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SCIENCEHtltlely liakeu s t o n ( l ~ ar e Hot confined to t i l ~ greaL t}llnrric>s; ll w
ra w material wa s worl\etl wllerevt-'r it was found spattered nvcr
fhp. ~ l I r f a c e or t i le J.{rolllIt1, Th e refuse lleposits of villu;;c ~ l I l dt , \ I O U f ' ; [ { ~ i ( , I f ' ' I U ~ Y ne:!-"lJS": .\Nll TliE PILEOJ . lTl l lU lodge sHes located eOIlVeni01\lly to th e stolle· yielding- di::.triClS oIso
t. ~ TfIEOr:y. naturally eonlaill UlallY r e . i ( ~ c ( s of lllunufaclure. Beyond lhese\ " 1
limils - tbe limits of lilo ra w material - the rude specimens afl:;!'Irarely rOl l l l lL The main liiffcrl'lIce lH.?twecn th e quarry ::ihaping'
()L-lE of tlte B10:::t illlJ1f)l"tulIl i n d l l ; j l r i ~ : : i enq;nged in l;y th e A Ifll:ri· and 1he ~ h a r i l l g done npoll i:=iolalptl tihnpti i1I1U '('il1age and lodge:'\.ea n aborigines in " r e ~ C I ) I U n l i d i l n Dnd largely ab o in p o s l ~ C ( ) l l l l I l bite::; i Iha t llPOII Lhe t 'lH'lnoi·, where t.he work Wilti l:lIrried 011 t:'x
'ilJiau limes wa s tlw ~ f : : a n : h fo r and aequircmellt of th o ra w mutt:'rial tell:sh·t1ly an d c ( J I l s i ~ t p d in :-:tc.:uring tile raw I U n t ~ r i a l l n coovcnlt"ut
-:1 for makiJlg ir.llplt:rnt.:nt.s and u t ~ r t ! : - i b of stune. Quar,rillg and r\)rll.l for trallspo('tatioTl and Irnde, 110 ~ p e c i u l i z a t i o n , , : . . : . ~ llulh:r
rniniug were carrieu Oil in many pl'I(;83 upon a va:::it scale , nud ill laken, wlteren!:i UPOll ordinury l:ihop and dwelling ::iites th e lull
one case at least. th e worL: has been prusecuted witholll; i nte rru p ra ng e o f tile roughing-ullt alld tinblling· operalions wa s s o m e l . i l H ~ s tion down to the pre::iC'1Jt lirne. Th e o p e r a t i o n ~ w e n ~ . ill r O ( J ~ t conducted, tlte. implement l:ihaped being carried directly through
eases, earrietl ()n in remotB or ou t of th e wa)' placed, ::30 that the from h t ~ g i n u i n p ' ; to Ouish. Tn al l cus('s th e operations of shaping
"I sites remained fo .. a long Lime l I 1 1 d i ~ c o " e r t > d , and th e i n c l l 1 ~ t l ' Y were, in th e quarries. contilJeu to free-hand p t ' r ~ u s o i o n , forther
an d its accompanying arb; h ..ive lo a gl"Lmt extent escaped the an d m O r l ~ retined shaping l ) ( ' i n ~ coudlleted ~ b e \ \ ' ! l e r e aut! em ·
'1 altention of arclueologist::J. This work is no w UlH.lerg·oing· thor· playing- the mure delicate methods of indirect yercussion an dil oogh in vestigillion, an d will henceforth take its place unlong th e pressure.-=- .most important a e h i e v ~ m e n t 5 of the rHltive races) a 'Nark daintiu15 Th e hammerj util:'d in breaking up th e rock and in flaking ar e
precellence over nearly al l oLhers, Iyill/; as it does at Lhe very very IlUIUerOIl:.i in rnost of the quanies; 50 0 examples, varying1 thrl::!sllOld of ar t anti conlllitutillg tile foundations IIpon which th e frum 1 to 12 inches in diaOletel', w e r ~ picked up in a f ~ d a y ! ) ~ "j super;LrncLure or human culture is built. Within the IilUiLs uf work in on e c,f th e grcat quarries of Arkansas, These 1iG.lllnlC'I"'S1
I th e United State::; flint, ellert., novaculite, fJuartz, quartzite, slate, are generally of artificially discoid or globuJar forms. Such ~ u t i aq;illilc, jasper, pipestone, s l ~ a t i t e , mica, i l i id copper were mo:st ridal forms flf hilHHllcrs are rare, however, ill Lhe bowlder quar,I extensivBly suught. ries of the cast, ~ i n c e howlders of suilable rorw could be picked
