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FIELD MUSEUM NEWS 



January, 19SS 



THE ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY 

 OF AMERICAN INDIANS 



Bv Paul S. Martin 

 Aflsistaiit Curator of North American Archaeology 



Field Museum is noted for its compre- 

 hensive and excellent exhibits relating to 

 the American Indians. In \'iewing these 

 there must be many visitors who wonder 

 whence came the American Indian, and 

 when. While there is no written history 

 on this subject, there have been reams of 

 speculation on the origin and antiquity of 

 the Indian, and an examination of the 

 available facts and theories makes possible 

 what seems to be a reasonably correct 

 conclusion. 



Anthropologists have designated three 

 grand divisions of humanity: the Caucasoid, 

 the Negroid, and the Mongoloid. Most of 

 the smaller sub-divisions of racial types 

 belong to one of these. The majority of 

 anthropologists agree that the American 

 Indians are a branch of the Mongoloid 

 division. This does not mean that they are 

 Chinese in origin, but rather that they and 

 the Mongolians both sprang from an original 

 proto-Mongoloid stem or ancestry. 



This quite well-known theory is still open 

 to question, but it may be supported by 

 an explanation of how it was reached. In 

 distinguishing one race from another the 

 anthropologist relies upon accurate recorded 

 observations and measurements of certain 

 physical characteristics, such as length and 

 breadth of head and face, size of the nose, 

 distance between the eyes, and the stature. 

 In addition, careful studies are made of the 

 color of hair, skin and eyes; the shape of 

 the hard palate, certain teeth, and the hair, 

 in microscopic cross-section. No single trait 

 may ever be used in differentiating one race 

 from another — observations of many must 

 be made. To state that because an individual 

 has prominent cheekbones he is Mongoloid 

 would be unsound and as likely as not 

 incorrect. 



The correlation of a mass of such detailed 

 data as has been indicated above, however, 

 has led to the conclusion that the Indians 

 should be classified as Mongoloid, and it is 

 now generally agreed that they came to 

 the New World in a series of small, dribbling 

 migrations via Bering Strait. 



In regard to the length of time man has 

 inhabit«i the New World we enter a realm 

 where there are fewer facts to guide us. It 

 is often claimed that man lived in North 

 America during the Ice Age (about 25,000 

 to 50,000 years ago). But as yet not a 

 single fragment of a skeleton of a Neander- 

 thal type has been found. The most ancient 

 skeletal remains that have as yet come to 

 light have been correctly classified as Indian, 

 and they differ in no important way from 

 those of the modem Indian. 



If, then, man did not live in America 

 during the last Ice Age, when did he arrive? 

 The only acceptable answer to this question 

 in the light of present knowledge is arrived 

 at by considering the pre-history of the 

 Old World. W^e know that approximately 

 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, barley, rice, 

 millet, and wheat were cultivated, and 

 cattle, pigs and sheep were domesticated 

 there. 



Since it seems fairly well established that 

 the Indians came from Asia, it seems reason- 

 able to expect that they would have intro- 

 duced some or all of these plants and 

 animals into the New World. But until 

 the arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth 

 and sixteenth centuries, at which time these 

 plants and animals were introduced, not a 

 single one of them had been used, or even 



known, in the New World. Therefore, it is 

 reasonably safe to assume that the migration 

 to the New World was prior to the develop- 

 ment of agriculture and husbandry and 

 after the recession of the last glacier. In 

 consequence the conclusion is logically 

 reached that the date of the entry of the 

 American race into the New World was 

 probably between 10,000 and 25,000 years 

 ago. 



BLACKJACKING FISH 

 TO CATCH THEM 



By Karl P. ScHinDT 

 Assistant Curator o( ReptQes 



Probably most people remember being 

 told in childhood that the way to go about 

 catching a rabbit, squirrel, bird, or other 

 small animal was "first to put salt on its 

 tail." Then, too, there is the story about 

 the man who reputedly made a fortune by 

 advertising in agricultural papers: "Send 

 one dollar for sure method of killing potato 

 bugs and other pests." Thousands of 

 farmers are said to have sent this man 

 their dollars, in exchange for which they 

 received a printed slip of paper reading: 

 "Take two shingles. Place potato bug on 

 one, and strike with the other." 



To the fisherman accustomed to matching 

 his wits against such game creatures as bass 

 and muskellunge, the idea of going after a 

 fish with a rock, and stunning it into uncon- 

 sciousness to catch it may seem as ridiculous 

 as salting the rabbit's tail or exterminating 

 insects with shingles. However, this method 

 of fishing is successfully employed by Indians 

 in Central America. 



During a collecting expyedition in Hon- 

 duras, I was located for some time at the 

 mouth of the Santa Ana River. This is a 

 mountain stream and its bed is strewn with 

 rocks. During low water we found it almost 

 impossible to employ even a small seine. 

 The fish were shy and took refuge imder 

 the rocks at the slightest alarm, which 

 made it impossible to catch them with a 

 dip net. The fish poisons used by the 

 natives in many parts of tropical America 

 were unknown in this region. 



An Indian girl from Salvador showed us 

 the novel method of catching fish by stun- 

 ning them, which, she said, was weU known 

 to the Indians of mountainous districts in 

 Salvador. It consists in wading the stream 

 armed only with a dish pan, in which the 

 fish are to be placed. On approaching a 

 pool, one observes vmder which of the larger 

 rocks the most promising fish hide. Taking 

 a stone about as large as one can easily 

 raise over one's head, one throws it with 

 as much force as possible on this rock. 

