New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-09

archaeology and ethnology 10 the dignity Oh d
full nedged department, and has intrusted the
conduct OF the to Professor +. W. Put
man, curator Of the Peabody Museum. In this
| connection The Boston Transcript gives an
interesting explanation Of the way in which in
vestigations into the antiquity Of man must be
pursued. 1t says
| Man leaves behind him when he dies his
bones his tools and his monuments and these
are the things from which have been derived all
| the items OF our knowledge Of him and his prog
ress up to the time when he learned 10 write.
And in the historic age the story would be
much less complete but Tor ms inscriptions, MS
| art and his relics
Bones are of the greatest Importance. for
| oftentmcs man has left no other tokens OF his
| existence behind him The first study, there
fore to the archRolOgist Is that Of the compare
| tive anatomy OF the human race. 1t is neces-
| sary TO distinguish human bones from those or
| animals to study racial characters and To de-
| term!ne the sex. Skulls must be studied with
| the greatest minutcncss. for in them lie some
| OF the most important evidences of origin and
progress. 1t is desirable also to study the ami
mails. for the bones OF men are often found
intermingled with those Of the animals that he
had slain or that have conquered him. ana IN
the cases where the animal is one now extinct
a guess at the antiquity Of mans relics may be
made.
The tools which served in the rude arts Of
early man first Of stone, roughly fashioned
| to the needs of the work. and later OF metal.
Mineralogy is therefore an important study to
the archfologist The stone rclcs furhisn
rough index to the amount Of civilization they
indicate in crude way the extent OF ntcrcom-
/ municatiOn; they show how new IDEAS came 10
the races. they serve in manner to distinguish
between different grades of antiquity. and in
many ways they are important The mneralo-
gist who finds copper nuggets in the graves OF
North Carolina prehistoric Indians knows that
these men had some manner of communication
with the Great Lakes.
knowl,dge Of zoology is requisite, too.
The presence Of the horseshoe crab in legends
ard 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 a
bright exploit. 1t was evident that this relic
had made its journey from hand to hand over
two or three thousand miles of country at a time
when it exceedingly wild Then there are
the shell ornaments. The present craze for the
! river pearl is thing As far back as
there is any evidence Of the preferences OF man
the lustrous river shells have been attractive
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 made. how in lieu or
In advance Of the potter's wheel the aborignes
had a number Of ingenious ways Of revolving
the vessel how with fingers and combs and
hundred other implements the primitive decora-
ton was incised. a. how with clays and ores
of iron the first crude coiorS were MADE Where-
with to paint the earthenWare ms STUDY OF
old pots is exceedingly interesting and of the
highest importance. The materials are imper-
ishable and. while the vessels I'm whole condi-
| tion are rare the fragments indicate the more
important elements in the story In the Shapes
Of tho vessels there is rudimentary art in form;
while in the decoration there are the beginnings
of painting and sculpture. In the painted or IN
ciscd figures there is The key to relationships IN
tribes races and religions c,,
| Closely allied Is the art of carving, the lnlsh-
ing and ornamenting Of tools and implements.
And there are besides the textiles. and althouGn
the primitive loom is an extremely simple andir;
which the savage nations have evolved or COPIED
into very similar forms still the materials EN- IN
nlovcd and the patterns yield much information
about the ancestry and afiinities OF ancieh. man
| No word is necessary to uphold the iiPol-
.,nco of the monuments. when, lacking tne iore-
runners of paper the ancients recorueu 'neIr
bietorv in cut or painted monuments ESypt' AS.
svr;o and Central America. each in a different
90 shov the value If the close study OF the
mCnuments and the ste ries OF these countries
would have lacked the greater part OF 'lelt lhtci
cct had the testimony OF walls ana opelIShS anu
~ macnificent sculptures been withheld.
IanqrIaccs form an exceedingly important
mart Of the preparation or the achaol"Els', ~
course n must know the modern ones 10 http
abreast Of the worlds progress In research, .ile
ornource,ncrts being made in any one OF tne
important living tongues. But comparative
nhilology is equally necessary. for II may serve
to give the key To the relationships I'll o"e SCI
Of characters with another .
In the comparison of one symbol language
with another the ground is oftentmes new,
but ne who would make his marx In TINS nelu
-, ,,a nrenared with a knowledge Of what
has already been accomplished. lie must Kho"
bv what gradations aboriginal man mace pro-
rces from tie representations OF animals tna'
irdicat ted his successful hunting or the plV'o-
cronhc that recorded his victories IN war 10
The imaginative ones that represented ms mythic
beings and the deities that control lhe stoliH,
and the thousand other steps 'hn nv N'"0
between these characters ana the alphapct
rhen Of course the student must lainiiarlze
himself with the beginnings OF reHSl"n, ne
- must study faithfully the treasures OF l"kV'c.
II He must learn the great original lai' '
u are common to the uncivilized world lie must
4 have a clew to the underlying reasons l"r
= variations in them they must be c""a'ed a,lu
COMPARED so that through them there may be
~ ig1pp