Evening star., 1940-09-28
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

Caves and shores of vanished lakes and
rivers scattered through the arid Great
Basin west Of the Rockies are affording
bits of evidence, difficult to interpret or
correlate, of human beings in this part
of North America in the rainy centuries
that closed the last Ice Age.
This evidence. most of which has come
to light during the past few years, is
presented by DR.. Julian H. Steward Of
the Smithsonian Institutions Bureau of
American Ethnology in a report just pub
lished by the institution.
While evidence of an Immediately post
Ice Age culture, perhaps 10000 years old,
has been accumulating for several years
just east of the Rockies the region across
the Continental Divide remains much
more of an enigma.
Immediately after the retreat of the
ice Dr. Steward explains, the barren land
of today, deluged with heavy rains, was
much more fertile and inviting to hu-
man beings. There were deep lakes and
broad rivers. Wind-swept waves of the
lakes beat against the rocky shores and
created large underwater caves. Then
the dry period, which with single in
terruption has continued to the present
set in. The lake levels sank. One after
another the caves were left high and dry,
affordng excellent shelter for human be-
ings of loW-culture level who seem to
have drifted into the Great Basin They
left artifacts scattered over the cave
floors. Genera tions passed and the
wave-carved homes were abandoned.
Winds over centuries covered the debris
Uttered floors with soil, which has con-
tinued to pile up to the present.
Geological evidence indicates that the
lake waters in this part of the continent
began to recede between $4,000 and 10000
years ago Shortly thereafter. DR.. Stew
ard says, the highest Of the caverns must
have become suitable for human occu-
pancy. When man-made artifacts are
found on the rock bottoms a very early
habitation is indicated
The evidence afforded by ancient shall
low lake and stream shores, now arid
wastes, is based on the assumption that
their occupation as campsites must have
been before the present period of aridity.
In several instances deposits of human
artifacts have been found. The evi-
dence is complicated by the fact that
there was a second and minor rainy
period in this region not more than 500
years ago which may have partially re-
| filled some of the lake and stream beds.
The earliest artifacts are difficult to
correlate with anything found elsewhere.
The form of the flint spear points indi-
Gates that they are more recent than the
very characteristic Folsom points" found
over most of the country east of the
Rockies. These are attributed to the
earliest known inhabitants Of North
America. In some places the Great Ba-
sin type of points are intermingled with
others of strong "Folsomoid" appear
ance.
The present evidence, DR.. Steward says.
indicates strongly that parts Of the re-
| gion were occupied between 10000 years
ago and the first appearance in the
Southwest Of the Basket et-Makers-prob-
ably less than 1000 years ago. The story
OF 5000 years remains to be reconstructed
from such bits Of evidence as can be un-
covered by the spades OF archeologists.
Basket-Maker influences begin to ap-
pear between one and two thousand years
ago. It cannot be determined. however,
whether peoples with this culture COM
plex migrated into the Great Basin from
Arizona or whether there was spread of
their ways of life to people who had come
in from some other direction. Their
baskets and other artifacts made living
much more feasible in a semi-desert re-
gion, where great deal depended on the
gathering and storage Of seeds.
In the Southwest the Basket Makers
were succeeded by the various Pueblo
peoples who appropriated and developed
their rude culture into one Of the out
standing primitive cultures Of the New
World. The Pueblo influence also ex-
tended into the Great Basin. Next, as
DR.. Steward attempts to reconstruct the
history, came q wraithlike "promontory
people" with simpler culture and these
were replaced, or shaded into, the present
| Shoshonean tribes Of the region.
The origin of the present tribes is un-
known From the beginning, DR.. Steward
| says, they have had hard lives. The
land, high, semi-desert covered with sage
| brush, has afforded scant livelihood to
a scant population. The result has been
that they have been able to accomplish
little more than keep alive and have
never piled up such surplus as would
| allow much differentiation of occupation
| and leisure as is necessary for building
up complex culture. Consequently, DR..
Steward points out, some of the Great
Basin tribes have the sparsest culture
| to be found among any of the primitive
peoples of North America.
Their territory, however, may even-
tually provide link over the long, almost
| blank millenniums between the Ice Age
| peoples and the Basket-Makers of the
| early Christian era.
Scores Excessive Supervision
OF School Teachers.