 The concussion stuns even the larger fish, 

 which probably lie with their backs in 

 contact with the rock, and apparently it 

 is transmitted to the water beneath the rock 

 sufficiently to stun the smaller ones. -It is 

 important to turn over the rock at once, or 

 to feel under it, before the fish recover. 

 Small fish as well as large ones are taken. 



The chief kinds of fish in the Santa Ana 

 River were a small silvery characin called 

 "sardinas" by the natives, several species 

 of the sunfish-like cichlids, and a small 

 catfish. 



When we had only a few hours to spare, 

 in the central highland of Honduras, we 

 were able to collect fish by this method 

 from a moimtain brook. WTiile it requires 

 both patience and effort, I believe that it 

 occasionally affords an invaluable supple- 

 ment to the methods available for the collec- 

 tion of fishes for scientific purposes, as well 

 as for the frying pan. 



JANUARY GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS 



Conducted tours of exhibits, under the 

 guidance of staff lecturers, are made every 

 afternoon at 3 P.M., except Saturdays, 

 Sundays, and certain hoUdays. Following 

 is the schedule of subjects and dates for 

 January: 



Week beginning January 2: Monday — ^New Year's 

 holiday, no tour; Tuesday — Animal Groups; Wednes- 

 day — Philippine Hall; Thursday — General Tour; 

 Friday — South America. 



Week beginning January 9: Monday — Prehistoric 

 Life; Tuesday — Java, Borneo, Sumatra; Wednesday — 

 Indian Costumes; Thursday — General Tour; Friday — 

 Primitive Musical Instruments. 



Week beginning January 16: Monday — Animal 

 Life in Cold Lands; Tuesday — Crystals and Gems; 

 Wednesday — Plant Families; Thursday — General Tour; 

 Friday — Egypt. 



Week beginning January 23: Monday — Bird 

 Habitat Groups; Tuesday — Primitive Metal Workers; 

 Wednesday — Plants of Economic Value; Thursday — 

 General Tour; Friday — The Motmd Builders. 



Week beginning January 30: Monday — Shields and 

 Weapons; Tuesday — Chinese Arts, 



Persons wishing to participate should 

 apply at North Entrance. Tours are free 

 and no gratuities are to be proffered. A new 

 schedule will appear each month in Field 

 Museum News. Guide-lecturers' services 

 for special tours by parties of ten or more 

 are available free of charge by arrangement 

 with the Director a week in advance. 



Gifts to the Museum 



Following is a list of some of the principal 

 gifts received during the last month: 



From School of Forestry, Yale University — 57 

 herbarium specimens, Colombia; from Companhia 

 Ford Industrial do Brasil — 23 herbarium specimens 

 with accompanj-ing wood specimens, Braal; from 

 Desert Laboratory-^-47 herbarium specimens, Arizona 

 and Mexico; from Dr. Forrest Shreve — an Ephedra 

 bush, Arizona; from Michigan State College — 23 wood 

 specimens, Philippines, Chile, and United States; from 

 William J. Chalmers — large quartz geode, Illinois; 

 from B. E. Dahlgren — 7 specimens diamonds in 

 matrix, 15 specimens euxenite. 5 misoeUaneoas minerals, 

 Brazil; from Frank Von Drasek — 69 specimens minerals, 

 ores, and fossils. New Mexico; from A. T. Newman — 

 30 limonite concretions, Wisconsin, and 4 sand-caldte 

 concretions. South Dakota; from N. H. Seward — 2 

 meteorites and a fire opal, Australia; from Col. Theodore 

 Roosevelt — 999 shells, Philippine Islands; from Elm 

 Place School — a bird skeleton and a sharp shinned 

 hawk; from Miss Bertha Cramer — an <^d squaw duck 

 skin, Illinois; from Walter A. Weber — skeletons of a 

 kingfisher and a white-winged scoter, Illinois; from 

 John M. Simpson and A. Watson Armour III— 3 topi 

 and 3 gnu, Tangan>'ika, Africa; from Stuart L. 

 Thompson — 100 beetles and 4 bugs, Canada; from 

 John G. Shedd ,\qtiarit2m — a hawkbill turtle; from 

 Dr. H. F. Strohecker — 30 grasshoppers and 4 katydids. 

 GeorgU; from Misses N. V. and R. W. Haynie-^35 

 butterflies and 9 moths; from Mrs. Frank O'ConncU — 

 a small boa; from E. Brundage, Jr. — 120 insects, 

 Illinois, Michigan, and North Carolina; from John 

 T. Pine — a red.shouldered hawk, Chicago area. 



NEW MEMBERS 



The following persons were elected to 

 membership in Field Museum during the 

 period from November 16 to December 15: 



.\ssoclate Members 



Edward L. Glaser, Comdius J. Groot, Mrs. OUve 

 Beaupre Miller. 



Annual Members 



Mrs. W. E. Burcfa. Joseph F. Chelius, E. K. CoUiaon, 

 Dr. Clinton \. Elliott, Lawrence A. Groot, Robert J. 

 Hart, Frank J. Herlihy, iin. George H. High, Al 

 Jourdan, L. B. Logan, Miss Mabel McKay, James 

 Dougan Norris, Charles W. Schwede, John A. 

 Williamson. 



Mastodon Teeth on Exhibition 



An exhibit of the teeth of North American 

 mastodons, comprising specimens from the 

 jaws of animals of various ages from baby 

 mastodons of a few months to animak 

 fifty or more years old, is to be seen among 

 the collections in Ernest R. Graham Hall 

 (Hall 38). The specimens are from a bog 

 near Minooka, Illinois, in which many of 

 the animals became mired and died. 



pniMTCO BV FICLD MUSEUM PRESS 



