The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1898-02-05
THE STOI:l Of HAN.
,sr is OLD sY HIS BONES. THE TOOLS
NE USED AND Ills MONUMENTS.

ut is toLO 5f MO CONFN' rC 'oOIo
NE USED AND Ills MONUMENTS.
The VAR Scenes Which Aid the Stu
.der. Examines Iicr here Are
Oloci.r '.5st Must E' S+adicd and Their
Prime applied to :Ts4iEss discovered.
Nan BAY es behind him , ben he dies
his bcrcs is tools and his eluments.
have b&sn derived all the sitc S Of q
knuwitt # him and lis i. ~ress up
10 t-.G Esen he learned Il, write.
And e I: tie historic e-e the story
would uch less cor .cst'but Tor
his j.. ns, his art al & his relics.
E, tho greatest importance,
for , ~sns:a has LET'S no other
token -. .co behind him. The
first ~rctore, 10 the sGchRolo-
dgist the comparative anatomy
of 4 n race i is necessary ito
dist ..aniGn I.nts from those of
anir stalf}y racisl characters sand
to G, the sex Skulls must be
stu, the greatest minutaness,
for i lilo some of the most impar-
a Il of origin and progress.
Ii is, ie also 10 stu..: the animals.
for tt,, Of n..n :rr often found
intern = 4 with those Of fhe animals
tina, be A slain or that have conquered
him, a. ~ the casls where the animal
is orc L extinct o Ea.ess at the an.
tiqri,y {. /: ms relics nay be made.
The tee which he-y i in the rude
arts Of early nan were lrst Of stone,
roughly fashioned to the reeds Of the
work. end later of metal. Mineralogy
is Their are an important study to the
~archaolocist. The stone relics furnish
Q rough index to the an clnt OF civiilza-
ton, icy Indicate in ii crude way the
extent of lntercommunication; they
show how new ideas came to the races;
they serve in q manner to distinguish
between different grades Of antiquity,
and in many ways they are important.
The mireralogist who finds copper mug
gets in The graves Of North Carolina
prehistoric indians lloWs that these
men bad some manIsr Of comnnnica-
ton with the great latcs.
A knouied~e Of zoul. y is requisite
too. The acce Of tie horseshoe crab
in legends md traditions of the tribes
Of our arid west could hive been guessed
at only y one with acute perception,
and the finding Of u Of the shells as a
fetich of Gre of the tribes was a bright
exploit. II was evident that this relic
had made its journey from hand to hand
over 1000 or 5000 miles Of country at
q time when it was exceedingly wild.
Then there are the shell ornaments.
The present craze fer the liver pearl il
no new thing. AS far back as there il
any evidence Of the preferences of man
the lustrous liver SHELLS have been at
tractive to him, aid the distribution Of
them has heel ext. edingly wide.
Then there is the pottery. Here one
must study the beginnings Of the usefu'
arts. He must know how the pots arr
made, how in lieu or in advance Of th,
potter's wheel the a%borigines had
number of ingenious ways Of revolving
the vessel, how with fingers and comb
and q hundred other implements th'
primitive decoration was incised ant
how with clays and ores of iron the frs
crude colors were made wherewith t
paint the earthenware. This study o
old pots is exceedingly interesting ant
at the highest importance. The matori
ais are imperishabie, and, while tn
vessels in Il whole condition arc rare
the fragments indi> the more impor
tant elements in the .ry. In the shape
Of the vessels there IS rudimentary al
in form, while IL Il. decoration ther
are the beginnings o. u ing and scriI
ture. In the paiIud Z. i"cised figure
there is the key t. relationships i
tribes, races and ren 't.s.
Closely allied is ut of carving
the finishing and orr. I.onting Of too
and implements. Ana there are beside
the textiles. and. although the primitiv
loom is an extrci 3 SIMPLE affair
which the savage L ions have evolve
or conied into very :. lar forms. sri
the materials emp-oyed and the ratterl
yield much infgrmatlcn about the Ill
cestry and affinities OF ancient l;au.
No word is heccss-:y to upici,t Il
importance of the monuments wbeI
lacking the forerunners of paper, ii
anoients recorded their history i'll cut
painted monuments. Egypt, Assyr.
and Central America, each i'll u 6iffe
ent way, show the value Of the clo
study of the monuments, and the stori'
of these countries would have lacke
the greater part of their interest had Il
testimony of walls and obelisks and Il
magnificent sculptures been withheld.