Evening star., 1925-03-30
Warns of Scientific Jazz.
Archeologist Questions Antiquity
Of Ruins Found in America.

Editors note: The contributor Of this
letter toGs for years in charge Of field
explorations for the Bureau of Amert-
can EthnoloDy and later chief of that
bureau, torn,Sr curator of arthropob0y
and prehistoric archaeology of the Na~
tiondl Museum and at present curator OF
the National Gallery of Art)
To the Editor Of The Star:
Students of American antiquity can
have no objection to the publica tion
In The Evening Star and other like
journals of interesting items regard
ing reported discoveries of human
remains and objects OF art of sup
posed great antiquity, but l beg TO
offer a word of caution to the read
ing public regarding the danger of
hasty determinations and premature
publication.
There recently appeared accounts
of finds of human relics in caves and
rock shelters Of the Missouri Valley
to which great antiquity is assigned
comparison being made with the
Egyptian period of Tut-ankh-Amen.
Other publications of recent date an
nounced discoveries of kindred nature
calculated to mislead the overcredu-
lous public. The writer's do not hest
tate to assign an antiquity OF ten to
twenty thousand years, but they do
not present the least authority for
these assignments. The remains
described may be 500 years old
or less. and there appears nc
reason to conclude that they do not
belong to the Red Indian of COM
paratively recent times. Still more
aggravating to the conscientious
student of antiquity are the reports
definitely attributed to explorers rep
resenting scientific institutions, of the
discovery in Idaho of the remains OF
buried city miles in length. This
city is assigned to a period and grade
spects with the monuments of ancient
Egypt. When fully explored. it is
highly probable that the great city
VIII be found to be the work of the
we'll known Pueblo tribes of the arid
region. The published reports of these
discoveries are calculated grossly to
mislead the public, and whether
authorized or, not by the explorer
deserve to be characterized as the
Jazz of American archaeology.
Of kindred nature are reports wide
ly published last year of discoveries
OF remains Of great antiquity in Cali
fornia, which remains are. however
doubtless properly attributed to the
Digger Indians. Just how much OF
these announcements are due 10 the
news gatherers and how much to the
actual explorers cannot be ascertain
ed, since the actual reports of ex-
plorers never reach the public.
That the newspaper writers are not
wholly responsible for these hasty re-
ports and regrettable misinterpreta-
tions is made apparent by the anti
guilty craze that takes hold of many
unframed beginners in the field OF
American archaeology. This is Illus
trated by publications of recent work
in Florida, conducted by the explorers
who, apparently blinded by antiquity
predictions, prefer to consider the
evidence found upside down. The
trained archeologist, having only the
facts in view, begins on the surface
with the known peoples--the Ameri-
can Indian-and seeks to follow his
story downward as recorded in sue
cessive deposits until all traces as
signable to the particular people and
culture disappear. On the other hand
the explorer who seeks proof of the
assumed great antiquity of man ir
America, prefers to begin below with
a hypothetical race of geological an
tiquity. assigning all traces of oc-
cupation by man from the bottom to
the top to a race and culture which
exist only in his imagination.
w. H. HOLMES.