Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-02-26
THE STORY OF MAN.
at is TOLD RY HIS BONES. TIE TOOLS
ne USED AND HIS MONUMENTS.

Principles Applied TO Things Discovered.
Man leaves behind him when he dies
his bones, bis tools and his monuments,
and these are tho things from which
have been derived all the items Of our
knowledge Of him aud bis 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 oftcntimcs 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
10 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
II is desirable also TO study the animals
for the bones of men are often found
intermingled with those Of the animals
that no had slain or that have conquered
him, and in the cases where the animal
is one now extinct guess at tho an.
tiquity of man S 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
arch9ologist The stone relics furnish
a rough index to the amount of civiliza-
ton, they Indicate in n crude way the
extent of Accommodation; 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 bad 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 a
fetch Of one Of the tribes was bright
exploit 1t was evident that this relic
had made its journey from band to hand
over 2, 600 or 700 miles of country at
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
potters wheel the aborigines had a
number of ingenious ways Of revolving
the vessel, how with fingers and combs
and hundred other implements the
primitive decoration was incised and
how with clays and ores of iron the first
crude colors were made wherewith to
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 impor-
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 in
tribes, races and religions.
Closely allied is the art of carving,
the finishing and ornamenting of tools
and implements. And there are besides
the textiles, and, although the primitive
loom is an extremely simple affair
which the savage nations have evolved
or copied into very similar forms, still
the materials employed and the patterns
yield much information about the an
cestry and affinities of ancient man.
No word is necessary to uphold the
importance Of the monuments when,
lacking the 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 the close
study of the monuments, and the stories
of these countries would have lacked
the greater part of their interest had the
testimony of walls and obelisks and the
magnificent sculptures been withheld.
Languages form an exceedingly inn
portant part of the preparation of the
Archaeological. OF course he must know
the modern ones to keep abreast Of the
worlds progress in research, the an
nouncements being made in any one of
the important living tongues. But COM
paratiye philology is 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 be studied. both
theoretical and practical From such
knowledge is derived our estimate of
mans occupation Of the earth, and the
value of the evidence may be made or
marred by single slip or unscientife
action. The whole story of mans early
residence in New Jersey is dependent