i6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



construction which crosses over the summit and deposits at Crater 

 Lake, must continue to handle a large part of the business intended 

 for the interior. 



It is safe to say that the stirring scenes which were enacted on the 

 passes during the winter of 1897-'98, when the impedimenta of travel 

 and occupation were packed together in the manner of an army camp, 

 will not be repeated again. The past history was a short one, and it 

 gives way to one of greater promise. 



THE ORIGIN OF EUROPEAN CULTURE.* 



By WILLIAM Z. RIPLEY, Pii. D., 



ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGy, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, BOSTON, 

 LECTURER IN ANTHROPOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK. 



PREHISTORIC archaeology is possessed of a distinct advantage 

 over linguistics in the investigation of racial problems ; for human 

 remains are often discovered in connection with the implements, uten- 

 sils, or trinkets by which the civilization of an extinct people is archse- 

 ologically determined. To attempt even an outline of the cultural 

 history of Europe would be obviously impossible in this place. It 

 would fill a complete volume by itself alone. Furthermore, the 

 short span of forty years since the inception of archaeological science 

 has not sufficed to produce complete unanimity of opinion among 

 the leading authorities. Many important questions, especially con- 

 cerning eastern Europe, are still awaiting settlement. All that we 

 can hope to do is to describe what may be termed a few fixed points 

 in European cultural history. This, as in our discussion of physical 

 origins, f we shall attempt to do by means of definite propositions, con- 

 cerning which there is now substantial agreement. 



I. In western and southern Europe an entirely indigenous cul- 

 ture gradually evolved during the later stone age. This was char- 

 acterized hy great technical advance in fasliioniiig implements, carv- 

 ings, and designs in stone, bone, ivory, and copper; by the construc- 

 tion of dolmens and habitations of stone; by pottery-mahing ; and 

 possibly even hy a primitive system of writing. 



A marked reaction has taken place during the last ten years among 

 archaeologists respecting the course of cultural development in 

 France. It was long believed that after the first crude attempts of 

 the palaeolithic epoch an extended hiatus ensued, followed by the 



* Advance sheets from The Races of Europe, now in the press of D. Appleton and 

 Company, to appear in May. P'ootnotes and references are herein Ifu'froly omitted. 

 + Popular Science Monthly, Januaiy, 1898, pp. 304-322. 



