ADVISORY COMMITTED ON ANTHROPOLOGY 1 79 



occur are of the utmost importance, and outside of the glacial areas 

 there are man}' sites that, properly studied, should yield most 

 valuable results. 



It is recommended that researches in this field be taken up, be- 

 ginning with the exploration of rock shelters and caves in the east- 

 ern United States. The aid of competent geologists should be 

 sought in selecting such as are of considerable antiquit}^ and in 

 which the deposits are likely to afford definite indications of chrono- 

 logic sequence. 



(3) Researches mEthnoIog;y. — The third field of research to which 

 special attention is called is the systematic study of the fast vanish- 

 ing tribes of American aborigines. As before indicated, it is receiv- 

 ing limited attention from various agencies which are, however, 

 inadequate to the needs of the case. It is therefore suggested that 

 the Carnegie Institution take up systematic studies in this field. 



In different parts of America distinct forms of aboriginal culture 

 have developed. The importance of carrying on investigations con- 

 cerning these with the greatest energy and with as little delay as 

 possible can not be too emphatically urged. In the area of the United 

 States and Canada alone, approximately 350 languages are spoken. 

 Of these languages, not more than 20 are tolerably well known, 

 while of the rest we have nothing but brief vocabularies and unsat- 

 isfactory grammars. Each tribe that speaks a language of its own 

 has also a culture of its own that should be investigated. A com- 

 parison of languages and cultures in detail is the only means of re- 

 constructing the earliest history of the American race, and ovXy the 

 reconstruction of this history can give us the comparative material 

 that should be furnished by our continent toward the study of the 

 laws of development of human culture. Inside of the next ten 

 years one third of the remaining 350 languages will have disap- 

 peared. In twenty five 3'ears it will be impossible to obtain of these 

 languages more than vocabularies, and the culture and native ideas 

 will have disappeared completely. These statements apply with 

 almost equal force to the native peoples of Mexico, Central and 

 South America. If this great body of the subject matter of human 

 history is to be saved for the future, active researches should begin 

 at once. Up to this time only a few tribes have been studied with 

 any degree of thoroughness. Existing agencies are investigating 

 throughout the following tribes : 



Eskimo, Sioux, 



Tribes of the Northwest Coast, Arapaho, 