ITh e work in the quarries producing f1akaIJl.: vilrielies or tilonc up on al l hands an d were di:ieanled an d fresh oue:3 selected before
was eonlilled almo::;t e x c l u t i i \ ' ~ l y to utJtaining an d testing' the raw lhe outline wa:;; perceptibly or ~ E ' r i o u s l y modified by use,
!\ material and to roughing ouL th e lools aw l IItensil.:; lo he made. Th e Lrue ' I"arry, or more I'lUperly speaking Lhe quany-shop,
Th e quarrying wail accoUlplished mainly by th e aid of sLune, prodnct - t h a t is to say, Lhe article. m'tde anll carriell aw a y
wood, and bone l I t e l l ~ i I : : i . aided in SOme cases, perhaps, by fire, ma y readily he determillcd in each case. This is rendered easy
WiLh Lhese simple llIeans tb e solill bells of rock were peneLraLed Lo by tl,e occurreuce in th e LJuarries of specimens broken at all sLoges
depths oftt'll reachillg t,INenLy· f i v ~ feet, an d UXlelltiiH; areas were of p r o g r e : : s ~ From tho heginning Lo the cnd of th e roughing·outI. - . ~ ; . - - worked over. chang-iug' lh e nppearaut:e of valleys an d fj"lHiodeling I"·o<:(,"s. Th " Il/ll,1 '1uarry-shol' form - anll it IllIlSt be e,pecially
I Lills an d ulolinlaiJl:;;. Tile extCllt of thi::; work is ill sevr.:ral c a ~ e s noled that Lhere wa s practically but ulle form - is naturally
::m v a ~ t as lo fill I"lie heholder wilh astooitihlllent, I n one place in something- beyond or higher than th e
l U o ~ t tiui::ih€j (arm found\ Arkauswj it hi t:"stilllutud that upward::i of 100,000 cubic yllrd::i uf ~ I l t i r c ~ l r l \ o n g tile l ' e f l l ~ e , This fono i ncces:Jarily, however,
Istone have oecli r ~ l f l o \ ' l ; ' d an d workeu o\'er. Tile 1C1Ost notable qllile well reprcsented by specimenH l>rokcn at or near the final
II
teal-llres of the::;/.: nJlJlal'kal,lc quarry tiites a n tlte iunllnJerabli; J l i t ~ stagcl3 o( the work. A. most e x h a l l ~ t i v e cxaminl.lt.ion of th e great
anrllrencht\ti aud tile heapti UflJ ridgl::'ti of excavated deuri.'1 and quarry siLcs has shuwn beyond Lhe shadow oe a dOllbt Lhnt this
r c f l l ~ l e of IIlunuLq;tllrc :::IulTol1uding lIwlIl. final form was ullllo:;L exclusively a Il'af-shaped blade, represented
MafJ)" of the oxcuvaliolls have a ncw look, :lti if d i : ' : j e l ' t ( ~ d bu t on lh e :sile's IIIO:st accurat.ely by hr:okcn pieces, ull th e acceplalJlo
rect:nlly, wlIiI:,t (Jtiler:=i an.: alUlUtiL wholly olJlilera[.('d us if IJy agc. IJladcf:i havillg Leell carriod away. This is th e blade, varying- ill
III. iii '·s:-'l..'1l1 ial If ) ol ' l ' l t :1' \ "(' , hOWe\'t'l'l that wl,,'re pit::; a n :.mnk iu sizt:: and outlillu with I.lie nHtlll"U of th e IUnler::.d an d the particulor
solill n ~ c k and lIpCW COli ve x durfaccs they fill very l'iJowly, an d end kept in view by the workruclI, ::;0 often found in eache::i or
t.hat tiwse in fl'lul>lc malerials an d upon :slopes Or ConC;L\'e sur bOllrdcg dislrilmt.ed over the country and o c c u r r i n ~ in greater or
faces till rapidly. Th" oldcst appearillg may, Lhere(ure, be Lhe les::i nu n ..bel's on nearly every important \·jJlage site, Th e place
young-Cdt. of tiJil:! blude in th e stHies of progressive stages of lhe manufacture
