasoning upon circumstances as
they arose as would prevent them from starving
to death in consequence of an incapacity to ad:
animal life by Which they were sur
rounded and upon which they were de-
pendent There is not the least use in pur-
suing the psychological analysis any. further. As
savage. propdrly socalled, he would necessarily
have been without the power Of alb
s,actOn or concentration Ssio and b mental e
degree that must lave made its persistence i'm
possible. Ills emotions lof limited scope cy-
poded III action as soon as they became suflciently
intense. lie could have no rational curiosity. and
little appreciation of many of the most obvious
and fundamental differences between FAM liar
things. No conception Of any power. motive,
was possible. The functions of his middle and
hind brain predomnated and his brain-case ca
hibited in general way the unequal development
represented his gods. His whole way of life set
its seal upon the muscles Of expression and yolun-
tary motion, and upon the skeleton to which they
were attached. All this and great deal more is
true. but il is true generally and fails to describe
the men we are particularly concerned with.
because we cannot know in what degree they
represented the characteristics described II is
safe to say, however that in personal appearance
he was far from approaching any civilized ideal
OF physical beauty. No absolute savages ever es-
cape the influences Of their surroundings and modes
of life.
Having now touched upon the separate sub.
ccts which presented themselves for consideration,
we may consider the results OF the expedition in
search of the mastodon q whole, and indicate
those circumstances which appear 10 connect his
presence with that Of man. The line of country
extending west from the Blue Ridge Mountains
along the dividing ridge Of the Shenandoah Val
ley TO the Alicghancs and thence through Brooks
Gap into the Capon Valley. Of West Virginia, as