48 ANTHROPOLOGY IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE AND PACIFIC ISLANDS. 



the nest to the area west of Hudson Bay. Another aspect of the Eskimo 

 question is the effect of contact with the Norwegian expeditions to America 

 and settlements in Greenland which lasted 400 years. The recent discussion 

 concerning the origin of the "blond Eskimo" and various features of Eskimo 

 culture ascribed to Norse influence suggest researches which might yield valu- 

 able facts about pre-Columbian relations between Europe and America. 



It would seem that the Alaskan and other shell-heaps and ancient 

 village sites in the Eskimo area ought to reveal evidence of value in assisting 

 to solve not only the Eskimo problem but the larger problem of the origin 

 of the American aborigines as a whole. 



ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN AMERICA. 



Inseparable from the problem of the origin of the American aborigines 

 is the problem of their antiquit3\ Controversy has been waged on the 

 question of antiquity even more than on that of origin, and a lesser degree of 

 agreement exists on this question among those who claim to speak with 

 authority. The chief point at issue is whether man existed in America in the 

 geological period covered b}^ the glacial invasions of North America. It is 

 definitely known that man lived in western Europe during the period of 

 European glaciers. ]\Iany students hold the belief that man was also in the 

 Western Hemisphere in pre-glacial or glacial times. The evidence adduced 

 for such belief may be classified as (1) direct, (2) indirect or cii'cumstantial. 

 By direct evidence is here meant the discovery of indisputably human 

 artifacts or remains of man himself, which can be decisively proved to be of 

 glacial or pre-glacial antiquity. Geology should decide the age of the forma- 

 tion in which the remains are found. Phj'sical anthropology should speak 

 with authority about human remains. Cultural anthropologj' should speak 

 in case the remains are artifacts, since there should be an interpretation 

 from the point of view of culture history. 



For nearly three-fourths of a century human skeletal material has been 

 found which has been ascribed to glacial antiquitj' and even pre-glacial 

 antiquity. Several of the finds, as the Calaveras skull, the Trenton skulls 

 and femur, and the Kansas and Nebraska finds, have been widel}^ discussed. 

 The names of many eminent anthropologists and geologists are found on 

 the roll of those who have adhered to the opinion, often amounting to con- 

 viction, that these discoveries prove the existence of man in America in the 

 Quaternary age. Others, perhaps a larger number to-day than before, remain 

 unconvinced. The latter view may be summed up in the words of HrdUcka: 



"Thus far on this continent no human bones of undisputed geological antiquity 

 are known. This must not be regarded as equivalent to a declaration that there 

 was no early man in this country; it means only that if early man did exist in 

 North America, convincing proof of the fact from the standpoint of phj'sical anthro- 

 pology still remains to be produced." 



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