The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1898-02-09
THE STORY OF MAN.
1T is TOLD BY HIS BONES, THE TOOLS
HE USED AND HIS MONUMENTS.

1T is TOLD BY HIS BONES, THE TOOLS
HE USED AND HIS MONUMENTS.
The Varied Sciences which Aid the Sta
dent Who Examines Them-Ther. Are
oioE.ss That Must he Studied and Their
Principles Applied to Things Discovered.
Man leaves behind him when he dies
his bones, his tools and his monuments.
and these arc the things from which
have been derived all tho 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 tho greatest Importance
for oftentimes man has left no other
tokens OF his existence behind him. The
first study. therefore, to the archmolo.
gist Is that of tho comparative anatomy
Of the human race. 1t is necessary to
distinguish human bones from those of
animals, to study racial characters and
to determine tho sex. Skulls must be
studied with the greatest minuteness,
for In them lilo some of tho most impor-
tant evidences of origin and progress
II Is desirable also TO study the animals
for tho bones of men are often found
intermingled with those of tho animals
that he had slain or that have conquered
him, and III the eases where the animal
is ono now extinct guess Mt the an
tiquity of mans relics may be made.
The tools which served in tho 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 relics furnish
n rough index to the amount of civiliza-
ton; they indicate in n crude way the
extent of intercommunioation they
show how new ideas came to the races;
they serve III manner to distinguish
between different grades of antiquity,
and In many ways they are important.
Tho mineralogist who finds copper mug
gets In tho graves of North Carolina
prehistoric Indians knows that these
ton with tho great lakes.
A knowledge of zoology is requisite
too Tho presence of tho horseshoe crab
In legends and traditions of the tribes
of our arid west could have been guessed
Mt only by ono with acute perception,
and the finding of one of tho shells as a
fetioh Of ono of tho tribes was bright
exploit 1t was evident that this relic
had made its journey from hand to hand
over 3, 900 or 5000 miles Of country Mt
a time when 1t was exceedingly wild.
Then there are tho shell ornaments
Tho present craze for tho river pearl il
no new thing. AS far back as there Ia
any evidence of tho preferences Of man
the lustrous river shells have been at
traotive to him. and the distribution of
them has been exceedingly wide
Then there IN the pottery. Here ono
must study tho beginnings of the useful
arts. Ho must know how tho pots are
made, how in lieu or in advance Of tho
potter's wheel tho aborigines had n
nnmbar of Ingenious ways Of revolving
the vessel, how with fingers and combs
and hundred other implements the
primitive decoration was inoised and
how with clays and ores of iron the first
crude colors were made wherewith to
paint tho earthenware. This study OF
old pots IL exceedingly interesting and
OF the highest Importance. The matori-
als arc imperishable, and, while tho
vessels in whole condition are rare,
tho fragments indicate tho more impor-
tant clements In the story. In the shapes
Of tho vessels there Ia rudimentary art
in form, while in tho decoration there
are the beginnings Of painting and sculp-
ture In tho painted or incised figures
there Ia tho key to relationships IN
tribes, races and religions
Closely allied IL tho nrt of carving,
tho finishing and ornamenting of tools
and implements. And there are besides
the textiles. and. although the primitive
loom Is an extremely simple affair,
which tho savage nations have evolved
or copied into very similar forms, still
tho materials employed and the patterns
yield much information about the an
cestry and afiinities OF ancient man.
No word IL necessary to uphold the
importance of tho monuments when.
lacking tho forerunners Of paper, the
ancients recorded their history in cut or
painted monuments Egypt, Assyria
and Central America, each In differ
ent way, show the value OF tho close
study OF tho monuments and the stories
Of these countries would have lacked
tho greater part Of their interest had the
testimony Of walls and obelisks and the
magnificent sculptures been withheld.
Languages form an exceedingly i'm
portant part Of tho preparation Of the
Archaeological. OF course he must know
the modern ones to keep abreast Of tho
worlds progress in research, the an
nounoements being made in any ono Of
tho important living tongues. But COM
parativo philology il equally necessary,
for it may serve to give the key to the
relationships of one set of characters
with another.
After these matters are all in hand
there Is geology to DO studied. both
theoretical and practical. From such
knowledge il derived our estimate Of
man & occupation Of the earth. and the
value Of the evidence may DO made or
marred by single slip or unscientific
action Tho whole story of man 3 early
residence III New Jersey is dependent
upon tho position of certain bits Of
worked stone in certain banks Of dirt. --