Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14
LIGHT is SHED UPON
ACE OF AMERICAN MAN
Discoveries Reveal That He May Have
Existed Tens of Thousands
~ of Years Ago.

GIld0 III 6uIOpe. DuJ bllc uuINch VI
proof Is now squarely upon their shoul-
ders Meanwhile research will be in
tensified throughout the vast area be-
tween Gypsum Cave and the ancient
bison hunting grounds at Folsom, and
it will not be at all surprising If other
traces of Pleistocene man are discovered
in other caves to complete the picture.
Contemporaneously with these paleon-
tologicel discoveries which put back the
dates for the occupancy of America by
crude and very primitive type of
homo sapiens. there have been made
archaeological discoveries indicating that
the Western Hemisphere was the scene
Of the activity of fairly cultured groups
good many more centuries ago than
has heretofore been realized. And
although virtually all reputable scien-
misunderstanding exact knowledge as
to what particular part of the globe was
the cradle of the human race"-still
believe that America was originally
peopleo by immigrants from the So
called Old World, an increasing ma
jority OF them maintain that the more
advanced phases Of aboriginal culture
IN America were developed by the red
men OF our two continents without the
benef1t of example or helpful sugges-
ton from Europeans, Africans or
Asiatics. Force to this claim is lent bv
many factors, but particularly by the
unique nature of American languages
and agriculture, in neither of which is
there any evidence of Old World in
fluences.
An original American agriculture of
course, was built up around the use of
maize, or corn, as we call it TODAY This
is supposed to have been developed
thousands OF years ago from a wild
grass called teacintli somewhere be-
tween the highlands Of Mexico and the
uplands Of Peru.
Settled by Succession.
Until recently the oldest archaeological
remains beyond the horizon of the Az
tee OF Mexico and the Maya of Cen
traI America were those of a culture
10 which DR.. Herbert j. Spinden gave
the name Archaic" the pottery re-
mains of which he reported as coming
20 light all the way from Mexico down
through Central America and even into
Northern South America. But within
the last few months DR.. George C. Vail
liant of the American Museum of Nstn-
raj History has found at successive
depths In the environs Of Mexico CITY
succession OF pottery and clay f1gurine
types, each type different from the
Aztec and Archaic" and each more
strongly differentiated from the others
Imam the archaic" OF Spinden is diff
ierentiated from the Aztec. In plain
language, DR.. Valiant seems to have
proved that over long period before
the time of the wealthy and imperial
lstlc Snd Puritanical Aztecs (they had
prohibition and bootlegging like we
have) the Valley of Mexico was settled
ny succession Of peoples, none of
them by any means TO be classed as
oaroarlans"-for some of the early
pottery IS quite well done and all of it
Is above the savage" state of culture.
Moreover, the handiwork of these
early potters seems to be distinctiveIv
American" in character, Just as are
the vestiges of those later outstanding
american nationS-Aztecs Toltecs, Ma
vas and Pueblos of our own Southwest
and the Peruvians of the Incas But.
curiously enough, this scientific conclu-
sion that ancient American culture was
Independently developed by Americans
seems TO be conclusion which the
average citizen Of the United States is
loath 70 accept. In fact, so deep seated
is oar pro-European, pro-Asiatic bias
that the chief concern of many lay
men, once they have acquired smat-
tertng OF information about Mayas and
IncaS and Aztecs. is to decide to which
particular part Of the European-Asiatic
world they shall attribute the seed that
blossomed here.
Nor is it enough for them to choose
among the Chinese, Sumerians, Pho
enicians or Egyptians. It has become
favorite pastime with amateur archie
ologists and even with pseudo-profes-
sional Psychologists to create lucubra-
tons ranging from an imposing l00,-
000-word volume down to a "two-stick"
I letter to a newspaper proving" that
red-skinned humanity In America
would never have got more than one
jump above the anthropoid stage but
for the benson of light shed upon our
two fortunate continents by the lost
tribes of Israel the lost continent of
Atlantis or-an even lovelier concep-
tion-the lost continent of Mu spelled
that way but pronounced as a COW
would.
All this sort of argument concerns a
matter called diffusion" by the scien-
lists. The diffusionists' opponents adj
here to what Is known as the doctrine
OF independent evolution. Inasmuch
as every layman in clubs or smoking
room who ever speculates upon the
origin Of culture in ancient America
falls-although he may not realize It
Into either the diffusionist or the
evolutionist school, it may not be amiss
TO- snalyze these two tendencies.
Believes Man Inventive Animal.
Roughly speaking, the diffusionist
believes that man is an initiative ami
NAL; the evolutionist believes that man
/ is an inventive animal The diffusion
list thinks that any given trait Of Gull
ture Is invented only once, and spreads
through the world by imitation. The
I evolutionist contends that man is much
/ the same creature wherever he is found,
+ and that II he has the brains to create
/ something in one part Of the world the
chances are he may have the brains to,
create it Independently in another.
NOW, although evolutionistS outnum-
/ Der difusionists in the ranks of scien-
4 fists, among laymen the diffusionists
probably predominant. This is because
/ among the masses of human beings
comparatively few are able to think-a
/ thought that would seem to bolster up
/ the whole original conception of diffu-
sion. But while admitting that the
mass OF human beings are unable to
think. the evolutionists still contend
! that there are leaders endowed with in
ventive mentality among all peoples.
For example, given a hot climate and
given plentiful supply Of wild grass, is
/ II greatly TO be wondered at IL two
/ tribes-thousands of miles from each
other-independent arrive at the in
/ vention Of the straw hat? Is It neces-
/ sary In such case to insist as the
extreme diffusionists do, that one of
those tribes must have borrowed the
idea from the other?
The fact remains that It seems to
satisfy the average man to believe that
culture had one origin, just as it sat-
isles some to believe that there is only
one true God and that Allah is his
prophet. Particularly does this seem
/ true OF the average American, who has
a sort of hemisphere inferiority com
pick in regard to the antiquities of his
own continents. AS soon as he notices
that both Egypt and Peru had pyra-
midS and sun worshipers he rllshes
forth To aver that Peru was eattled fror,