.~ . - . Sclveral great '(lHl.rrit's frum wldch th e ftakt'd slone irnplenlents 0( flaked tools is realilly ascertained by a systemaLic study of Lhe!I. uf thi) aborigines \ \ " ~ ! " I : ~ flerh'etl have heen cX8nliuNI. On e of the 8ubject. I t is th e form Lhrough which nearly every common:
mOtit imporlunL i:i situated in tlw District ut Collllilhia. lWo ar c ill American variety of hi!;hly-deveJoped flaked tool DluSt pass he·'!Ohio, t .WO occur in }. rkansas, (HIe is in P c n n ~ ' y l v a n i a , and another fore its final specialization is attempted. Tt is th e blank formIin t.he llldian Tun itory. T h e s ~ quarries cover areas varying ready fo r th e tinishing shops, testell in tbe quarry sbop. fortfrolo a few ucre:3 to ~ e v e r a l tiqllure mile::i in extent.. Tho)' ar e quali&y of material anll availabilily for (urLher elahuration, an d
l pitted "n d trellched Lo ~ a r i · ) u s lIepths, alld ar e thickly strewn reducell in w e i ~ h t so far, anll only 80 far, as to make tran8porta
I with tIte c l c l J r ' i ~ oc maoufacture, including countless numbers of tiu" easy or protitable.
parLially w o r ~ e d or incipiellt implements rejecLefi on account of Tn most of th e quarries a limited unmber of cores ore found,
defect. of LexLnre "n d fracture resulting in eccentricitips of shape. from which small, gene"ally very delicate, t 1 a k ~ s were removed
These rejec.:ts are extremely llnifortn in type in thc::,e ' luardes a8 for use iIi th e arts, and u!:ien, as a. rule, apparently without ~ u c h well as elsewhere throu/;huUL the c'luntry, varying little save with modifieaLion of shape. They were probably hafted fo r u s e ~ in
Tariation:t in th e nature i ! l l d conditions of lLe raw material, tue which delicate manipulatinn wa. necessary. Their prollucLiun
general result aimed at bdo({ a l \ V u y ~ th e ::ia II I e. It is therefore wa s no t an important featm'e of the qnarry-shop work.
inallvisable in this hrief sl,ct"h Lo describe the quarries selJaraLely The quesLion, very properly raised, os to what we really know),;.
or in great detail, a9 otLer 1110re important matters must reecive of th e naLure an d destination of the leading quarry·shop prolluct,
attenLion. th e hlade ur blaok form, ma y he an8wered by as k in!; anuther
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SCIENCE. [VOL. XX. No. 512
question. Let us inquire whence came the millions of flaked
implement,s of quartz, quart.zite, chert, flint, slate, arg'illite, jasper,
and novaculite that cover the hills und v a l l ~ v s of America, that
occur upon e\·er,,-' fishiug-grol1ud, shell b a n k ~ , refLlse heapl and
village site occupied by the American abol'igines, historic and pre
historic? They did not grow to be picked lik" ripe fruit, from
,t,rees, DOl' could they have been dug up like potatoes f"om the
ground. Where are the quarries and the shops from which the
Indian secured his enormou, supplies? For every million of spear
and arl'OW points, knive3 , perforators, and scrapers - and there
were many millions used by h i r r l - t h e r e a r e ~ o r n e w h e r e in AmPTic£l
many times as many willions of broken an d malformed f ~ i l u r e " of
the very kind found in our quarries and shops, and where are they
no wbut. in
t h e s c q u a r r i e ~ ami shops? The coneluslon ig
inevitable.
