The morning call., 1892-07-12
PREHISTORIC AMERICA.

I'm authorization OF the coming celebration
AZ the discovery of America the history oI
tha period is being extensively written
One OF the most valuable contributors 70
knowledge on the subject is Johh flshe
,PrehistOric America, in when lhe ttutH 70
skilfuuv eliminated from the mass Oh iesei'u
20 ,na5itfop NV which il has been over
s,roo,n Mr. Fjske was admirably lifted for
f,e task nv his extensive historical studies
and nv the analytical eiearness OF his nina;
ba bad the further advantage or being aOle
+, turn TO account the studies of modern
ethnologists, who within the past ten or
twelve years have done much to clear the
ground.
NJ. Fiske feels able TO assert positively
that which other writer's have only stated
tentatIyely-that at the time OF the advent
of the whites the continent was peopled by
one race, with one civilization. one anthro-
biological type, and, though divided into
many tribes, using different languages.
really belonged to one stock. And be ADDS
that this race was everywhere stepped lh
such barbaTsm that its conquest by races
ranking higher in civilization was a gain 10
humanity, though the conquest was aceo"i-
panied by injustice and cruelty.
For many years il has been suspected that
the Toltecs and the Aztecs, were OF the
same stock. that in the river valleys all
were mound-builders and the cave-dwellers
we're tribes of them who were driven from
their northern homes by powerful neigh
hors and fed TO the south in search Of
peace: that the Tolfecs again were these
same tribes who were driven out of Arizona,
New Mexico and Texas by the same merei-
less pursuers and were forced to take refuge
In Mexico, and that the AZtecs were an off
shoot Of the same predatory bands, who
followed their feeble quarry into the tropical
zone. making prey Of them after the manner
Of the ancient NormanS. and about The time
those famous cOrsairs ravaGed the coasts OF
Europe. All this Mr.. Fiske appears to be-
lieve. and there is no present evidence upon
which his conclusions can be cOntroverted.
1t is not certain that his views regar ding
the civilization or rather the want Of civil
ization Of these aboriginal Americans will
be so generally accepted. It is exceedingly
difficult 10 define civilization and barbarism.
Nj Fske considers that CannibaiSm and
human sacrifices are the mark of the bar
bariau, and as he finds them universally
prevalent among the primeyal Americans
be denies the latter any claim 10 civilization.
But race which had q national pOlity like
the league Of the IrOquois, or a race which
could construct forts with some knowledge
Of the art Of fertilization like the mound
builders Of Wisconsin, or a race which pos
sessed a knowledge of scientific agriculture
and irrigation like the Toltecs or race
/ which could devise an elaborate system OF
Jurisprudence like the AzteCs, or race
which Lad made such vast progress in archi-
lecture and sculpture as the Central An eri-
cans, can hardly be called barbarous with
cut unfairness. The appetite for human
flesh is shocking, and evidences of It's prev
aleEce are rare among the prehistoric ns-
tons of the Old World. but it is not abso-
lutely irreconcilable with sUme measure IF
enlightenment.
One difficulty which stands IN the way
] OF q correct understanding Of prehistoric
America is the comparatively recent date to
| which cur most ancient monuments are re-
| ferred. If arch80logists are TO be believed,
| the Oldest mounds were contempOraneOus
| with the crusades, and the Aztec empire
/ dates from the twelfth TO the thirteenth GEN.
turies. The advent of the whites followed
so soon after this period that writer's Ike
Major Powell are coming to the conclusion
that the fragments Of pottery and copper
tools which are found ia the mounds are
more likely to have been broughJ TO America
| by Europeans than TO have been made by
natives. If this hypothesis is correct there
/ is DO evidence that the North American In
dian ever progressed beyond the stone age.
The flint heads ana arrow-head5 which
| are found in connection with Indian re-
4 mains betoken a stage OF civilization which
! passed away in Europe at least one and
possibly two or three thousand years before
the cru,aaer 7e5.s s-....,r,e r-..ro.,.,e a. :,
now supposed to be not over 500 years old,
| but in the debris around them no imple-
ment or weapon has been discovered which
was not in common use in Europe at the
time the pyramids were erected.
At the same time it must always be ad-
mitted that American archaeology is in its
| infancy. By the time it has led to the re-
search It has commanded in Europe we
| shall know more of the early history Of the
| country than we do now, and we shall be
| better able to judge neither there was any
| civiliz ton on this continent contemporaries
! Gus with that of Greece, or whether as MIR.
| Fiske says, the soil We inhabit was until the
whites came the home of irrecaimable bar
! barians.