Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-03-17
THE STORY OF MAN.

THE STORY OF MAN.
1T is TOLD BY HIS BONES, THE TOOLS
HE USED AND HIS MONUMENTS.
dent Who Examines Them-There Are !
Ologies That Must Be Studied and Their /
Principles Applied to Things Discovered,
Man leaves behind him when he dies
his bones, his tools and his monuments,
have been derived all the items of our
knowledge of him and his progress up
to the time when he learned to write.
And even in the historic age the story
would be much less complete but for
his inscriptions, his art and his relics.
Bones are of the greatest Importance,
for oftentimes man has left no other
tokens of his existence behind him. The
first study, therefore, to the arch@olo-
gist is that Of the comparative anatomy
of the human race. 1t is necessary to
distinguish human bones from those Of
animals. to study racial characters and
to determine the sex. Skulls must be
studied with the greatest minuteness,
for in them lie some of the most impor-
tant evidences Of origin and progress.
1t is desirable also to study the animals,
for the bones of MEN, are often found
intermingled with those of the animals
that he had slain or that have conquered
him, and in the cases where the animal
is one now extinct guess at the an
tiquity of mans relics may be made.
The tools which served in the rude
arts Of early man were first of stone,
roughly fashioned to the needs of the
work, and later Of metal. Mineralogy
is therefore an important study to the
archeolOgist. The stone relios furnish
a rough index to the amount Of civiliza-
ton; they indicate in crude way the
extent Of INSTRUMENTATION; they
show how new ideas came to the races;
| they serve in manner to distinguish
between different grades Of antiquity,
and in many ways they are important.
The mineralogist who finds copper mug
gets in the graves Of North Carolina
| prehistoric Indians knows that these
| men had some manner Of communica-
ton with the great lakes.
| A knowledge Of zoology is requisite
too. The presence of the horseshoe crab
| In legends and traditions Of the tribes
| of our arid west could have been guessed
at only by one with acute perception,
and the finding Of one Of the shells as
fetch Of one of the tribes was bright
exploit. It was evident that this relic
had made its journey from hand to hand
over 1000 or 5000 miles of country at
a time when it was exceedingly wild.
Then there are the shell ornaments
The present craze for the river pearl is
no new thing. As far back as there is
any evidence of the preferences Of man
the lustrous river shells have been at
tractive to him, and the distribution OF
them has been exceedingly WIDE
Then there is the pottery. Here one
must study the beginnings of the useful
arts. He must know how the pots are
made, how in lieu OR in advance Of the
potter's wheel tho aborigines had a
number of ingenious ways of revolving
the vessel, how with fingers and combs
and "a hundred other implements the
primitive decoration was incised and
how with clays and ores of iron the first
crude colors were made wherewith tc
paint the earthenware. This study OF
old pots is exceedingly interesting and
of the highest Importance. The materi-
ais are imperishable, and, while the
vessels in whole condition are rare,
the fragments indicate the more lmpor-
tant elements in the story. In the shapes
!, of the vessels there is rudimentary art
in form, while in the decoration there
are the beginnings Of painting and sculp.
ture. In the painted or incised figures
there is the key to relationships il
] tribes, races End esna s I'll gions.
Closely allied is the art Of carving
the finishing and ornamenting of tool
and implements. And there are beside
the textiles, and, although the primitiv
loom is an extremely simple affair
which the savage nations have evolves
J or copied into very similar forms, still
the materials employed and the pattern
yield much information about the an
cestry and affinities of ancient man.
No word is necessary to uphold tn
Importance of the monuments when
lacking the forerunners of paper, tn
ancients recorded their history in cut G
painted monuments. Egypt, Assyri
and Central America, each in differ
ent way, show the value Of the clos
study of the monuments, and the storie
of these countries would have 1acket
the greater part of their interest had tn
testimony Of walls and obelisks and tn
J magnificent sculptures been withheld.
Languages form an exceedingly i'm
! portant part of the preparation Of tn
archaologist. Of course he must know
J the modern ones to keep abreast of TIL
worlds progress in research, the an
nouncements being made in any one o
the important living tongues. But com
parative philology is equally necessary
for it may serve to give the key to tn
relationships Of one set Of character
with another.
After these matters are all in ham
there is geology to be studied, boil
theoretical and practical. From sucl
knowledge is derived our estimate O
mans occupation of the earth, and tn
value of the evidence may be made O
t marred by a single slip or unscientifi
: action. The whole story of man s earl.
residence in New Jersey is dependen
: upon the position of certain bits o