The fiuished and the unfinished (or rude) forms complement each
'Other, and constitute a unit in art and in time. It. was only our
-ontfre lack of knowledge of tbe subject, t,hat made other themies
!lecessary or other conclusions pos.siblp.
These determinations wit.h re8pect to the nature of the great
body of the rudely-flaked stones of America ma y be expect.ed to
hu ve some bearing upon the quest.ion of t.he occupat.io n of tbis con
tinent in glacial times by u people no t yet., advanced h ~ y o n d the
prinml or palroolithic st.age of culture, since tile theory of that
{)ccupation is based upon t.he discovery of c1o,ely analogous ob
jects in th e gravels and elsewhere.
Before the refuse of quarrying and mannfacture were studied
:!lnd the t.rue nature of the rudely-tlu.ked forms determined, these
object,s had been qnite extensi"ely collected, and hecansc of their
rudeness and t.beir supposed close reser.nbla'nce to tbe early forms
of European flaked-stone tools, had been classed as paJreolithic
an d were so labelled in many museums, and as such found a place
in the archreologic literature of both continent,s. I t is now con
ceded by scientific men tbat tilis is all wrong. and that in the
present state of our knowleclge the separation of a sinp;le specimen
~ r o l l l the main body of flaked otone art. in America, sa'-e upon
purely geologic el;idence, is wholly unwarranted.
It is manifestly folly to attempt to select from tbe mass of these
,objects certain indfvidual specimens to be arbitrarily called palreo
litbic. The selections made ar e quite as likely to be the J·oungest
'" the oldest.. I t is a well-established fact. that marry of the
:rudest flaked forms known, the simplest possible ar t shapes, are
<Jbtained from the shell-deposits and from the soapstone quarries
,of thE, eastern United States, and t.hus represent the most modern
]phases of neolithic Indian work in stone. Even if it be conceded
~ < the sake of argument that there are multitudes of true palreo
litbic objects and iroplements scattcred over the count.,ry, it is
certain that up to t h preseut date we have established no standards
f form-cornparisoll by meallS of which they can be detected.
Until gt-'Ologie formations, glaCial or other'wise, have furnished
dilmonstrably palreolithic forms in sufficient numbers to warrant
th e establishment of types of implements peculiar to tbese formations, snrface finds can be of no service wbatever to advocates of
'.!le palmolitbic idea.Tbe reported discovery of rude fot'ms of implements in the gravels
at Trenton, New Jersey, and subsequently at several points in
th e ;\Iissishippi Yalley, led to the conclusion tbat palreolithic ma n
d w'clt here in !Ira vel-forming time, and the t!leory that a well
differentiated period of rude flaked stone ar t precedes, in tbe
Dormal order of development, a pecked and polished stone period,
found a foothold in this country. Ohservations have multiplied,
an d tb e occurrence of flaked stones in 'h e gravels is now supported
by a large body of evidence. I f even a small percentage of these
'Ohserl'ations are authentic, the evidence ought to be consfdered
"Sufficient to settle one of the questions at issne, tbat of the age of
'Occupation; for the finding of a very small number of works of
art, either implements, shop rejects, or f la kes - i n fact, anything
"-rtificial- in t.he gravels by competent, and reputable observers of
,geologic phenompua is all that is rt?quired to satisfy the scient.ific
world of th e presence of man of some grade of culture, primitiveor otherwise, in gravel-forming times. To this conclusion there
·"an be no serious objection. So far as I kno\\", the possibility that·
~ h e r e were glaci,aJ men, i D t e r · ~ l a c i n l . <.t.nd post-glacial men some
The infancy of the race may bave been passed upon t,he eastern
have bad a share in the nuralng. . -
As I am not prepared to challenge tbe testimony brought for
continent, but. the-re is 110 snfficient reason wb v America mar no t
ward by variolls collectors tending to establish the p;laciaJ age of
be, I wiiI no t raise the question of age, hu t proceed to consider
human occupatioll, defect,iV'e 3S much of that testimony seems to
t,he beD ring of thtl el'idenee furnished by th e quarr.<' shops upon
