FEWKES: PREHISTORIC CULTURAL CENTERS 437 



parentage of the American Indian dates as far back as that of 

 the Europe-Asian man, provided both sprang from the same 

 original source. It is known from evidences drawn from differ- 

 ences in implements that during the protracted Stone Age epoch 

 man in Europe passed through distinct phases, which have been 

 designated the Earliest, the Old, and the New stone epochs, 

 before he entered that of metals. The American Indian had 

 developed into the New or polished Stone Age when he came to 

 America, and had not progressed beyond it when America was 

 discovered by Columbus. 



Although the Stone Age still survived in America when it 

 was discovered, this epoch in the Old World had long before been 

 superseded by one of metals, showing that, the Age of Stone in 

 the Old and New Worlds does not correspond in time; when the 

 New World was discovered Europe had been in possession of 

 metal implements for several thousand years. The highest 

 development of stone technic, other things being equal, would 

 naturally be looked for where it had been practised the longest 

 time, and it is to be expected that the prehistoric stone objects 

 found in America would be superior to the European, known to 

 have been made before the discovery of bronze and iron. 



Individual specimens of stone implements from the Old and 

 New Worlds are so similar in form and technic that it is very 

 difficult to determine which continent can show the better ex- 

 amples, but comparing the majority of implements from the 

 Stone Age in America with those made before the discovery of 

 bronze and iron now exhibited in Europe, it has been found that 

 the former are, as a rule, superior to the latter. In Stone Age 

 architecture we find a like superiority. The buildings con- 

 structed in the American Stone Age excel those of the same epoch 

 in Europe, as will appear when we compare the stately temples 

 of Peru, Yucatan, or Central America with the megalithic 

 monuments and other buildings ascribed to the latest Stone Age 

 of Europe. 3 



' I have based my judgment on the probable form and character of the ancient 

 houses of the Stone Age in Europe, from "house urns" or burial urns shaped like 

 houses, or from the reconstructions made of walls as indicated by post holes 

 and floors. These buildings of the European Stone Age were certainly inferior 

 to those of the same epoch in America. 



