Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-19
Exploring the Past
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

Institution here of two new and inter
esting archaeological finds, both OF when |
were literally dug up. -,
A temple Of ancient IRE Worship "1icl
seems TO indicate that the prehistoric
inhabitants of the southwest reachea
. higher degree Of civilization than haa
formerly been supposed has been ,inearth-
cd and studied in detail by DIR. j. Walter
Fewkes, chief Of the Bureau OF American
Ethnolosy Of the Smithsonian Institution,
And two skeletons, those OF boy ana on
a girl, have been found buried IN the
ruins of stone house, probably oil pre-
historic origin. These remains have pech
shipped To the National Museum mere,
where they will be carefully studied.
They may shed new light on the race ana
physical character of the early inhabitants
OF the region.
This digging up of the long-bufled
past seems futile and perhaps an unih-
teresting occupation TO those who nave
never followed or studied It, but as
matter Of fact it has the highest scientliic
| value and il exercises q peculiar faseina-
| ton. Nearly everyone who goes To the
southwest with the slightest bent ior
scientific investigation falls under the
| spell Of the countfy's romantic past
and develops something OF mama iof
hunting the remains OF It.
/ WHERE THE PAST LIVES.
The country is remarkably well adapt
cd TO the indulgence Of this taste. III 10
| extremely dry-tbe greater part OF ~
| desert--so that in the first place bones.
| pottery and other ancient remains tend
10 be preserved, whereas IN "A more moist
country they would disIntegrate In
the second place. there il no heavy growth
Of vegetation To cover these traces OF
ancient human life. II IL common
occurrence when riding across the mesa
lands of this country 10 come To Q slight
mound Of earth dotted with bits OF broken
/ pottery This, You may be sure, - the
remains of an Indian dwelling abandoned
long sro. II may be only few hundred
years old, or IT may he thousand or
more. II Won disrnount and dig about
in the ruins with sharp stick, you VIII
bring To light moro pottery and probabiy
} also STONE arrow heads and other hint
f'artefacts' as the ethnologlsts call them.
; These bits of a departed human era VIII
surely inilame your Inauguration II you
: have any. You cannot refrain from
irving 20 reconstruct in your mind thf
lives of the people who made and useo
these things
Od course. the thorough exploration o
one of these ancient runs - great WORK
and unless you are either wealthy or yer
fond OF manual labor, you are apt 70 %
r the reconstruction exclusively with you
imagination. instead Of with a shovel am
n,cL which i the really scientific way
a Then. too. If you do 90 In for the heav
wo,k of excavation, the probabilltle
= are that YOU are only deivlng INTO 2 naDl
1 tation like those Of the present fueDf
. Indians. and not more than few hundre
a wears old. You may recover Ie'
il articles Of some interest or value PEI
!, feet bit Of pottery perhaps, or som
: TURQUOISE ornamentsl-but the very az
cient ruins are necessarily the rares
70 A FASCINATING SCIENCE.
None-the-less, If you have once deiVe
G. into the past on your own account, yo
can understand the keen fascinatlo
which has kept the scientists busy Il
10 wears. reconstructlng IN their irlaaiil'
st lions the lives of these long dead people
= irving to make an hypothesis that VI
ST fit the facts.
n In doing this they have told thernseiy'
and the public some beautiful ialry tale
For example, when the numerous eli
@. dwellings" in Colorado and New Mexi'
nc were discovered, the scientists processes
Tx to reconstruct a whole race OF Gin d"eliei
Solely because the doors of these dwellin
were very SffliAt. ~ lAlGaA u A'A.hAA - -
?'' height had To get down on his hands al
a Lnees tn enter. they advanced the theo
lie. that the cliff dwellers had been race
pvgmies. who had subsequently becor
extinct This charming idea becaI
very popular, was woven INTO notion, a.
is still believed by many non-sclentl
persons. Subsequent scientihc lnVesue
tion completely exploded 1t. 1t show
that the people who occupied the ell
dweliinrs were In all probability raca-
identical with the Pueblo Indians "
now inhabit the region, and that IN
built their habitations under and agali
the cliffs for protection against eneIn
who were pressing them hard. and IN
made their doorways small for the sal
reason. They entered on hands q
knees lust as the subsequent InVeStlgat
did, and afterward rolled boulders Il
the openings 10 keep out htrude
BandeIer. one of the greatest ethno
gists and arch9ologists that Amer
has produced, did most OF the WORK
refusing the pygmy clitf d~elier the'
and showing the racial identity of
ancient with the present inhabitants
the southwest. He wrote a remarka
novel "The Delight-Makers, depict
the life of these ancient Americans, vi
is Derhaps the only one OF the ms
romances based on prehistoric Amer
which has any claim to scienuhe c
sideratlon.
NEW LIGHT ON THE PROBLEM.
The theory advanced by Bande
was that all the sedentary Indians OF
southwest from Colorado far down l
Mexico were of the same racial st
. and had attained about the same det
of civilization Tor rather barbariS
Thus the wonderful romance vi
Prescott wrote in his Conquest
Mexico" was shown to be romance
!. nothing more 1t is probable that
t. Aztec culture which Cortez overc'
ion. was fundamentally similar to that
NJ. the Pueblo Indians III New Mexico
;, 9. day. but founded on a much greater pt
ion. lation and somewhat greater Yves
The recent discovery of l)r. Few
TIT however, may make necessary yet ano
It revision of our ideas of the prehlst
Il southwest. While 1t presumably
Il nothing to refute the theory OF the II
Il identity OF the prehistoric and pre-
+ inhabitants of the region, It would )
II To indicate that the prehistoric Inc
II It did have a somewhat higher clvllIza
# It than those now living, For what
; # Fewkes has found is a large butl'
re r constructed Of excellent masonry, "
or II apparently existed for the sole purpo
i. It fire worship as indicated by an enorl
a II fire-pit in the center and stone beI
d II for worshippers all around the y
=. ~ ~. ..-,..ls,, ~, Soma form lS CONNIE