Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-13
YELLOW MEN HELD
NEAREST TO TYPE
Blacks and Whites Both Vari.
atoms From Brownish
Stock, Says Hrdiicka.

Both the white and black races
are variations from an original vel
low-brown people in western Europe
from whom IL men now on earth are
de 'cended, DR.. Ales Hrdlicka, an
thropologist of the Smithsonian In
stitution. said in a lecture at the
New National Museum yesterday aft
ernoon. On the other hand, the yell
low Asiatic peoples. including most
of the South Sea Islanders and the
American Indians. probably have
changed little from the original an
cestora in physical appearance. he
said.
Hrdlicka said. after the last glacial
invasion and some sections of
the globe now most thickly pop
ulated have known human life only
for a few thousand years. 1t was
probably less than 10000 years ago
when the first men spread into Scot
land, ireland, Scandinavia and CEN
trail England, driven into apparently
inhospitable country by the increas-
ing scarcity Of food.
First to Break Away.
The hrst break away from the
parent stock in southwestern Europe,
he said, probably were the yellow
brown tribesm n who migrated south
into Africa and became the ancestors
of the negro race. These people prob
a'ily spread south gradually. small
groups at a tine. They may have
been driven out by stronger elements
in the original society or they may
have left of their own volition in
search Of better hunting grounds.
once under the trop.c suns and
eating the food which the tropics
furnished. their yellowish- brown
skins gradually turned black. BY
the time this migration took place. Dr.
Hrdlicka said, the race had advanced
to a point in intelligence where men
were able to plan ahead.
Migrants Go East.
The next migration, also one of
small groups, left Europe by two
roads. One branch spread over the
Balkans and Asia Minor toward India
and the valley of the Nile. The other
branch crossed Bohemia and Russia,
crossing the low Ural Mountains into
Siberia and China These migrants
met with no stimuli In their wan
behring's or In their new homes which
tended to change their color. II any
thing, they tended to exaggerate the
original type. Original man, for In
stance, had brown eyes and brown to
black hair which ranged from wavy
10 straight. In the negro this hair
became curly, but in the Asiatic il
became even straighter than before
The regulating of Asa went on rap
Idly until food became so scarce that
new nLigrations OF scattered families
were necessary. The first of these
were south and southwest. In their
rade canoes the early men pushed
on the coast of Asia to some of the
nearby isiends and then step by step
TO Australia and the South Sea Is
land groups. where they became the
ancestors OF the present polynesian
peoples.
Contact With Whites,
Others crossed the mountain passes
unto inola' where they came in con-
tact with a people who had migrated
from Europe at a later date and who
already were In a fair way to be-
coming white. These two groups
hltrated through each other. The re-
suit Is that in the predominantly
white country of India there is a |
noticeable yellow intermixture today,
while in some sections OF southern
China, predominantiy yellow, there
are peoples with all the character
istics OF white men. The actual coll
or of the Hindoo's skin, Dr. Hrdlicka
said, does not make him any the less
member of the white race since
he preserves all other qualifications.
Hindoo children, born and reared in
Europe or the United States, often ap-
pear no darker than southern Euro
peans.
Group Driven North.
Still later, DR.. Hrdlicka said,
another group of these yellow people
were driven north along the Asian
coast by the search for food. The
country was not hospitable, but they
were induced to continue the migra-
ton, perhaps no more than a family
at a time, by the constant ability to
get food from the sea. Moving north
as fishermen and keeping close to the
coast, they developed some knowledge
of primitive navigation.
Finally, they arrived at the north
east tip Of Siberia from where, on a
clear day, 1t is possible to see the
American coast. They may have
crossed in canoes or they may have
walked across on the ice during q
hard Winter. 1t is not probable, Dr.
Hrdlicka said. that any great num-
Der came. The northward migration
was not likely to have attracted many
Of the Asiatics. Once on the North
American continent. however, they
found a virgin territory where food
prospects were much better than
those they left behind and they never
risked the trip back.
Date May Be Recent.
Just how long ago the first men
came to America, DR.. Hrdlicka said,
was doubtful but he indicated that
1t may have been at a comparatively
recent date. When the first white
men came the Indian population of
the two continents was about 10000
600. The descendants of single
couple might amount to 100000
in about 1000 years, he said. pro-
vided great numbers were not killed
off by wars or famines in the mean
time.
DR.. Hrdlicka indicated the belief
that the present human race can
trace Its ancestry back to the Mean
derthal man. There are bad breaks
In the evidence for direct descent, he
said, but he believes that cultural
or even skeletal remains will be
discovered which will supply the
missing links.
The fact that the first men orig
mated in central Europe, he said,
seems almost definitely proved. The
theory that the Garden of Eden" was
somewhere In central Asia, he said.
was no longer possible, since condi-
tions there during the period when
man was developing were such that
he could not have survived.
Spread Of NeGroes.
One Of the most fascinating prob
lens of anthropology, he said, Is to
trace the spread of the negro race
from Africa. the .Malov pnpfp-