the question of the grade of cuIt.ure indicated by the so-called
gravel finds; the age, or period, of th e occllpation Dnd th e grade
of cuIt.ure att.ained being two very distiocL things. Admit,Ung
glacial timeR, I take up the question as to whetber the cnlture of
for present con'renicnce, then, that. men d\\'elt in Arne.rica in
the hypoth"tic people, as indicated by the eddence furnished, issurely palmolitbic. I t has been repeatedly stated, and is still be
lieved h.v many, that the /Ira vel fillds of the eastern Unit.ed States
implements. The cl"itical obse"ver will find, howe,-er, that this
closely resemble w e l l - e s t a . b l i ~ h e d European typl's of palreolithic
resemblance is superficial, and that thcy ba"e a ,"cry milch clo.er
analogy with the r"de quarry·shop rejects of America: and the
lat,ter are not really implements, and should not be called sllch
quarries at Oarrara should be classed asstatuary. The distinctive
an y more than the fault,y blocks of marble left. in and about the
their evidence of specialization of form, their adaptation to
feature of European palreolit,hic implements is, or ought, to be,
whereas the"" objects from the American gravels, with rare ex
definite use, indicated by what is known as seconda.ry flaking;
cepbons fndeed, exhibit a total lack of this character. Tbe sem
blance of specializDtion in thousands of the rude quarry rejects
which have been worked hardly more tban to test the flakability
ance of t.he implemenl; contemplated by the workman, is more
of the stone, not having begun to assumc the cantotil' and appear
pronounced thall in Dny of these gravel specimens. Appearance
01' specialization of forlll, may, therefore, siguify nothing, and, if
found, must not be taken alone as sufficient e,'idence that tbe ob
It should be furtber noted that not only are the gravel finds
ject ha,'ing it is a bonafide implement.
identical in form and material with the ordinary failures of tbe
modern aborigines, bu t t,hat they display the same mastery of
shaping operations, hep:inning in th c same way, progressing along
the same lines. and euding at, the samc points, exhibiting no evi
denee of special adaptation t.o use in cutting, digging, pickin,g.
served that none of tbese articles exhibit well-defined evidences
striking, Or any other prilnitivc manipulative act. It is also ob·
of having been used, although it must be conceded that the rudest
peoples made their tools for use; alld it would appear that, as
a rule, if they had been used they would bear very decided indi
zation as a result of tbat use, Gonsidering all of theEe poiuts, Ications of that, use, and would show a certafn amount, of speciali
call attention t.o the extreme probabilit,y that these reputed gravel
objects ar e no t implements at all, bu t ordinary failures reSUltingfrol>l the manufacture of more highly specialized forms.
coast and some of thoae east of tire monntains ar e neolithic, tbe
Again, it will be remembered tbat the gravel finds of the Pacific
forms being of a high grade tecbnically and functionally, so tbat,
neolithic ma n is shown to bave probably existed upoutbe continent
whilst the eastern gravels were forming, and the condition of the ar t
phenomcna imply tbat he had dwelt here or somewhere east, west,
north, or s o u ~ h , for a 't"ery· long time, for t.hou:3andR of years, if
primal stages of ar t desfgnated palreolithic.
no t for tens of t h o u ~ a n d s , and that, too, since he had passed tbe
found so sparin"ly scatt,ered through the gravels at Trenton and
How then is it to be proved that these particular rude forOlS,
elsewhere. really represent and prove Dpalreolithic age, since they
ma y simply be tbe rejects of mann facture left upon the banks of
the glaciall'iver. by ad vaneed neolithic men, who d welt, as intel
li"ent men ,vould upon the lIpper terraces ant, of reach of tbe icyfloods? The argument that in these gravels rude forms onl., are
found has no "alue whatsoever, since, as I have shown,it. i"s
therule that where the ra"" material wao sought be.vond habitable
sites nO work save the roughing-out. w'u.s undertaken, and no
flaked forms save rude ones were left upon the ,!round. Because
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SCIENCE.
