Evening star., 1935-09-28
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The children had pet foxes.
When child died sometimes its pet
was buried with 1t. the cold hand of the
little one resting upon the furry head of
the animal
They would romp together in another
world, the bereaved parents thought.
This bit Of human nature, unearthed
this Summer by DR.. AleS Hrdlicka. cur
ator Of physical anthropology Of the
Smithsonian Institution, is sufficient to
establish the kinship of the sophisticated
present to the primitive people who es-
tablished their homes on desolate Kodiak
Island, of the coast Of Alaska, about
1000 years ago.
DR.. Hrdlicka has Just returned to
Washington after his fourth Summer on
Kodiak Island, excavating habitation
sites of the ancient inhabitants. The
place is considered one of the key sites
of North American archaeology. DR..
Hrdlicka this Summer was able to throw
much new light on the primitive culture
of the people as well as to collect
large amount Of cultural and skeletal
material.
The people of the deepest and inter-
mediate layers, DR.. Hrdlicka says, were
American Indians, similar in physical
type and basic culture to the early pre-
historic peoples of the British Columbia
coast. The earliest settlement on Ko-
diak Island, he says, was about 1000
years ago. Before that the place was
practically uninhabitable. With the
passing of the glaciers the surface of the
island consisted largely of barren,
boulder -strewn gravel. There followed
a dry period when it must have been
practically desert, but with very strong
winds blowing from the mainland. These
winds picked up an enormous amount
Of loose soil from the surface of the pen
insula and deposited it over the gravel
of Kodiak Island.
Il X ~
Shortly afterward the first settlers ar
rived. The deepest habitation traces are
directly on top OF this dust deposit, or
loeSs.
Thus, it Is possible to assume, "dust
storms" of essentially the same character
as those which darkened the skies of
Washington last Fall, were associated
intimately with a migratory movement
Of 1000 years ago.
These people stayed only a short time.
Perhaps they went southwark, becoming
the ancestors Of the Indians Of the
northwest coast. There followed another
period Of heavy winds blowing across
the island from the peninsula, which
deposited 1oess or inches thick
over the cold hearths Of the earliest set>
tiers. Then another migration set in, Of
people Of the same physical type. There
was another climatic change, with heavy
rains which caused the island to be
covered with vegetation. From this
time on it was continuously inhabited
until about the time of the Russian oc-
cupation.
But during this long period the orig
inal race was replaced by migrants OF
the Aleut type. The indications are
that they defeated, and probably mas
sacred, the Indian Inhabitants. At all
periods there was very high type Of
culture, the oldest being, in some re-
spects, the most advanced. It was
achieved under the most difficult condi-
tions. DR.. Hrdlicka is studying the site
intensively and at least another year
will be required before the task Is COM
pleted.
It becomes increasingly evident, DIR.
Hrdlicka said, that there can be no ade-
quate picture of the culture until the
excavations are finished. Every new
area examined showS, those minute but