Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-24
OF Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henri.


A new key for unlocking the buried
records of human history in North
America from 10000 to $4,000 years ago
is announced by the Smithsonian In
stitution.
1t is stratified sequence Of different
types Of Folsom points, supposedly spear
heads, which have been found asso-
ciated with the remains of mammoths
and extinct bison and camels which
presumably became extinct shortly after
spearheads were the handiwork of the
oldest known human inhabitants of the
continents race of nomad hunters.
The find has just been reported by
DR.. Frank H. H. Roberts, jr., archeolo-
gist of the Bureau of American Eth
nology, who has completed his sixth sum-
mer at the Lindenmeer site in North
ern Colorado-which apparently was a
permanent camping ground for
these wraith-like aboriginals.
There are certain variations Of the
point type, however. which have been
gathered over wide area. In some
respect these have appeared to archeolo-
gists even more primitive than 'folsoms"
and it has been argued that the latter
developed out of them. This would
mean that the makers of the variant
types were older than Folsom man him
SELF
The only way an archeologist can
establish a relative time scale is to
find human bones or artifacts buried in
strata. When this happens it is obvious
that those buried at the lowest level
preceded those at the next highest
level and so on to the surface. A large
part of the science of archaeology Is
built on such stratified sequences.
This summer DR.. Roberts hit upon a
nicely stratifled corner of the Linden
meier site. At the uppermost level
there were few variant types of pro-
jectile heads such as have been found
hitherto scattered on the surface in
Nebraska, Western Oklahoma and Texas
Below these, and separated from them
by a deposit the building up Of which
must have required several centuries,
were scattered specimens of still an
other Folsom variant, also found in
Nebraska, the Texas Panhandle and New
Mexico. At still lower level, separated
from the second by deposits which must
have required several hundred years to
accumulate, were the typical Folsom
points in association with remains of
extinct bison and other animals.
This makes possible a tentative re-
construction of the history of the re-
gion and a rough time scale which may
cover more than 1000 years of the earli-
est human habitation of the continent.
First came Folsom man himself, fol-
lowing the bison herds through. the
lush pastures which came into being
behind the retreating ice For some
reason the Lindenmeier site was a good
camp ground for these nomads They
returned summer after summer and ap-
parently made it headquarters. Some
thing happened and the hunting parties
were ended. After few centuries dur
ing which winds and floods had covered
up the Folsom campsite came other
hunters. They used the site not as a
SdiAP buI dS h OlfOudC. 1neY
probably only remained there a few days
at time each year.
In the intervening centuries the char
acteristic projectile head had degen-
Grated. 1t was made more hastily and
simply. The new hunters may have
belonged to different race but they had
acquired some elements of the Folsom
culture. Again something happened,
perhaps major climatic change leading
to a dispersal of the bison. Again the
campsite lay vacant while wind-carried
dust and f1ood-borne debris piled up over
1t. Then came new bison hunters, with
a still different type of projectile point.
A contemporary of late ice-age man in
Europe, Folsom man had his own cul-
ture which, as DR.. Roberts has found,
was OF fairly high order. Tools have
been found for working with hides.
Hence the hunters probably wore some
sort Of clothing. There are geometrical
designs scratched on some Of their arti-
facts. This indicates that they had an
eye for beauty. There are indications
that they wore beads and perhaps
painted designs on>their bodies. One Of
Dr. Roberts most significant finds at
the Folsom level this year consists of
bone needles with an eye-by far the
Oldest artifact of this sort yet uncovered
In North America and approximately
contemporary with the earliest true
needles of European cave dwellers.
DR.. Roberts also found some Folsom
points made of obsidian, the nearest
deposits OF which are in Wyoming, some
distance to the north. Most points found
in the past have been made of various
kinds of quartz The discovery shows
not only that Folsom man ranged far
af1eld in his hunting expeditions but
that he had the initiative to adopt new
materials for his handiwork.
Scattered through the East is slightly
variant type of Folsom point of which
no example was found at the Linden
meier site but which is believed to rep
resent a somewhat later period.