THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 



733 



this page illustrations of typical bits of Italian pottery. The 

 first vase, |)rior to the full Etruscan culture, shows its crudity at 

 once, both in its defects of form and the plainness and simplicity 



Early Etruscan. 



Pure Etruscan. 

 Middle Period. 



of its ornamentation. Such a vessel might have been made in 

 Mexico or even by our own Pueblo Indians. In a century or two 

 some teacher made it possible to produce the sample depicted in 

 the next cut. Perfect in form, superb in grace of outline, its dec- 

 oration is most effective ; yet it betrays greater skill in geometri- 

 cal design than in the representation of ani- 

 mate life. The dog drawn on the girdle is 

 still far from lifelike. Then come prob- 

 ably after inspiration from Greek art the 

 possibilities in complex ornamentation rep- 

 resented by our third specimen. Not more 

 pleasing in form ; perhaps less truly artistic 

 because of its ornateness, it manifests much 

 skill in the delineation of human and animal 

 forms. The culture culminates at this point. 

 From profusion of ornament and overloaded 

 decoration degeneracy begins. It is the old 

 story of the life and decay of schools of art, 

 time in and time out, the world over. 



The advance in culture typified by our 

 vases was equaled in all the details of life.* 

 The people built strongly walled cities ; they 



constructed roads and bridges ; their architecture, true prede- 

 cessor of the Roman, was unique and highly evolved. All the 

 plain and good things of life were known to these people, and 

 their civilization was rich in its luxury, its culture and art as 



Greek Etruscan. 



* A good recent resume of Etruscan culture is given by Lefevre in Revue Mensuelle de 

 I'Eeole d'Authropologie, i, pp. 112 seq. and 268 seq., and also in Revue Linguistique. 