gra,els, and no highly specialized forms Or other works o[ art ar e
found with them, tbe conclusion is reached that they are palmo
lithic implements and that the ar t of the gravel-forming time was
exclu,ively rudc 01' palaJolithic. Yet we may go down to thePoto
mac in tbe District of Columbia, or to the Wasbita in Arkansas, orto the Neosho in Indian TerriWry, and gather tons of similar rude
forms made by our modern neolit,hic tribes, witbout finding a
single specialized form or a single Object o[ ar t aside from these
rude forms. I t is not my intention, howcver, to try to reconstruct
the culture o[ that time, as 1 am not sut'e that there wus any
culture, but to point out the total inadequacy of the e,idence upon
which the theories of a particular culture are based.
The tOlTent-swept fiood.plaill9 of glacial times were hardly babit
ahle places, and we do uot lenow that there was game or tish to be
sougbt there; but the great beds of bowlders then and there accu
mulating furnished mare or less raw material .uitable for fiaking,
and if men, supposing they existed, corning down to the banks of
the streams during periods of low water, es.ayed to rough-out
their spear-points and kn;"cs in the usual rashion, the ever-re
cun-ing torrents would scat.ter tbe refuse about, leaving tbe coarse
pieces in one eddy and whirling the lighter ones to other eddiesbelow.
From this an d from what has gone beforeit
is cleal'ly seen thatthese reputed gravel objects are probably no t implements at all,
and, whether they are or not, that they ar e as likely to have been
left by neolithic as by palreolithic men.
So fa r have the advocates o[ a b:uropean classification for
American phenomena g'one beyond the limits of prudence in the
treatment of thcse soealled palreolithic stones, that a radical
cbange is uemanded in the methods of classifying and labelling
these objects in many of our museums; and it is to be lamented
that a revision of all literature relating to the subject cannot be
made in order to prevent the flj rther spread of errors already too
deeply rooted in the minds of the people, without offensive criti
clsm of the ,vork of li ving' sludents.
This point ma y be illustJ'llted by one ()xample of the many
that could be cited. The quartz objects from ~ I i n n e s o t a , usually
known as the Babbitt finds, of which so muell bas been said and
written. prove on careful examination to be modern wOl'k-shop
refuse settleu into the talus of the glacial termce. The slightly
worked pieces heretofore collected and published as palooolithic
implements almost without 4uestion on the part of archooologists
as to their origin or manlier or occurrence, have no more intin1at.e
relation to th e history of the glacial telTaces than have tbe trees
that grow upon their surface or the rodents t.bat hUlTOW ill their
sandy soil.
No rude flaked stone should be classified Or labelled as an im
plement until it is proved to be an implement, and no specimen
shonld he called palooolitbic simply because it is rude or bec'lllse
it is fonnd in the g'ravels, howsoever old. The attempt to
classify these ruLle stones and to arrange tbem unLler types after
the manuer of European implements is sufficiently characterized,
when it. is stated that tl",re is no t in the lUu,eUlllS of Europe or
America a . ingle piece of tlaked stonc found in place iu the gravels
of America and s a t i s f a c t o ~ i l y vel'ified tbat can with absol ute safety
be classitied as an implement. at all.
I f I should find a rude stone in place in the g'ra, 'els- I have
tried long in va in - I should permit myself to 'Il.y only this,
" Here is a work of ar t dating back to glacial times, I canuot tell
whether it is a finished implement or not, as there ar e bu t slightsigus of specialization and no indications of use, and I canuot tell
whether it was made and left by a pulreolithic 01' by a neolithic
people, because neither of these peoples had a patent upon rude
forms." Even if rude flaked stones are found in gra vels ten times
as old as the Trenton gravels, it must st.ill be shown that t.hey ar e
no t neolithic be [are it can be safely asserted that Lhey are palreo
lithic, for the exclusively rude period of flaked ar t observed in
Europe is so extraordinary that its repetition in other countries
would approach the marvellous.
Little by little the advocates of a period of ralreolithic cultnre
in America have been forced to give up the idea that there is an y
other reliable Lest of the age of a culture than that furnisbed hy
geology; ye t they ar e still going on utterly [ailing to recognize
the equally important fact tbat geologic phenomena cannot be
safely obser-ved Eave by geologists, and I may add with respect to
gravel phenomena that the observations of geologists al'e no t
always infallible, the obser.-ations of g'eologists who have no t
especially studied gra,els being of little greater weight thanthose of laymen. They must further concede that the finding
of rude implements in the gra,'els or other ancient formations is
no t proof of a palreolitbic age until it i. sufficiently proved that
the culture represented is exclusively rude culture, a point no!
attained, and I fear well nigh unattainable.
It follows from the above considerations tbat all speculations
upon the cnlture status, ethnic relationships and geographic dis
tribution of gravel· man in America based upon the di,covery of
rude forms of art are premature and misleading, and that, instead
of being on firm ground an d well ad vaneed in respect to the an
tiquity and history of early ma n in America, we are not yet safely
on t.be thresbold of the study; and it is patent t!.lat until geologists
take hold of the problem and prosecute tbe work, not as a side
issue but as a. great and leading question germane to the field ot:
geologic research, little true progress will be made.
)Iy explorations have been made with the greatest care and
rarely without tbe aid an d advice of some of the foremost geolo
gists and anthropologists of the country. The conclusions reachedhave been freely discussed, an d are generally approved by tbose
familiar with the facts. These conclusions are subject to modifi
cation through the acquisition of new evidence derived from actual
research in the tield and in no other wa)'.
In closing I wonld add that conservative students of American
archaaology will find it wise to consider well the following points
relating to early ma n in America. 1. Is there a sufficiently full
and sound body of evidence to demonstrate the presence at glacial
man in America? 2. Is there satisfactory" evidence that glacial
man, if his e x i s ~ e n c o be admitte(l upon the evidence available.
was in any particular region in the palmolithic stage of culture?
3. Is there satisfactol'y evidence that the rude glacial finds in any
case are implements at all? 4. Are deductions as to the habits,
customs, a.rts, industries, institut.ions, a.nd racial affinities of a-
people called for until at least. one implement left by them is dis
covered, veri6ed, anu found to bear illdbl'utahle evidence of
adaptation to or employment in some kind of use?
MODERN SYi'lTHETIC GEOMETRY VERSUS EUCLID.
BY ROllBR1' J. ALEY, l X D [ A ~ A UNIVERSiTY, B L O O l 1 ~ G T O N ) IN'D.
FOR mare than two tbonsand years Euclid has held almost un
disputed sway in the field of synthetic geometry. So strong a
hold has it on school men that few American colleges dare offer
anything else to freshmen. Is tbis because of t.raditioD) or is
there something in Euclid that makes it intrinsically betler than
anything mathematics has produced in modern times? To say
that it holds its place merely becanse of tradition wonld probablJ'
be too BeVel·e a cntieislll, and would cert"inly call forth ";gorous
protest f)'om it s frienus and defenders. To say that the wonder
fu l advance in geometrical science in t.he last two hundred years
has gj,'en us nothing supenol' to Euclid woulLl be a doubtful
statement, and almost an insult to the labors o[ wc h men as
~ : I o n g e , Poncelet, Carnot., Steinel', Von Staudt, and Cremona.
No other bra.nch of mathelllatics clings SQ tenaeiom;;(y to that
wbich is old) as geoll1etry. In analysis, physics, mechanic::!, as-tronomy, everywhere but in geometry, the results and met.heds of
modern thought are [rcely used, an d no one doubts the propriety
of their use. 'Vhy no t talee advantage o[ the same advances in
geometry?
I have no quarrel with Euclid. I t has been an d ia still a great
factor in education. The severe training it gives in logical, clear
thinking would be hard to equal. No doubt every student leaves
Euclid with his mental powers greatly strengtlwned, and with in-
crea.sed ability to grapple with other s t l l c l i e ~ and wit!.l the practi
cal problems o( life. Considered as to its euucational \'alue, hut
few objections cun be urged against it. Mathematically consid
ered. there are many tbings in favor of the modern synthetic
g c o ~ e t l ' Y . Euclid is far more nearly a ll'eati,e on logic than en